My experience of singers pulling the video lead out

[Robster]

I do a lot of mobile shows.
I always secure the s video leads the best i can but very drunk customers can still pull the lead out of the TV side or the laptop when staggering about or even stand on the lead cutting it with high heels when the lead is taped down and in a safety cover!

What i have found is that this can, on my lappy ..shut hoster down and then you lose the second screen out put.
a restart and the second screen still doesnt show ,even with a new lead what i have found is this sort of lead abuse can kick out the small extended desktop tick in windows graphics properties on my laptop. So restarting it hoping it identifies a monitor doesnt work untill you tick the extended box again.

knowing this has meant i booted back up in seconds rather than as the first time scratching my head and me getting fustrated for a good ten minutes before spoting it.

This isnt really a hoster issue i know but i wanted to share this tip for anyone who has this problem so they too can resolve it quickly..

i now secure my leads at both ends but i had one guy fall onto my goal post stand and nearly knock it over ,the stand rocked to me and amps mixer and lappy tipped off , i caught the lappy! it could have been a complete disaster ..literally three minutes later i was up and running and using hoster to cue up the next singer..I doubt a CDG player would have handled that knock as well!

hope this helps some hoster user

rob

[ddouglass]

When they are that drunk I refuse to let them sing or be anywhere around my equipment. I also inform the bartender so they can cut them off. If they don't want to do that (some are reluctant to cut-off a paying customer), then remind them that they can be held responsible if that drunk leaves and gets into an accident.
I also use long enough cables to route them away from the traffic area.

[billyo]

that's why i have all my gears on a custom road case and all the exposed cables /wires are routed over head, i dont let anyone holding any type of beverage come near my gears, i have a dj stand that has a 48x36 front cover, if they come near me i asked them to leave or put the drinks somewhere ( politely of course )

[Eric Whitehouse]

I also won't allow anyone drunk waving their drinks about anywhere near my equipment. After twenty years of running karaoke shows I've just invested in a cattle prodder which works a treat and has improved the vocal range of a lot of my singers.

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by Eric Whitehouse

I've just invested in a cattle prodder which works a treat and has improved the vocal range of a lot of my singers.

Ha ha ha ha ha! I'll bet it's created some new hair styles as well.

Too funny Eric.

Jim

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Eric Whitehouse

I also won't allow anyone drunk waving their drinks about anywhere near my equipment. After twenty years of running karaoke shows I've just invested in a cattle prodder which works a treat and has improved the vocal range of a lot of my singers.

Eric careful....now your sounding like a country boy from the U.S. Hmmm....I wonder if that would work....

[marklwood]

That's too funny Eric

[KARAOKE JOE]

[Eric Whitehouse]

You could be right there Doug, but I think I'm more of a Parrothead. But not that many of us on this side of the pond.

[Robster]

lol British culture is such that they don't tend to start singing until the fifth pint then they wont stop singing or drinking.

as i say i do a lot of mobile gigs and it is just not possible every time to not have singers go near your cables (which in my case are always in covers or taped down and have hazzard markings on them of some kind) if you want them to face the audience with a screen in front of them.

My point was the unexpected unticking of the extended desktop by the computer itself when the wire gets yanked out i suspect it is Vista that gets upset and after it is tripped a standard restart wont work to identify the second screen.

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by Robster

it is just not possible every time to not have singers go near your cables

Hey Rob,
During the third to the last song I played Tuesday night (I amost made it through the night without issue ) a drunk (old guy, you'd think they learn ) jumped up on stage and tried to grab the mic from a singer he had pissed off earlier in the night. The singer shoved him and he fell into my monitor then off of the stage. Once the bouncer got the old guy out of the building (he'd been giving me grief all night as well), my singers complained that the words were not on the TV. When I touched the connection on the front of the TV it was loose so I held it for the last two songs to make the lyrics appear. It felt like he had busted the female phono connector on the TV but it turned out to be the male phono plug on the cable (Thank GOD).

We can do everything in the world to try and prevent folks from hurting out gear but it is going to happen every now and then. It's the nature of the beast.

I put my monitor in a high bar chair and set it as close to my rig as possible. This avoids running the cable accross the stage in any form. They have to look to the right or left to sing but it helps keep my gear safe. At private parties, I bring rubber door mats that I bought from Wal-Mart to cover the cabels, something like you do. This is the first time in over four years, five nights a week that somebody damaged my TV hook up.

Jim

[Roy Dennis]

I protect my video lead to the singers monitor by using 1 Mtr lengths of metal wire protection that electricians use to cover wires before the wall is plastered. I just lay these over the wire & tape them to the floor or carpet. They only stick up about 5mm and you can adjust the length by laying them on top of one and other. As to the computer s-video connection I have my own customized, fold up desk which does not have any leads showing to the public.

[bryant]

Originally Posted by madjim

Hey Rob,
of the beast.

I put my monitor in a high bar chair and set it as close to my rig as possible. This avoids running the cable accross the stage in any form. They have to look to the right or left to sing but it helps keep my gear safe. At private parties, I bring rubber door mats that I bought from Wal-Mart to cover the cabels, something like you do.
Jim

Precisely what I do, Jim.

[billyo]

i dont use a small monitor for the singers screen, i use the bars plasma tv,which is infront and about 25 feet away and 6 ft high from me, and i had to install all the wires over the ceiling ( foam ) and all my speaker cables are over head, the only cables that's on the floor was the mics/stands and i have a floor mat , which is great too, just to muffle the mic stand a bit