Version 0.2

The Ultimate Techies Guide to...everything.
Compiled by Ben Marks, 2011-2012
Table of Contents:
Introduction

So you’re a techie

    How to use this book

Before you start: A techie checklist

Lighting
    Understanding the lighting system
        Lights
            Ellipsoidals
            Parnels
            Scoops
            Cyc Lights
            Spotlights
            The Really Cool Ones (Include shinbusters here)
            The Dusty Ones in the Closet (fresnells)
        The Light board
            Cues
            Submasters
    Lighting Design
        Light placement+manipulation
        Meet Dark Spots
        Gelling
        The Catwalk
        Light Batons
        Side-Mounted Lights
        Utilizing 2-fers and extension cords.
Sound
    Understanding the Sound system

The Sound Board

    Channels

    Pitch Adjustment

    Gain

    Auxes and Moniters

    Submasters

    Phantom Power

Playing Media

Mics

Feedback- And Avoiding It

Sound from Below

    Snakes

    Receivers

The other systems
    Clearcom boxes
        Setting it up
        Nightmarish Problems
    The projector
    Running Video (Snow’s face in musical)
    Everything about backstage

Surviving Rental Groups
Techie Satisfaction
    Understand what you’re good at (basics or application)
    Training the New Guy
   
Item Index
    Cables
    Lights
    Tool closets
    sound stuff
    etc.
Random Statistics Index
    Lights+ Channel Wattage (include optimal baton height)
    Seating
    Curtains
The Many Rooms Index
    515
    Control Booth
    Triangle Room
    Extra Costume Storage Room
   

Introduction

So You’re A Techie
Greetings new, green, inexperienced kid who just got in way over his/her head. You are now a techie at Harrisonburg High School. So, what exactly does that mean? Well, it means a whole lot of different things. Let’s go down the list:
    1. A sudden love for the color black. I didn’t think it would happen to me either, but I went from having one black shirt freshman year to more than a dozen senior year. It’s like the bubonic plague, except it doesn’t actually kill you, or make you sick, or... ok bad analogy.
    2. Instant development of weirdness. Let’s face it, drama people are weird, and techies are no exception. Unless you embrace your inner weirdness, you will not survive techie-dom. Being weird isn’t a bad thing, it’s simply embracing your inner quirkiness. Actually, that’s one of the best things that will ever happen to you in your life, so it might as well start now.
    3. Caffine. This is more directed towards the techies who will someday be directing the sound and light setup of a school musical. You can expect to go two straight weeks without getting more than five hours of sleep a night. No, I’m not exaggerating. At all. So stock up on the Red Bull, or Dr. Pepper, or your drug of choice (As long as it’s legal).
    4. A Work Ethic. No matter how bad of a procrastinator you are in school (And trust me, you weren’t as bad as I was), that all ends the SECOND you start working in tech. Well, you don’t actually stop. Not in school anyway. Just here, because that’s what actually matters.

    Now that I’ve come up with something more than four sentences long for an introduction, let’s move on to the stuff that’s actually important for you to read.
How To Use This Book

Don’t. No, seriously. Don’t. This book is something that should only be read cover-to cover my the most knowledge-hungry individuals on earth. You know, the ones who would read a calculus textbook with a big grin on their faces.

This book is intended to be a reference guide for when you don’t understand how something works. Any teaching you receive should come from whoever your technical director is. If you’re the director, you should have gotten it from the guy before you. This book is the simple acceptance that you won’t be able to learn everything, and as such, need a handy reference guide.

Also, I’d like to throw in yet another disclaimer. This book is written in a “How To Be A Techie: For Dummies” style because of my sarcastic form of humor and writing style, not because I actually want you to read it. In fact, if you can go four years without touching this book, I would be far more proud of you than if you read a chapter of it every night before bed.

Lastly, I tried to pretend otherwise earlier in the introduction, but this is really only for one person: The current Technical Director. Nobody else honestly needs to know even 10% of the material covered in this book, and reading it would just be a waste of time. The technical director, on the other hand, needs to know and WILL USE every single face written in here at some point or another. So if you aren’t the head honcho, put the book down. You’ll be glad you did.

Before You Start: A Techie Checklist
    Every techie has a set list of items they should never leave home (or at least go to work) without, and there’s a good reason for all of them.
    1. Gaff Tape. Before you leave high school, you will fall in love with gaff tape, in a mad passion that you didn’t think possible. Gaff Tape is your best friend. It can (and should) be used for just about everything that has to do with lighting and sound. Best of all, it comes in 1, 2, and 4 inch varieties. Though you’ll probably use 2 inch the most, make sure to have three in stock at all times (Especially before you start work for musical).
    2. Lighting Wrenches. If you though a spork was an incredible all-in-one tool, you clearly have never met a lighting wrench. This is an incredibly handy tool, and will literally save you hours of winding that stupid wrench slider back and forth. Always carry one with you when you’re adjusting lights.
    3. An Auditorium Key. Clearly, this is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. A auditorium key gets you in the staff entrance to the school, every fine arts room (which includes band, choir, and their offices), the lighting closet, 515, and the auditorium control booth. Save your time (and Swartz’s) by checking one out in January, and not having to continuously borrow his.
    4. Knowledge. As incredible as hands-on learning can be, please make sure you have a basic idea of what you’re doing before you do it, or at least how to try safely. You really don’t want to pay for a thousand dollar light you accidentally broke because you didn’t put on a safety cable, or your broken neck after adjusting facelights. Know what you’re doing, and how you’re going to do it with a (semi)-reasonable degree of safety.
    5. Creativity. No, being a techie isn’t all nuts and bolts. Creative problem solving is a HUGE aspect of being a techie. There will be countless times where you are presented with a problem from someone who has absolutely no clue how to fix it (and you probably won’t either). So figure out how to solve it.

    So, the introduction is out of the way. Let’s get to the important stuff.
Lighting
Understanding The Lighting System
    The first thing you need to know about any system at HHS is that it’s complicated, and the lighting system is no exception. In fact, the lighting system is the most complex and detailed, and you will be spending by far the most time working with it throughout your years of high school. So, there are two separate parts to the light system; The lights themselves, and the system you use to manipulate the lights (aka the light board). Before we start talking fancy about everything you can do with the light board, let’s learn a little bit about the lights themselves.
Lights
    First off, forget everything you know about your standard little light-bulb in your bedroom. Though the same principles of watts-amps-volts apply, these suckers really don’t have anything in common with your standard fluorescent bulb, at least on the surface. Rather than come up with a fancy way of introducing you to each light and it’s applications, this is going to be a fancy list. Hey, it’s the next-best thing. So here we go.
    Ellipsoidals- Ellipsoidal lights are one of the two backbones that you will use during your time as a techie. These lights serve two purposes: General stage lighting, and focus lighting. They are very useful when you want to light up only a corner of the stage, and equally useful when you want to light up the entire front portion of the stage. Now, let’s look at some of the awesome customizations available to ellipsoidal lights:
    1. Focus- The HHS repitoire of ellipsoidal lights ranges from 10 degrees to 50(not every degree in between, just 19, 26, and 36). By degree, I mean how focused the light is on one particular area. Think of the degrees like a flashlight (AND INSERT A COOL DRAWING HERE). A flashlight only shines light in the direction you point it in. However, if you were to take the bulb out of the flashlight, it would shine everywhere- left, right, behind it, under it, and in front... but it wouldn’t be lighting up anything more than 15 feet away, like the flashlight could. Think of your 10 degree lights as the flashlights, and the 50 degree lights as your bulbs. Focused light shines farther and brighter, unfocused light shines wider.
    2. Sharpness- Now we move on to the barrels. All of the ellipsoidal lights that you will see are actually just lenses. The light itself comes from a barrel which you put the lens in. (HERE COMES ANOTHER COOL PICTURE!) Now, the position of the light in the barrel is adjustable up to a length of ABOUT 6 INCHES, LET’S GET AN ACTUAL NUMBER. This allows you to adjust how sharp the light looks. For example, if you wanted to create a really stunning effect with one light (like a spotlight), you want a sharp light that stands out. However, if you want the light to blend in with a wash of lights you already have set up, you want it as dull as possible, so the light brightens up the stage but doesn’t stand out from the other ones. This can all be adjusted by where you put the light in the barrel.
    3. Cropping- This is another handy feature of the ellipsoidal barrels. If you look at an Ellipsoidal barrel, you will see four metal handles sticking out of the sides of the barrel. When these handles are pulled all the way out, they don’t do anything. When they are pushed all the way in, no light shines through the barrel. When you push a handle in, the light is cropped on the opposite side of the barrel from the handle (we’re refracting light, remember?) These crops allow you to do many things, but by far the one you will use the most is to prevent light from bleeding off the stage. More on that when you read about the catwalk. PUT LOTS OF PICTURES IN HERE
    Parnels- Meet the other backbone of the HHS lighting system. The Parnel is simply a wash light. They can be used in relatively small numbers to achieve a decent wash effect. For all of you lighting geeks out there, the name Parnel actually has an interesting origin. You see, the Parnel is actually a crossover between two other stage lights, the PAR, and the Fresnel. Combine the two, and you get Parnel. This light is sharpened by rotating the lens, which is not advisable unless you’re wearing gloves, as it can get very very hot (Yes, I learned the hard way)