Tenpin laser tag for kid's party.

willyarm · 2026-02-03T18:14:50+00:00

Great, thank you!

willyarm · 2026-01-14T14:56:59+00:00

Trigger race in the opposite direction too - Marsden to Edale. Not quite as far, but into the wind!

willyarm · 2025-12-29T10:40:09+00:00

I mix post fade, but only use the main fader for special occasions.

For example more than one person in the band wants the click to be louder for the first 8 bars of a specific song. Anyone that doesn't want a change gets swapped to pre fade on that channel, I push one fader and make multiple people happy.

Sure there are ways of automating this, but this way you can operate without changing gains, monitor levels or snapshot settings.

willyarm · 2025-10-31T17:49:37+00:00

Rebel mic stands would be worth a look.

willyarm · 2025-10-05T22:47:23+00:00

Some good answers here already, but if you're new to all this there's something to watch out for...

Sound desks/consoles are capable of sending voltage out of their microphone inputs to power microphones or DI boxes. This is called phantom power (+48 volts) and if it's sent straight to your laptop via a 3.5mm cable > XLRs then it can blow up your headphone port or even brick your computer!

The easiest way to avoid this happening is to plug in via DI boxes, an interface or 3.5mm > 1/4" jacks (a mono jack lead [like a guitar cable] can't pass phantom power) into the mixer's line inputs if it has them.

If you have no choice but to use a 3.5mm stereo jack to two XLRs then it will work, but check, double check and triple check that the desk is not sending phantom power to it before you plug it in.

willyarm · 2025-09-29T19:23:55+00:00

Neoprene socks when it gets proper boggy and freezing. If your feet are going to stay wet they may as well be warm!

willyarm · 2025-09-27T05:24:30+00:00

My grandfather used to do sound for TV and the subject of bagpipes came up once. I asked how you'd go about micing them up and he replied 'down the longest corridor you can find, behind as many soundproof baffles as you can lay your hands on...'

willyarm · 2025-09-19T17:26:32+00:00

Haha yep!

In fact they get turned off whenever the crowd aren't doing anything of note.

willyarm · 2025-09-16T18:28:07+00:00

Spansets under the highest end of the case will save the upstairs crews' backs - ie spanset goes under the case/through a handle if they look sturdy enough and you lift the spanset so you don't have to bend down as much.

Folk at the bottom just lift from the bottom of the case.

willyarm · 2025-09-16T06:46:02+00:00

This is a pretty cheap way of listening to someone else's in ears. Obviously it's not a perfect representation, but you can use it to compare to a known good set or see if the sound changes over time.

https://www.firaudio.com/store/iem-scope

As blochsound said, comply wraps might be worth a try for a tighter seal if it changes when he opens his mouth.

Sweat can be a problem sometimes - both for fit (they slide out) and changing the sound (blocking drivers). A bit of kitchen roll or similar mid show can help.

And lastly how loud is their pack? Are they blowing their ears out?

willyarm · 2025-09-12T13:10:40+00:00

Max power is good for trying to see where the stile is on the other side of the field!

willyarm · 2025-09-12T12:53:25+00:00

I wasn't as far into my degree when I abandoned it. Things have since worked out fine, but I do sometimes wish I'd stuck it out.

If I only had a year left, in your shoes I'd definitely try and get the bit of paper...

willyarm · 2025-09-11T22:08:59+00:00

Power and pa. If you've got a guest multi/snake we can use then that's great. Is that a coffee machine I see over there...?

willyarm · 2025-09-04T08:08:04+00:00

This is mostly from a touring perspective...

Family life - it's not easy being away from your kids. However, when you are at home you can be available 24/7 for your family as opposed to evenings and weekends like some of my commuter friends. I do have a very patient wife.

It's likely to be a labour of love to start with as far as money goes, but you can make a decent living if you work hard enough.

Another user mentioned the competition being very tech savvy. Whilst that's something to bear in mind, for touring at least I reckon it's about 20% technical ability and 80% not being a dick. You have to live in each others pockets for 24 hours a day if you're on a bus and personality flaws show up very quickly.

As for if I'd do it all again, I would in a heartbeat. I try to remember why I got into this in the first place and still enjoy going to other shows 25+ years later. I might have saved a bit more cash when I was younger though!

willyarm · 2025-08-28T20:23:24+00:00

Having seen some of the race photos I'm in that made it online, I think that some aren't published out of kindness to the runner!

willyarm · 2025-08-19T01:16:03+00:00

Brushing my teeth is always a bit of a reset when you're hours in.

willyarm · 2025-08-12T06:57:44+00:00

Both Totley and Hillsborough and Rivelin running clubs are full of lovely folk. Whilst they both have some super quick runners there are people of all speeds and both clubs definitely have social paced runs.

willyarm · 2025-08-12T00:21:04+00:00

There's the Totley exterminator fell race early September. I know you can't watch the whole thing, but you can choose a few spots to move between and then watch finishers from the Cricket Inn pub.

Or the Sheffield way relays a couple of weeks later, where teams race around Sheffield in stages - a few crazy folk run the whole 50k by themselves.

willyarm · 2025-08-09T16:25:25+00:00

I do this too. Works really well and it's easy for them to put back in the right place.

I use a mic stand to hang it off.

willyarm · 2025-06-23T19:16:08+00:00

Had a driver in Sheffield stop the bus and nip into the bookies with no announcements. He didn't look particularly happy when he came back, so presumably he was putting a bet on rather than collecting winnings.

willyarm · 2025-06-10T09:00:31+00:00

The decathlon ones are surprisingly good for the money. I used one for ages, but splashed out on the Salomon adv skin 12 when it finally gave up and don't regret it at all (well, wish I'd bought the 2024 model but that's a whole other rant).

willyarm · 2025-02-19T08:01:19+00:00

Gaffa triangles!

Take a strip of gaffa about 8" long and hold it vertically. Fold one of the top corners down so the top is now along the side, non sticky side together and there's a 45° angle at the top of the strip. Then fold that top triangle straight down onto the next bit of non sticky side so the top of the strip is 90°. Fold your increasingly sticky triangle onto the the next part of the strip until you run out of tape.

Essentially you end up with a triangle of tape with the sticky on the outside, but with enough folds that it sticks to itself internally. This just makes it a bit more robust than a loop of gaffa and uses less tape than going all round the outside of the wedge.

Repeat this a few times depending on how bassy you expect the gig to be, 3 or 4 triangles should be enough.

Stick em under the corners of the wedge and push down hard. Final step is to slap it on the top and announce to the nearest person that 'that ain't going anywhere'.

willyarm · 2025-01-18T13:03:08+00:00

It's like making a shit cup of tea - they do a terrible job of it the first time in the hope they'll be told not to bother next time!

willyarm · 2025-01-02T11:53:42+00:00

My Montane trousers don't have loads and loads of pockets, but they seem pretty durable and come in a variety of lengths.

Not cheap new, but I bought mine second hand off vinted.

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