How long does it take you to set up?

Kaiser

Member
Just wondering how long it takes people to set up your gear for a gig?
I takes me about 40 mins to set up a 4-piece with 3 cymbals (unmic'd).
How about you?
 
20 min. 6piece with 4 cymbals
 
It really depends on how many people are playing roadie and if the kit is on spot or pre-staged. Having to put the rack together, mount drums and cymbals, snare, bass drum, IEM, and my Zune into a DI box...could be 20 minutes.

If the kit is assembled off stage and can be carried in (by three people, with everything mounted) all I have to do is throw the bass drum and snare in place and attach my double pedal. Hook up the Zune to the DI and and ready to go in less than five minutes.

All of this can be affected by so many uncontrollable variables.

But in a perfect world. 15 minutes is usually a comfortable mark to shoot for.
 
Just wondering how long it takes people to set up your gear for a gig?
I takes me about 40 mins to set up a 4-piece with 3 cymbals (unmic'd).
How about you?

I agree with a the others here, That seems like a long time...

I used to set up a 10 pc set w/ 5 cymbals... in about 15 - 20 mins.
Taken down & packed in hard cases in about 6 mins. that's with
(the taken down part was with 2 road crew.)

maybe get a drum roadie :D
 
Wow...I'd like to watch some of you guys, your times seem pretty fast.

For me it depends on where the gig is and what I encounter when I get there.

If I'm left alone and given plenty of space to get my cases arranged and my rug down I guess I could pull off a 4 piece with two or three cymbals in 15 min or so.

But typically there's a pile of crap in the way or people walking around or the bass player needs help and I'm hauling in music stands and mic stands and someone is always saying "hey man can you run this cable behind you?" or some other such thing. Even worse this time of year playing barbecues and festival type gigs. (What do you mean you can't setup in the dirt\grass? What'd you expect American Bandstand? lol).

That's the stuff that slows the process wayyyyy down.

Still, 40 minutes seem like a long time for a four piece though. Maybe you could tweak something to make it easier?
 
Five piece and six cyms. Carry in and set up under 15 mins with Just a bass drum mic.
 
It really depends on the venue.....but I have to include the unloading time in that....simply because I need to budget that when I gig. Sometimes I need to find a parking spot...which can be a challenge in itself. There are places that simply don't have back stage entrances or easily accessible back doors.

I usually budget an hour minimum. Included in that: 15 minutes unload and carry in gear. Unpack gear and set up....then put cases away or pack out of site.

When I'm done gigging....it's an hour almost every night from the time I stop to the time I'm driving away.
 
wow, some of you guy's times are amazing, it takes me atleast 1 houur to setup my 9 piece kit, my rack, my stands and put my cymbals on and make sure everything is in the right place and at the right position.
 
Yeah, same as last guy. About an hour!

While my singer/guitar bandmates plug in and head to the bar!

Getting into a small pub/club and setting up on a small stage for me is a real pain.

If I come back in another life, I'll be a singer!
 
It depends on the situation. If I'm running late and have ten minutes, it takes ten minutes. If I have an hour, it takes me an hour. Typically I show up early and can get it done in about twenty minutes, including microphones.
 
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1.5 hours for unloading all cases and setting up 6 drums (including 2 floor toms w/ legs), 5 cymbals, 1 hi hat, 2 cowbells, a mounted tamborine, 1 windchime, 3 drum mics w/stands and cords, a submixer and cords, a fan, 1 vocal mic w/ stand and cord, a set of stage lights, and my monitor w/ cords, drums quick tuned and adjusted, cases stashed away, water bottle ready and cooled to 40 degrees. Do I lose?
Holy crap 20 minutes is phenomenally fast for some of you guys. I can do it in an hour if need be.
 
Yes, 40 mins, I am slow, but Im usally in no rush cos I always try to get there before the rest of the band!
 
It takes me 15 - 20 minutes to set up my 5 piece with 9 cymbals. That's from load in to miked.
 
When i bring out the big kit, 9pc. double bass, splash, ride, 3 crashes, hi-hat...maybe 15-20min. But the only reason it takes a short time is the pearl hardware with memory locks. everything slides togeather the way it was the last time.
 
a lot of times i have no choice in the matter. i *have* to get everything set up and ready to go in about 15-20 minutes because the club is on a tight schedule with other bands and we have about that much time to get all the drums and other stuff from the band that went on before us off the stage, haul my stuff onto the stage (as pre-setup as i can get it), get everything miced, and then finally do a quick soundcheck.

after our show, if anyone is following us, i have to practically throw my stuff off the stage so the next band can move in as fast as possible. i don't like that part of doing shows, but it's worth it!
 
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