YECH! A picture is worth a thousand words

Keeping your stage gear sanitary has been a blog post topic before, however, this video from microphone manufacturer Audio Technica pretty well sums it up.

For more information about keeping your mics clean, see:
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-knows-where-that-thangs-been.html
and
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/yech-get-that-stinky-thang-out-of-my.html

Who knows where that thang's been!?

Every time you approach a microphone (or maybe everytime a microphone approaches you) you have to ask yourself:  Does anyone have a condom that won't muffle the sound?

Really.  Where has that thing been?  Did the last singer / lecturer have herpes or some other orally transmissible disease?  Another solution comes to the rescue:  Mic Check (www.checkthatmic.com) is an individually packed, alcohol- saturated wipe that can kill many of the germs on the surface of the mic.  Great for wiping down many types of musical instruments, sound and lighting consoles, and just about anything else you might come in contact with - living or dead.

It makes a great companion to the Microphome cleaner product that gets down into the pores of the windscreen foam (see: http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/yech-get-that-stinky-thang-out-of-my.html).

If you still don't  believe this is a good idea, then go to:

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/yech-picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

Say "Ahhh"

Yech! Get that stinky thang out of my grille!

It's 10:00 o'clock.  Do you know where your microphone has been?  Who's been playing tonsil hockey with it?  Or worse?  Didn't think so.  Most people don't bother to think about those things.  Too yucky.  I know it puts shivers down my spine when I do.

Fortunately, somebody does care.  The folks at Microphome have just what you and your band needs to keep from contracting the next deadly thing (well, at least it might make those stupid germs think twice about who they're foolin' with).  Professional Mic Cleaning Foam.  Don't leave home without.  They claim it kills 99.9% of germs on the stuff it touches.

Check-out the product at www.microphome.com -or- www.microphome.org (which in this case I'm thinkin' they mean organism).

It's just like spraying shaving cream on your favorite '58, but it's hittin' the gross stuff head-on.

For another blog entry on the subject, see:
http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/who-knows-where-that-thangs-been.html

If you still don't  believe this is a good idea, then go to:

http://theatresafetyblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/yech-picture-is-worth-thousand-words.html

What's on your mic?

It should be well hung when its wall hung.

Not everything gets rigged from above. Sometimes it is necessary to hang a cantelever load off a wall. This speaker weighs about 125 pounds and is supported from below by a steel bracket bolted to the wall, and the top is tied-back with an interesting mix of hardware.
This is a close-up of the top rigging. I could not see how the link chain was terminated to the top of the speaker. There is link chain (not rated for overhead lifting), connected to an aluminum turnbuckle (not moused, not rated for overhead lifting) via an open-ended hook at one end and an open eye bolt at the other; connected to a forged turnbuckle eye; via a stainless steel screw-pin shackle (unknown rating, but clearly not marked) that is not safety-wired (moused). The forged turnbuckle eye that was used to go through the wall should have been a sholder eye bolt with a large diameter hardened flat washer -- you can see how the base of the eye in pulled into the CMU block, possibly cracking it due the wedging forces.
When we go around to the back-side of the wall we find that the installer drilled through from the front and spalled the CMU block, then installed a mild steel flat washer and no lock-washer.
This speaker, and it brother on the opposite side of the stage, were mounted right above the walking paths of all those that came onto the stage. Also of note, although not a safety issue, was that this speaker was pointed straight-out from the wall toward a point about eight feet above the last row of seats -- whatever happened to the idea of aiming a speaker at the people? Obviously installed by someone that did not understand rigging or acoustics!

Beam me up, Scotty!

I think this one speaks for itself . . . . Don't use homemade beam clamps!

When you do use commercial beam clamps, please install them correctly. These are reversed - the U-Bolt should be nominally parallel to the load, not tilted-in. Also notice the Bent Washer and the open S-Hook.

This is how they are supposed to be oriented:

Nuts!

The nut above may be tight, but it does not fully engage the threads on the bolt. Good practice is to always leave at least 1/2 to 1 full bolt diameter protruding from the nut. Like this:

Washers need attention, too! A washer is a device to distribute the load from the nut evenly across the bolted surface. If the surface is flat and the backing hole is just barely larger than the bolt coming through it, then a non-hardened washer may do, but if it is subject to bending or is suspending a load overhead, then the washer should be graded the same as the bolt and nut (i.e. SAE Grade 5, or 8, or ASTM 305, as determined by the engineer certifying the system).