{"id":22743,"date":"2016-06-22T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/?p=22743"},"modified":"2016-07-18T10:15:30","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T14:15:30","slug":"insound-touring-avoid-last-minute-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/insound-touring-avoid-last-minute-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"InSound: Touring and How To Avoid Last Minute Disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part of a regular Adorama Learning Center series,\u00a0Sara Landeau\u2019s\u00a0\u2018InSound\u2019 explores the best in audio gear, how-to\u2019s and interviews with other musicians. \u00a0Read previous installments here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t take everything you want on tour. Items need to be micro-sized or get traded in for lighter versions. You have to depend on quick tricks and special MacGyver-ing. Early in my touring days I carried way too much, didn\u2019t utilize wheels on gear cases, carried \ufb02imsy large guitar cases, and dragged way too much around in heeled shoes through airports. My bandmates in The Julie Ruin, who started touring years before I did (mostly with Bikini Kill and Le Tigre), inspired me with some grid-like pro\ufb01ciency in their carry-ons. During our \ufb01rst tour, Kathleen, the singer, impressed us all by showing us her stage out\ufb01t, a leotard-jumpsuit, then scrunched it up in the palm of her hand to \ufb01t neatly in a \ufb01st, before shoving it into the toe of her packed stage shoes. Just like that! My quest for using limited real estate became an obsession. But this column is about gear, not leotards (although both are equally important in our performance), and as far as Iknow, there are very few pieces of gear that I\u2019m bringing that will \ufb01t so neatly in the toe of my Puma.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BFwHiSgx4Dq\/?taken-by=thejulieruin<\/p>\n

Depending on the length of the tour, or where we\u2019re traveling, I may bring my small pedal board, diminished in size to \ufb01t in my square TSA-regulated size carry-on, or the large soft suitcase that slides on top of Tetris-like amps in the tour van. The larger pedalboard is the desired option as it’s hooked up and ready to go as soon as it’s opened. The small one is made of a very light pegboard from Home Depot that’s easy to carry. My friend and I cut it exactly to \ufb01t my Muji square carry-on, perfect for smaller European planes. The downside to the pegboard case is that the pedals and patches are not connected and must be reassembled each time before going on stage. I carry a duplicate of every pedal just in case one breaks, including a reverb and vibrato pedal to imitate a Fender Twin Amp, which we rent, should a broken amp disaster occur. This gets heavy and I nearly throw my back out every time I lift it up into the overhead bin. Like a nest of snakes on top of the pedals are dozens of quarter-inch cables, extra patches, an Ispot charger or two; all of which looks on the security camera screen to be what could be misinterpreted as a bomb. I am usually asked by a perturbed security person to show them what is inside. When I start explaining its music gear, they understand right away and give up trying to \ufb01gure out what I\u2019m actually talking about, close the suitcase, and push me on. Audio jargon can bore some people quickly, so in this case, I use it to my advantage.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/6OFYr-R4FD\/?taken-by=thejulieruin<\/p>\n

Now, musicians deal with the Sophie-esque choice of whether to send a guitar through check-in with the luggage to be brutally tossed around, or risk taking it on the plane and face the issue of it \u201cbeing too large.\u201d I\u2019ve been told I can\u2019t get on the plane because I was carrying a guitar, and so have many other musicians I know. And what about all those images, videos, TSA lawsuits, and even that youtube parody about the horrors of broken guitar headstocks, smashed, dented, or worse…lost? At least I\u2019m in control if I\u2019m keeping it nearby. So I risk bringing it on in a tightly-\ufb01t backpack gig bag, the smallest I can \ufb01nd, with the hopes that having it up against my back, and wearing all black, will disguise the real size. So far this works. And what about normal carry-on items? Since space matters, call it the \u201cKonMari Method\u201d of guitar travel, I bring almost nothing: magazine or soft cover book in the guitar case wrapped around the neck, makeup, aspirin, wallet shoved between the tuning pegs, etc. I\u2019ve had some personal female items fall out of my guitar case after tour that I forgot about. Could be worse, I still have the guitar.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BG20zSLoatj\/?taken-by=saralandeau<\/p>\n

Anyway, here\u2019s a list of items that are essential for tour:<\/p>\n