AIEL
Purchase Guide
STAGE TAPES
|
A staple of the touring industry is stage tape. It is used to secure guitar pedals to the floor, hang backdrops, make emergency repairs, and to generally hold together anything for a temporary purpose. The following will give you a quick rundown of various tapes that can be, and are, used for stage purposes. These include typical sizes and colours. Afterwards, storage suggestions will be given and then a series of tape tips will be presented. |
THE FOLLOWING MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED
WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR ©
This is the lightest of tapes used on stage. It was originally meant to be employed by painters for masking purposes; that is, to keep unwanted paint off of surfaces while making a specified line around moulding, or between a wall and a differently-coloured ceiling, and so on. This tape typically does not stick well - but then, it was never meant to. Workers don't want paint being pulled off when the tape is removed after the job has been completed.
Use this tape for temporary marking purposes. It takes felt-tip marker ink well. You may also use it temporarily for keeping small coiled cables together. It is inexpensive, rips from the roll easily, and leaves no glue behind (unless you use a poor-quality masking tape or leave it on for a long time, especially in hot conditions). These qualities are a plus for cable bundling because no stickiness results and the cables come apart easily during the next setup. (However, a better method is to employ permanent ties on each cable.)
Its disadvantages are that it does not perform well in the presence of moisture or in locations where the temperature is much outside room levels. If it is too cold, the tape will not stick; if too warm, the tape will leave glue behind when removed. Glue residue is also a problem if the tape is left on a surface too long. Also, its ease of removal and tear-off from the roll means it may tear too easily at unwanted times.
Widths range from about 12 - 50mm, and there is a variety of colours from which to choose, if you decide to use it for marking and/or colour-coding purposes. Lengths are usually around 20 metres, but shorter lengths can be as low as 5 metres. Some contractors' lengths can be as long as 50 metres or so, and as wide as 75mm. You may find manufacturers which make widths and lengths outside of those ranges, too.
Most road crews use this for its intended electrical purpose, but it is also used as a stage tape for marking, colour coding, and for coiled-cable securing. The latter purpose is not reccommended, though. Good electrical tape usually doesn't leave glue (unless left on for too long a time or if the cables are stored in a warm area), but it can be hard to remove during a setup. Whereas masking tape is easily ripped to separate the coil, electrical tape just stretches. This is a great property for electrical usage, but it means one must unwind the tape or carry a knife to cut it if used for cable tying. Neither unwinding nor cutting with a knife is conducive to a fast setup.
Other than for electrical repairs, use this tape for marking and colour-coding purposes. It comes in a wide variety of colours, takes felt-tip marker ink well, and as stated before, it doesn't usually leave glue behind when removed - provided a high-quality tape is used and it is not left on for eons. It is waterproof and thus can be used outdoors or in moist conditions as long as it is put on when the surfaces are dry. Wrap tightly.
Widths range from about 12 to 20 mm. 50 mm is available, but usually only in black. A typical roll length is 20 metres, although shorter lengths may be found. Beware of the down-sized roll; instead of 20 metres, one only gets 18. This represents a price increase of 11.1%. That is a lot -- well above the inflation rate here in Canada!
Also stay clear of discount-store tape packs that contain a variety of rolls, each a different colour. The quality seems to rarely be high, and even when it is, the lengths on each roll are so short, that the price is often higher than if one bought a full-length roll.
Here is a quick formula to determine if the price on that package is higher than the full-sized roll you recently bought. Ignoring taxes (which balance out), do the following calculations to four decimal places:
P$ / Pr / Rl1 X Rl2 X R$2
This means to take a Package price (P$) before taxes, divide it by that Package's number of rolls (Pr), and to divide that by the Length of one of its Rolls (Rl1). This will result in a very small number, but don't be concerned. Now, multiply this very small number by the Length of a full-sized Roll (Rl2), and then by the price paid for that Roll before taxes (R$2).
If the answer is a price higher than the full Roll's, you are paying
too much for the Package. Essentially, one is calculating the price of a
full roll at the cost of an individual package's rolls. If the result is
more expensive, the full roll is cheaper because the result of these
calculations is based on what the individual package rolls cost.
Example:
Compare a package that retails four,
two-metre rolls priced at $1.00 versus a
20-metre roll at your wholesale cost of $0.75:
1.00 / 4 / 2 X 20 X .75
The answer is $1.88 -- over twice as much per roll than you currently pay for the longer roll! In this case, the full roll would be $1.88 at the cost of the package's rolls. Even at retail, I can't see a full roll of quality electrical tape selling for more than $1.50. It's obvious that the package is way more expensive. To sell this example package at the roll's price, it would have to be priced at $0.30. Buy the quality, full rolls; they're cheaper and they provide a professional product with which to work.
Even if your roll is more expensive, one should question the quality, and therefore the suitability, before deciding on the package. I have tried a few packages from different stores just to see what the tape was like regardless of cost. None I have ever encountered was worth using for professional purposes.
Getting back to quality electrical tape, the wide variety of colours from which to choose makes it very suitable for colour-code marking. Some use it to even designate cable lengths, but I don't like that practice. It's too hard for a pickup crew to learn each company's length coding. (Yes, some use the resistor-code standard, but one can never be sure of that.)
Instead, we use strips of red-red-blue tape on all our cables (among other articles) as one way to designate our company's ownership. We display each cable's length by writing in black felt-tip marker right on each connector as " `n' metres ".
Most stage tape seems to fall under the general term of "duct" tape. However, true duct tape is just that - it's used by contractors to seal duct work used in both heating and cooling systems. It will work for stage purposes but has a number of inherent problems which ultimately make actual stage tape much more suitable.
The first problem with duct tape is that it is a thin, cloth tape with usually a coarse weave. This makes for a weaker tape for stage purposes. It can shred when removed after a show or even when just being torn from the roll. Because of this, threads can be left hanging and they can be left behind after the tape is removed.
Another problem is that duct tape is meant to be sticky under heat, yet remain stuck when cooled. Thus, it often leaves glue behind because the adhesive will separate from the backing when the tape is removed after usage - especially if the tape has been on a surface for a prolonged period of time.
Duct tape usually only comes in one colour: grey, but now manufacturers
have expanded that to other colours. It is somewhat waterproof and so can
be used outdoors or in moist conditions provided it is put on when the
surfaces are dry. Recently, very cheap duct tape has arrived in the
marketplace that comes in a variety of colours. Usually the rolls only
contain a few metres of tape and are actually more expensive per metre
than a full roll of actual stage tape.
Select duct tape only for light-duty usage where low cost is a necessity and the possible lack of colour choice is not a factor. Choose it for temporary purposes so left-over glue does not become a problem, except with the cheapest of tapes.
Typical lengths are usually around 50 - 55 metres, but shorter lengths of the lowest quality can be as little as 2 metres. Widths are usually 50mm, but other sizes can be 25mm and 75mm. Tapes from some manufacturers are slightly narrower by a few millimetres. This adds up over the length of a roll times thousands of rolls to be cost saving for those manufacturers. Slightly narrower tape may have little effect regarding its end purpose, but it smacks of downsizing so a manufacturer can make more profit, or appear to offer a lower cost roll. Where it costs a crew is when tape strips must be placed side by side to cover something. The narrower tapes may mean an extra strip has to be used each time.
Used by the military (at least in Canada), this is a good middle tape between duct and stage tape. It is waterproof, has a tight weave and good glue. It can be expensive, but may be had at some surplus places for a better price. Widths are usually 25, 50 or 75 mm, with lengths in the 50 to 60-metre range.
Beware of cheaper tapes that appear to be gun tape. They come in the same military green colour, but are inferior. Some of them shred easily while dispensing from the roll and some may also leave glue behind after removal.
The true professionals use actual stage tape. It is the big brother of duct tape in that it utilises a cloth backing and strong adhesive, but to a much greater degree. Look for a tight, fine weave with good thread adherence.
The adhesive should be very strong. The best ones use a synthetic rubber adhesive. Typically, a good tape is hard to unwind from the roll at room temperature because of its stickiness. Look at the adhesive side of the tape. It should be smooth, free from hollows, and the backing should not be very visible through the glue coating. A quality stage tape holds well but can still be removed, and frequently may actually be reused the next night!
If it is to be outdoors in moist conditions, get a poly coated tape. This plastic coating will give extra protection from moisture, and to some extent from direct sunlight deterioration. I once used a high quality stage tape to hold an amber gel on a company vehicle signal light. The lens had been broken by vandals and a replacement was unavailable. That gel and tape were there for four years!
If you need robustness, get a thicker tape. For quick recognition, realise that for a given length, a roll of thicker tape will have a considerably greater diameter than that of a thinner, lower strength tape. Use thick tape where you need great holding power with no tearing. Be aware of thicker tapes than don't have correspondingly thicker adhesive. The backing will be harder to see through the adhesive side of a tape with a thick glue coating, and not at all with the thickest coating.
Stage tapes are available in a very wide variety of colours and also in a matte finish. The latter is usually used around video and photography sets where stray reflections are a problem. Widths are usually 50mm, but 25 and 75mm are available. I have even heard of a 100-mm width! Common lengths range from a low of 5 metres up to 50 and 60 metres.
The wider widths are typically used to tape down carpet edges or are placed on top of cable runs. Instead of using three side-by-side strips of 50mm tape to bridge a group of cables, two strips of 75mm save time and will cost less than three of an equivalent 50mm tape. If the cables are cutting across a walkway or doorway and no cable mats are available or they are unsuitable, use a light-coloured tape. A better alternative is an aluminum-finished or fluorescent tape to make the intrusion more visible. This is very important in low-light areas. Keep usage of fluorescent tape to a minimum, though; it costs many more times than plain-coloured stage tape. Perhaps use regular stage tape topped with a thin strip of fluorescent tape.
This type falls under "Stage Tape", but is really an identifier type as can be the electrical or masking tapes. It has a phosphorescent coating and is typically 19mm or 25mm in width, although 50mm is available. The coating will absorb light, especially from the violet end of the spectrum, and then re-emit it in the dark. The usual emitted colour is a bright greenish white. It is used to identify backstage walkways as well as hazards when it must be completely dark such as areas close to an audience's view.
The tape will glow well enough for an hour or two to remain useful, depending on the quality of the coating and the amount of light initially absorbed. To achieve longer glow times, some theatres will use a low-wattage, blacklight-blue, ultraviolet light source to make the tape glow all the time and to maintain its brightness. This is not recommended where props, scenery, clothing, or the actors themselves will glow and be revealed to an audience.
If this method is used, shield the UV sources well and switch to less expensive, fluorescent masking tapes. Glow tape is unnecessary where a glow source is always present. Give that this tape is often ten to twenty times the cost of fluorescent masking tape, glow tape rolls are typically ten metres or less in length.
Always store tape in a plastic bag or snap-lid plastic containers with wax paper separators between each roll. Adhesives can and do dry out. The separators will prevent the edges of rolls from sticking to one another over time. If left long enough, such unseparated tape may need a wrecking bar to get apart if the tape uses a high quality adhesive. Even wax paper separators can still stick to tape left too long in storage. Therefore, it is suggested that you use a sheet of waxed paper between rolls and that it be sprayed with a light coating of silicone. An industrial-level silicone spray is available from us, but a lighter-duty commercial version may be found at some hardware or automotive stores. The light-duty stuff is fine for this purpose.
Do not overuse the silicone spray. Put a dab on the wax paper and distribute it with a cloth or paper towel. Use too much and it will get on to the back of the tape making it too slippery to grip, and thus, to tear off.
Here are some Simple Tips to make your
Tape Usage Easier and Less Wasteful.
Return to the
Purchase Guide
Table of Contents
