I am currently enjoying a fantastic theater production as the assistant sound designer for a musical. The sound designer that hired me has moved on to another Tech rehearsal and has left me with the task of running the show. We normally discuss issues regarding the show. But one issue that we recently resolved still bugs me.
We had a monitor placed by the band so that band leader can follow the vocal performances on stage. But this monitor would frequently give out a loud buzzing sound. After changing several lines, I noticed that the buzzing would stop after jiggling the monitor's power cord plugged into a power strip. I noticed that the buzzing decreased but remained when plugged into a power strip with fewer plugs sharing the strip. Eventually, the buzzing disappeared entirely when plugged directly into its own outlet.
My question is this. Is this a common occurrence for powered monitors? Granted, it may be an old model. But since it's my first gig in theater production, I was wondering if power strips are notorious for causing problems like this.