1. StageSoc Training 2011-2012 Oliver Trojak

2.  Techy things (Signal path, general equipment etc)  Equipment in The Annex  Design  ‘Doing the design’ (sfx, micing, communications w/ director etc)  Choosing equipment  Crew  Etc

3.  The Signal Flow

4.  AKG C1000s  SM57s  Allen & Heath MixWizard 16:2  FOH amplifier  Peavey auxiliary amplifier  Speaker ‘wedges’  Ramsa Speakers  Install and relay  Behringer DI boxes C1000 MixWizard

5.  Two areas:  Balancing the sounds on stage with the sound of the orchestra (sound reinforcement)  Adding sound effects to add atmosphere to the performance, or simply to tell part of the story (eg. phone ringing)

6.  Before reinforcement the stage might sound like this!

7.  Our aim is to BALANCE the sound, not to necessarily make it louder!

8.  The listener hears a combination of the two Stage Sound PA Sound

9.  Sound effects alone are a huge part of the sound design allowing plenty of space for your creative flair to get to some exercise!  They can either be a distinct event…  Or can be used to add atmosphere  Sound effects or a sound-scape aimed to set the scene

10.  Where can you get them?  Variety of internet sources, some you have to pay for some you don’t.  Sfx libraries  Make your own!  Much more fun  Useful for a very specific sound  Use a DAW or waveform editor to ‘sculpt’ your sound to literally anything you want!  Then use CD/MD/computer for playback

11.  Most of the time we’ll use many more speakers than simply a FOH PA  May add ‘fill’ to boost/mimic FOH PA where there is no coverage  Often speakers will be placed around the auditorium or on stage  Foldback  Source speakers (hidden behind a telephone or TV, or perhaps for a more general use)

12.  Dynamic  Close micing, versatile, crude sound  Condenser  Close & ambient micing, precise sound

13.  PZM  Ambient micing, Boundary mics  Electret  Head worn mics, used with radio mics

14.  Omnidirectional  Response is identical in all directions  Mostly used in lav-radio microphones  Cardioid  Heart shaped pickup  Don’t pickup anything from behing  Most widely used polar pattern

15.  Hypercardioid  Narrower pickup at the top  Small pickup at the back  Good at rejecting sounds from other sources  Shotgun  Long narrow pickup pattern  Good for picking up the stage from a distance  Construction aids polar pattern

16. Pre-amplification Equalization Auxiliaries Fader/Routing Master Section

17.  Smoothens out a waveform  Used to tighten up a sound….  Or can be used to make a sound more punchy  Essentially limits the maximum sound level  Limiter, gate

18.  Time based effect  The sound of a room  Used to stop the singer sounding ‘dead’  Could also be used for a very deliberate effect  Echo, Chorus

19. sound design Now that we know what equipment we have at our disposal, and how to get the most from it, we can think about doing the sound design

20.  Designer and technician/engineer overlap surprisingly often  Sound Cues  System Design and Equipment selection  Sound Department (your crew!)  Logistical Co-ordination

21.  Get to know the show!  Read the script  Read the book  Watch the film  Listen to the soundtrack  See rehearsals (note the plural additive ‘s’!)  Figure out what your doing for each cue/idea  Including speakers/microphones  Be prepared to make changes!  Director/logistics/finance

22.  Communicate with the director and other members of the production team  It is important that your design matches the lighting, set, and director’s ‘vision’  The director may have a very specific idea of what he/she wants from the sound (and lights)  Elements of the set and lighting can have a large impact on your design, especially with respect to speaker placement  Start sourcing/making sfx

23.  Make sure you’re in budget!!!   Try and plan in detail  FOH console, Loudspeakers (and cabling), Amplifiers (and cabling), playback devices (and cabling), microphones (and cabling), fx units (and cabling), radio microphones (and cabling? :S) ….oh and what happens if something goes wrong??  How well do you know the equipment?  How many people will it take to run/get-in the rig?

24.  The size of the sound crew will depend on how many people you need to implement your design (and how many budding noise boys there are!)  You don’t need experts…  But anyone keen and a quick learner  Who you think will make a good noise boy  Make sure your team can all contact you and each other!

25. Sound Designer Assistant Sound Designer Production Sound Engineer (PSE) Assistant EngineerTechnician Sound Operator ♯ 1 Sound Operator ♯ 2 Sound Operator ♯ n

26.  Pre get-in  Make sure everyone in your team knows what is going on….BEFORE the get-in!  Confirm equipment delivery, check you’ve got everything you will need. Organise a sound plan on paper)  Get-in & fit-up  Make sure all equipment is there  Introduce you and your team to house techies  And you have completed and implemented your successful design!

27.  There is no right or wrong way  Experiment  Have fun!!!