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Unit 6: Criteria 1 - Sound Production Roles

Sound Roles

SOUND ONE: Sound one’s job is to operate the mixing desk during a performance, they control all the channels and equipment and follow cues given to them by Sound two.

SOUND TWO: Sound two’s job is to read through the script along with the performance and notify sound one of any upcoming cues and other notes in the script. As well as sound one, sound two also communicates with Sound three, the DSM, the band if there’s any sound problems and the MD.

SOUND THREE: Sound three’s job is to put all microphones on actors and take them off as well as maintain them during the performance. They communicate with sound two.

SOUND DESIGNER: The sound designer is in charge of deciding where all speaker, subs, monitors, delay stacks etc. will be positioned in a venue for a particular performance and produces a sound design to show where they should be placed by the sound engineers.

Unit 6: Criteria 2 - Production Plans

Production plans

For “The Ubu Plays” there were certain things we had to do before the show started.

An example of this is the sound effects, there are 9 sound effects used throughout the first two plays and for each one I had to find out what the directors wanted, search through lots of effects for the most appropriate for that scene. I then edited the effects using editing software “Audacity” and played them for the directors, when the directors were happy with them all I put them into an iPad app called “FX Live” and added them to the cue list.

Unit 6: Criteria 3 - Managing A Team

Managing a Team

For the Hair & Fashion show I was put in charge of the sound team. I had to liaise between the DSM, the Hair & Fashion people and the sound team. I was in charge of making sure that everything ran smoothly in terms of sound and that the cues came at the right time and in the right order. I made sure the music was lifted and lowered at the right time as well as the microphone. Whenever issues came up with sound they were brought to me and I was in charge of making sure they were dealt with properly and on time.

Unit 6: Criteria 4 - Production Planning documentation

Production Plan Documentation

For our production plans (E.g. the sound effects) there were documents we had and used to ensure we had everything and know when it was used.

Here is a list we received of the sound effects needed for the second play:

The sound of a dark, eerie forest

The sound of a sewer.

The sound of a someone shitting

The sound of a toilet being flushed

The sound of a toilet exploding

The sound of a train

The sound of a crocodile roaring.

Here is a list of the cues for each of the above sound effects:

The sound of a dark, eerie forest – when they set up for the forest scenes.

The sound of a sewer – when Reece jumps in the tub at the back of the stage.

The sound of a someone shitting – when Andie sits on the toilet.

The sound of a toilet being flushed – after the previous finishes.

The sound of a toilet exploding - after the previous finishes.

The sound of a train – When the tram comes on the stage.

The sound of a crocodile roaring – when they lift up the crocodile mouth x3

Here is a list of which microphone is on which actor in each play:

Unit 8: Criteria 1 - Production Plans

Production plans

For “The Ubu Plays” there were certain things we had to do before the show started.

An example of this is the sound effects, there are 9 sound effects used throughout the first two plays and for each one I had to find out what the directors wanted, search through lots of effects for the most appropriate for that scene. I then edited the effects using editing software “Audacity” and played them for the directors, when the directors were happy with them all I put them into an iPad app called “FX Live” and added them to the cue list.

Unit 8: Criteria 2 - Sound Production Roles

Sound Roles

SOUND ONE: Sound one’s job is to operate the mixing desk during a performance, they control all the channels and equipment and follow cues given to them by Sound two.

SOUND TWO: Sound two’s job is to read through the script along with the performance and notify sound one of any upcoming cues and other notes in the script. As well as sound one, sound two also communicates with Sound three, the DSM, the band if there’s any sound problems and the MD.

SOUND THREE: Sound three’s job is to put all microphones on actors and take them off as well as maintain them during the performance. They communicate with sound two.

SOUND DESIGNER: The sound designer is in charge of deciding where all speaker, subs, monitors, delay stacks etc. will be positioned in a venue for a particular performance and produces a sound design to show where they should be placed by the sound engineers.

Unit 8: Criteria 3 - Opping A Show

Working on shows

Hair Show

For the Hair & Fashion show on 17th April I worked as Sound 1. Sound 1’s job is to operate the mixing desk during a performance, for the hair show this meant I was in control of the music playing from an iPod and an iPhone that were in two separate iDock’s. I had to make sure I played the right song from the right device at the right time according to my queue sheet and running order list. I also had to play house music before the show started (and people were entering), after it finished (and people were leaving) and whilst they did a speech and a raffle at the end. I also had control the gain and volume for each device as well as a microphone on the catwalk that was being used by two women to talk about each design and model, I had to adjust the gain levels so that the sound had a nice even level and was not distorted.

For each model that came out I had to:

· Put up the mic so that the narrator’s could be heard.

· Play the backing track for that piece under the talking as the model walked out.

· Put up the music volume when the narrator’s stopped speaking.

· Fade the music out as the model left the stage.

· Get the next track ready on whichever device it was on.

· Then repeat the above until they were all done.

The queues for the house music and raffle music were given to me by the DSM

The queues for the backing tracks for the models I made myself and wrote down in a queue list like this:

I also worked with this running order:

The Insect Play

For “The Insect Play” I worked as Sound 2 on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th May.

My job as sound 2 was to communicate between sound 1 (Matt) who was operating the mixing desk, sound 3 (Jade) who was putting mic’s on actors, AV (Rob) who was playing video clips on a projector, the band and the DSM (Taylor). I was also reading through the script along with the play and letting sound 1 know of any upcoming queue’s that had been written down on it (e.g. “Lower the band level after this line…”, or “The Chrysalis speaks on the next page so get her mic ready” etc.)

I had to communicate with the band in case they had any issues with equipment or in case they wanted certain instruments raised in the monitors. I had to communicate with the DSM and with AV so that I got queues to unmute the Q-lab for the video clips. The only channels on the desk that I controlled were the Q-lab and one of the microphones, used by the inventor.

The only faults with the sound on the show were that on the first night I muted Q-Lab instead of unmuting it and so half a word was cut off of the audio clip, and on both nights we missed a Chrysalis Mic queue as it was right at the top of the page. There were also a few problems with mic’s not working but nothing we could do about them.

I also edited Sound clips for “The Insect Play” using logic Pro, we recorded in Matt’s office then I adjusted the Gain Levels, FX and removed unwanted bits before adjusting the gaps with the actors and directors.

Unit 8: Criteria 4 - Health & Safety

Health & safety on “The Ubu Plays”

On the Ubu plays there were a couple of things we did to ensure safety to the actors and band members.

For example all speakers in the rig are secured tightly and correctly with the correct fittings and all of them have safety chains just in case the fittings were to fail. This reduces the risk of a speaker falling and injuring somebody underneath.

Another example of this is that all cables have been taped down and run out of the way or taped into looms to reduce the risk of somebody tripping over a loose cable and being injured.

A further example is that all broken cables have been fixed or replaced. Broken cables could run the risk of electrocuting somebody and so must be replaced of fixed with a soldering iron.

This is a risk assessment form i filled out for "The deadly Seven club" show:

Here are two links for more information on health and safety.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/

http://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/loler.htm,

Unit 70: Criteria 1 - Analysing Sound Designs

Sound Designs

A sound designer is in charge of deciding where all speaker, subs, monitors, delay stacks etc will be positioned in a venue for a particular performance and produces a sound design to show where they should be placed by the sound engineers.

Sound designs can be very different depending on what the production is, what genre of production it is, what type of sounds need to be played and most of all the venue, sound designs can differ drastically depending in the venues, size, layout, shape and acoustic properties.

For example Wembley stadium is the second largest stadium in Europe and hosts everything from music concerts to World cup football matches as a result of its size it has over 7000 speakers and over 30 amplifier racks. A lot of the speakers are known as delay stacks and they are speakers positioned further away from the source of the sound so that the audience further away can hear the sound as clearly as everyone else however there must be a delay in the sound emitted from these speakers as otherwise the further away audience may hear the same sounds twice so the speakers delay and play at the same time the original sound waves should be hitting them. In Wembley stadium the speakers are all attached to the ceiling.

Another example of a different sound design is in musical theatre, theatres are smaller than Wembley stadium yet will generally have more sound sources, as all actors and singers will have microphones as well as a band or orchestra playing the music large theatres may also use delay stacks however the delay will be significantly less than the delay in somewhere like Wembley. There will be a sound reinforcement system to help fulfil the needs of a production and this system will be tuned to suit the venue.

However a small place such as the Miskin theatre would not need anywhere near as big a design for a production. The size of the auditorium is small enough to not need any delay stacks or sound reinforcement, and uses just a few speakers and subs for each show.

Here is an example of what an actual sound design looks like; this is one I have made for the Dance Show “Because We Can Can Can” which was held in the auditorium at the Miskin Theatre.

Unit 70: Criteria 2 - Producing Sound Designs for different shows

This is a sound design i made for the Inters show "The Insect Play" which was performed in the studio theatre. There were 2 subs, 2 monitors and 2 FOH speakers in the Rig.

This is sound design i made for the Dance show "Because We Can Can Can" which was performed in the Auditorium. There were 4 monitors, 4 Subs and 6 FOH speakers (4 in rig 2 on top of subs)

This is a sound design I made for the end of year show(s) "The Ubu Plays", these plays were all performed one after the other in the auditorium. There were 3 subs, 4 monitors and 6 FOH speakers (4 in rig and 2 underneath on either side so not visible in the design, the 2 on the ground were on poles in tank-traps) there was also in-ear monitoring for the band.

Unit 70: Criteria 3 - Recording & Editing

Recording

For the Intermediates show “The Insect Play” there were a few parts of the script that needed to be recorded as they were lines that were said when a particular actor was offstage, and only their voice was heard. This meant we had to record the lines, edit them, put them into Q-lab and play them at the right time in the show. We recorded in Matts’ office we took in the SoundCraft SI Compact 32 Mixing desk, and connected an Upright condenser vocal microphone to it with an XLR; we put the mic in a cradle on a mic stand and covered it with a pop shield. The desk was also connected to a mac computer and a pair of small active speakers (we used actives as they don’t require an external amplifier). We then used the Logic Pro software on the mac to record and edit the sound.

We tested the equipment to make sure that everything was working properly, we spoke into the mic and watched to see if the desk and mac picked up the signal from it, at first it didn’t work but then we realised that the 48V phantom power wasn’t switched on, we turned it on and tried again. The desk and mac picked up the sound perfectly and the speakers emitted it finely.

We stood the actors a couple of feet away from the mic and did a couple of takes to ensure we got the best result, we recorded the various sections of the script with logic pro and then listened back to them. We then used Logic pro to adjust the gain levels on each voice and balance everybody as some were a lot louder than others. We cut out the unwanted bits such as breathing noises and lines that were not needed in the recording, after that we added different kinds of reverb to each until we had the desired effect. We got the directors to listen to the clips and make sure all the gaps and spaces ere the correct length and that the effects matched what they wanted. Then we saved, bounced and put the clips onto Q-Lab ready for the show.

#Unit 70 #Criteria 3

Unit 70: Criteria 4 - Opping a show

Working on shows

Hair Show

For the Hair & Fashion show on 17th April I worked as Sound 1. Sound 1’s job is to operate the mixing desk during a performance, for the hair show this meant I was in control of the music playing from an IPod and an IPhone that were in two separate iDock’s. I had to make sure I played the right song from the right device at the right time according to my queue sheet and running order list. I also had to play house music before the show started (and people were entering), after it finished (and people were leaving) and whilst they did a speech and a raffle at the end. I also had control the gain and volume for each device as well as a microphone on the catwalk that was being used by two women to talk about each design and model, I had to adjust the gain levels so that the sound had a nice even level and was not distorted.

For each model that came out I had to:

Put up the mic so that the narrator’s could be heard.

Play the backing track for that piece under the talking as the model walked out.

Put up the music volume when the narrator’s stopped speaking.

Fade the music out as the model left the stage.

Get the next track ready on whichever device it was on.

Then repeat the above until they were all done.

The queues for the house music and raffle music were given to me by the DSM

The queues for the backing tracks for the models I made myself and wrote down in a queue list like this:

I also worked with this music list, script and running order:

The Insect Play

For “The Insect Play” I worked as Sound 2 on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th May.

My job as sound 2 was to communicate between sound 1 (Matt) who was operating the mixing desk, sound 3 (Jade) who was putting mic’s on actors, AV (Rob) who was playing video clips on a projector, the band and the DSM (Taylor). I was also reading through the script along with the play and letting sound 1 know of any upcoming queue’s that had been written down on it (e.g. “Lower the band level after this line…”, or “The Chrysalis speaks on the next page so get her mic ready” etc.)

I had to communicate with the band in case they had any issues with equipment or in case they wanted certain instruments raised in the monitors. I had to communicate with the DSM and with AV so that I got queues to unmute the Q-lab for the video clips. The only channels on the desk that I controlled were the Q-lab and one of the microphones, used by the inventor.

The only faults with the sound on the show were that on the first night I muted Q-Lab instead of unmuting it and so half a word was cut off of the audio clip, and on both nights we missed a Chrysalis Mic queue as it was right at the top of the page. There were also a few problems with mic’s not working but nothing we could do about them.

I also edited Sound clips for “The Insect Play” using logic Pro, we recorded in Matt’s office then I adjusted the Gain Levels, FX and removed unwanted bits before adjusting the gaps with the actors and directors.

#Unit 70 #Criteria 4

Unit 71: Criteria 1 - Venue Issues

The Auditorium

The acoustics of the Auditorium in the Miskin theatre are not particularly good as the location of the sound platform and the lighting control room mean that the back wall of the auditorium is set at different depths meaning that the sound hits the walls at different times and reverb at different times. All of the walls are solid brick and do not absorb sound, so the sound bounces off of all the walls in the room increasing the amount of reverb produced. Also the size of the room and the distance between the back wall and the stage means that when the sound-waves hit the wall they have not completed their wave-length and can hit the wall in the middle of a crest or trough (or anywhere in between). However these are fixed by hanging blacks and graphic EQing the room.

For the dance show we require power for ten speakers and four subs as well as power to the desk and mac. There are a few empty plug sockets on the sound platform so we use those to power the desk and mac. Down on the stage floor there are four wall boxes around on the walls which each have a few plug sockets on; so if we connect some long four ways then we can power the four subs and six speakers on the ground, as for the four in the rig they are powered by more wall boxes up on the ceiling.

The speakers are positioned so that the sound can be heard from anywhere on the seating bank or from any of the tables, they all play at the same volume and so the sound is balanced and not focused to the left or right. This will mean a nice balanced sound for anyone in the audience.

#Unit 71 #criteria 1

Unit 71: Criteria 2 - Tech Rider

Technical Rider for the insect play

Electronic Drum kit:

· Jack to male XLR x2

Electric Guitar:

· Jack to Jack x1

· DI Box x1

· XLR x1

Bass Guitar:

· Jack to Jack x1

· DI Box x1

· XLR x1

Keyboard:

· Jack to male XLR x1

Korg Kaoss Pad & Korg Micro Player:

· Jack to Jack x1

· Jack to male XLR x1

Sample Pad:

· Jack to male XLR x1

Singers:

· Microphone x2

· XLR x2

Radio Microphones:

· Trantec radio microphone x4

Speakers:

· Active speakers x2

· Passive speakers x2

· Two core NL4 x2

· XLR x2

· Jack to Male XLR

· Kettle leads x2

Subwoofers:

· Subwoofer x2

· XLR x2

· Kettle Leads x2

Monitors:

· Active speakers x2

· Kettle leads x2

· XLR x2

Amplifier:

· Amplifier x1

Sound-desk:

· Mackie sound-desk

Four ways:

· Four way extension lead x4

XLR Extensions:

· XLR x 10

Spare equipment:

· XLR x5

· Speakon x5

· Four way extension lead x5

· Jack to Jack x5

· Jack to male XLR x5

Comms:

· Communications units x6

· Headsets x6

#Unit 71 #Criteria 2

Unit 71: Criteria 3 - Setting Up Sound Equipment

Setting up a PA

This is a sound design showing where all the speakers and subs were positions for “The Insect Play”. The blue boxes represent speakers and subs and the blue triangles represent the direction in which they are facing (towards the wide end of the triangle.) The FOH speakers that are in the rig were secured into brackets which were then bolted to the rigging where the sound designer wanted them and with strops and safety chains to ensure that they would not fall and injure anybody.

For the Insect play we used 4 Passive speakers (2 monitors and 2 FOH), 2 subs, A Mackie ? Mixing desk, 5 Trantec Microphones with units, 2 FX units, and an Amplifier.

After setting all of this up we tested everything to make sure it was all working properly and sounded right, every time an actor was mic’d up (before the show and during the interval) we would make them go onto the stage and say some of their lines, this way would could ensure that they were all working and we could adjust gain levels and EQ the mic’s so that they all sounded good.

#Unit 71 #Criteria 3

Unit 71: Criteria 4 - Sound Crew Roles

Sound Roles for “The Insect Play”

For “The Insect Play” there were people undertaking the following roles:

Sound 1: Performed by Matt Thursfield (on two nights) and Tyler Rayson (on two nights)

Sound 1’s job is to operate the sound desk during a performance, mixing the band and controlling any other channels there may be (such as Q-Lab and microphones).

Sound 2: Performed by Me (on two nights) and Matt Thursfield (On two nights)

Sound 2’s job is to communicate between sound 1 and other departments, when I did it for “The Insect Play” I had to communicate between sound 1 (Matt) who was operating the mixing desk, sound 3 (Jade) who was putting mic’s on actors, AV (Rob) who was playing video clips on a projector, the band and the DSM (Taylor). I was also reading through the script along with the play and letting sound 1 know of any upcoming queue’s that had been written down on it (e.g. “Lower the band level after this line…”, or “The Chrysalis speaks on the next page so get her mic ready” etc.)

I also had to communicate with the band in case they had any issues with equipment or in case they wanted certain instruments raised in the monitors. I had to communicate with the DSM and with AV so that I got queues to unmute the Q-lab for the video clips.

Sound 3: Performed by me (on two nights), Tyler Rayson (on two nights), Jade Herbert and Robert Gifford.

Sound threes job is to put mic’s on actors before and during a show and maintain them throughout (changing batteries, readjusting them on the actor etc.) they also have to take them off of the actors afterwards.

Sound Designer: v

The Sound Designer is in charge of produce a sound design and deciding where all the speakers and subs will be placed throughout the venue to ensure the sound is heard by all evenly and gives the right effect to the piece.

Chief of sound: Performed by Matt Thursfield

The chief of sound is in charge of all the other sound departments, they are also in charge of ordering and maintaining all equipment.

Sound editors: Performed by Matt Thursfield, Victoria Cole and Myself

The sound editors record and edit all sound clips that need to be played during the performance, we recorded in Matts office and edited using Logic Pro on the mac. They also find or make required sounds that aren’t voices (The weeing man, the fire crackling etc.)

#Unit 71 #Criteria 4

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