Theatrical Sound Design and Production Contents

Theatrical Sound Design and Production Sound and music in a play can help set the mood, focus the attention of the audience, describe the location, and be part of the action. Ideas for sound design come from the script, talking to the director, watching rehearsals and your imagination. When a sound is played in a show is determined by stage directions in the script, artistic choices of the sound designer and the director, and practical choices of the stage manager. The actual sounds and music come from the TWS collection, personal collections, internet sites and online stores. Most sounds and music will be edited for length, volume or special effects (e.g. echo). Edited sounds are collected into computer audio files. The audio files are linked to the theatre’s sound system by a computer program. During a show, the sound operator uses the computer program to play the audio files in their predetermined order through the speakers in the auditorium. Contents 1 The Role of Sound in a Show 2 Sound Design for a Play 3 Acquiring Sounds and Music 4 Editing Sound 5 Structuring Sounds into a Sequence of Cues 6 “Building” the Show in a Computer Application (QLab) 7 Operating the Sound System and Running a Show 7.1 Mainstage 7.2 Cattell 7.3 Running a Show 7.4 Auxiliary Equipment 8 Contacts 8.1 Sound Annual Chair 8.2 Sound Technician 8.3 Technical Director 8.4 Technical Assistant 9 References 9.1 freesound.org 9.2 You Tube 9.3 Ben Fallon’s qlab Demos 9.4 iTunes The Role of Sound in a Show Sound and music in a play can help set the mood, focus the attention of the audience, describe the location, and be part of the action. I recall waiting for a rehearsal of a tragic to begin. The actors were in the house chatting and joking around. The sound designer began to play some very somber music he was planning to use in the show. In a few minutes the mood of the cast had completely changed and we were all sitting in silence. Music is often played between scenes of a play while the props crew changes set pieces, the actors change costumes, and the time of the play jumps ahead. Using fast tempo music can make the transition seem shorter and help keep the audience’s attention on the stage. Sound can be a nice way to set the stage for a scene. In one play a brief scene takes place in a bar. While the lights were down, props brought on two bar stools and a high table. In the dark we played the background chatter and noise of a bar. Before the lights came up, the audience was picturing a busy crowded bar in their minds and our sparse set was sufficient for playing the scene. Doorbells, telephone rings, and gun shots can change the direction of a play. At the end of Henry Miller’s All My Sons a depressed and guilt ridden Joe walks off stage. A moment later we heard a gunshot that really hits us in the gut. Sound Design for a Play To design sound for a show you need to read the script and note what sound effects and music are written in as stage directions. For an example, I’ll use the play, Leading Ladies. The script indicates a number places where a telephone rings, a doorbell rings, or a gunshot is heard. A script may indicate when and where the play takes place. Leading Ladies is set in the 1950s in York, Pennsylvania. The play is a romantic comedy, so, much of the music in the show was love ballads and dance music from the 1950s. Talk to the director and find out what particular sound effects and music he may want. One scene in Leading Ladies takes place on a moving train. The director wanted the sound of a train horn from a second train passing the first. The director liked jazz, so, much of the dance music was Big Band music instead of Rock and Roll. Both types of music were popular in the 1950s. The sound design for a show has a structure. Typically, there is: Walk-in music, which is played before the play begins as the audience enters the auditorium (about 30 minutes long). the sound effects and music in the first act. Transition music between the scenes in the first act. Music played during intermission (about 15 minutes long). the sound effects and music in the second act. Transition music between the scenes in the second act. Curtain call music. Walk-out music, which is played after the play ends as the audience leaves the auditorium (about 15 minutes long). Acquiring Sounds and Music TWS has a large collection of music and sound effects on CDs. These CDs are stored in the Cattell booth and are shown below. The green metal filing boxes contains sound effects CDs You may also want to use music from your personnel collection of CDs or stored on our smart phone, iPod, tablet or personal computer. Music and sounds can also be downloaded from the internet, purchased online or recorded live. Regardless on the source, the music and sound effects end up as audio files on the sound computer. There are two basic routes for getting sound onto the computer: 1. Music stored on your smart phone, iPod, tablet or PC is in audio files. You would download these files onto a flash drive. Then take the flash drive to the theatre and transfer the files onto the sound computer. (Please note, the port for flash drives is on the underside of the keyboard of the sound computer.) 2. You can bring your device or CD to the theatre and play music through the mixer. There is a CD player at the theatre. Software on the sound computer named Audacity can record the music into audio files. For live recording a microphone is plugged into the mixer. Below is a picture of the mixer in the mainstage booth. At the bottom of the picture are 2 blue sliders labeled “iPod CD” with white tape. These are used to control the volume of the music played from an iPod or a CD. The iPod or CD player plugs into the back of the mixer. Mixer in TWS Mainstage Booth There is more information on the mixer in section 7 Operating the Sound System and Running a Show. Editing Sound The sound effects and music that have been acquired for the show and stored on the sound computer will probably need some editing. Typically, they will be edited for length, volume or special effects (e.g. echo). Audacity is the software that is used for sound editing. Below is a screenshot showing an audio file that has been opened with Audacity. The file is a sound effect named Rhythm of the Rails Tail. It is the sound of the clickity clank of a railroad train. The sound was originally recorded at a low volume level. For our shows we want all your audio files to have high levels. (This makes it easier to adjust the final sound levels in the auditorium.) In the next screenshot you can see how the volume has been maximized. This sound clip is about 13 seconds long. Let’s say we want the clip to play for about 7 seconds and then to fade out to silence in about 2 seconds. In the next screenshot the clip has been edited down to about 9 seconds. The last screenshot shows the final edit of the audio file with a 2-second fade out. Other possible sound effects include echo, reverb and distortion. As well, the high pitched or low pitched parts of the sound can be accentuated or attenuated. Sounds can also be layered. We could layer the sound of crowd noise over the clickity clank of a train. Structuring Sounds into a Sequence of Cues The actors could just walk out on stage say their lines and act out the play. However, the use of the many technical elements in a play require coordination between the actors and the tech crews. That coordination is laid out in a cue sheet and directed by the stage manager during the show. Sound is one of those technical elements. When a sound is played in a show is determined by stage directions in the script, artistic choices of the sound designer and the director, and practical choices of the stage manager. There is a meeting about two weeks before opening night the purpose of which is to create a cue sheet. The principals for this meeting are the director, the stage manager, the lighting designer, and the sound designer. Costumes and props might have an interest in the meeting, but attend only infrequently. Going into this meeting the sound designer should have his sound design laid out in detail. On paper, the design would list each piece of music and each sound effect. They would be named specifically and where they occur in the script would be noted. Of course, the sound designer should consult the director before the cue meeting to get his input on music, sound effects, and their timing. Cues for any show begin before the curtain goes up, but the group starts at the beginning of the script and identifies, in order, all the events which trigger something in tech. These triggers are primarily lines in dialogue, but they also include events like exits, pratfalls or gestures.

Load more