The Production Process

So, you have been asked to sound design a show? What happens next?!

Pre-Production Period
Rigging and Sound Checking
Speaker Positioning
Sound Plotting and Operating

Pre-Production Period

The first thing that needs to be done is that the sound designer should sit down with the director and decide what they are both aiming for with the sound for the show. For simple shows this will simply be a case of deciding upon the sound effects, but things can quickly get very complicated. Secondly, the budget needs to be looked at to determine how exactly things are going to be achieved. This done, the designer can sit down and work on their design and source sound effects. If there are speakers or microphones being built into the set, these need to be considered early, and it is often worthwhile sitting down with the production manager and lighting designer otherwise you might find people are trying to put lights and speakers in the same place!

Rigging and Sound Checking

Once in the theatre, hopefully everything will have been written down and planned by the designer, so the sound crew can get to work. Speakers have to be rigged, microphones placed and then the whole system checked to ensure that it works. The mixer and outboard equipment should be positioned front-of-house in the best possible position to hear the sound. Centrally at the back of the auditorium is ideal, as the sound operator will have the best idea of how the mix is sounding to the audience. Once rigged, equipment like graphic equalisers should be set up, as once the plotting begins there will be little time for this. If the sound is not being operated by the designer, then the operator should be involved in in the rigging and testing so that they know the sound system as well as possible.

Speaker Positioning

Loudspeakers are directional, in general they project through an angle of about 50° horizontally and 30° vertically. Thus, they need to be placed carefully to ensure the audience all hear the best sound. There will almost always be some sort of stereo pair of speakers either side of the stage. Except for those closest to the speakers, if they are of equal volume the brain perceives that the sound is coming from onstage, between the speakers. For music, most sound effects and simple vocal work this is often enough. Sometimes though it is better for sound not to come from centrally onstage, such as a working radio. In this case a small speaker can be placed inside the set, as close to the radio as possible. The ears are good at telling the direction a sound is coming from in the horizontal plane, but not so in the vertical. Hanging a speaker directly above the stage can work very well for vocals, as the whole audience will perceive the sound coming from the direction of the stage. For larger auditoriums, there may also be a need to place speakers further into the audience to boost the sound levels - simply turning up the main speakers will deafen the front row! In this case, it may be necessary to delay the auditorium speakers, otherwise the sound from the front speakers will be heard after the auditorium speakers. Delaying these speakers, usually only by a few milliseconds, will sort this out.

Sound Plotting and Operating

Once the sound system has been rigged and tested, along with the rest of the show, it is then time to go through the sound cues and set levels for each sound effect and microphone, and sort out the timings. Sometimes the sound operator will be cued by the DSM (Deputy Stage Manager), so only needs to worry about levels, however on smaller shows they may cue themselves. For each individual sound cue, the level of the channel, as well as any panning and tone alterations need to be noted down on a cue sheet which is then used during the performances to run the sound desk. A cue sheet should be such that if the sound operator was run over by a bus the next day, someone else could pick it up and operate the show. This is often done during the technical rehearsal; a cue-to-cue run of each sound, lighting and set change. If there is a lot of live sound in the show, such as a musical, then a separate session should also be arranged so that the sound operator has a good chance to learn how the show should sound away from the stop-start of the technical.