You Were Asked To Do Sound Cues For A Local Theatre Group – Now What?

Whether it’s your first time, or you’re a seasoned sound cue artist, organization is at the heart of preparing for theatre sound cue performances.

Those of you who are seasoned will have your own tricks for preparation – please feel free to share those in the comment section below – but if you’ve never done it before it may come as a surprise to learn that it is nothing like being a “party DJ” or radio station jock, or even a live sound engineer.  Though you may be one or all of these things at other times – or even at the same time.  Such is the diversity of theatre…

The reason is because it actually is an art – not just a technical exercise or science.

This brief article raises some points you might like to consider if you’re asked to perform sound cues for a theatre performance.  Keep in mind that you need to be flexible, frequently learn as you go, not everything applies to every circumstance and a lack of planning is planning to fail.

Know What They Expect Of You

You need to know the expectation of the theatre group and if you’ve never worked with them before this is even more important.  There are the obvious things likes equipment availability, script availability and their budget.  But there are other things you’ll need to know too:

• Who the key personnel are.  Directors, producers, lighting tech’s, theatre management etc.
• If you are using a sound system that comes with the venue and it has a resident “sound guy or gal” respect their domain, listen politely.  The equipment is their baby – I know some can act like “audio Nazis” but respect and consideration will generally solve most issues.
• Get a copy of the script as early as you can and keep up with any annotations.
• Write down directives.  Don’t wing it.  You won’t remember those little details – but Directors do.
• Discuss their artistic goals.  You might think a thunder clap reverberating across the stereo spectrum is just the ticket.  But the theatre company may have other ideas, or goals.
• Don’t agree to do the impossible.  The only possible outcome, if you do, is failure.  If it can’t be done, explain why using the least technical terms you can.  If possible suggest a compromise.  Remember people dream big and often ridiculous things.  Imagination is integral to all the arts.  Your job is to interpret their imagined outcome as best you can – and the “ridiculous” can end up spectacular.
• When using your own imagination choose simplicity over complexity first.  Most innovative sound cues, and this is demonstrated admirably in old radio plays, are created simply.  Sound cue design has a lot in common with impressionistic painters of the 19th century.  Those artists demonstrated that suggesting something is often more effective than painstaking brush strokes and complex detail.  Be creative, but keep in mind what it is you are trying to achieve – and how long, at the end of the day, it’s going to be remembered.  The audience soak up the sound cues with their ears, but their attention is primarily on the cast – onstage.

Plan your sound cues.

Be as detailed as you can and make notes as to your reasoning.  Follow the script and design your sound cues to follow it.  The distant sound of muskets and canon fire, men’s voices and general war effects may be cool to create for your production of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage” but what Mother Courage is saying to Yvette, on stage, is of far more significance to the play and the audience!

Sound cues are nearly always cast in a supporting role.  You are part of a tapestry, a true artist knows how to blend in.  Be an artist, your goal is not to part the hair of the people sitting in the first to sixth rows.  Which is a nice way of saying “don’t take over”.

Use parametric eq’s to spread frequencies in your mix, rather than a graphic eq.    Try to cut frequencies rather than boost and keep the faders in a sensible range.  Be heard, but the goal is not to shatter windows or ears.

Be creative in thinking about your cues.  Does a recording of coconut shells being clapped together and bathed in a little sharp reverb sound more like horses hooves than that sound effect CD?  Listen to other sound cues, as recommended in other articles on this site, and learn from the masters.  The BBC, CBS and ABC America radio productions of the past are fertile ground for learning.  Listen to non sound cue related material too.  The Beatles “A day in the life” and similar songs do some really avant-garde things – even by 21st Century standards.  The backwards piano chord in a “Day in the life” is a case in point.  Another creative learning resource is the likes of Pink Floyds “Dark Side of the Moon” and “Animals” albums.  In Dark Side of the Moon engineer Alan Parsons reportedly spent his lunchtimes recording his footsteps, ticking and chiming clocks and cash registers (probably one of the most innovative percussion tracks of all time).

Make sure you annotate the script for the production with notes related to your sound cues.  Our product MixAction incorporates this functionality into the program, but regardless of whether you use our product or not, a lack of a plan to follow is plan to follow failure.

Before The Performance

Get there early!  Seriously, much earlier than you think, I can’t stress that enough.  Personally I’ve always tried to be at a venue an hour and a half or two hours before the performance.  If everything checks out fine you can always bum around in a coffee shop or chat to the roadies.  But all to often everything does not check out fine.  Make sure nobody has butted their cigarette out in your PA’s woofers, or a 35 year old child hasn’t emptied a glass of Scotch in the horns – don’t laugh, this has happened to me.  It’s no fun working and seeing smoke or flame emanating from a speaker bin.

Make sure your leads are clean and healthy, preferably not stretched taut, any cable runs are stowed safely, the Gaffa isn’t peeling up or likely to trip anybody, some clown hasn’t adjusted the power amps levels to meltdown clipping or the Graphic EQ (outboard) isn’t setup looking like a left to right hockey stick.  People can’t help but touch buttons and sliders.  There are also some really weird people out there who “adjust” things because they had a bowl of cornflakes this morning and this magically transformed them into sound system gurus.

Try to use balanced cables wherever you can.  This is harder of course with computer equipment unless you are using high end soundcards with balanced inputs and outputs.  But certainly balanced cables and plugs as and where it is physically possible.  For RCA and phone plugs (1/4”, 1/8th etc) use gold plated connectors and leads if at all possible.  They are usually more durable, easier to clean and are the most effective shields for unbalanced leads.  Do not jiggle faulty leads around to “make them work”.  You will damage the socket and the lead.  Save a few long term dollars and get at the least a cable tester or a multi-tester and learn how to use them instead. A lead or plug that fails with the testing tools is useless to you, replace it (repair it some other time if it’s worth repairing).  Carry spares – at least a few for every type of lead or plug.  I tend to carry a kit (an old laptop case such as those manufactured by Dell are perfect for this) in the car that includes the items mentioned in this paragraph, plus screw drivers, soldering irons, compressed air cans (for blowing dust out of neglected amps, mixing desks and speakers) etc.  That way I know where things are, am confident I can effect most repairs painlessly and quickly and there’s room for a thermos of coffee to boot. 

If you’re using a computer sound cue system, like MixAction, you’ll need to make sure you’re prepared there too.  While MixAction simplifies some of this process due to it’s “project based” layout and it’s use of “Acts and Scenes” during performance, there are things even MixAction can’t do for you.  Common sense things, that simply can’t be ignored.

1. Make sure your soundcard is operating.  Obvious but surprisingly easy to take for granted, especially after a software update or new software package or hardware is installed.
2. Make sure system sounds are turned off on your operating system.
3. Disconnect from the Internet and any foreign disks and turn off anti-virus and firewall software, system optimizing software etc.  Turn back on as needed when reconnecting to the Internet or inserting an unknown disk.
4. Make sure your soundcard levels are set so that they do not clip.  Clipping is a form of distortion that is more likely to damage speakers than high sound levels alone.  This is because a clipped signal has no were to go when delivered to the amplifier, except out to your speakers, which in turn have nowhere to go.  Overheating of the amplifier and speakers due to clipping is actually a more common malady in live sound than short transient clipping – for example a burst of white noise from a percussion instrument may clip but cause no damage (don’t bet the farm on it) but continuous clipping can’t be tolerated.  Treat your system with respect, starting at the sound card.  Don’t try to use inboard or outboard effects to reduce clipping.  Start clean, not mean.
5. Make sure your sound cue software is set up optimally.  What sounds good in your production studio speakers is probably not going to sound the same live.  Indeed it may well sound very different.  Note that this can change again when the venue has an audience than when you performed during rehearsal with a relatively empty venue.  Speakers sound differently, outboard mixers and amplifiers sound different, acoustic space sounds different, you’re going to need to make changes as needed to compensate.
6. Make sure your project audio files are present and not missing, you’ve got backups of your complete project on DVD and USB pen drive (or similar technologies).  There is never an excuse for no backup – except for blatant stupidity.  Data loss is a fact of life.
7. In the case of MixAction there are built in tools that allow some basic sound checks to be performed, run through those – even if everything sounded fine yesterday or even this afternoon!
8. Know where things are.  By that I mean power outlets, fuse boards, spare fuses, where those pesky 60khz hum inducing lighting boards are located (all to often right next to you and on the same mains supply outlet, probably not earthed or shielded either!).   Try to make sure their power is on a separate circuit to yours.  Mysteriously people blame the sound engineer for problems caused by others.  The lighting team don’t have to worry about their power as much as you do.  Separation is not an option.

Plan………………!!!

Scott Kane