Success and Fugee. (February 2014). Tech Box. Sound.

For the week of the 2 shows my duty was to work in the Tech Box again but this time operating the Sound.

The Sound Desk/Mixer at the College has 24 Channels (which are the black button sliders).
The yellow slide switches are the main mix and I was told to just put them all up (L=left, R=right, C=centre)
The blue slider buttons are the faders. These control the level of sound and there are 2 fader sliders. One controls stereo (speaker) 1 & 2, the other controls stereo (speaker) 3 & 4.
Before the beginning of each show the speakers (x4) in the Theatre had to be manually switched on at the plug switches then when you entered the Tech Box you needed to switch on the Mixer, Graphic Equaliser and then the CD Player.

After the end of each show you had to go back down into the Theatre and manually switch of the speakers then go back to the Tech Box and switch of the Mixer, Graphic Equaliser and lastly the CD Player (if it was in use).

Monday saw the Tech run of Fugee and Tuesday saw the Tech run of Success. On Wednesday there was the full dress rehearsals of both shows then Success ran again later on that day. There were further shows again on the Thursday and Friday.

 

Fugee

 

Success Tech Run

 

One of the other students was working as the Sound Designer for both shows and I was to work under their supervision as Sound Operator. They had already sourced the sounds that were required and had done this during the build up to the Tech Run. They had watched the shows during Rehearsals and already liaised with the Director of the shows. I was not involved in this as I had been working on Props.
I do feel after my experience working on Sound that it would also be beneficial to of been involved with the sourcing of the Sounds and learning how to set these up, not only on the computer but also burning them onto the CD's that were later used during the show runs. For me it would of helped me understand more fully the whole process as I did not feel comfortable with using the equipment, did not fully understand how to use it more efficiently and this in turn made me feel quite nervous and I did not really enjoy my experience. I also felt that maybe I could of sourced some slightly better sounds (mainly for Fugee) if it was explained to me how to do this. I am not disagreeing that the Sounds that were used were not correct or any good but do feel that they may of been improved slightly.

Fugee only had 3 actual Sound effects but these 3 were played several times throughout the show, (apart from the car horn sound which was only played once).
They were a car horn, a single gunshot and the rumbling of a truck.
There was an extra Sound track added at the start of the Dress Rehearsals and that was some Rap Music in French. All the Sound effects were played for such short moments but the most crucial thing about the car horn and gunshot was that they were played at exactly the right moment as their timing was crucial to the action taking place on stage.

I do feel that I was thrown in at the deep end right at the start of the week which I suppose I can also add isn't always a bad thing as it does make you keep on your toes, concentrate more closely and learn more quickly and finally you just have to get on with it. Having said that though the experience made me feel a bit lost and I felt isolated as there was no Tutor supervising us during the Tech Run and Dress Rehearsals and I could not full back on him for help and guidance.
With Fugee it was not only my first time operating the sound but also the first time watching the play and first time reading through the script. I found it difficult keeping up with the script that I was trying to follow whilst trying to also watch the play, as it is not the most easiest of plays to follow as it jumps from present to past continually and also from different peoples perspective of what happens and doing this whilst trying to learn how to operate equipment I have never used before I found quite challenging and tiring.
Having said all this though I did get the opportunity to follow and understand the play and felt that it was a good play along with Success which I enjoyed from the start. The difference here though is that I did get the chance to see Success during a Rehearsal and I do feel that it would be most beneficial for future shows if working in the Tech Box is to sit in during a Rehearsal to get a feel and understanding of the show.

As with the Lighting when you are operating the Sound you have to wear the 'cams' to hear the cues given by the DSM. Success and Fugee each had a different DSM and so I was also having to work and adjust to each way the different DSM's operated.
I am aware for each of the DSM's it was also their first time and I noticed the difference straight away with working with them compared to the DSM on the Panto. The Panto DSM would acknowledge me immediately for each show by asking through the 'cams' whether I could hear them. Niether of these DSM's did and I would have to ask them if they could hear me.
On the Panto the DSM would always announce LX or Sound Q stand by and LX or Sound Q go whereas both these DSM's did not do this and sometimes I had to just be aware that it was my cue standing by or going.
Both Tech Run days was a long hard slog and I constantly had either the DSM or the Sound Designer talking to me asking questions which I would then have to relay to the other. We also had the Director asking questions which they would do by shouting up to the Tech Box as they weren't on 'cams'. I felt the Sound Designer felt a bit bombarded with questions and was stressing out next to me which did not make it comfortable for me either and made it extremely difficult to relax and enjoy the experience. Having said that though maybe one isn't to relax and enjoy, I don't know!!
On the second day of the Tech Run for Success we worked through to 6.50pm and didn't actually finish all our sound cues, so the Director just called them up to us so I could mark them onto the cue sheets. This did mean that during the Dress Rehearsal that we did not have the level of the sounds recorded on the cue sheets so the Sound Designer had to estimate the level whilst the show ran through and I recorded the level on the cue sheets for future showings.
Throughout the Tech Runs I also had to write a cue sheet which could be used for the shows.

The Cue Sheets I recorded. 1 for Fugee and 3 for Success.

 

Whereas with the Lights once they had been preset it's just a question of hitting the go button during the show the Sound is different. With Sound you had to make sure the next cue number was correct on the CD player and whilst standing by raise the fader to the level of the sound required so it was ready when you hit the go button on the cue. You then sometimes had to adjust the sound level whilst it was being played and then either gradually fade the sound out or cut it out immediately. It did take a level of more concentration along with the exact timing needed for the gunshot and car horn noises being played at the exact right time. The whole thing gave me a headache during the Tech Runs and I'm not sure Sound is where I have any talent or possibly have any further interest.
During the Tech Run we could not always have the sound available immediately as each sound was on a file on the computer and you had to go from one file to another to retrieve the sound. This again was all new to me as I am not the most computer literate. So I would have to convey this to the DSM who would then make the Director and cast aware to pause whilst we lined up the Sound effect.
The Sound Designer did burn the Sounds and Music onto CD's in order for the shows so obviously it would run with continuity.
During the Tech Runs I was concerned with how I would perform throughout the shows and whether I would be able to follow both the DSM's cues, given that both did not necessarily cue me properly during the Tech Runs. For the shows I did do though after the Tech Runs following the cues were ok as both the DSM's did call the cues correctly.
By the third show I had started to relax but unfortunately for me I had a slight disaster brewing at home unknown to me at this stage and after the show discovered I had sewage pumping out into my garden so I missed the next show and went home to deal with it. Although I did come back for the 2 evening shows I chose not to operate the Sound Desk and watch the Sound Designer do it instead. This was because I still had sewage pumping up into the garden when I left home and my mind was on that. It did give me the opportunity though to watch both shows through fully which I immensely enjoyed and could finally appreciate.

Fugee Dress Rehearsal.

 

During the show I did do earlier on before the sewage disaster I did somehow miss out 2 whole sound tracks in Fugee!!??!! How I do not know! There was also an issue with the car horn Sound effect. On my cue sheet I had wrote to play the Sound when the actors hand went downwards indicating he was honking his horn. I saw him raise his hand and was waiting for the hand to go down to play the sound but he kept his hand in the air, which I later found out was because he was waiting for me to play the sound before he pushed his hand downwards to give the effect of honking the horn. Slight communication issues! I had also played a Sound cue to soon in Success and the actor hadn't finished their line completely before the music was played.

Friday I did operate the Sound for Fugee but again made mistakes. I did struggle more with Fugee than I did with Success. I do not know the real reason for this but can only presume it was to do with the actual Sound requirements differed hugely from each show. Success had music played in parts and the duration was often quite lengthy. In Fugee the Sound effects were short and sometimes abrupt and the cues often would ask for 2 Sound effects being lined up at the same time as they played simultaneously one after the other but in reality it was impossible to stand by on 2 Sound effects at the same time as one had to be played and end before the next one could be lined up then played. This meant that sometimes I was being asked to play the next Sound Cue before I was ready. You definitely have to be nimble and work quickly on the Colleges Sound Desk to make this work which unfortunately I proved not to be. I know that this doesn't mean I couldn't be if I had more time and experience operating the desk but I doubt that this will happen.
During the final show for whatever reason I hadn't set the desk properly when I was to play one of the gunshots so it just didn't happen and that was quite awkward and stressful as the actors were waiting to shoot the gun and for the other actor to fall and die but no matter how many times the DSM called the cue I just couldn't play it so after an excruciating painful time lapse the actors had to improvise and carry on.
I also on one occasion, when there was 2 Sound cues played simultaneously, hadn't bought the sound down from the last cue and raised the sound instead so it boomed around the auditorium then played the next sound at the wrong level, it was another gun fire, so it played extra loud, made up for the gun fire shot I had missed lol.
I do not want to make excuses for my overall performance throughout the shows but I did come in on the Friday still with issues of sewage pumping up into the garden, obviously this did cloud my thoughts and I felt highlighted for me an end to a difficult performance week for me. Can I say a s**t week at home and also one for me at college lol?! The only one I hasten to add that I have had since I first embarked on this course.