By: Amy D Truong
Hey all–just wanted to share my most recent experience.
I just finished a 4-week contract where I was responsible for prepping the A2 position (or Sound 2 if you’re from the UK) for a musical with a new cast. I had the privilege of working with the sound guys that worked on the same musical on the West End in London–maybe you can figure out which one by the character names.
Along with being responsible for all things RF, I learned that being an A2 comes with a whole lot of patience, communication, and people skills.
Patience:
I spent several hours with a labelmaker, markers, elastic, and wig clips. Nothing related to audio but it is a big part of the process.
Communication:
Always always check up with the A1, sound designer, etc.
People skills:
Most of the time, the A2 interacts with the performers more than the A1. The performers need to feel comfortable with the person touching their hair/head for mic fittings. I was really fortunate (and proud of them) that they learned how to fit themselves after a couple of rehearsals.
Beginning stages. Labeled mic boxes with character and cast names.
Each mic box came with it’s wireless bodypack transmitter, DPA microphone, and a spare mic.
This character was double-miked.
I had to customize each mic with the performers’ hair color since it had to be hidden through their hair. I spent a couple of days examining their hair color and matching it with the markers I had. Each mic had 3 wig clips attached which also had to be color matched and threaded with elastic.
Ear hanger + protype/spare made from a DPA headset for one performer with a little less hair than everyone else.
Used a HellermannTyton tool on Donna’s mics. This kept the cables together.
I had cues where I needed to quickly hand off handhelds to the performers in the wing. I could not label the physical mic (other than the LED strip), so I labeled mic clips and connected them with tie line. When it came time for the cue, I ripped the mics off the clips. On another note: This was just a temporary solution. I will be sending the A2 a stereo bar, which she can put on a mic stand–which will hopefully make things easier.
