At the end of 2001, I was about to start my professional career in sound. I was 24 with one degree in music and a second degree in arts, a diploma in sound engineering, a bit of experience, and a lot of expectations. Almost fourteen years later, my career has thrown up surprises, challenges, and a whole bunch of lessons. Here are five of them. (more…)
I’ve worked in some wonderful venues some of my favorites have been found spaces or spaces that weren’t supposed to be theaters originally. They do provide their own challenges (more…)
I’ve spent a lot of my career mixing musicals, in London’s West End and on tour. They range from a five-piece band and six in the cast with one SFX to a 20 plus cast and a 20 piece orchestra with 100 + SFX in each act. (more…)
Sometimes people ask me what I do, and I say, “I’m a Sound Designer.” The more I mix with people who work in Sound but not in Theatre I realize it is a role that doesn’t exist in other areas of live sound. The theatre Sound Designer is a bit different from the Sound Designer role in other disciplines. (more…)
Wherever you are in your career, I believe there’s always something new you can learn. It’s a bit of a buzz when you encounter a new skill, then master it for the first time. (more…)
I knew it was a good show five minutes into the first run-through. The LSMT cast was energetic and tight, and the show itself was amazing. Great. There were some alarming moments in the run-through; the cast threw themselves around, and there was a bit of singing while lying on the floor. Then there was the fan, a huge fan blowing into the cast while they were singing. This presented some issues to solve regarding radio mics. (more…)
Earlier this year something happened to me that hasn’t happened to me very often: my sound design received positive praise in two press reviews. If you’re not sure why this is unusual, have a look at any recent big theatre awards for Best Sound. Then look up the reviews for the shows and note how many received positive reviews for sound. Spoiler: there won’t be many. (more…)
It happens to everyone at some point. That crucial bit of kit fails at the wrong moment. The radio mic on the lead has sweat in the mic head or the connector. Someone in the Brass section has knocked water into the stage box. The touch screen is out of alignment and instead of hitting save you hit load new session. It’s going to happen the machines are out to get us, and you better have a backup plan. (more…)
It’s not a mic, a recorder, and it’s definitely not a plugin. The best sound design tools you have are attached to you, your ears. (more…)