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Five Reasons to Join TSDCA

A bunch of us SoundGirls bloggers who work in theatre are also members of the TSDCA, which stands for Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association. I’ve personally been involved in TSDCA since around 2017 and became a more active member once I began freelancing in NYC. During the pandemic, the friends I had made through TSDCA provided a great source of Zoom camaraderie and company, and through TSDCA, I’ve gotten to work with them on some really exciting projects that help to further awareness and advocacy for those working in theatrical sound. So for this month’s blog, let’s dive into what the TSDCA is, what it does, and why you should join!

Let’s start with the basics: What is TSDCA? From the mission statement: “The Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA) is a professional membership organization of sound designers and composers for the performing arts working in the United States. Through advocacy, ongoing education, mentorship, and outreach, we seek to advance our community and promote sound design and composition as vital artistic components of the collaborative art of live theatre.”

The TSDCA began in part as a reaction to the news in 2014 that the Tony Awards for best sound design of a play and best sound design of a musical were being eliminated. One of the reasons that the Tony Awards committee cited for the elimination of the awards was that many Tony voters were abstaining from voting in these categories because they didn’t feel they understood the role of sound design in production enough to judge it objectively. Another was that many of them considered sound design to be more of a technical trade than an artistic contribution, and therefore less worthy of the same creative recognition that is awarded to scenic, costume, and lighting designers (side note: there is still no Tony Award for video/projection design). These two discoveries made it clear that we, the theatrical sound community, were going to have to do some major educating and advocating if we wanted to be seen as equal peers to our visual designer counterparts and earn back the recognition of that equality through having a Tony Award category that recognized our work. And so the TSDCA was born!

 

One of many petitions that circulated back in 2014 to support reinstating the Tony Awards for sound design.

 

TSDCA’s current membership consists of folks from all around the country (including some from around the world) who work in many different facets of theatrical sound design, not just those who consider themselves sound designers. For example, I joined TSDCA as an Affiliated member because as a theatrical mixer, I feel the work I do is closely aligned with that of my design colleagues, and that it’s important for me to join with them to help better the industry we all work in. Affiliate membership is for those who work in conjunction with sound designers, such as mixers, sound supervisors, and production audio heads. Think of it as the “friend of the family” membership tier 🙂 In addition to Affiliated members, there are Professional members (those working as sound designers professionally), Early Career Members (out of school/training and in one’s first 3 years of professional sound design work), Emeritus members (folks retired from the field), and Supporting members (those who want to be involved but aren’t yet working in theatrical sound, such as students).

TSDCA is an all-volunteer organization, i.e. no member is paid to do anything administrative, such as serving on the board or chairing a committee. Membership fees are affordable and scaled by membership tier in order to be equitable. Plus, financial assistance paying dues is always available to those for whom it presents a barrier. We want you to be able to participate without breaking your bank!

And SoundGirls Members receive a 50% discount on membership using the code Soundgirls

So, what are some of the perks of being a TSDCA member? Here’s my personal Top 5.

NETWORKING

It’s been said before, and I will say it again: this business is 99% about who you know, and who knows you. If you’re an aspiring designer, mixer, production audio, or anything else related to theatre sound, joining TSDCA is a fabulous way to meet people and learn about possible work opportunities! True story: I can trace every single job I got in my first year freelancing in NYC to connections I made through TSDCA. It really does work like that!

On the formal networking side, TSDCA has lots of resources as well. All TSDCA members are listed in the member directory, which is available to the public. You can add as much or as little detail as you want to your public profile, such as contact info, where you are based, what you do in sound, and more. Whenever someone asks TSDCA co-chair Lindsay Jones for a hiring recommendation, he sends them straight to the member directory, so you DEFINITELY want to be on there! There is also a job board that is available to members only, and lots of great opportunities get posted there every week.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

TSDCA hosts various learning events all year round, both in-person and in the past year, virtually. We have an annual meeting in early summer that is packed with sessions on everything from working in content creation software like Krotos, to learning how to read through the fine print of a contract. These webinars are frequently available to the public (particularly the ones during our annual meeting) but some of them are members only. And if you can’t make it to a live session, almost all the videos are later posted on the TSDCA website. TSDCA members also often get discounts on software, sample libraries, and training courses from our corporate sponsors, which include great brands that you’ve definitely heard of like Meyer Sound, Rational Acoustics, and Shure, to name a few.

Additionally, early in the pandemic, some TSDCA members started the Facebook group “Student Sound Designer Connection,” where folks in school/training (or of school-age) can connect with each other and professionals. This allowed a lot of folks who were learning from home in 2020 to not stagnate their education and made even more resources available to learners who might not have a lot of opportunities to learn about sound design or take sound design courses at their school/program. The group is open (pending moderator approval) to anyone who is a sound student (you do not have to be formally enrolled in a sound design or even theatre major) or wants to support sound students.

 

You can join Student Sound Designer Connection without being a member of TSDCA!

 

CREATIVE OUTLETS OUTSIDE OF WORK.

Especially during the pandemic, TSDCA put together chances for a lot of us to stretch our creative muscles, which was really important during the work drought of 2020. During our first virtual annual meeting last June, we hosted a creative challenge where interested members worked solo or in teams to put together an aural response to imagery picked out by the steering committee. This led to possibly more intra-TSDCA collaboration than any of us had ever done before, since it meant folks on opposite coasts, or in different stages of their careers could work together on something stimulating and fun! For my part, I took it as an excuse to get back into playing my long-neglected trumpet and recorded for two original compositions that came about as part of this creative challenge. Since then, we have also hosted a creative challenge for the Student Sound Designer Connection group, plus we reprised it as part of the 2021 Annual Meeting, which was also virtual.

Even outside of these one-week projects, there are plenty of chances to participate artistically in TSDCA. Member Michael Roth hosted a series of composer salons over the course of the last 18 months on Zoom, which led to members getting to bring in pieces they were working on to be assessed by the group or to talk to professional composers whom Michael was able to secure as special Zoom guests. For those who are not as interested in composing, you can work on the TSDCA podcast, which is an in-house operation spearheaded by member Josh Samuels. If you’re into graphic design or writing, you can help out with the website or newsletter. Like creating video content? You can submit ideas for Instagram posts, or do a one-day member takeover of the page (fun fact, the Instagram is managed by none other than yours truly! Give us a follow at @tsdca_official).

Here’s a screen-grab from a composer salon where we put on a virtual performance of “In C” by Terry Riley! You can watch the whole thing here: https://youtu.be/vw0sIONmsBo . And yes, while I’m not visible in the video, that is indeed me on trumpet ☺

 

MAKE THE INDUSTRY BETTER

TSDCA was founded because we, the sound design community, discovered there was a need to advocate more strongly for ourselves. That mission remains core to what we do, and lots of great projects have been born from our desire to show the world what theatrical sound designers do and why it matters. Some highlights of past and current advocacy projects include:

The 2019 winners of the Pat MacKay scholarship. Look out for the 2022 application to go live next spring!

IT’S JUST A GREAT HANG!

Did I mention yet that we’re also just a super fun group of people? I’ve made many close friends through the weekly TSDCA zoom hangouts, some of whom I have never met in real life due to not living/working in the same regions. We have holiday parties, informal gatherings, a chess club, and sometimes even game nights. It can be hard to maintain social connections in this industry, with the crazy hours and non-standard schedules. And of course, it’s good to have friends outside of your work community as well. But speaking for myself, the fact that I could hop on zoom once a week and escape my apartment to be with friends (if only metaphorically) and talk about the industry we all missed dearly made a big difference in helping me get through the first phase of the pandemic. We’re always chatting on our members-only Facebook and Slack groups, and we love when newly minted members join us for events that are not about learning, but just plain FUN.

If I’ve made my case well, and you have decided that joining TSDCA is right for you, head on over to TSDCA.org to learn more or apply! And use the code “Soundgirls” to receive 50% of your initial membership fee.

Mixing a New Musical

 

Getting any show up and running is hard. Layers upon layers of new information are being added to the piece once the actors move from the rehearsal space to the performance venue, and it’s all happening very quickly. As a show’s A1, I am hard at work preparing my script, generating paperwork, programming the console, and in some cases also working as a hand on the shop build and/or load-in. Design elements are coming together throughout the tech process. Ideas are tried, then retooled, and tried again. However, one thing that usually isn’t changing is the actual script of the show. Not so on new work!

New pieces, and especially new musicals, come with their own set of unique challenges. Sometimes members of the writing team are present throughout the rehearsal process, making rewrites and changes to the piece as it gets staged. Rehearsal reports sent out by the stage manager will include new script pages and/or change logs, all of which can make it harder to get familiar with a show in advance of tech and previews. Songs may be moved around in the script, new scenes or characters might be added, entire sections may get cut. The entire product is constantly evolving!

Personally, new musicals are my favorite kind of shows to work on, despite all these added challenges. In fact, part of why I love them so much is precisely because of these added challenges! It’s really special to be part of a work that is being shown in its full form for the first time, and it really does keep me extra engaged when I’m in the tech and preview process. The audience has no preconceived notions of what the show is going to look or sound like, and as the mixer, my role in facilitating the storytelling is even more crucial, because no one has ever heard it before!

So, how should one approach the preparation process when mixing a new musical? In general, the process is the same as with existing work, just with a few added hurdles.

Do your homework as per usual

Familiarize yourself with the material in advance as best you can, whether it’s through demo recordings or by watching run-throughs in the rehearsal hall. The new musical I am currently mixing was meant to be produced in 2020, but due to the pandemic, it was adapted into a radio play and released on audible, with the fully staged production postponed to this summer. So, since a new musical likely won’t have a cast album yet, I was able to use that audible recording to do my “homework” of getting to know the general feel of the scenes and songs, even though I knew that the show would likely change a lot in the year that passed between when the radio play was recorded and this summer when we would finally get to do the show for an audience.

Prepare for new pages

This is probably the most labor-intensive part of the prep process on a new musical. As the script changes, whoever is tracking those changes (usually someone from the writing team or stage management) will bring you new replacement pages to insert into your book, or a change sheet with lines that you should write in on your own (some shows do one or the other, on my current show, Row, they do both). This means you’ll be doing quite a bit of transferring your notes from old pages to new ones. For that reason, it’s all the more important to develop a shorthand for yourself that you like, so that you can do all this rewriting as quickly as possible. For example, I will abbreviate my Band Master fader as “B” and my Vocal reverb fader as “V”, then I use musical crescendo/decrescendo markings for my dynamic moves. Writing “B < -5” is a lot faster than having to transfer the full words over and over again every time a new page comes in! Other little symbols I like to use are up and down arrows for pickups, slashes for when characters’ lines overlap, and my favorite, a little glasses symbol for when you should look at something specific for a cue (this is a common practice among musicians to remind themselves when they should watch the conductor).

Don’t get rid of your old pages!

As Gibbs’ Rule #11 teaches us, “Everything is subject to un-change.” A new scene might not work, and you might go back to the old scene. Keep all your change logs and cut pages handy in case you need to re-insert them or reference them for any reason. Fun fact: I once did a new musical whereby the end of the run, my stack of cut pages was basically the size of the finished script!

My current stack of old pages for Row.

 

Practice but don’t memorize yet

As you mix a show more and more times, you will naturally begin to develop muscle memory for making your pickups and fader moves. However, on new work, it’s important to not let habits set in too soon in case things keep changing. I have on occasion caught myself making errors because my hands got too used to doing a scene a certain way and then the scene was re-written. Pay extra attention to any lines that you use as cues for yourself in case they change!

Consult all your sources

Since we’re talking specifically about musicals, it is likely that songs will change in addition to book scenes as the show develops. Make sure that you are getting updates from the music department in addition to the ones you get from writing/stage management. Sometimes the piano/vocal will have more current information than the libretto! Also, even if you don’t read music, it can be super helpful to have access to the piano/vocal score to consult as you figure out the timings of band moves and console scenes.

Try to program flexibly

As a general rule, it’s good to leave yourself “buffer” console scenes/snapshots as you program in case you decide you need to add things or adjust DCA assignments. This is even more true on a new musical. For example, the console on Row is a Yamaha CL5, which can accommodate up to 300 console scenes. When I laid out my DCA tracking prior to programming the show, it looked like I would need about 60 scenes to do the whole show. So rather than start at Scene #1 and go sequentially, the first song is scene #10, the second song is scene #15, etc. That way I have room to add more scenes internally without having to renumber every subsequent scene. To save time and hassle, also try to program in a more minimalist way than you might on an existing show so that you can adapt to changes more easily. Inevitably you will find yourself having to go through 10 separate console scenes to make a single change to all of them because of a script/song change, but the fewer times you have to do this the better. ☺

My console scene tracking sheet for Row. Notice the skips between numbers!

 

The thing to remember most of all on a new musical is that while rolling with the punches as things change can be stressful, it’s all in service of the art. I once worked with a choreographer who when he needed to adjust something would say on his god mic “I’m making a change” and the whole company would reply “Change is GOOD!” I’ve made that quote my new musical motto. The reward of knowing that all of the work that the creatives are putting in (and you alongside them) is truly helping to tell the story better will make it worth it when the show finally gets “frozen” (this means no more changes are allowed) and makes its world premiere in front of its first-ever audience!

Sound System Design for Immersive Spaces

I have always been excited by sound design and its potential for storytelling as well as the evolving technology of the industry. At the start of my career, I was mainly a theatrical sound designer and engineer. Then I got a gig designing sound for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I had never considered theme park attractions! Since then, I have kept getting sound design work for immersive theater and themed events. There are many types of live, immersive storytelling events out there: immersive theater, theme parks, art exhibits, and experiential marketing pop-ups.

When sound designers work on live immersive projects, they must have an understanding of the story as much as how to implement the technology. The appreciation of the story helps the sound designer make decisions about the creative and system design that will not break the audience’s suspension of disbelief. It can be harder to pull off the suspension of disbelief in immersive settings than in more traditional venues, but the payoff is extremely rewarding!

I want to discuss sound reinforcement of mic’d performers and instruments in this article, but it is already very long. The science there does not really change, though perhaps it gets more complicated! So in the interest of length, I will cover very general speaker placement, creative choices, and the collaboration process.

Sound Systems for Traditional Venues vs. Immersive Spaces

Let us begin by discussing the fundamentals of sound systems for proscenium spaces as well as immersive spaces, and the differences between them. Understanding the components of sound systems for more traditional venues informs much of the decision-making behind building immersive sound systems.

Proscenium stages have three output channels as the core of their systems: left, right, and center. Focused and tuned correctly, those three speakers (or speaker arrays) deliver a sound image where the audience perceives sound as coming from the stage, rather than any one speaker. The optimal place to sit to get the best sound image and mix is referred to as the “sweet spot.” Three channels make for good sound coverage of an audience, where most people are sitting in that sweet spot. It also provides more bussing opportunities for a good, intelligible mix. Music is sent to the left and right channels, with vocals in the center channel, so they do not compete as much with music. Then you add subwoofers delivering the low frequencies, making for a full mix.

If you look closely, you can see the center cluster, and then speakers on the left and right sides of the stage. Photographer Mike Hume. (Source: Ahmanson Theatre: https://losangelestheatres.blogspot.com.)

Larger venues with proscenium stages generally also have surround and delay speakers so that sound can reach seats out of the sweet spot (and let’s be honest, they are also for cool panning effects). And then there is usually some type of monitoring on stage for the performers, separate from the sound system for the audience. Two other characteristics of traditional venues: the audience is seated in one place the whole time, and the room is typically designed and acoustically treated for live performance.

Similar to traditional stages, if the immersive sound designer has the budget they can and should buss music, sound effects, and ambience to different speakers for an optimal mix if they have the budget. Truthfully, because of where they end up placing speakers and budget restrictions, they may have no choice but to put multiple sound elements through the same output.

Differently from proscenium stages, immersive events are typically installed in found spaces, and the performance happens on the same plane as the audience. Actors usually mingle and talk to audience members. This could mean that speakers for the audience are also used as actor monitors, which can present acoustical problems if your performer is wearing a microphone. Even with experiences where the audio is all pre-recorded and played back, there are acoustical challenges in immersive spaces since they are not initially designed for live performance. However, you can use acoustics to your advantage and have a lot of fun!

The sound designer’s job is to trick the audience into believing that they are in the same world as the actors. Immersive experiences are even less forgiving of seeing speakers because the sound is supposed to feel as if it is generated within the world and not through a sound system. This challenge sounds like a real bummer, but I implore you to embrace it. So how do we do that?

Collaborate Early and Often

Before we can talk about system design for immersive spaces, we need to talk about what kind of information you need before you can make those decisions. Immersive events are highly collaborative, and it is important to make sure everyone is on the same page.

First, you will receive a client deck or presentation. All the vendors (sound, video, lighting, costumes, set, props, special effects…) will have a meeting with the client or director to get a rundown of their vision. Everyone should receive a paper version of the client deck. In a theatrical setting, this meeting is called a kickoff, first production meeting, or designer meeting. Whatever paperwork you receive during that meeting, consider it your show bible and keep it handy. It may even answer the next few questions covered here.

Next, schedule a site visit. Inquire about power capabilities, since that will determine most of your sound system. Ask about where power is being drawn from. Many immersive productions rent a generator. Some buildings might have the means to use in-house power. If that’s the case, ask how many circuits they have. You might not be able to have quite as many speakers as you would like, and you need to determine your compromises early on so you can let your director know about limitations in the event that the production does not have the budget or facility requirements to support something they have asked for. Find who is in charge of power (usually the best boy or master electrician) and have a discussion about having separate circuits from lighting, and where you need to plugin as soon as possible. You will be dealing with enough unique issues without having to troubleshoot a ground hum.

Venues made for performance have the infrastructure for running cables and hanging speakers; site-specific performance spaces do not. Begin to ask questions about how you can hang speakers at the site visit, as well as cable runs. Ask if you can drill into walls, and what they are made of. Can you hang rigging points from the ceiling? Talk with the lighting, show set, props, and technical direction departments about their plans for running cable so you do not run under theirs. Inquire about whether anything will need to be struck between shows. These are all considerations that will influence your system design. Expect to have these conversations throughout the design phase as every department moves closer to install.

Ask your production manager, director, or set designer about backstage areas (and the traffic going through them) right away. Once you spec your console, show computer and other rack equipment, send your production team exact measurements and rack elevations with power, front and rear access space, and air conditioning/airflow requirements. Real estate is often tight in backstage areas, and your “front of house” area might need to be shared with lighting, video, and even actors in standby for a scene. Put rack and equipment dimensions on your sound plot and perhaps even map out cable runs so everyone on the team has an idea of available real estate in these backstage spaces.

Make note of acoustics, and ask about audience pathways. Where the audience travels will affect where you put your speakers and how you run your cables. Also, ask about audience capacity and flow. If one audience group enters an experience while a previous group is in another room further ahead, you will need to know that to consider sound bleed, which could affect creative choices.

This article iterates on this point throughout, but I’ll say it again: it is in your best interest to collaborate early and often with the art department. Reach out to the set designer and ask for ground plans and elevations at this stage so that you can draw up a speaker plot, and begin to have conversations about hiding speakers.

Finally, ask about emergency procedures. Traditional venues have obvious exits and a voice of god mic. Immersive events might need to utilize actors to guide the audience out of an experience, and the team should talk about whether they cut sound entirely when an emergency happens. (Generally speaking, they should.) Does someone get on a  mic and make a live announcement or is there a pre-recorded cue? Any number of emergencies could happen, whether it is a technical failure, the weather, or a situation where the audience and/or cast are at risk. Cover all of the possibilities. Your director should decide at what point an emergency is serious enough to trigger a show stop, and what the procedure for a show stop is, and how the show is resumed. The team should determine all of this together, and you need to know what the emergency procedures are as the sound designer so you can program a show stop cue. The emergency system should be provided by another vendor because you as the sound designer are probably not current in things like local fire safety and emergency services. You may provide an emergency paging system separate from the show system if you are asked, but have a conversation with your producers about how that is outside of the scope of sound design and that you will need a separate budget.

The Speaker Plot – Ambience

Speakers for an immersive system can have any of five purposes: ambience, music, spot effects, voiceover, or live reinforcement. You can separate out what goes where, but you often end up sending multiple elements through shared outputs. This is because there are many constraints in designing a plot — budget, scenic design, placement of lighting instruments, and of course how the sound waves from speakers will interact with space and other speakers.

Speakers for ambience, music, narrative voiceovers, and emergency announcements work best above the audience. The distance makes for good coverage because they are in the widest part of the speaker’s throw. Additionally, placing speakers low means sending your acoustical energy into the legs of your audience, which means losing a lot of energy needlessly since sound is not aimed at their ears! If your speakers are going to still be visible to the audience even if they are above them, put them behind the audience path. This does not work for every application — if you have a staged area with mic’d performers, this is not the solution because the sound image has to be where the performers are staged — but it works much of the time.

I prefer to use a lot of little speakers with sound pushing through them at a quieter volume. (I really like the Meyer MM-4XPss.) This makes for more consistent coverage and a believable environment. However, the budget does not always allow for a ton of tiny speakers. In this case, you can compromise with one or two big speakers. Always prioritize coverage — it can really take an audience out of the world if they walk through a dead spot. Place and focus larger speakers in such a way that they cover the whole room, and send music, ambience, and voiceover through it. Of course, mix all those elements in such a way that they are balanced and you don’t blow the speaker!

Subwoofer placement is definitely challenging because they are often too big to hide! If you can place a subwoofer outside of a room against the exterior wall, it should do the trick. I have also hidden them behind set pieces. More about subwoofers later.

A note about having music in stereo, because I have run into it with some artists. Yes, having a stereo image for the music is really important. If you can get away with having two speakers in a room for a left and right channel of music — do that.  It also depends greatly on audience path, room size, and budget, and physics. A stereo mix requires that the left and right channels arrive to the listener at the same time. To accomplish that, the left and right speakers need to be equidistant from each other and the listener needs to stand in the sweet spot between them. In an immersive setting where the audience is moving, it might not be possible to place speakers in such a way that a good stereo image is delivered. In most immersive settings instead of stereo or 5.1 Surround Sound (which are valid in situations where your audience is static), you will often have a massive distributed audio system. This means that more often than not mono audio files are preferred so that you can place them exactly where you want them without worrying about how they are tied to something else. Essentially, imagine not building a 5.1 system, but a 32.10 system or larger. Again, have stereo speaker pairs if you can swing it, but be aware that this is another potential compromise. Know the science so you can explain your decisions.

If you are working with a composer, talk to them about giving you stems so you can put individual parts of the music wherever you both want. It is incredibly useful and efficient to mix the music as needed in the room, to hear how it reacts acoustically.

The Speaker Plot – Point Sources

Another consideration is, what are some specific sound sources in a room?  Things like telephone rings, radios, et cetera differ from ambience and music speakers in that they require the audience to perceive that sound is coming from the source. (There are other technical hacks you can do to make a phone ring on cue, but this article talks specifically about speaker placement.)

When choosing a speaker for a point source, consider what is going to play through it and where you are going to hide it. Is it a phone ring, and that’s it? Then it doesn’t have to be big. Or is the effect a loud car horn that requires a bigger transducer to push adequate volume? Also, have a conversation with the set designer about what props and set pieces are around the sound source. The ability to hide a speaker, and how and where it gets mounted, will influence what speaker you choose as well. Another fun note about point source speakers: As you attend tech rehearsals you might realize that one point source speaker does not have the volume or throw necessary for the whole audience to hear it clearly once you get bodies in the room. In these cases, you can use the ambient speakers as fills. Dial in a little bit of the sound effect to fill the room, but just enough so the main source is the point source.

One of the most challenging and rewarding things about system design for immersive spaces is hiding speakers so the audience does not see them. Send a plot to your set designer early and expect to change it several times. Include a key with speaker dimensions. Talk to the set designer and technical director about how you are going to mount speakers and get their input on the best materials to use to do so. If a point source speaker has to be behind something, talk about potentially using an acoustically transparent material. (Yes, I have had to explain that velour curtains will muffle high frequencies. It happens!) Or, be open to the challenge at hand and problem-solve creatively. Maybe the muffle will actually help the purpose of the effect. Or, can you point the speaker upward so it is not shooting directly into props in front of it? Or mount it under a table? This kind of out-of-the-box thinking is really satisfying!

Also, be sure to consider which effects you need to fight for. Often lighting and scenic design have very specific requirements, and that means sound tends to be the design discipline that moves or changes to accommodate them. But sometimes the way a certain element is described in the script or client deck means there are specific sound design requirements. In those situations, it is imperative to put your foot down with the other design disciplines. If an effect calls for an atomic bomb to go off, for example, then you will be needing a subwoofer, and the scenic team will need to accommodate space for that subwoofer in their design. Be a positive collaborator, but be firm, because you can not change physics.

Acoustics & Bleed

When designing for immersive events, you often have to figure out how to cope with bleed from the outside world and even other rooms within the experience. Many immersive experiences are pulsed attractions, meaning they have one audience group starting while people are halfway through the experience, or simultaneous scenes. This makes bleed a really important thing to consider. True isolation is expensive, and I have yet to see an immersive show try to make rooms acoustically isolated. Sound wants are often communicated after the set design, budget, and production timeline have been determined. Many found spaces are unforgiving anyway, such as reverberant warehouses. The following techniques talk about what to do when bleed is apparent, and you have done all you can with acoustic treatment and good speaker placement, tuning, and focus.

One tactic is to embrace the bleed! Evaluate whether it can actually help your sound design. A horror attraction can be made much scarier when people in one room can hear screams coming from another. The next technique is to compromise on what sound effects and music you use. If you have a cheesy piece of music that works for a comedic scene in one room that bleeds into a serious scene in another room, you might need to either lower the cheesy music quite a bit, notch out more present frequencies or potentially pick different music altogether.

The outside world can also be a consideration. I have really enjoyed watching experiences where the outside world is actually a part of an immersive experience. Once I saw a theater production that took place in a graveyard. The natural nighttime atmosphere blurred the lines between what was the real world versus the world of the play. (Super cool!) However, many immersive attractions exist independent from the real world. In this case, you can’t do much about it. Many attractions get around it by making sound and music really loud. And, as you get more bodies in a space, less of the outside world will be heard. And audience members are generally too captivated by the production to notice the world outside!

Regardless of the issue, as you make these discoveries, keep having these discussions with your director. Do a site visit early and anticipate these issues early on and talk about them.

Inspiration Tips

You can gain knowledge and inspiration without working on an immersive project. Everything you apply in sound design for immersive spaces falls under the scientific principles within Acoustic Ecology. As with any type of sound design, start by paying attention to the world around you. What do you hear and where is it coming from? How do things sound different from close up or far away? Keen awareness of the real world can influence creative choices as well as mixing decisions.

Learn all the sound science. Start by looking up the Doppler effect (the pitch of something ascending as it gets closer, like an ambulance siren), occlusion (something blocking a sound), phase cancellation, and literally everything about room acoustics. Research psychoacoustics and how people respond to different frequencies. In a similar vein, learn about loudness metering, because it is weighted by how humans perceive sound. To hear examples of an immersive mix without going to an event, play video games with headphones on. Larger AAA games (some indie too), implement all of these psychoacoustic principles.

Live immersive events are a very fulfilling frontier for those of us with theatrical backgrounds. The process and application are quite different and very in flux throughout, with a ton of collaboration. Understanding the science, forging positive relationships with other departments, and a lot of creative problem solving are the keys to pulling off the suspension of disbelief, and will level up the sound design for your future immersive projects!

Thanks to my editors for reading through this beast and providing feedback: Julien Elstob (lighting designer), Fionnegan Murphy (A/V Integration Engineer), Stephen Ptacek (sound designer).

 

On Mentorship

We talk a lot about the importance of mentorship in this industry, and in general. While I may have studied theatre sound design in college, I feel like so much of the learning I have done has been through mentors who have given me a chance to watch them work. Now that I have gotten a few years of career experience under my belt, it has been super rewarding for me to take up that mantle and start mentoring myself. So, for this blog, I want to talk about my own experience progressing from mentee to mentor.

“There’s a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought, that if you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught!” – from The King and I. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Photo by Matthew Murphy

My first major mentor was Chris Evans, head of sound at the Benedum Center in downtown Pittsburgh. I was lucky enough to intern with him in the summer after my junior year of college, right when I was figuring out that I might want to mix musicals professionally. As Chris worked in an IATSE house (which meant that as a non-union worker there were limitations on what tasks I could do), my jobs included marking up scripts, making paperwork, and pulling sound effects. But mostly I just got to watch a brilliant mixer do his thing. I learned so much from just getting to be in the room with professionals and seeing how people behaved gave me a profound understanding of our industry. I returned to school that fall determined to channel all that I had learned from my new role model and be the best person I could be, not just the best mixer.

As I went on in my career, I collected a host of other mentors, some of whom probably don’t even know I think of them that way. I met folks through work, by shadowing them on shows, or by attending trade shows like USITT and AES. It can be awkward to approach someone when you have no footing in the business yet, but if I showed a genuine interest in what they do and a respect for their time and knowledge…the doors would magically open to me. And really, I can’t think of any other way that I could possibly have learned so much about the industry.

As I moved up in the ranks at my regional theatre gig, I kept in touch with mentors like Chris, but I also slowly began to mentor my apprentices. They each came in with different backgrounds, so while they all were hired to do the same job (be my A2 and assistant), it felt good to learn about each of them and try to tailor the experience to what they specifically wanted to learn about, whether it was mixing a musical, being a better A2, or doing cleaner paperwork. I could give them a safe place to learn on the job by handing over responsibilities a little at a time and share stories about when I had been in their shoes as an apprentice myself a few short years ago.

Even then, I still felt like I had so much to learn myself, but I was now squarely in the middle of the progression of my career. I wasn’t at the top yet (still nowhere near it!), but I was at least a few “rungs” up the ladder. I could now speak from personal experience about getting one’s first job, but also about getting a second job, or moving to a new city for work, or any of the other career hurdles that I had somehow managed to overcome. And as I continued to learn from mentors of my own, I could immediately pass that wisdom on, and hopefully save my mentees from falling into some of the pitfalls that I did, or that my mentors had during their early careers.

3 generations of Goodspeed Musicals Mentorship gathered safely at my pandemic wedding! L to R: Rob Baldwin, Olivia Denison, me, Jay Hilton. Photo by Eric Brushett Photograhpy.

Once I finally started working in NYC, I felt like something shifted. I began to get approached by teachers to guest-lecture for their students, and by young people asking me questions about getting into theatre. At first, I approached these encounters with an imposter-syndrome-fueled dread.  The way I saw it, I too was still making it up as I went! I had no idea how the NYC theatre scene worked, having just arrived there myself in January of 2019. I could give no advice on how to get a job, how shop builds worked…how could anyone think that I was a good example of someone to learn from? The first few times I mentored, I think this nervousness definitely showed! But, as I stood in front of my first group of students, I realized something. All you can give is your own story, and as “once in a lifetime/the stars aligned” as your career path seems to you, even sharing that information goes a long way to demystifying this world of theatre. And once I got a little better at doing it, I discovered I kind of liked it 🙂

After that first fateful experience guest-lecturing, I figured out my spiel a little bit. I kept inviting young aspiring mixers to shadow me at Rock of Ages, and did my best to connect with people who are underrepresented in NYC theatrical sound. However, it was during the pandemic that I really felt myself cross the proverbial bridge from mentee to mentor. I don’t know how it happened, but as we were all pivoting to life at home, suddenly people needed more guest lecturers in classes, or assignments to replace being on run crew for shows. And not only was there a need, but I suddenly had the time to fill it! The first months of 2020 I had been working multiple shows on top of each other basically nonstop (which by the way I DO NOT recommend!), and the effect was beginning to really deteriorate me physically and mentally. I wanted to continue being there for any young person I could, especially young women. And when the shutdown happened, I tried my best to keep paying it forward, even without being able to invite folks to shadow me at Front of House.

I’ve had a couple of great mentoring experiences this year. I took on my first SoundGirls mentee, zoomed with a young aspiring designer after this year’s virtual USITT, and most recently, did a structured 10 week program through Sound Thinking NYC where I helped my mentee complete a composition she wanted to work on. Again, my experience and career path didn’t always match my mentees exactly, but I found that I could help guide them in the right direction, or at least offer my takes on where they could go to learn more about the subjects that excited them. These experiences have been one of the absolute highlights of this time away from work for me, because no matter where my mentees were on their career journey, it was completely ok that none of us knew the answers! I would say things like, “well, I have no idea what job advice I can give right now, but here’s how it worked pre-pandemic.” The shared feeling of “making it up as we went” made me feel like I could be honest about my own uncertainties. And while at first, I worried that I was setting the wrong example by not having the answers, it turns out that my admitting what a mystery this line of work is made it ok for them to feel that way too.

Some of this year’s class of SYNYC mentees at one of our virtual meeting!

To me, this is the heart of mentoring, and what makes it different from just teaching. Sure, plenty of practical learning might happen by osmosis, but your job as a mentor is first and foremost to just do what you do, lead by example, and be honest about your struggles. We all want to come back to an industry that is more inclusive, more just, and more tolerant of people’s individual needs. And I believe that those of us who are mentors have a responsibility to keep opening doors in the industry to make that change happen for those coming up behind us.

Starting A Show

In any normal year, early spring is when the staffing process begins for tours going out in the fall. You probably won’t have a contract in hand yet, but your resume has gone off to designers and production companies, or (if you’re currently on tour) you’ve had a conversation with your design team or production manager about the shows going into production, and what they might have in mind for you.

However, there are still months before you’ll hit the shop to build a new show, and longer until you’re in the venue to tech it. So spring and summer become the perfect time to start learning a new show so you can give yourself a running start. Right now, conversations center around maybes: someone has your resume on their desk; they’d like to inquire about your availability for a possible project; we’d like to see if you might be a good fit. That sort of language. At this point, nothing is for certain, but I’ll start in on some cursory research for the show I’m under consideration for. This mostly involves cyber stalking the show: searching YouTube for Tony Award or press event performances, Googling pictures of the production, and listening to the most recent cast album or recording of the show.

On Official Offer

Conversations use more concrete terms: yes, we’d like you to do the show; we’re sending your resume to the production manager; you should hear from this person soon, etc. At this point, the show’s soundtrack becomes the new underscore of my life. I cannot stress enough how important it is to listen to the show. Replicating the sound of it is your job, so the more familiar you are with it, the better. Plus, knowing what’s happening gives you a solid foundation to start tech and make intelligent mixing choices.

Finally, once I have an official offer I can start my formal prep. At this point I ask for a packet of information from the designers or production consisting of: a script (preferably a mixing script if it isn’t a brand new show), any audio recording that might be available, and a console file (again, this is if there’s a version of the show currently running).

The Script

The script is the basis for most of my paperwork. The audio recording hopefully gives me the full show to listen to, including dialogue. The console file lets me dive into the structure of the physical show as well as providing details about programming that might not be clear in the script.

From the script, I’ll build an initial set of paperwork starting with my own mixing script. Even if I get a complete, annotated mix script, I will always make my own for two reasons:

#1. I like my formatting. I have a system with color-coded notes that is easy for me to read, and I can put page breaks in convenient places. Plus, re-entering cues and notes means that I know exactly where each one goes.

#2. It’s another opportunity to get the show in my head. I always re-type the script which forces me to go over every single word of the show. Usually multiple times with annotations and proofreading.

In conjunction with the script, I’ll do some additional paperwork and make a spreadsheet to document (or for a new show, create) DCA assignments. This has the basic information of how many console scenes are in the show, what the name of each DCA fader is in each scene, and which specific mics are assigned on a given fader (if it’s not obvious, such as faders labeled chorus, altos, or one-off solo lines). This helps while annotating my script if I have a question where a cue needs to go or who’s in what scene, and becomes a quick reference for programming the console when I get to tech.

This is where the console file can come in handy. Most consoles have an offline editor that you can use to open it on your computer and look around to see how the show is laid out. When I’m building paperwork, I’ll double-check the file if I have questions about who exactly is singing which part in a scene.

Practice

Once I have an annotated script, my basic paperwork, and the audio recording, I’ll start to put the mix into practice. I use two methods, one that requires my practice board and another I can do pretty much anywhere.

Using my practice board (a set of faders that don’t control anything which you can find versions on casecraft.com, er3designs.com, or I, personally, have a custom board made by Scott Kuker), I’ll grab my script and the recording and move through the mix of the show. I’ll go over difficult transitions or fast sections multiple times to start developing some muscle memory, and if I’m having trouble, I’ll play around and see if there’s a more efficient way to mix the scene. That might be adjusting the DCA programming or changing which hand covers which faders. On Les Mis and Saigon, those shows are almost entirely sung-through, and there’s always music. So I used my right hand on the orchestra faders for the majority of the show and did the vocal choreography with my left hand. Practicing for those two shows involved figuring out where I needed both hands for vocals and should switch my right hand from covering the orchestra faders to assisting with dialogue. Mean Girls on the other hand has dialogue scenes with no underscoring, so I spent more time using both hands-on vocal faders and then shifting back over to the band for songs.

The second method I use is something I call pointing through the show. I can practice with this technique anywhere with just a piece of paper (the aforementioned DCA breakdown paperwork), and the audio recording of the show. For this, I’ll listen to the show, pointing along on the paper to who’s mic should be up at the moment. This tests how well I’ve memorized the show because there’s no way to hide if I can’t point to who’s talking. Then I’ll go over any problem scenes with my script. Most often these are dialogue scenes where it’s constantly switching between several different people or scenes with a lot of one-liners. Pretty much anything that might cause you to skip around on the faders if there’s no good way to do typewriter programming.

I started practicing this way because I got into the habit early in my career of working to get off the book as soon as possible. Pointing through the show gives me a head start on memorizing the show and I can usually put my script away a couple of weeks after tech. I find I pay better attention to how the show is sounding when I don’t have my head in my script. Other people prefer the security of having the script in front of them to reference, even if they don’t necessarily need it. It’s purely a personal preference, but you should always make sure you are comfortable and confident that you truly have the show memorized before you completely put your script away.

*    *    *

But what happens when you don’t have all this time to learn a show? The prep process I’ve outlined can take weeks or even months. What happens if you get thrown into a show at the last minute or won’t even get a script until a couple of days before tech? Or what if it’s a short run where you just can’t justify months of preparation?

In this case, I do some basic preparation but focus on making the notes in my script are clear since I’ll likely be sight-reading it in tech. I won’t retype my entire script, but instead use the limited prep time to make sure annotations and notes are easy to follow and my fader or DCA layout is as logical and simple as possible. If I have time to physically practice, I’ll focus on the complicated parts to make sure they’re efficient. I’ll always make and print out a DCA breakdown so I have a quick reference for programming the console.

Every bit of preparation helps, no matter how much or little time I have, and I’ve never met a designer that wasn’t happy to give me whatever they could to help me learn the show. So don’t be afraid to ask for materials, your designer will appreciate your initiative and everyone (yourself included!) will love it when you’re self-sufficient in tech.

The Changing of the Guard – Training subs and replacements on a show

 

Last month, in Tips and Tricks for Subs and Replacements, we discussed how to put your best foot forward when learning to be a sub or replacement on a show. This month let’s look at the other side of the equation, when you are the one running the show and someone new is coming in either to sub for you, or to take over the show entirely. We will mostly discuss training subs in this post, but the training principles and tips should apply in both scenarios.

Why is having a well-trained sub so important? Well, the old saying “the show must go on” applies equally on stage and backstage! Just as actors have understudies for their roles, it is important that no one person’s health or availability is the “single point of failure” on a production, such that the show literally cannot go on without them if they must call out. Additionally, you don’t want the show to simply “go on” without you. You want it to be as good as it is when you’re the one mixing! When your sub is mixing the show, they are representing you, your work, and the entire sound department, so you want to know you have someone who is going to do their best job and be a good ambassador on your behalf.

Think of your show as this tower, and don’t let one person’s absence be the block that breaks it!

I like to break the training process into 3 phases: Pre-Prep (before your sub’s first official day), Training (when your sub is learning to mix the show), and Hand-Off (when the sub finally gets “hands-on faders” and starts mixing the show). Depending on your sub’s prior mixing experience, this process can take anywhere from a few days to a month. Typically, I will ask for 16 performances (2 weeks, assuming 8 shows a week) to complete this process, and I have this is the typical timeline in NYC.

Phase 1: Pre-prep

There is a lot you can do to make things easier for your incoming sub before they are even hired. The first of these is to maintain a good mix script! If you read my last blog, you know that I take paperwork and formatting very seriously, because they’re the best tools we have to convey all the information that is needed to mix the show correctly. If your script is paper, think about making a digital version, or at least a scanned PDF. That way your sub can have access to all your notes as they put together their own copy of the mix script. Collect any additional paperwork or training materials that might be helpful to them and organize it all in some sort of shared folder. For example, if a new sub was to join my show, they would be added to a private Dropbox which has my mix script, a blank script, the score, face pages (for learning people’s names), startup/shutdown instructions, show recordings (audio-only and conductor cam), and hands videos that my current sub filmed when he was training so that he could reference them while practicing. Back when I was a stage manager, one of my sayings was “the book matters more than you do,” and this idea certainly applies here. When your sub is mixing for real, you won’t be there to answer questions, so as much of that info as possible needs to be written down and easy to reference.

A sneak peek inside the contents of the “RoA_SoundSubs” Dropbox

Phase 2: Training

Once your sub is in the building and training has officially begun, you will want to give them at least a few performances to get familiar with the show, the mix, the pace, and the sound before they start practicing. They should watch the show from the audience at least once before moving to FOH to shadow you. Once they are shadowing you, this is when they can be building their script, taking notes, and asking questions. On Rock of Ages, I had a small table with a video shot of the stage over to one side, plus our console had an overview screen that I could angle towards my sub at the table. This allowed them to watch both the show and a mini-version of my DCAs moving in order to see my strategy for making certain pickups in real-time, and without having to be right on top of me at the console :). If you’re able, try to explain certain things to your sub in real-time while you’re mixing. The more context you can give your sub for why you approach scenes the way you do, the easier it will be for them to mimic your moves. Everyone learns their own way, so give your sub room to do the prep they need, whether that’s watching you, marking up their script, or mixing along with pennies or a practice console. If they are newer at mixing and need more guidance, do your best to instruct them on what to focus on as they train, and what notes they should put in their script to make things as clear as possible.

Phase 3: Hand-off

It’s finally time for your sub to start doing some real mixing! Rather than just have your sub dive in head-first and mix the whole show their first time, it’s best to give them bits and pieces of the show to start with and build up from there. There are 3 common methods that I know of for handing off a show: “top-to-bottom,” “bottom-to-top,” and my personal favorite, “inside out.” If you are handing off a show “top-to-bottom,” you will have your sub start by mixing the beginning the show, and then you will take over and do the rest at a logical “hand-off” point, such as during an applause break. The next night, they will again start mixing from the top, but go on for longer before handing back to you. This way, they are always mixing the show in sequential order, and they will always be starting by mixing a part of the show that they have done before. This can help to build confidence, depending on your sub’s experience and personality. “Bottom-to-top” is the same method, just backwards. Your sub starts at the end of the show (for example, with the finale) and then your “hand-off” point moves earlier and earlier. Handing off “bottom-to-top” can be great because the regular mixer sets the tone for the show, and the sub has a benchmark that they can follow once they take over.

Finally, handing off “inside-out” is when you have your sub start with mixing small sections in the middle of the show, then build out from there until they reach the “bookends” of each act. I love this method because I can tailor my sub’s hand-off schedule to them more specifically. It also has the same advantage as “bottom-to-top” where I can start things off and give the sub a sense of where their levels should be that night. Typically, I will first give my sub some easy stuff to mix in the middle of each act, such as intimate dialogue scenes and solo or two-character songs. I’ll try to make sure that they get a section with some sound effects if the show has those so that they can get used to juggling that responsibility with making their pickups. The next day, I will either add entirely new chunks of the show to their list or extend the length of the chunks they are already doing. Again, this is dependent on the content of your show and the experience of your sub. In this method, the original A1 will find in a few days that all they are mixing is the beginnings and ends of each act, and finally, the whole show will be “handed off!”

These methods all take some advance planning to make sure that your hand-offs are clean, and it’s good to make sure your sub, stage manager, and music director are all privy to the plan each night. You don’t need to go into major detail about who is mixing which exact lines of dialogue, but those folks will be able to give good notes about what they are hearing and what might need adjusting between you and your sub.

Clean hand-offs are key here as well!

 

Optional Phase 4: Noting and Brush-Ups

If time allows, try to make sure that your sub-mixes at least one entire performance by themselves prior to your planned absence day, if applicable. If things are progressing well and your show is fully handed off, the last thing I like to do is give my sub one show where I am not at the console with them, so that they can practice “flying solo.” At this show, I will sit in the back of the house so that I can get to the console quickly if I need to, but mostly I will try to write my notes down and stay out of their way! This really is the only way that your sub will learn to solve problems and make decisions without you there to help, which is exactly the goal of training them in the first place!

Once your sub is fully trained, you should make a schedule for them to come in and mix a brush-up performance every few weeks, with you noting them from the house. Even if you aren’t planning to take a day off, it’s important to make sure your sub stays fresh, and that can be hard to do if they go months without mixing a performance!

What if your theater isn’t in the habit of hiring and training subs? I know from personal experience that it can be hard to sell a producer on this idea, especially in low-budget venues or on short show runs. If you are met with resistance, ask your producer to think of it this way. Training a sub is like taking out an insurance policy for the show. Putting in the time and resources to train a sub in advance will likely result in a higher quality mix than if someone untrained must attempt to mix the show “cold.” Or in the worst-case scenario, the producer might have to cancel an entire performance and refund everyone’s tickets. Hopefully avoiding both these outcomes is in their best interests too!

On a side note, one of my sincerest hopes is that when theater returns post-pandemic, the need for trained subs, paid sick days, paid personal days, and thorough contingency plans will be taken much more seriously by everyone. No one should ever feel like they must “power through” if they aren’t feeling well, and I think that we all now realize that having a sick person in the building is not worth the risk it poses to everyone else! No more “war stories” about sick A1s trying to mix with their sinuses totally blocked or with a nausea bucket next to them (I, unfortunately, speak from personal experience on both). Also, we have always known that this work can be mentally taxing, and I hope that when we reopen workers will feel that they can advocate for themselves better in that arena too, whether by asking for support outside of work or taking a mental health day without fear of repercussions.

I hope this post and my previous blogs have helped to shed some light on this important aspect of running shows! Whether you are the sub or are training the sub, these tips and tricks will help you make sure that your show sounds the best it can, regardless of who is mixing it.

Producers:  Your job listings need to include pay

And that pay needs to be reasonable

I don’t know of a time prior to this pandemic that the entire entertainment industry was out of work.  It’s very difficult to think of when or how we will get back to work, and the grim reality is that many of the companies with which we are accustomed to receiving work will not be there when “normalcy” returns.  This means that when we do return to work, there will be more of us than available jobs.  My biggest fear is that producers will try to take advantage of these situations and offer new jobs at the lowest possible dollar.  It’s been happening since before the pandemic, and I’m afraid the situation will only get worse when those jobs are in higher demand.

First of all, when are we going to get to the place where openly discussing pay isn’t a taboo subject?

For as long as I have been searching for jobs in my professional career, the pay is almost always the last thing I find out about.  Why?  Why would producers hide that information?  Are they embarrassed about the rate?  Is it too low?  Is it illegal?  If the answer to any of these questions is yes, well then, producers, I’m here to say that you’re doing it wrong.  Your pay rate, benefits package, and special offers should be a selling point for you.  If you’re touting your company’s great reputation, clout, and place in the industry, but you’re not willing to share pay information until you’ve almost got a potential employee hooked, I can’t help but think that you’re taking cues from the Mr. Wormwood Book of Ethics, and my theatre buddies will know that Mr. Wormwood is not good company to keep.  Many of us begrudgingly go through the motions of updating our resumes and websites, collecting letters of recommendation, filling out lengthy applications, and making time for multiple interviews just to learn that after all that time, the salary was never worth it in the first place.  I don’t know about you, but when that happens to me, I feel cheated and duped.  I shouldn’t have to pass a series of tests just to find out what you’re willing to pay me if I’m offered the job.

Look, I get it, your company was hit hard too.  You’ve had to resort to Zoom theatre and other cheap programming just to keep the electricity on.  You’ve had to furlough many of your full-time staff, and you’ve been trying to live off of PPP loans for 11 months.  If that wasn’t bad enough, you are going to have to beef up your Covid-19 compliance when you are able to open again, and that will mean shelling out more money.  The thing is, though, there is a way to do this honestly and ethically.

If you are unable to offer a living wage for a full-time position (*protip—$30k p/y as the full-time Technical Director in Los Angeles County is not a living wage) you need to rethink your company’s structure.  If having a very experienced, top-of-the-line TD is a priority for you, you need to prioritize their salary first.  Commit to paying that person what they are worth, and they will commit to you.  Maybe the scale of your productions needs to come down.  Maybe the number of shows you produce needs to be adjusted.  Maybe you need to up your grant writing and donor outreach game, but the simple fact of the matter is if you cannot afford to pay an experienced TD what they are worth AND produce your dream list of shows at the same time, then you can’t afford either, and your internal structure needs to change.  If $30k is what you have to offer, and you cannot budge on that number, that means the job description needs to change.  This is not reasonable for a full-time job, but it could be reasonable for a part-time job, depending on the job requirements.  It could also be reasonable as an entry job for a recent graduate or even an internship.  Being able to make creative adjustments to facilitate the job security of your current and future employees is a really attractive prospect.  It also means that you can proudly display your pay rate on your job listings and know that you are being fair to your applicants.

Producers, you have to prioritize your people

All of us have been using this downtime to really explore those HR processes that have and have not been working.  We should all be very aware by now that “must-have five years professional experience” and “$30,000 per year” for a full-time skilled job are just two points that should not exist together in the same sentence.  If you’re saying to yourself, “It’s always worked for us in the past,” you should know that even if it’s been working for you, that doesn’t mean it’s working for your employees and applicants.  Companies that try to get by on the lowest possible salary have a high turnover rate usually due to employee burnout.  The employee that is receiving a lower than living wage rate is either trying to work as much as possible to pick up lots of overtime so they can make rent, or they’re working tons of side gigs and have little energy or will leave to perform adequately for their main company of employment.

The fact that we feel we HAVE to take the low-paying jobs so that we can get that “five years professional experience” is what creates the rat race that we desperately need to dismantle because when we all come back post-pandemic, that rat race is going to be much worse.  We will shift the reasoning for taking these jobs to “so that I can eat and live” and when we do so, we will be handing over even more leverage to the producers that think the technician/designer/actor/etc. that works for the lowest dollar wins.  Producers, you have to prioritize your people.  Be open, honest, and fair in your job offers, descriptions, and expectations.  Make sure a human is capable of living off of only your job.  Eliminate the need for side gigs.  Make the people the center of your budget—prioritize them.  Happy employees make happy companies, and there is no other version of this very simple mantra.

 

Tips and Tricks for Subs and Replacements.

A lot of folks’ first “big break” doesn’t come in the way that you might expect. Mine was a matter of good timing, mostly. I had just finished a run as the A2 on a small new musical, and during the load-out week, my boss pulled me aside and asked to discuss something with me. The show running at the theater’s main stage had become a giant box office hit and was going to extend its run by an additional month. However, the current mixer on that show had a conflict with the final weeks of performances, and my boss, who would usually cover for him, had other things going on. So, did I want to do it instead?

The “In-Out” sheet provided by stage management outlining what understudies and subs are in the show that night. Paperwork created by Pamela Remler, Alison Simone, and Christine Seppala.

 

I had never been a substitute or replacement on a show before. Ever! I think I might have understudied someone when I was in the ensemble of the eighth-grade musical? But I definitely never went on. Shows in school and college also tend to have really short runs, and often the sprint to get the show open is so crazy that no one gives a thought to having to possibly replace an actor or technician at a moment’s notice. So as a result, these skills are most often learned “on the job.” And they are important skills to have because subbing or replacing someone on a show is how a LOT of people get their start in the industry!

Being a substitute or replacement on a show definitely comes with its own unique set of challenges. Regardless of the situation, it’s always tricky to be the new kid. You’re coming into a group that has already formed, and in all likelihood, they have a bond that comes from having been through the process together up to that point. So, not only are you trying to learn to do your new job, but you are also navigating the social situation and seeing how you are going to fit in. Plus, on the practical side, you will not have been privy to all the decisions that were made throughout rehearsals, tech, and previews, which led to why things are done the way they are. You’re getting a lot of new information but without the underlying context.

 

How I felt my first-day training on Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. Don’t worry, everyone was nice!

Sounds challenging, right? But fear not! There’s a lot you can do to set yourself up for success. So, with that, here are a few best practices for making your transition into a show as smooth as possible.

*quick side note for definitions: I think of a sub as someone who covers for the current mixer in the case of a planned or unplanned absence, and a replacement as someone who is training to take over mixing the show full time. Sometimes they overlap, certainly, there are differences, but hopefully, these tips and tricks will help in either case.

Do as much homework as you can!

One great thing about joining a show that is already up and running is that you don’t have to come in as blind as on an original production. As soon as you’re hired, ask to see the show. See it as many times as you can from the audience before you start watching it from the mix position. This will give you a great sense of how the sound system is laid out, because in all likelihood the show feels pretty different under the balcony vs. second row orchestra. That knowledge will inform your understanding of why the mixer does things a certain way, and how the balance that you hear at FOH is translating to the audience.

If you can’t be in the theater prior to your start date, get any recordings or cast albums that exist and listen to them nonstop. The show that I first came in on as a replacement was a new jukebox musical called Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn, so there wasn’t a cast album of any kind. My solution? I made a Spotify playlist of all the original songs so that I could at least get a handle on the lyrics, even though the songs in the show were in different arrangements and keys. Ask for any scripts, scores, and show paperwork, so that you’re as familiar with the material as you can be before hitting the ground running.

Read the room

Your first day at the theater should be 99% about listening and observing. What is the vibe like backstage? How does the current mixer interact with people? You can get a lot of knowledge from watching them because they know the people they work with and how to interact with them. They will know which actors want to chat, and which ones would prefer to be left alone to get into character. At least when you’re first phasing in, follow the current mixer’s usual walking paths and tendencies. It will help to create a sense of continuity, because your new coworkers will see that you are not here to rock the boat or upset the existing balance.

Of course, if you get the sense right away that there is some tension, use your judgment about how you might do things differently when it’s just you there. And certainly, you shouldn’t do anything that you are uncomfortable with, or mimic a behavior that you think is making other people uncomfortable. You are your own person, after all. Don’t be afraid to ask your mixer questions about why they do things a certain way or speak to people a certain way once you’re able to talk privately later. But when making those first impressions, take a leaf from the Hamilton book and “talk less, smile more.”

Respect precedent

A follow-up to #2. As we’ve covered, things usually are the way they are for a reason, even if you aren’t sure what that reason is yet. When you start learning to mix the show, do it as identically to the current mixer as you can. Do not change any programming! This is considered rude, as the Mix Bible and Control Group assignments is the original mixer’s main artistic contribution to the piece. Sure, if you’re a replacement, you may do some cleanup of the show file once you’re on your own (spelling errors and such), but for now, mix the original mixer’s show, and mix it their way. Also, if a show runs in multiple cities (e.g., there is a New York production and a touring production), those productions are likely set up to be exact replicas of each other, so that if someone is transferred from one to the other, they aren’t suddenly learning a new way to mix a certain scene. Everyone who mixes the show needs to be able to do it the same way, so you risk creating inconsistencies between mixers if everyone has their own slightly different show file. You should definitely have your own script, set up in a way that makes sense to you, but to make this script you should be copying the notes out of the current mixer’s script exactly, and taking cues where they take them. If you’re replacing someone on a show, your mix will naturally evolve over time, as other folks in the company swap in and out, or after a director or designer comes to note the show. But for now, your job is to do what the current person does.

 

Left-Brad Zuckerman’s original mix script for Rock of Ages Off-Broadway. Right: my version of the mix script. Same notes and info just conveyed in two different ways.

Form smart alliances

In my opinion, the 3 most important relationships that a mixer on a musical has are with the Stage Manager, the Music Director, and the House Manager. Including you, these are the 4 people whose jobs really have no breaks! Y’all are busy the entire show, steering your own related parts of the ship that come together to make a whole production. The stage manager will be able to give you insight into the actors, the general energy backstage, and other things that may help to inform your mix that evening. They can also be an ally when working through scenarios such as a a split track (when there are multiple actor absences and lines/vocals need to be reassigned to do the show “person-down”), a post-show speech, or a special event onstage. The music director is depending on you to make sure the band is coming through well to the house, as well as to the monitors. They will appreciate knowing that you are on their side! The MD knows the show better than almost anyone, and they will know when you might need to make an adjustment based on a sub musician or understudy actor. Finally, the house manager will be able to tell you about any weird audience/patron situations that may affect your mixing. Plus, you can work together to catch audience members using their cellphones to text or bootleg the show, because sometimes you have a better view of the audience than the ushers! This is an ENORMOUS pet peeve of mine personally, and I am grateful to the many house managers who work hard to minimize distractions for those of us who are out in the audience making the show happen.

 

Learn everyone’s names (and pronouns!)

I used to tell my apprentices that if they only learned one thing in their time working with me, it should be the names of the band members and their subs. I was only half-joking when I said it! This is one of the simplest things you can do to build trust and respect with people. Ask for a face page (a document usually made by stage management, with small photos of the company with their names and pronouns listed underneath them). Study it. If there isn’t a face page, make your own! Get a program or playbill, which should at least have photos of the cast, plus names of the orchestra and crew. Resort to googling and social media stalking if necessary. And if you forget, don’t be afraid to ask! I once walked right into the wardrobe room and said to one of our awesome stitchers “you are always here, and you are so helpful, and I cannot remember your name or pronouns!” Once he told me, I never forgot. Plus, I turned my forgetfulness into an opportunity to build respect not just with this stitcher, but with the whole wardrobe department. It showed everyone in the wardrobe room that who they are and what they do on the show was important to me.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions! The more information you have, the better you’ll do at finding your place and doing your job as well as the person before you. Work hard, be patient, and show a lot of respect. If you’re a replacement, know that you will find your own role in time, so there’s no need to rush it. If you’re a sub, just focus on keeping things consistent on the nights that you are there.

Mid-way through my training on that first sub gig, the music director came up to the original mixer at intermission and said, “the show sounds good tonight!” To which the original mixer replied, “I’m not mixing the show tonight!” That’s how I knew I was doing it right. I had worked hard not just to learn to mix the show, but also to create a smooth and seamless transition between the outgoing mixer and myself. And someone not knowing that that transition had even happened truly was the best compliment of all.

Look out for my next blog in April, where I’ll flip the scenario and talking about TRAINING subs and replacements!

The Innovation of Theatre During a Pandemic

2020 was the year that Broadway, and so many other theaters, closed their doors. Consoles remained covered. Houses stayed empty. The lonely ghost light stood center stage. However, the year also came with great innovation, which is something that cannot be ignored by those who remain working in this industry. Though our theatre doors may be shut, many have turned to other ways to safely continue community involvement.

Streaming, zooming, and filming have now become the norm. I think a lot about older family members cursing at their computers and then I do a broadcasted performance where the streaming equipment outweighs the audio equipment in the setup. Although I feel incredibly inexperienced working audiovisual, this is the road theatre must take to maintain activity and reach their communities. While it may seem frustrating and foreign, streaming ensembles and filming theatre are some of the only ways we can continue to do shows at the moment. My peers and I have had first-hand experience in dealing with familiar and not-so-familiar challenges while working this past year.

At the start of 2021, I took on the role of recording engineer for a musical turned film-musical called Gay Card, written by Jonathan Keebler and orchestrated by Ryan Korell. Because of Covid-19, the director, Jordan Ratliff, had to adapt and form safe plans to see this production to fruition. Fortunately, my job was to record spoken lines and sung musical numbers, since backing tracks were provided. The cast is a mix of seasoned actors/actresses and first-time performers. Many cast members had never recorded in a studio before, which can be challenging for both the engineer and the vocalist.

When recording, I prefer to think I am capturing an experience, or a slice of this moment; perfection is not a real, pre-existing thing that I think a lot of people assume they are going to capture when they walk into a studio. Not only does this put an immense amount of pressure on the person in the booth, but adds unnecessary stress for the engineer. The captured experience is vital for a high-energy musical such as Gay Card. 

I worked alongside the director and sound designer to be certain what we recorded met the needs of the musical. Filming was a hybrid of wide shots for dance numbers and filming through Zoom of more intimate shots. After the filming and editing process has been complete, our production of Gay Card will follow the typical assembly line that a movie or short film might follow. The sound designer will add their sound to the picture-locked film, as well as, mix and master the finished product.

Many of the designers, technicians, and actors on this production come from the theatrical world and have had little to no experience with film production. We were incredibly fortunate to work with a small filming crew who could turn this piece into an actualized creation. It is collaborations and adaptations like this that make me so fond of the industry that I am in, and even though the current pandemic has halted the typical theatre experience, it has not stopped innovators from finding ways to continue their craft.

On the other hand, some productions have been produced entirely remotely with both designers and actors working from home. I was able to talk with my peer, Kayla Sierra-Lee about her experience as the sound designer for a recent production of Sex by Mae West.

Kayla Sierra-Lee on the difference in design technique

In terms of the differences in design techniques, streaming was relatively limiting. All of my sound effects were ran through QLab like normal, but the only speaker focuses I had were a right and left computer speaker. We had a specific person dedicated to running the stream which included most of the audio and effects. After editing our filmed cast, frames were built in Wirecast and filmed sections were put in with the live actors. For running the show itself, all of it was streamed through youtube.

And you also had to work with the music that the composer had already created. How was that?

There was a change in direction from the director, so a lot of the music the composer gave me no longer fit the tone of the play. The pieces we did use were added into my QLab file, as well as, other pieces I had pulled to fit the era of the show. This was a challenge due to all of the copyright laws for streaming, which is something not a lot of theaters have ever had to think about.

Were you the only one not local to the area? Was that a challenge for you?

A majority of us weren’t local and a lot of the filming/streaming took place in people’s homes. Needing a clear connection for streaming was also a high priority for both actors and designers. None of us had access to in-person rehearsals. That made it a challenge because we couldn’t gauge the emotions and reactions that would normally be happening on stage. We didn’t have a set, so it was important for us as designers to bring home the theme and location of 1930’s Montreal. What helped the most was having a director that knew what they wanted and was able to communicate that in our production meetings. Being able to say “this is the tone I want, the mood I want, and the audience reaction I want” was great since a lot of those things are usually pulled from in-person rehearsals.

Did you miss not being able to fully collaborate with your fellow designers?

I really did miss that connection with other designers, but I was able to work with people from all over the country and at all different levels of profession. That doesn’t get to happen very often unless either person travels to the theater, so this was a very unique opportunity for me to have.

Though theater doors have shut, some doors have remained opened for professionals that normally would not have been available to them otherwise. It is this strength and resilience that I find most attractive about our industry. If anything, this article has renewed your hope and inspiration for your work and its application.

This production of Gay Card is anticipated to be finished in late spring 2021. Information and videos of this production of Sex can be found on the Facebook page titled ‘Play Your Part Seattle’. There, you will be able to find many videos of the cast, designers, and director talking about their experience with this production and the process.

A very special thank you to Kayla Sierra-Lee for her contribution to this article. Sierra-Lee can be found at kmsounddesign.com and is a graduate student in the UIUC Sound Design program.

 

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