Author Archives: kgstahl2@illinois.edu

Sound Thoughts I

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Some times you leave a design discussion with an exact answer, or at least a definition of concept. I will admit that I have left my discussions about this project more confused than when I enter them. The technical side of a project like this can really wear on your creative ability. That being said I am going to use this blog as a mind dump and look forward to whatever reaction it returns.

Dance with no defined music, both definitely will be happening. Ideally these too things line up, yet all I can think about it how is it going to be heard. I could drop a single wide-pattern microphone (large area of sound pickup) in the pit piping it into the existing center cluster of speakers in the hall and call it a day. What the listener may perceive is a very monochromatic sound environment. It could be either good or bad. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum every instrument/sound source can have a microphone with its own unique speaker and location throughout the hall. This is the much more technically complex route, but again is either good or bad. In this approach, the issue that could be posed is that the person farthest from the speaker may or may not perceive a given sound. That being said though when an orchestra plays there is typically no reinforcement, if you are extreme stage right you may or may not hear the instrument that is opposite of you. Again who is to say this is good or bad. I thought about the practicality of going in-between a monochromatic and very directional concept throughout the show in an interpretation of the dancers themselves. I think on a very practical level that this is unlikely. The way to accomplish such a task is to have a schedule of items, as a board op may not likely understand the concept on a fundamental level. They may or may not be able to accomplish such a free form transformation each night. Seeing as how there will likely not be the time and schedule to do such a thing I think we will be forced to choose one reinforcement concept and stick with it. My gut is telling me that the most practical approach is to go at this like it is a traditional L/R sound system. This would be easy to accomplish and would allow the opportunity to spread the sound of the instruments evenly so no matter where you sit in the house you can hear all the instruments. This approach is proven albeit boring, but it does work.

Having watched the dancing and talked with the production team I am not sure specific sounds as triggered by the production staff would really line up with what we are trying to do. The music, i believe, is free form and using a great deal of non-traditional sounds will be coving the emotional aspects necessary of sound. That does not mean that it is completely out of the picture though. As a designer I tend to really dislike attempts to recreate real sounds. For example if a script reads that a boy was chained up in the corner and you hear an obvious chain I get completely distracted. Whereas when I design that scene I would have may have a prepared piano piece in which you take a metal object and pluck away at the strings layering a bed of various distorted sounds. In relation to this project, I think if the moment for a sound or a weird effect bed is fitting it will present itself over the next couple of weeks. However I don’t think we are looking for a Doorbell or wind. I suppose those sorts of effects could be used and it would completely catch the audience off guard, like turning the house lights on mid performance for no apparent reason.

About traveling musicians, technically speaking this is not something that can be decided the week of the show. If it were something simple like a vocalist, or a guitar player then a 2-week notice would be plenty of time. If it is a tuba prop that is traveling back and forth through the dancers with a speaker crammed in its bell then I would say that that information needs to be known with in the next few days if not the next week. The unfortunate part is that nifty gear like that is hard to come by and having a finite amount of resources is the practical hurdle that we will have to fight with this design. Although I am not opposed to the idea, it just takes a bit of time to manage. During the most recent production meeting we talked about possibly elevating the pit to a level where the musicians could be special with lights and then possibly made to look larger than life with projections. I worked with music producer that used the Grand VJ software when performing that integrated sound and video (through electrical waves and digital information). We would take a camera feed and put it on soloist and manipulate the performer based on the sounds sent form the mixing board as well as from the keyboardist (triggering scenes). It is a concept of integration of sound and video that we could look into for just that effect in this performance.

I have not dealt much with dance in my time as a designer; thought the times I have it has been very rigid. The videos posted are far from rigid leaving me with a bit unsure of what is my course of action. All too often a sound designer is looked at as someone to provide a sound bed or a sound effect in conjunction with the directors vision, in this project I don’t believe that to be the case. I think honestly that my role in being a successful designer is too provide the best possible set of systems that help to enhance the visions of the musicians, provide seamless integration with the other designers, and add a level of contrast only if the project sees fit to it. Or………. I could be wrong about the whole thing. That’s the beauty of this project.

 

Music For Thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-JrXcTifyQ