Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1998 - 55

Sound Score

Options:
part one

Richard K. Thomas
Pmt aile of this articfe describes
optiolls for sOUlld score pk()'back
del'ices C01llmoll()' used ill live
peljormallce elll'irolllllellts. Part
tll'O. scheduled for publicatioll ill
the lIext issue (fall. 1998) /I'ill
compare specific devices from
specific mallufacturers.

couple of years ago the 3M company stopped making analog audio tape products, including the paper and
plastic leader tape which sound designers have used for years to help sound board operators distinguish
between cues, and to cue up each sound for precise playback in a petfonnance. For many, this marked the
demise of the venerable and ubiquitous analog open reel audio tape recorders (ATRs). Why? Digital audio equipment
offers greater flexibility, economy and convenience. In recent years, pioneeling sound designers, engineers, technical
directors and theatre producers have introduced avaliety of digital products into the sound booths oftheatres around the
country. But everyone seems to have their own favolite pieces of equipment. Consequently, there is a great deal of
confusion and disagreement over which digital audio systems are best for theatre sound recording and playback

When theatre sound designers and technicians met during the 1997
US1TI Conference & Stage Expo in Fort Worth to plan sessions for the follOWing year's conference in Long Beach, the number one subject on
everyone's mind was digital audio. At the annual Sound Commission
meeting, Jon Gottlieb (Mark Taper Forum/Cal Arts), and Eileen
Smitheimer (University of Delaware), stepped forward to co-chair a session on the topic. Together they gathered an impressive group of theatre
sound practitioners, including Dave Tosti-Lane (Cornish College of the
Arts in Seattle), Da\~d Smith (North Carolina School of the Arts), Carlton
Guc (Stage Research in Cleveland OH), Ken Bell (Richmond Sound Design), Richard Zvonar (Level Control Systems), and EC Keller (South
Coast Repertory Theatre) to participate in the session, "Sound Playback
Options for Theatre," which took place for a capacity crowd on Thursday, March 19, 1998.

DIFFERENT PROD CTS FOR DIFFERENT TIIEATRES
1\vo things became ob~ous during the Long Beach sound playback options session: first, different types of theatres have very different playback
needs; and second, no single product reaUy exists to address aU of those
needs. The first part of tllis rep0l1 will focus first on specific types of
playback devices, and then on how to chose a sound playback format
that is right for your particular performing arts faCility.

COMPACT DISC
TIle recording industry changed overnight witll tile birth of tile compact disc.
CDs are substantiaUy smaUer tllan tile standard ~y1 record, \~tIl a much
larger dynamic range, tile ability to locate and cue up tracks quickly and easily, and none of tile surface noise tIlat plagues analog recordings. Soon recordable compact discs (CD-R) appeared o"n tile market, and before too
long, tile price of tile individual blank discs plummeted so low as to make
tlleir biggest drawback-the inability to record on tIlem more tllan once-a
non-issue. Theatres began to experiment \\~tIl compact discs as a playback
medium, and many tlleatres found tIlat tIley met tlleir needs ratller well. As
Jon Gottlieb explained: "The reason for CD is that recordable CDs can be
recorded with standalone CD-R recorders or recorded through a workstation with a computer CD-R burner. In general you need something that
can burn for audio as well, not just for data. The cost factor for these has
gotten very low, 1 mean if you get any lower, they're free. The benefit of
CD-R is that you can archive until your heart's content, and at present
there reaUy is not a known life-span for CD-Rs. BasicaUy what 1do is take
sound effects that I have mastered on workstations, or even on shows,
and I will arcllive them to CDs. So, if I decide that I want to take a thunder from a show that I did in the past, I can stick it in any CD and play it.
The tiling you're looking for in a CD player is that it will stop and cue itself up again."
TD& T

SUM

MER

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1998