Sound

Sound: What you need to know

Music
Very useful for creating atmosphere
Open and close the drama with music to make it seem less rushed and more professional
If you use music as a background, keep it low, as THE ACTORS MUST BE HEARD.

Microphones
There are many different types
Radio microphones do not have a lead, while normal ones do.
The radio microphones give the performer more freedom of movement
A microphone should be controlled by a sound engineer

Speakers
They give help to enhance the sound that you or the performers make.

Feedback
A high pitched sound created when a microphone is too close to the speakers.
It can be avoided by keeping the speakers as far downstage as possible and by keeping the microphone away from them

Fold back
The sound from speakers is usually directed at the audience.
Fold back speakers are additional speakers that allow the singers to hear their voice and the music in high quality.
Usually used for Musical Theatre

The stage and its sound components
The items that are circled are the fold back speakers, they are different from the regular speakers.
It lets the performers hear what they are saying/singing.
The regular speakers face out and all the extra sound effects etc. are heard through them

The sound control box
The sound engineer gets uses it.
You can use it to control echoes (reverb), volume, treble, bass, the quality of the sound and the speakers

Switches and Dials
Gain: controls the volume of the channel and the individual instrument or microphone.
Sliding volume control (individual): gives a more definite and precise volume control.
Master volume control: controls all the volume channels together, the left and right sides are for the left and right speakers

Switches and Dials
Reverb: this helps to create a fuller sound by adding an echo
Master reverb control: this gives control of all the reverb being used

Switches and Dials
Bass: provides tone control, bass can make things richer and give them more depth
Treble: provides tone control, WARNING: too much treble can create feedback problems
Mid: tone control, adjusts the treble, helping to make things sound a little bit clearer and more natural

Switches and Dials
Pan: by turning this to the left or right,you control the volume of the corresponding speaker, this allows you to control the balance, or the difference in the volume of sound between the speakers.
This is useful when you want to give the effect of movement, such as a car passing by making the sound move from one speaker to the other.
If the dial is in the center, then the volume is equal in both speakers

Switches and Dials
Individual inputs: this is where the output lead from a microphone, musical instrument, Ipod, or mp3 player is placed.
Make sure it is plugged in firmly.

The sound cues
You need to keep your timing right, otherwise you may miss the punch line.

The sound cue sheet Cue number Cue details duration Cue 1 Tom: what time did you say they were arriving? Car sound, track 2, effects CD 6 Fade out after 30 seconds Cue 2 Sarah: and they left in a cloud of dust. Prepared snippet of William tell overture Twenty seconds

Other ways of creating sound
You can use musical instrument to create sound, as well as many other everyday things.
Stomping your feet, breaking a glass, knocking on wood and other actions create sound, and can be used to create emotions in a piece of drama.
Your voice is an instrument, so use it! You can whisper, shout, scream, whine, click, burp, laugh, among countless different things.

Bibliography
McGuire, Brian. Technical Companion to Drama . Cambridge: Pearson Publishing, 2000.
Images.Google.com search

By Sam Cohen
SRC productions limited

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Sound

by C Rankin on Apr 14, 2010

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