Your live show setup

[Chatterbox Audio Theater]

For those of you who perform your shows in front of live audiences, what sort of setup do you use? What basic configuration? Is the director visible on stage, throwing cues? Do you use stage lighting? What does everybody wear?

Also, what microphones do you use? We like to use our beloved condenser mics, but they have a tendency to introduce tons of feedback (because we also play the live mix through the house speakers). Plus they pick up every stray noise in the theater. But the dynamic mics we've tried tend not to sound very good, and their pickup is so limited that you need a mic for every single performer (i.e., no mic sharing).

Finally -- any time we're in a theater, we can usually plug into the existing sound system for our amplification. But I'd also like to have a basic, portable PA system for less performance-ready spaces. Any recommendations?


bob

[Icebox]

My God, where to begin?

You've pretty much hit on every issue concerning live shows, and I wish I could tell you there were hard and solutions for any of them. Mostly, you simply have to accept that live is never going to sound quite like studio, and make your compromises carefully and thoughtfully.

Like the condenser mics. Yes, they sound great. But they are more sensitive and they will feed back, even with something as simple as an actors bumping the stand (those shock mounts are there for a reason). And the thing about live, you get one or two shots. I decided a long time ago it was better to go with a performance mic (read: dynamic) to reduce the risk of feedback ruining that moment when the actor really nailed it. As for actors each needing their own mic, we have a "visually challenged" art form here, and the least we can give the audience is the sight of live sound effects and actors jockeying a bit for position in front of a mic. True, you need a mic for every actor in that particular scene, but whenever I attend a live performance with nine mics lined up in front of the stage, my heart sinks a little. How about a little movement, guys?

Icebox started life with a portable sound system from Musician's Friend, and we've never looked back. Price was very reasonable and the quality was pretty good. But there's always a little compromise somewhere. For example, many of MF's best deals come with Behringer gear, which tends to feature SpeakOn connections. This is a locking cable system for the speaker cables, and it means you cannot use standard 1/4" jacks without some fairly spendy adaptors. They usually come with something like a 20' cable, which, when you think about it, is fairly useless. Also, be aware that the quality of little things like cables and speaker stands with these package deals is often sub par. Our set came with two Behringer speakers that weighed a ton, and speaker stands that couldn't handle the weight. We had to replace them after four shows.

A couple of random thoughts: we use a power mixer (mixing board and amplifier combined) and have no complaints. It's portable, and means we're lugging one piece of gear around instead of two. Plus, a lot of these units now come with very nifty effects features meaning you can put your actors in a cave, add flange for a space alien, whatever.

Expect to buy a seperate amp for monitors. Most boards seem to lack real guts out
of the monitor lines.

And finally, the one piece of gear I never thought I'd need but now find almost indispensable is a stage snake. Thats the item with a box of plugs at one end, a bunch of loose cable ends at the other, and a nice long black cable in between. This is how we put our mixing board at least some distance from the stage where we can get a good read on what the audience is hearing. They are expensive, but worth it.

Hope some of this helped. My philosophy has always been, a live performance is a live performance, not a recording session. Just accept that there are going to be some compromises in recording quality, and make those compromises thoughtfully. Good Luck!

[m00nman]

What's nice about audio theater is how little you need to put on a whole show(compared to a rock band, for instance).

A crappy little starter P.A. will be loud enough for most situations, especially since the audience will be sitting quietly listening, not drunk and shouting. Be sure to get 2 speakers and stands for them. Be sure to set the speakers well in FRONT of the mics to reduce feedback!

We run our shows through a Fostex VF-160 multitrack recorder before the sound goes to the P.A. Each microphone is on a separate track, which allows for quite a bit of flexibility: each track can be EQ'd differently, have effects added, etc. This also allows for later mixdown of the show, with a LOT of control, for critique/release later. Most rooms have some resonant frequencies (tonal areas where the mics are likely to feed back) - the VF lets us use EQ to notch out those frequencies, so we can get a bit more signal before things start ringing/whistling/screaming. It's great to not need an extra piece of equipment for fx like reverb/delay/filtered telephone and so on...those fx are in the VF already.

Mics - dynamic mics are best. Actors DO need to be close, so there will be some shoulder-to-shoulder working. Have mints out on the table where everyone can get to them. We use 2 mics for actors, spaced about 5 feet apart, and a 3rd mic at the FX table. You could try lavalier mics, 1 on each actor, and a wireless feed, but it will be more expensive.

We have live organ accompaniment, which is simply a line out of the onstage keyboard to a line in to the VF.

We also have a cd player, for pre-show, intermission, and post-show music, and the occasional big sound fx that we can't do live at the fx table.

So these 5 tracks are run thru the VF, EQ and reverb etc added where needed, then the master mix is compressed (another feature in the VF) before being sent to the P.A. The compression makes everything a more common loudness: too-loud shouts are tamed so no one's ears hurt, quiet dialog is brought up so it can still be heard...automatically!

It is a way to get the most versatility out of the least amount of stuff.

And even though your live show should be done MONO, your later mixdowns can be done in stereo (if you like that sort of thing).

[Doug Wood]

Consider the look of the setup as well as the sound - especially if you are trying to catch the OTR vibe. Here are a few under $100 mics which could enhance the visuals:

The retro repro look:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...one?sku=271014

This Elvis & Sinatra look:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...Mic?sku=277520

Bullet shaped Art Deco look?
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...ct?sku=270062V

And these ribbon mics looks great, but iare pretty touchy:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...one?sku=277107
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...one?sku=277401

However, while many of this score points for visual style, they also might block the audience view of the actors face.

For some situations you can put 2 mics on 1 stand using a doubler bar like this one:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com...ent?sku=451066

[Doug Wood]

I saw a Audio Drama troupe in Pasadena CA a few years ago which had wired an old style telephone handset into their sound system so that any lines needing to sound like phone conversations were quite convincing in sound and looks.

[Chatterbox Audio Theater]

You folks are fantastic. This has given me a lot to chew on -- thank you. I too love the simplicity of audio, and I'm somewhat amazed to find how many different ways there are to do something simple. I look forward to putting some of these ideas into practice.

[sounddguy]

When possible, I like to try to keep my actor mics down to four. It's easy to keep one hand over four inputs all the time. Add two to three mics on the effects table.

When faced with stages that act like a drum, I have resorted to folded towels under the mic stands for some additional isolation. Go one step further and assemble a set of colors, so the towel confirms which mic is which.

Having a compressor on each mic input can be a real life saver. There is something about a live audience that causes some actors to really get carried away. Set them so that normal delivery just barely causes compression.

Recorded effects can be done in several ways. I have used CD players with the single track play function. The effects stay in order and the player will play one and stop waiting on the next. If the recorded effect has to have a specific "end",
the build the beginning effect with a long middle and put the end of the effect on a second player.

Tony Palermo has been using the American DJ SDJ-1 and speaks highly of it.
Works like a CD dj set, but uses SD cards.

Your mixer needs to have a good listening spot in the room. It is very difficult to mix when you can't sense what's going on. I also strongly suggest that when mixing audio drama, at no time should your hands come off the mixer. This is NOT a set it and forget type situation.

If the script has a lot of complex sfx, consider using at least two people, one to mix and one to trigger effects and help spot other issues.

As for telephone effects, Tony makes a great mic by taking the ear piece from
old telephones and mounting them in a small box. They have to be worked closely, but create a "real" telephone sound.
(This is the element you find in the listening end of an old telephone, where you can unscrew the cover and a heavy metal round speaker will drop out. )

If you decide to use the Heil Classic mic, these work best when the top of
the microphone is at chin level and you talk over them. The element inside
actually faces up at an angle. It also allows the actors to have good eye
contact with the audience.

ARTC invested in the floor stands that have a grip and squeeze release to allow
raising and lowering the mic without having to think righty tighty. When you
release, the mic stays put. They also have trained their actors to hold
their hand flat over the top of the mic just before making an adjustment to give
the mixer a heads up to mute the mic and avoid noise.

If hearing is a problem for the sfx artist, give them a headphone feed rather than a stage monitor. Since you often have to have an effect mic really hot for a soft effect, this keeps their "monitor" out of the mix. When possible, I try to lay out the table with soft effects on one mic, and louder ones on a second.

Be certain that the actors can hear the soft effects if they effect line delivery.

MOST IMPORTANT! Gaff Tape (or duct tape) is the cheapest insurance you can buy. Use it.

If you have not seen the LA Theatre Works pictures at audiotheater.com, check them out.

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[Chatterbox Audio Theater]

Another great response. Thank you!