Giants
About the production
Giants was a Minack Youth Theatre production performed at the Minack Theatre over the Easter holidays. The production combined a cast of 15 young performers and two professional adults with live music from a single musician, alongside sound effects throughout the show.
The production had two technical rehearsals before opening, followed by a run of 11 performances during the busy Easter period. It was also the first production where I used TheatreMix, which became an important part of managing the radio microphones and mixing the show.
My part
As Sound No. 1, I was responsible for programming and operating the sound for all 11 performances. The show used 19 radio microphones, including two spares, which I mixed alongside the live musician and sound effects using an Allen & Heath SQ6 and TheatreMix.
I programmed TheatreMix for the production and processed each of the radio mics ready for the show. During performances I mixed the cast line by line, following a tightly annotated script while also reacting to ad-libs and changes from the young cast. With lots of short lines and cues happening close together, timing and staying ahead of the show were particularly important.
SOUND APPROACH & GOALS
The main aim was to create a clear and controlled mix while working with a young cast, fast-paced dialogue and live music, while keeping the show easy to follow and react to during each performance.
MANAGING ENSEMBLE VOCALS
With up to 15 young performers singing together, louder ensemble sections could quickly become harsh, particularly when lots of microphones were open at once. I used compression and EQ across the radio mics to control louder moments and keep the vocals clear, while still maintaining the energy of the cast during the bigger musical sections.
THEATREMIX PROGRAMMING
This was my first production using TheatreMix, so an important part of the setup was programming the show in a way that was simple and reliable to operate. I built the TheatreMix file around the script and programmed each character and scene, allowing me to move through the show quickly while keeping track of which microphones needed to be live for each line.
FAST-PACED MIXING
Some sections of the show had lots of short lines happening back-to-back, meaning cues could come very quickly with little time between them. I mixed the cast line by line while staying ahead in the script, but also had to listen closely and react when the young performers added ad-libs, changed the order of lines or delivered things differently from what had been rehearsed.
CHALLENGE & SOLUTION
The challEnge:
Working with a young cast meant the performance didn’t always follow the script exactly. Lines could change order, ad-libs could be added and some sections had lots of short lines happening very close together. When mixing line by line, these changes could quickly put the TheatreMix programming out of sync with what was actually happening on stage.
The Solution:
I kept my script tightly annotated so I could stay ahead of the performance and quickly see which microphones would be needed next. I also learnt the show well enough to react when the cast went off script, manually adjusting microphones where needed and finding a suitable point to bring the TheatreMix programming back in sync with the performance.
Theatremix & script
I programmed TheatreMix alongside my annotated script, with each cue matching the point where microphone assignments needed to change. This meant I could follow the performance line by line, advance through the programming and see which characters needed to be live at each point.
The script was marked with the information I needed while operating, helping me stay ahead during sections with lots of short, fast cues. As the young cast could sometimes change lines or add ad-libs, I also needed to listen to what was happening on stage and react rather than relying entirely on the programmed sequence.
