The Sound Department incorporates a wide variety of skills among numerous positions that are responsible for creating the audience’s aural experience. For non-musicals, Sound Designers create sound effects and soundscapes using digital audio workstations. In addition, they often function as producers and mixers in the recording of the original music that is used in Festival productions, which is written by our wonderful composers. In conjunction with the composers, they then decide which speakers the sound should come from and at what level. For musicals, Sound Designers also create the live mix of the orchestra and singers and decide exactly how it will be presented to the audience through the audio systems. Sound Technicians and some Designers are members of IATSE. Technicians are responsible for the programming, mixing, and operating of the productions during the show as well as the setup, positioning, and cabling of all audio systems. This also includes a very complex and important intercom and paging system, which allows all members of the running crew and stage management to communicate during a show. The Festival uses digital mixing consoles from Digico, which has specialized software created for the theatre industry, and QLab playback software, which is also specifically designed for theatre. In addition to these very sophisticated systems, the Sound Department can be dealing with hundreds of loudspeakers and a similarly large number of microphones and other input sources, all to create a unique sonic environment for each of our productions.
This content was provided by Peter McBoyle, May 11, 2021