Sound for Sunset Boulevard

BIG & LUSCIOUS

Which leads us to how Messrs Greasley and Letch meet the demand for a ‘big, luscious sound’. Yes, lots and lots of loudspeakers.

David Letch: “One example are the two Meyer Sound M1D elements we have placed on their sides pointing to cover the seats on the edge of the stalls. They have a very tight HF pattern control (the M1D was one of Meyer Sound’s original line array components), their sound just races up the side and only impacts a small number of seats. Those seats are also in the coverage pattern of the Meyer Sound Lina array, and also in the coverage of downfill from a Meyer Sound UPJunior in the truss above the proscenium… and the UPJunior side-fill mounted to the wall. That’s a lot of sources but their all time aligned such that the audience member can no longer point to a speaker source, only to an apparent source on stage.”

David Greasley: “Those sidefills are deceptive. It’s very hard to tell if they’re switched on or not. They’re reproducing the same FOH mix as the other speakers and because they’re timed back to the Lina line arrays they’re perfectly in sync. We can tweak the delay setting somewhat to make them more noticeable, but that not the point. They contribute to the big, impressive sound we’re after. Turn them off and you definitely hear it. You have a smaller sound. Turn off all those additional fill speakers and you’re left with a ‘small PA’ sound.”

Side note: the side fills are also used as effects speakers, along with many other EAW JF80s placed around the perimeter, but the effects from QLab are on a different VCA.

MILLIMETRE PERFECT

Having the audience area granularly zoned such that theatre-goers enjoy a mix composed of a number of different loudspeaker sources precisely timed to provide natural imaging and coherence, has other benefits, David Greasley suspects: “I think we get a bit more gain before feedback. There’s no, one, large wavefront that’s exciting the room and getting back to the stage. I think it allows us to sneak in a few more dB here and there, which is especially important on shows like Sunset Boulevard, where the production requirement is for totally hidden microphones.”

Some shows, especially higher energy shows, are happy to concede the existence of headset microphones in exchange for more level. Other shows strictly adhere to the more traditional approach of hiding tiny microphones in the hairline of the performers.

Sunset Boulevard leans on the DPA 4061 and Sennheiser MKE1 miniature mics for the performers. The 4061 is the mainstay of musical theatre while the MKE1 is more of the upstart.

“The 4061 is just such a natural, transparent-sounding microphone,” confirms David Letch. “And the reason why it’s a musical theatre staple.”

“But the Sennheiser MKE1 is so tiny that it’s proving to be a good option as well,” continues David Greasley. “Being so small it gives you a bit more flexibility in the placement.”

Sally Hitchcock is the show’s radio technician. Hers is a crucial job of placing the capsule on the performer, mostly just up into the hairline above the middle of the forehead.

“Sally is very experienced and does an amazing job,” according to David Greasley. “The level of precision is pretty extreme. You can quite easily hear it if the mic has moved… even a millimetre.”

Performers’ mics are plugged into a Sennheiser SK6212 pack which is tiny, allowing for plenty of options as to where to stash it… including in the wig.

Sennheiser’s Digital 6000 Series wireless handles the rest, proving to be an extremely reliable and solid performer.

FOLDBACK PRAGMATICS

With a bunch of omni miniature microphones all open on stage, foldback is a tricky exercise. Increasingly, musical theatre is relying on a larger number of smaller speakers concealed in cavities under the stage. The Sunset Boulevard stage wasn’t deep enough to allow it, so monitoring needed to be placed elsewhere – pointing down from above and from the side of stage, in the ‘ladders’ side of stage, in the scenery/staging… pretty much anywhere the Messrs Greasley and Letch could hide a loudspeaker.

“Performers spend months rehearsing with piano accompaniment without microphones or loudspeakers,” explains David Letch. “It not like a rock band where they might be in a rehearsal space with everything turned up to 11. So our principals aren’t expecting ‘more me’ in the foldback, even if we could give it to them. Mostly they’re after enough orchestra to feel confident in their ability to pitch correctly.”

Interestingly, the principals are also given a touch of vocal reverb in the foldback. It simulates any vocalists’ ideal of singing in the natural acoustic of an amazing theatre. It also gives the performer something to ‘push into’ as they up their dynamics in a big chorus, for example. It’s subtle but something many performers notice and appreciate.

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT

Sound design for musical theatre is very niche. System Sound’s expertise extends well beyond the Australian shores. David Greasley, especially, find himself jetting about the region ensuring the vision of show creators and producers is realised.

“We’re quite fortunate in Australia,” notes David Greasley. “Broadway and West End sound designers will often make the trip to Australia for an extended period and System Sound benefits by those direct collaborations. Then we’re naturally trusted to take that vision and ensure it’s realised elsewhere in the region.”

The ‘bedrock’ approach of pushing, effectively, the same mix into every loudspeaker in the theatre is one of those philosophies imparted from revered international sound designers. But it isn’t a universally held approach.

“We’re big proponents of the ‘one mix’ philosophy,” confirms David Greasley. “Knowing that when you push up the master fader 1dB on the mixer, that you’re uniformly pushing the mix everywhere, is reassuring. Or, if you’re adjusting the balance of orchestra and vocal by 0.5dB that everyone in the theatre hears that adjustment, I think is important. Otherwise, I think you can get into trouble and chase your tail if things aren’t entirely going to plan.”

And in the end for Messrs Greasley and Letch, that’s the goal – no surprises. The role is about meticulous preparation and reproducibility to ensure amazing results night after night and city after city.