Who's more important?

[DHSLXOP]

Hi Everyone,

Although my school's theatre is very high-tech and has many clear com packs, we seem to run out of enough to have both the sound board (in the house) and the conductor (in the pit) on a clear com. So who do you guys think is more important - the conductor or the sound board? I have done shows with both, and it seems to me that having the conductor is more useful than having the sound board - it seems the sound techs just use it to report cameras they see and to tell us to fix mics back stage, while with the Pit, I can actually cue the conductor to start the overture/entr'acte and music cues after scene changes. But, let me know what you guys think!

-David

Edit: I put this in stage management because I am the PSM at school, and wanted to know what is the best for calling the show.

[soundlight]

Personally, I'd put the sound guy on com, and have the conductor on a cue-light system. The sound guy won't always be on com, but he needs to be able to be on com in case there is a mic issue that the folks backstage need to correct as soon as possible. Just my opinion.

[Destrox]

Originally Posted by DHSLXOP

I have done shows with both, and it seems to me that having the conductor is more useful than having the sound board - it seems the sound techs just use it to report cameras they see and to tell us to fix mics back stage, while with the Pit, I can actually cue the conductor to start the overture/entr'acte and music cues after scene changes. But, let me know what you guys think!

I would say the Control Room (sound/lights). Sound will use it during the show. The way we've always run it is the conductor takes cues from the lights/lines. When the House lights dim at the beginning, start the Overture. Simple things like that. Our conductor always has a script though and takes cues from the lines.

[Wolf]

Well lets look at the whole picture. Who has coms. Does each spot have a com (now many spots) How many back stage (Just SL, and SR not even that?).

but when it comes down to it id put the sound board on com. They would have more issues that would take priority in my opine.

[Chris Chapman]

Sound needs Com for emergencies. Not just dead mics, but if a Cue series crashes and burns and you need to slip into a hold, they have to know it. Also if you start running into sound issues backstage (monitor issues for instance) they need to be able to be in the Com loop.

Lose the Conductor. Cue Lights or an established protocol for Overtures and Entre Acts work fine. OR throw an ASM or Floor Manager into the pit to give the cues, and then they bug out for the rest of the act.

I'd say keep the spots as well. If you have a great Op that you can depend, on fine, but in general you need that part of the Com loop for dependability for cueing.

-Chris
TD, Greenville Performing Arts Center

[museav]

No question, the sound operator needs to be on comms. They may need to get cues, be aware of any problems or changes, know when to unmute inputs when somebody is about to go on stage, etc. If you have a lot of beltpacks I find it difficult to believe there isn't somewhere else that you could better go without.

If nothing else, the sound tech is often the one responsible for the comms system, you might want them on comms in case somebody has a problem with it.

[Spikesgirl]

We always have our sound op on a headset, but never put one on the conductor. We have plenty so that we could, but all of our conductors have refused them since they don't want to have to worry about being distracted by com chatter.

[DHSLXOP]

Ok - first thanks all for the replies - here are couple answers/additional things to keep in mind.

1) We like to keep our spot ops on headset at all times (see the thread i started a while ago about follow spot cues)
2) We used to have a lot of beltpacks but many of them have started to break (and the theatre that we rent has refused to repair them) - so now, we have 4 or beltpacks + 1 wireless (we used to have like 3 wireless) - we generally put one on SL one on SR and then the two beltpacks for each follow spot on the catwalk. The wireless is either given to the director backstage (on shows where we don't have a lot of tech time and she wants to make sure we know whats going on) or to sound. This past show, though, the conductor wanted to be in communication with me so I had to give the rail (SL) the wireless and put the wired into the pit (with a phone instead of a headset) because there is no call light on the wireless.
3) We don't have any cue lights in the theatre - (i hate this so much)

I think thats it. Again, thanks for your replies & I look forward to others!

[DaveySimps]

The sound op shoud definately have a headset. Cue lights do not have to be fancy. A simple low wattage colored light, an extension cord, and a powerstrip will suffice in a pinch. For what it's worth, I think spot ops should always have a head set as well, no matter how good they are.

~Dave

[bobgaggle]

In my department we intentionally didn't give the conductor a headset, primarily because he would be the only adult on it. He was an egotistical guy who would try to start the show himself whenever his band was ready, regardless of anyone else, but that's just situation specific.