Sound Effects and Audio Onstage

[pmolsonmus]

"Hey There."...(pun intended)

Just thought I'd share this. I picked up 4 of these for my music classroom ( iPad sectional rehearsals) but I immediately thought of theater uses for sound effects and audio coming from specific points onstage.

I always hate hearing a phone through the PA when I see the phone itself onstage.

The beauty of this unit is that it has an internal battery and the audio can be sent via bluetooth. Once it is paired it stays paired and there is an indicator light to let you know it is paired.

I think back to the hassles we had in a production of Pajama Game and the dictaphone. This would be great to allow the actor to sing the duet with himself and have the audio come from the desk onstage. No wires! Cost is about $150.


http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/tailgaterbluetooth

Phil

 

[akej]

Haven't tried this one, but via bluetooth sound quality will be very compressed i guess.

As far as I know Apples AirPlay devices are the best consumer priced products for wireless audio because they work with wi-fi. Look at AirPort express.

Lateny is an issue with airplay though, the purpose is clearly not use in professional sound. How is the responce time on these Phil?

 

[pmolsonmus]

Triggering audio files - sound quality is fine. Nothing I would use for a "critical" audio need, but to simulate a radio, record player, tape, phone, etc. on stage. It would be great. Classical music was listenable - not a wow ( I'm a classically trained singer and choral director) but ...it's wireless and localized.

I use Airplay through AppleTV and the delay is actually longer than the Bluetooth in my experience. But I typically try to send audio and video at the same time through an Apple TV/ projector. I cannot project an app with audio and have it function in real time tempo with the projection. I have set up an adhoc network with express and there is no real difference between an adhoc or wireless network. It is considerably faster than Reflector on a PC. IMHO.

Will try a side by side to see if there is any benefit.

Phil

 

[dbaxter]

Would a Sonos system be a viable alternative? They claim to give high quality sound and the range is greater than bluetooth.

 

[akej]

I see your point that quality is good enough for "spot" sfx.

Defenitely a way to go when pro wireless systems are out of budget. And if bluetooth is actually faster than AirPlay I guess that is worth more than sound quality when playing for example a telephone ring.

I like the idea that this kind of features are now available at low prices. In many situations it's not defendable in a budget to use wireless effects, but now it can be done without too much consideration.

Would be interesting to hear about the results of your comparision Phil.

 

[Drew Schmidt]

You could try stagecaller:

http://www.stagecaller.com/

This little guy is meant to be cued from software (i.e. QLab or other OSC enabled software). It's created to handle phone calls on stage (execute on a cue, end on actor's pickup etc), but you can use custom sound files. Oh ... and just $10 if you already have a smart phone.