End of Intermission (Chimes)

[scoreed]

Our recall amp recently blew and had to be replaced, after searching for the old model our stage manager decided to buy a different amp. However this amp requires you to press chimes each time you would like the bell to sound so to recall the audience after intermission we are required to sit and continually press this button. We have decided that this is impractical so we have decided to create a CD with the different chimes and play that through the amp. Does anybody know where free digital files of the chime SFX can be found? I have searched Google for the last half hour and have found nothing

 

[Studio]

If you have a mac look around in iMovie sound effects and garrageband.

Or you could try here freesound :: home page

 

[shiben]

Record your own. Download some free audio software, record some chiming noises, then burn them to a CD.

 

[museav]

Maybe I'm just not understanding. Finding the sounds, burning a CD, putting it in the CD player, selecting the right track, starting the CD, etc. is easier than having to push a button? And why do you need to push the button for any length of time, are you trying to play the chimes multiple times?

If you can tell us the equipment involved and what you are trying to do then maybe someone can come up with another option as well.

 

[venuetech]

Perhaps you could explain how the old amp operated.
I take it that you set some sort of timer for the length of intermission and it automatically chimed the audience back in?

 

[Les]

Most audience recall chimes I have worked with would ding when you pressed the button, and by holding the button down, it would ding about once per second until you let off. Maybe this is what scoreed is after?

Usually the only times we would chime at my community theatre were 5, 3 and 1 minute warnings.

 

[Studio]

At my theater we shut of the outer ring of lights, and then dim the lights a few times, then fade to black, and start the show.

 

[Les]

At my theater we shut of the outer ring of lights, and then dim the lights a few times, then fade to black, and start the show.

Absolutely no offense intended, but in most cases I find flashing lights, etc a little tacky (and sometimes disorienting). But I suppose that if one doesn't have a chime it isn't a bad alternative. Your procedure of systematically fading out groups of lights is a lot better than the alternative below:

One time I was running lights for a dance show and at the 1 minute warning during intermission the stage manager/dance instructor said "okay, go ahead and flash the house lights a few times". Ugh, noooo.

The ding is far superior of course, and patrons always get the hint. [Otherwise some might just think someone is playing with the lights or there are some weird power surges going on].

My high school (graduated in 04) had an "Audience Recall Chime" that we never used. Why? Because it sounded like a foghorn! $9mil space and we ended up with a chime that went WHOOOOOMPHH!!!

 

[Studio]

Absolutely no offense intended, but in most cases I find flashing lights, etc a little tacky (and sometimes disorienting).
The ding is far superior of course, and patrons always get the hint. [Otherwise some might just think someone is playing with the lights or there are some weird power surges going on].

I totally agree that flashes are bad, however the shutting off of the outer florescent, leaving only flood light style bulbs lowers the room's light level a ton and people seem to get it.

So I guess what I am saying is try fading out parts of the house and see if the room gets a lot dimmer, and audiences seem to get it.

 

[Les]

I totally agree that flashes are bad, however the shutting off of the outer florescent, leaving only flood light style bulbs lowers the room's light level a ton and people seem to get it.

So I guess what I am saying is try fading out parts of the house and see if the room gets a lot dimmer, and audiences seem to get it.

Sounds like a good workaround given the equipment available. By far better than repeatedly bumping houselights to full from 60% (which is usually what I keep the house at for preshow/intermission). I refuse to do that because it seems so unprofessional and 'Disco Dan' like.

 

[derekleffew]

... By far better than repeatedly bumping houselights to full from 60% ... I refuse to do that because it seems so unprofessional and 'Disco Dan' like.

Not to mention it's not the audience members IN the auditorium who need to be alerted to the end of the intermission, it's the people in the lobby!

 

[museav]

Most audience recall chimes I have worked with would ding when you pressed the button, and by holding the button down, it would ding about once per second until you let off. Maybe this is what scoreed is after?

Except he mentioned that it does chime when they push the button and that they currently do have to hold it, it almost sounded like the previous system somehow chimed at the proper time without them doing anything.

I'm designing a community theater right now and I'm using the old, reliable TOA 900 series mixer amps with a program input and a chime module for the Lobbies. Depending on the input used the chime module can play the tones once for every button push, even of held down, or continuously for as long as you hold the button down. Via jumpers on the module you can also select from eight different tones. In this case I am running the button to a control system and having that trigger the chimes so you could actually program the control system and chime module to have a button push to play the chimes once, multiple times or for a set time.

 

[techfreek]

As a back up until you get another system set up, you can do what our theater does (they never installed speakers in the lobby) which is turn the lights off and on a few times in the lobby.

 

[rochem]

The summerstock theatre I'm currently working at doesn't have any kind of lobby speakers - instead, a few ushers just start ringing bells that they can carry around and everyone gets the message. Might not work in a space that seats 2000+ people, but it works great for our modest sized theatre.

 

[museav]

I don't think we ever received any clarification on the basic problem. It sounds like they have a button that sounds the chimes and if having to push that button either momentarily or for some set time is not acceptable then having to manually flash lights, ring bells, etc. would seem to likely also be unacceptable.

 

[CrisCole]

I can't stand using a chime. I don't know about yours, but ours sounds like a Texan-triangle ringing pigs for dinner. It's awful.

We always dim the lights in the lobby to half, and the lights in the house to three-fourths. Either that, or we play our trademark Entr'acte that's associated with our theatre.

 

[marmer]

Buy some inexpensive dinner chimes from a percussion dealer (usually less than thirty bucks, with beater.) Have your usher(s) ring them at the specified time. Works great and sounds great in our thousand-seat house. Also, ushers can walk around near concessions, restrooms, etc.

 

[JonasA]

Marmer and Rochem - love your ideas; this is a problem we have in our 850-seat school auditorium where the audience seems almost scared to go inside and leave the foyer. We've got a bell, but it's annoying and I'm waiting for the day when someone leaves it on by accident and everyone thinks it's a fire alarm and evacuates...

 

[marmer]

Marmer and Rochem - love your ideas; this is a problem we have in our 850-seat school auditorium where the audience seems almost scared to go inside and leave the foyer. We've got a bell, but it's annoying and I'm waiting for the day when someone leaves it on by accident and everyone thinks it's a fire alarm and evacuates...

This is what we use. It sounds lovely, not like a triangle at all, and it's not very expensive.
Trio Zenergy Chime - For Small Hands

 

[DrPinto]

This is what we use. It sounds lovely, not like a triangle at all, and it's not very expensive.
Trio Zenergy Chime - For Small Hands

I like that a lot. Low tech, inexpensive, and effective. I found this on YouTube:

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