Since this forum is focused on learning best practice, I will make the following comments
It is important to look at a problem or potential problem, and try to determine the fundamental issue and
address that, look first at tried and proven solutions, and only after all else fails look at what I would
call the RUBE GOLDBERG solutions.
There seems to be a
pattern here, that at least warrants a caution
If you look back over a number of problems posed, and some of the suggested solutions, many of them seem to ignore the basics and move to the exotic
The issue of making the pre recorded music sound more realistic..
typical solution involves looking at the best quality that is
practical from the speakers you have,
eq'ing carefully, and being careful of
speaker placement
Reverse facing into a
baffle for reflected sound would typically be considered to be exotic
The issue of near fill for close in seats, in addition to the normal seating, is a very typical problem, and it has been solved thousands of times, by the use of near fill speakers, and the standard pa. Attempting to solve this problem via a wide
pattern speaker where with
pattern control is extremely difficult out side of
line array designs, and introducing all sorts of other problems is again exotic.
The
current issue. Typically this type of wireless gear if of decent quality on
purchase, and if properly maintained, and properly protected and placed on the actor, is very reliable. The problem seems to be failures that would indicate a lack of maintenance. Cables and connections are delicate, mics are subject to a lot of sweat and need to be protected, batteries need to be changed before every performance.
What can be done in a no expense spared situation for a multi million dollar, hundred plus dollars per ticket situation is one thing, what is
practical in a more realistic situation is another
On broadway, sure some situations double micing is uses, it is problematic and very trickey. Some shows especially thosed with canned musicians, actually have a multi
track system with each of the vocal tracks pre recorded in time code sync with the abilty to instantly punch in in the case of a failure, or flubbed
line or what ever.
In most cases especially for people learning the simplest solution is the best, coupled with an attention to detail on maintenance to prevent the problem from happening. Sharyn