Wow! I'm thrilled by these responses. I knew I was coming to the right place for advice.
We're really looking for someone to tune the existing
system, and then if justified make equipment reccomendations or suggest changes to our existing systen, such as adjusting the angle of the existing flown speakers. (I can take a picture of that, and of the
theatre interior as a whole, if you'd like.) Any equipment purchases or
speaker position adjustments would have to be written into the bid for the entire
theatre upgrade project, so the person we hire to tune and evaluate the
system wouldn't be in a position to actually sell us anything.
I'll try to respond to everyone's major points.
First off, the A/C issue is supposedly going to be looked at by a District maintenance crew. I had to escalate things to a deputy head of M&PO before it got serious attention, but hopefully it'll be fixed soon.
You definitely want to get a
DSP in that
system... which should help immensely.
I'm not very familiar with the function of DSPs. What advantage would this give us? We have the DFR11EQ, which because I haven't yet hooked it up to a computer is just stuck in dumb auto-filter mode. How would a
DSP help?
May i ask why you want more channels, Do you have a use for them or just wanting a new, bigger board.
We run up to 11 wireless mics for our shows, and I've gone up to 16 for a rental. (Mmmm... outside groups that rent nice big UHF-R racks... other people's money...) Add that on to our 3
PZM apron mics and 4-6 hanging mics, plus pit soloists and a preshow mic in the booth, and I sometimes have to push into extra boards borrowed from the school TV studio. Our existing 20-ch
Yamaha has no room to grow, especially as three of the
fader pots are dead and I've been told the contractor who installed it and held the support contract has since folded. Rather than spend money to have a full-price pro shop repair dead channels, we want to use our one-time alumni infusion to
purchase a quality new board that gives us enough room for everything we want to do now and in the future.
Budget is a great
point Duck. Do you want to just add some new gear and tune the
system or are you looking to alter
speaker locations, add accoustic tile and
drapes. There are solutions for every budget. Before you get in too deep go to your donors and ask for an approximate budget to work within. Because no consultant is going to be able to help you without knowing your target price range.
The project initially started as "The alumni have responded to our wish-list request for money to
purchase a new, more powerful, permanently mounted
projector and a larger
screen for the
theatre." Then, as the
theatre director and I talked to the administration, the project expanded to include sound changes and a stage-view
CCTV system, which I still need to ask about on another board. We haven't been given a total figure, but the
projector/
screen package was initially quoted at $25,000, which I was told would be completely funded in addition to about $10,000 more for everything else.
After meeting with a District project manager, we decided that replacing our existing ceiling-recessed
screen with a larger one would be too expensive (likely more than the initial estimate, as that quote assumed some work would be done by the District, who later told us that they only have money for essential tasks, and couldn't help us), too disruptive (Potentially over one week of
theatre shutdown, which would be tough in the December/January timeframe we're hoping to have this work done by), and too much of a bureaucratic minutia nightmare. So, that leaves about $20,000 for the
projector and installation, and the remaining 10-15K for sound and
CCTV, if it's all needed. But don’t quote me on that – that’s just my guesswork. Hard numbers are hard to get when you’re being told “Just do it, it’s all being taken care of.” Nice, but frustrating.
As already noted, usually the first step would be to define your goals and limitations. The goals may be things like how you want to be able to use the
system, the desired
system performance and so on. You may need to prioritize these or at least identify short term and long term goals. The limitations could include things like budget, physical space, whether certain aspects have to go through a public bid process,
etc.
You may end up needing to develop a long term master plan that then can be broken into several smaller phases. I feel it makes the most sense to look at the 'big picture' and then tunnel down with that in mind rather than to approach small pieces individually and then hope they all work together effectively.
I’d say our priorities are:
1. Have existing
system tuned as best as possible and evaluated for equipment modification/addition.
2.
Purchase new sound board, ex. A&H GL-2400/40.
3.
Purchase distributed antenna
system for all SLX units, w/ room to grow.
4.
Purchase ~4 new
Shure SLX
beltpack/receiver sets.
5.
Purchase new processing equipment if needed (DSPs,
etc. Possibly stronger amps for existing speakers, as our 8 low-end cabinets have only 450 watts between them)
6. Move existing and/or
purchase new speakers if needed
Our district requires that any single or collective purchases over $3000 go through a public bid process. We were initially going to split the
projector and sound portions of the project into two different bids, to try and get the
projector done sooner, but apparently for every new bid created, a new file has to be started, a project manager has to be assigned, a site visit and goals meeting has to be conducted,
etc… So, it’s all going into one bid.
I’ve been meaning to buy a serial cable to work with the DFR11EQ – our booth computer, which runs XP, has no problem loading the software; I just haven’t bought a long enough serial cable.
As far as who could perform the work that somewhat depends on how you plan to approach it. The biggest factor is often whether the party doing any
system optimization and/or consulting is also potentially going to be providing any installation or equipment and how that may affect their services.
We’re looking for someone to hire who can tune the existing equipment with
theatre in mind – music concert guys have come through trying to advise us on how to get maximum volume out of the
system, but what we want is clarity and proper
frequency response. Our
acoustics are good, and we’ve got effective paneling on our back and side
house walls. (Someone asked about that.) When I wheel out
portable speakers, things are fantastic. It’s the built-in
system that needs attention.
Because the whole project will have to go to bid in the end, the consultant we hire to tune and evaluate the
system probably won’t have anything to do with the final equipment
purchase and installation, unless they’re subcontracted by the winning vendor or they’re from the multipurpose vendor in the first place.
That can greatly be addressed by separating the consulting and equipment/installation aspects. If they know that providing the consulting aspects may not relate to, or even prevent their pursuing, any equipment sales then many dealers may not want to get involved.
That’s what I’m afraid of. I need to hire someone to tune the existing
system, first off. I’d like to have the same person evaluate the
system and tell us where our upgrade money would be best spent, but that person probably isn’t going to get the job because the final bid will include the
projector and
CCTV work, and will be picked up by a multipurpose A/V vendor and GC.
In regards to the $700 number, what was being offered for that fee? That definitely seems low if it was intended to
cover both
system tuning and master planning unless the latter was looked at as offering a quote for some additional equipment rather than as a more comprehensive analysis and report.
How much do you think it would run, then? And “master planning” – would it really be that involved?
You might want to think about what the end result of any planning is, especially if it is going to be used to try to obtain funding. In some cases an equipment list may suffice but in others you may need something that is much more focused on functionality and justifying the expenditure.
They’re pretty much trusting me on this, as long as everything falls within the general amount of money the alumni were planning to spend. Of course, I want to make sure we get the best possible use out of that money, and I know we need to consult a professional. So, for the tuning and hopefully evaluation as well, do I look for a “theatrical consultant”? A sound engineer with
theatre experience? A
system designer?
Thanks again, everyone, for your advice and help on this. It’s fantastic to have a resource like this site to go to for help. I’ll try and respond to messages quicker, so it’s not one giant response like this one.
Austin Powers
Lead Student Technician
Kathryn Lindgren
Theatre
Boca Raton Community High School
