This is a saga, a bit long, so be warned.
Our show was yesterday. I was so happy being a part of it, and I am so relieved that it is over. Is that normal?
I told everyone that I was doing sound, but of course I got roped into being stage-manager-all-around-consultant-and-troubleshooter also. So I wrote the cues, as detailed and clear as I could, then handed them all to someone to manage without me, while I did the sound.
We set up in the morning. We used wired mics, handheld wireless mics, lapel mics, condenser mics for overhead and piano, and small square condenser mics taped to the floor. Then we did a sound check and balance. Meanwhile the lighting tech from the theater was setting up the lights. The sound tech I was working with was doing the lights during the show, but not setting them up.
We started rehearsing, and setting levels. The sound/lighting tech was also entering lighting cues into the computer. It was a digital sound board, and I had never used one before, so the sound tech showed me how but set them himself. Then he was called away for an emergency. He got someone to come right away and cover for him.
But the replacement was a lighting tech, he knew nothing about sound. He did not know how to use the board at all. He could not help me set the levels for any other part of the show, and I was afraid to try by myself in case I messed up anything we had already done. So for some things I only used the faders.
The guitarist's cable was fine during the rehearsal, but during the show I did not get any signal at all. So I lowered the volume for her vocal mic, and pretended it was supposed to be a quiet song. But it was a sort of rock song, not the quiet type at all. During intermission I set one of the wireless mics for the guitar, but both wireless mics had to be used in the number right after, so the stage crew had to be exremely on the ball about that.
And oh yeah, through my headset I could not hear, but others could hear me. So I did not know when the next performers were ready or not. So I told them to make sure everyone was ready to go on right away, and I told them right before I started the music, and right after I turned up whatever mic. It mostly went fine that way.
And I asked the drama scene to make sure their lapel mics were turned on before they went onstage, but I did not check them myself physically. That was a mistake. So I turned on the conser mics for the lines of the one who did not have a working lapel mic.
And as the show progressed, one of the wireless mics were running low on batteries. I sort of noticed it during the first half, but did not know what it meant. It was very obvious in the second half. One of the wireless mics worked better than the other, so I kept track of it, and asked through the headset to bring it to each next person who needed, whichever side of the stage they were on. The stage crew did a lot of running around toward the end of the show. But of course I could never be sure that the person had the correct mic, because my headset was faulty. So I turned on both wireless mics just in case.
It was so much FUN! I had so much adrenaline pumping after the show I could not fall sleep for awhile.
Our show was yesterday. I was so happy being a part of it, and I am so relieved that it is over. Is that normal?
I told everyone that I was doing sound, but of course I got roped into being stage-manager-all-around-consultant-and-troubleshooter also. So I wrote the cues, as detailed and clear as I could, then handed them all to someone to manage without me, while I did the sound.
We set up in the morning. We used wired mics, handheld wireless mics, lapel mics, condenser mics for overhead and piano, and small square condenser mics taped to the floor. Then we did a sound check and balance. Meanwhile the lighting tech from the theater was setting up the lights. The sound tech I was working with was doing the lights during the show, but not setting them up.
We started rehearsing, and setting levels. The sound/lighting tech was also entering lighting cues into the computer. It was a digital sound board, and I had never used one before, so the sound tech showed me how but set them himself. Then he was called away for an emergency. He got someone to come right away and cover for him.
But the replacement was a lighting tech, he knew nothing about sound. He did not know how to use the board at all. He could not help me set the levels for any other part of the show, and I was afraid to try by myself in case I messed up anything we had already done. So for some things I only used the faders.
The guitarist's cable was fine during the rehearsal, but during the show I did not get any signal at all. So I lowered the volume for her vocal mic, and pretended it was supposed to be a quiet song. But it was a sort of rock song, not the quiet type at all. During intermission I set one of the wireless mics for the guitar, but both wireless mics had to be used in the number right after, so the stage crew had to be exremely on the ball about that.
And oh yeah, through my headset I could not hear, but others could hear me. So I did not know when the next performers were ready or not. So I told them to make sure everyone was ready to go on right away, and I told them right before I started the music, and right after I turned up whatever mic. It mostly went fine that way.
And I asked the drama scene to make sure their lapel mics were turned on before they went onstage, but I did not check them myself physically. That was a mistake. So I turned on the conser mics for the lines of the one who did not have a working lapel mic.
And as the show progressed, one of the wireless mics were running low on batteries. I sort of noticed it during the first half, but did not know what it meant. It was very obvious in the second half. One of the wireless mics worked better than the other, so I kept track of it, and asked through the headset to bring it to each next person who needed, whichever side of the stage they were on. The stage crew did a lot of running around toward the end of the show. But of course I could never be sure that the person had the correct mic, because my headset was faulty. So I turned on both wireless mics just in case.
It was so much FUN! I had so much adrenaline pumping after the show I could not fall sleep for awhile.