Software for Live Theater Playback and Mixing?

[ptalsky]

Hey all,

A bit off topic since this isn't about filmmaking...

I've been asked to bid a job for next theater season to be the sound designer for a show. I was wondering if anyone here had ever done a live theater show, and what software they used for playback.

Most of the stuff I've seen is more focused on time-code based events (music videos, etc.) I need software that can, for example, have continuous music playback with gradual volume increase and then be able to drive recorded dialog over that music with variable timing (the recorded dialog will interact with an actor on the stage).

I hope I'm making myself clear here. Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks!

Phil

[old school]

Hey Phil,  one question. I assume someone will be mixing the elements night after night?, or do you want it to be automated and start with 1 button at the start of the performance. I have never done theater work, but like others I have done some complex playback that interacts with the on camera performers, and there are a number of ways to do this, but of course this needs a person to operate the system.

Regards, Old School

[Guest tourtelot]

The last time I ran sound in the theater (I could make some joke here about tin-sheet "thunder" efx but I won't!) it was all midi files and a sequential controller.  The designer set it up, I just pushed the buttons on cue from the SM.  Sorry I can't be more help, but it was definately midi.  Check out a great shareware application that supports midi; Reaper.  It's my new favorite for playback and even has a dead-on accurate TC generator too boot.  F**k Pro Tools!

[tim apter]

not a solution but a suggestion:

If you can setup a way to play tracks completely independantly of one another (im wondering about maybe a piece of DJing software? they allow simultaneous cueing of multiple tracks with stop/play/pause functionality) you could let the music play underneath and then play and pause the voice track on the other side in time with the actor.

the other option of course is two playbacks, maybe one linear one (like an MD, CD or similar system) and one non linear (like PC multitrack based system, im wondering about Ableton Live maybe) - you can use the linear for music and feed it to your desk to ride the gain if you cant premix this for the show, and then use the PC to cue off the voice tracks.

Complicated idea, actually - but maybe someone else has a better simple solution?

Good luck Phil.

[ptalsky]

I want it to be as automated as possible, but someone will still have to hit the cues manually because of the interactions with the actors on stage (which makes for some of the "excitement" when working with live theater).  ;-)

Phil

[old school]

I think Tims suggestion, to use DJing software,(I use SoundByte) is supper simple and would envolve only a lap top to feed the board, which I the same person would run. My 2 cents

Old School

[tim apter]

Thanks old school... I think probably the only weakness would be flexibility if the actor messes up, that could be where software like ableton could be very cool in picking up mistakes. This is a tricky application, I guess the method will very much be defined by the parameters of the show.

[Andrew Bellware]

In one of my other lives I'm a theatrical sound designer. There has been until recently only one program used for sound playback: SFX by Stage Research ( http://www.stageresearch.com ). It's used everywhere, it's fairly expensive, and somewhat hostile to program and work with in rehearsals (IMHO, apologies to those who feel otherwise). SFX is PC-based.

But I've designed two off-Broadway musicals and a score of off-off-Broadway plays and dance pieces using Q-Lab, a new program which has a perfectly working and usable "free" version of it ( http://www.figure53.com ). It runs on Mac OSX 10.4 or greater. Since switching to Q-Lab I've never looked back to SFX.

I can't say enough good about Qlab. The fellow who wrote it is very responsive, the software has been very stable, it's very simple to write cues with it. Stage managers love it. Knock on wood, I've never had a failure during a performance. Everyone I've turned onto it -- sound designers, stage managers, etc., have loved it. Did I mention that it's free?

In the theater ( http://www.theatresource.org ) where I have my studio, we have a Mac Mini running Q-Lab and we keep the computer on the network so that I can write sound cues in the studio and upload them to the Mini up in the theater. That system so far has worked great (we just installed it for the "Estrogenious Festival" which is 20 short plays, another dozen solo works, and who-knows how many other "one off" plays and musical performances for the month). We'll have at least 5 sound designers working with that system, so we'll give it a real workout.

For someone doing complex playback with multiple cues in film Q-Lab might be helpful. Personally, I've never run into the need for that kind of playback on a film or TV set (and I typically use the Mac on my cart for Metacorder). But for those who have those kinds of needs, check it out!

Best Regards,

Drew

[Jeff Wexler]

But I've designed two off-Broadway musicals and a score of off-off-Broadway plays and dance pieces using Q-Lab, a new program which has a perfectly working and usable "free" version of it ( http://www.figure53.com ). It runs on Mac OSX 10.4 or greater. Since switching to Q-Lab I've never looked back to SFX.

I looked into Q-Lab, not because I have any direct need for it at the moment, but I love to hear about really well designed and functional software. It does look to be a terrific application and I am pleased that you have had such good results with it.

Thanks for letting us know about it.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[Philip Perkins]

Yes to QLab, esp if you want to time events off the actors instead of the other way around.

Philip Perkins

[ptalsky]

Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions.  Looks like I'm going to have to accelerate my Mac purchase for both Boom Recorder and now Q-Lab.  I wonder if I can still get a refurbed iBook for cheap.  ;-)

Oh, and I received a private message with another cool looking (though very expensive option):  360 systems: "Instant Replay"

Thanks again!

Phil

[Guest silverking]

I'm a Mac guy, and a Technical Director of two theatres.

SFX pretty much rules the roost in theatre playback.

Having said that, you could also use Soundtrack, or even Garage Band with a Mac as well as those apps mentioned above.

Much like BoomRecorder and MetaRecorder are not overburdened with features for Production Sound, you really don't want anything for theatre playback that's any more complex that it needs to be.

One thing that remains the same in theatre from the old reel to reel days is that Stage Management will expect you to be hitting a "GO" button on their cue. Outside of the huge and expensive shows that repeat for years on end (like Cirque) the use of time-code and other automated "GO" functions for audio playback is still quite rare in live theatre.

As a side note, many folks are still running theatre sound cues off of CD players. You will need a professional player that offers the "advance to the next cue and auto-pause" feature, but if your show is nailed down as far as sound cues go, a high quality CD player is quite common as a live playback device. Tascam CD players are quite common for this purpose.

Most producing houses that have their own Sound Designer on staff and build and produce their own shows are PC based and do use SFX.

[Simon Paine]

If you are thinking of going the DJ software route, I would recomend PC-DJ. Easy to use software, and your cues get preloaded into your RAM, and playback is instantaneous when you hit the space bar. I used to use pro CD players, but this playback seems even faster.

I beleive it can also trigger lighting effects, through your PC, if you need to. (But you may be stepping on other department toes with that one.) and with the newest version of the software you can also mix video !

www.pcdj.com