Love in Hate Nation |
Position: Assistant Sound Designer
Location: Penn State Playhouse Theater Date: Feb 13-Feb 21, 2018 (Freshman Year) |
Love in Hate Nation is a new musical by Joe Iconis commissioned by Penn State. It is set in the 1960's but takes many musical cues from the rock and roll music of the 1980's. The musical follows the love story between two girls in juvie hall to represent the bigger societal tides in 1960's america. The show tells the story of young people caught between eras of a changing America and their attempt to break out of the boxes society has created around them.
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This musical was produced in a standard proscenium theater with a huge twist: the entire set and audience is on the stage. This creates a very different (and intimate) experience for the audience and we essentially constructed a theater inside of a theater.
As the assistant designer, I was responsible for most of the system design and programming between the microphones and the speakers. Below are some highlights from the design:
Qlab Communication: Three Qlab machines were responsible for running the show each night along with a fourth for tech. The FOH Qlab machine contained the main cue list that was fired via a macro from the SD9. This main cue list then fired a cue on the SD9 via a midi message, fired a projection cue from the projection Qlab machine via OSC, or simply played a sound effect. The FOH Qlab also contained an extensive automated pre-show check sequence complete with a responsive, text based interface. The pre-show check automatically ensured that all communication pathways (MIDI and OSC) between all computers and consoles were active followed by a speaker check. Once confirmed, the program prepared the consoles for the show. The BOH A2 Qlab machine contained cues that allowed the A2 to solo and listen (through the X32 Core) to any wireless microphone or band input. This was done through OSC cues that triggered the solo button on the X32. The Tech Qlab machine acted very similar to the A2 Qlab machine in that it allowed the designers to listen to any input at the tech table. This was also done through OSC communication with the X32. The cue triggered a command to send the selected channel through a mix bus, thus routing the audio out of the S16, through the SD9, and finally to a headphone amp at the tech table. |
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Digico SD9 Programming:
Before this production, I had very little experience on the Digico consoles. Through programming the show, I learned a lot about the workflow and nuances of the SD9 programming. Macros were utilized heavily to allow the SD9 and the Qlab machines to communicate and trigger different functions on the console from muting channels to switching to alternate inputs (either for multitrack use or backup vocal microphones). Band Monitoring: Each band member had a personal monitor mixer (P-16) that allowed them to adjust their headphones mix to their liking. The P-16 had all necessary inputs from the orchestra mics (some were grouped together in the X32 due to a limited channel count), to vocals from the SD9, and to the "voice of gods" feed including a band-only talkback system from the conductor. |