My Role

Overview

For this unit we have to produce a show of we will rock you. My job role was a sound engineer. I have made a mic list for the play. I have read the script and I looked at all of the musical numbers and decided what mic’s need to be assigned to what character and the person playing that character. I had to carefully read the script and work out who the most important/significant characters are in the production, and some other the other major singing roles in the musical numbers of the play. I then assigned the characters a mic, with as little swapping over of mic’s as possible as we had 8 working mic’s. The major roles will have mic’s throughout the show but a couple of less important roles will still need to have a mic. The mic list is now completed but there could be some changes as the play is in its rehearsal stages and some things may be changed musical numbers cut, etc. The problems I encountered was in working out which mic should be assigned to whom (which character), making a list of the musical numbers and working out which characters had multiple singing roles and under what space of time in order to swap mics between characters (if necessary), but I made sure that the mic list was relatively easy to understand and worked it out so that there were as little mic changeovers as possible.

My responsibilities

My responsibilities as sound designer are to set targets and dates by which the targets should be completed such as when I created a mic list and the group gave me deadlines to work on. These deadlines motivated me to complete my work effectively because i knew they had to be completed. I am responsible for designing sourcing and editing all sounds needed for the show. I searched on the free sound effects website ‘freesound’ for laser and rock crumbling sound effects then edit the sounds in software called ‘CueLab’. This is the typical process of sourcing sound effects for a show. For the show I will also need to make a sound plan and Mic list. A mic list is a document detailing what mics need to be allocated to which cast member so that they can see what mic is with what actors/actresses that is most likely to need them and then the stage manager or sound designer will write their names into the Mic list. A mic list is important so you can control where a mic will be at a specific time and who is using it at that time according to the script and the demands of the directors of the show. I am currently making a mic list for we will rock you so I will need to work out how many mics will be needed and who will be using them before the night. You can control the mics using a mixing desk for sound (and this can also be done for lighting). The mixing desk can not only operate the sound but you can operate it to check if the right channels of sound are working and the mics are on and are all working correctly. A sound plan of what sounds I will need to find and source etc and act on is also helpful in the planning of a show. A sound plan is helpful in making sure you have all the correct sound effects because if you didn’t have a sound plan there may be sound effects or music missing from the show night that could have an impact on the show and how successful it is. A sound plan is a list of the sound effects and music you will need in the show. It is a diagram of the layout of the speakers and mics in the space for sound engineers to follow.

I made sure I was working within the health and safety regulations and I will make sure I continue to work within the safety guidelines. This is important because you will always have to maintain a safe working environment and make sure the show night is as safe as possible. You need to make sure the sound levels aren’t to loud to damage hearing and wires that could be a trip hazard. My duties were to source the backing tracks for the show, to find suitable music and sound effects for each piece, and to collect the mics and allocate them to the chosen people. You can source these sound tracks from specific backing tracks CD’s for most popular shows and alternatively you can source backing tracks on the internet. First you will likely have to buy the rights for songs before they can be performed to a fee paying audience. I currently am reading the script looking for the correct characters to allocate the right mics and cross-referencing that to the correct actors/actresses that will need the mics the most. I also am looking on websites such as ‘freesound’, and ‘youtube’ for various sound effects that will be needed in the production. I have found various laser and electricity zapping and tesla coils on ‘freesound’ etc. If I didn’t read the script I would have no idea what sounds I should be sourcing and this could have a massive impact on the show. This is called ‘script analysis’.

Recommendations for future job role

I will need to talk to Julie about what other sounds will be needed and also work with Gemma during the operation of the sound on the night on the mixing desk. I need to work out where to place the mics in the space for the night. Before the show night I will need to complete a sound check too. Sound checks are important because we will need to check the sound levels/gain is at a good listenable level on show night and check that the mics are working well and none are faulty. If there is a live band performing you will need to perform a sound check with the live band to check the band’s levels are correct. This is because this also could have an effect on the running of the show as audio and sound are obvious when a mistake is made because it is easy to hear it. If there is a problem this will be what the audience hears. Sound checks should be completed before the show.