House Files: Advancing The Show
Spotlight on the what, when and why of the tech package
By
Mark E. P. (Milo) Woods
The technical information package often provides the first contact that
a touring sound crew has with a given performance facility. This is often
called “advancing the show,” and can be vital to the success (or failure)
of both sound quality of the production, as well as addressing important
factors such as the speed and efficiency of the system load-in and set-up.
In a perfect world, the sound mixer/designer for a touring production
will receive a copy of an in-depth description of the venue’s technical
package well in advance of arriving on site. Any concerns can be addressed
before load-in. A nice benefit of our current era of electronic communication
is that some venues already have this information available at any time,
either posted on a web site or capable of being sent via e-mail.
In my experience as head sound engineer at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta,
however, I’ve found that touring personnel often walk into a venue “cold”
or with just a hazy memory of the last time they worked in the room. As
a result, the first thing I do after “meet and greet” - and before a single
box or rack comes through the door - is to hand the visiting sound crew
leader a folder containing all information about the room that could be
wanted/needed. I back this up with a brief verbal rundown of the most
important items, focusing in particular on potential trouble spots.
IN THE DETAILS
No matter when received, the tech package can be a great reference tool
for both the touring sound crew as well as the house engineer. With that
in mind, it’s important to list both information considered essential
as well as that of a less-essential nature. Victory often resides in the
details.
I’ve put a fair amount of time and thought into generating the technical
info package for the Fox Theatre. Two things to keep in mind here. First,
my approach isn’t the only way to go about it, but can at least serve
as a guideline as to what a package should include. Second, both touring
and house staffs can benefit by being keenly aware of the specifics of
a given venue, leading to better shows. And that, after all, is the object
of the exercise.
Here’s how I’ve gone about assembling the technical package supplied to
visiting personnel. Listing is done front to back, in the order it appears
in the documentation.
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Cover page. Right up front, all of the basic and most requested
information, and in large, clear type. Remember, this is going to
be read by a person with way too little sleep, sometimes way too
early in the morning or too late at night, so keep it simple. |
Next, cover factors involved with load-in. For example, location and type
of power service/hook-ups, snake pathways and recommended lengths, routing
of gear to travel from the truck to front-of-house (FOH), and so on. It’s
also a good idea to briefly address the backstage paging systems, ADA
tie-ins and intercom or dry lines.
Answers to more specific questions can be directed to the appropriate
page found later in the package. For example, “Rigging points are very
limited downstage of the proscenium. Please see drawing on page 3.”
MOVING ALONG...
Table of contents. A quick, complete listing of all the pages in the package,
provided with page numbers. Enough said.
Distance and delay parameters. Perhaps one of the most important items,
because modern sound systems often have very sophisticated digital delay
devices at several points in the signal chain. Proper use of these tools
is well beyond the scope of this article, but the primary point is that
these factors can be made clear and easy to understand by including the
venue’s common delay times and distance measurements.
Further, the setup of some loudspeaker systems, including line arrays,
is dependant upon proper data entered into spreadsheets to calculate angles
between cabinets, the number and location of different types of cabinets
within an array, and so on.
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You say you don’t have this information? Well, make it a priority! It just takes a bit of time and a couple of tools. A laser distance device and tape measure are essentials, and a computer based delay finder like (SIA) SMAART Live is a definite plus. (For more on basic use of SMAART, see Doug Fowler’s series on ProSoundWeb.com in the Live section.) Every venue is different, so let’s look at the basics. Factors such as proscenium width, stage depth and rigging grid height are essential. Also useful is data regarding times from downstage center to point “x” - for example, the balcony rail, guest and house mix positions, or notable seating positions. In addition to distance in feet and meters, times to these points should be calculated or measured or both and listed in milliseconds. |
I find it helpful to measure the exact distance between various points
of the house sound system. At the Fox Theater, there is a large center
array of 12 (L-Acoustics) dV-DOSC loudspeakers hung in front of the proscenium
(see Live Sound August, 2003 issue). With the laser, I’ve measured
the distance to the under balcony loudspeakers, the front row of the orchestra
level, and the last row of seating in the balcony, to name a few. These
measurements have been verified and fine tuned by computer delay finders.
One other thing to include on this page is any delay already in place
on the house sound system that’s also likely to be used by a touring show,
i.e., underbalcony delay loudspeakers or lobby fills. Having this info
in print and at the ready saves a lot of, “uh, I’m not sure, I’ll have
to go check.” Plus, it makes you appear to be on top of things, even if
you’re the aforementioned person dealing with too little sleep far too
early in the morning.
WORTH DOING TWICE?
Rigging points. The head rigger or carpenter is usually responsible for
laying out chalk markings that direct the placement of chain motors for
the rigging crew. A good head rigger will always check in with both the
touring and house sound crews before spotting the PA motors, getting any
further details that can stop problems before they’re created.
The last thing any of us wants to hear in the stressful process of putting
in a system is “oh, by the way...” One of our usual crewmembers at the
Fox, Harvey Mills, has a saying: “If it’s worth doing once, it’s worth
doing at least twice.” Trust me, riggers do not find this funny!
With rigging details, also provide data on factors such as maximum load
rating for fly points, as well as any special hardware that might be needed
for hanging from given points or grids.
Plans and maps. New or recently renovated venues in particular can present
a navigation challenge for the touring crew. Two types of maps can be
helpful. One should specifically detail the inner workings of the venue,
while the other should detail the surrounding neighborhood.
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For the Fox Theatre, we supply cleanly drawn seating charts and building plans that are very easy to simply photocopy and place in the tech package. Almost every venue has some sort of building plan, or at least fire exit plans, that can be adapted for this use. Dressing room lists or drawings can also be handy, particularly for shows requiring a lot of outfitting and later gathering of body microphones. |
Auditorium plans can be useful in assisting with predicting audio coverage,
and these can also be used to simplify discussions about hard-to cover-areas
or problem spots in the house. A scale drawing of the stage and backstage
is great for techs choosing to plan out shows in advance.
One other nice addition to this section is a guide to surrounding establishments.
Bars, clubs, restaurants and laundry facilities - anything that might
be of use to the visiting crew, to make their time at your venue a little
more pleasant, convenient and manageable.
For those crews staying on for several shows, a list of nearby movie theatres,
video rental places and other amusement attractions can ease the boredom
of hotel room confinement. And don’t forget the location of the nearest
Radio Shack and music supply store!
This should give you a good starting point on developing or improving
tech package documentation, and if you’re a touring person, what to expect
and ask for from a venue’s tech staff. Next time we’ll further the list.
Despite the long hours, the Fox Theatre sound gig is somewhat of a dream job for Mark E.P. Woods. He can be reached at mepwoods@mindspring.com
October 2003 Live Sound International