Back in 2005 I designed a show called Harvey, the original stage version of the 1950 film which starred James Stewart. As you may remember the actual star of this story is a 6 foot something invisible rabbit…which I had to design. Creating Harvey was the first time I used a piece of software called Audiomulch, which has remained the basis of all of my computer based studio systems since. Sure, Adobe Audition, Reaper, ProTools, Reason and occassionally Cubase all get a look in, but for the real complex things I find that I turn to Audiomulch every time. I even released an album a couple of years ago created entirely using this software (available for free here!).
This item of extremely versatile and cost effective software has been a real workhorse for me and has had amazingly few updates over the years. It just works and works well.
Now some of you may have read, or been part of conversations, I’ve had about some of my frustrations with the currently available items of Show Control/Playback software. Although brilliant at what they do, for me they lack a certain amount of creativity and flexibility, I’ve never felt that they’re design tools but more suited to simply playing back your finished work. As someone who works in theatre I’ve always felt that the auditorium and rehearsal room should be the place to create your designs, not the isolation of the recording studio before taking your finished work into the theatre. A luxury, I have to say, I’m not always afforded.
However….
It it looks as if the answer to all my issues (and I stress that they’re my issues not those of the overall theatre sound design community, who seem perfectly happy … most of the time) has been staring at me every time I’ve turned on my laptop. Audiomulch.
Now most basic media players (Windows Media Player, iTunes, WinAmp) have basic EQ, most Show Control/Playback software doesn’t (yet?), none (yet…again) can host VST effects, or have any on-board FX and as yet none enable you to use simple midi controllers when creating or playing back your shows. Audiomulch has all of these and more. The first problem for me, which I believe I’ve now addressed, in a show situation is that Audiomulch doesn’t have a decent front end, an easy simple looking graphical interface which lists your sound cues etc.
So my plan is this…and I’ll take you on my journey which will either end in success or failure…I’m going to design a show to be created and played back on Audiomulch hopefully soon but more likely later this year. The graphical interface problem is easily solved I’ll just send midi commands from, either one of the existing pieces of Show Control/Playback software or dig out an old version of Mat Mckenzies excellent G-Type. The look and control will therefore be taken care of but most importantly the tools at my (and the operators) disposal greatly enhanced.
Did I mention that Audiomulch runs on both Mac O/S and Windows (similar to Ableton which has also been suggested as an alternative)? Has some great effects included all the items which you control are wonderfully called contraptions! The excellent meta surface is the killer app for me right now and I can see that being a truly creative tool whilst sitting in the auditorium building shows.
I’m prepared to fail but I’m going to give this a go, because for me if I succeed it will be putting the creativity back into my design work on the shop floor and not in the studio…and with a decent XY midi controller the operator should also be able to carry out some complicated routines in real time during the performance….wish me (and them) luck!
Back on the 19th February 2008 I (rather badly) wrote this on my Sharawadji blog …
Searching for imperfection.
Some thoughts from my train journey today… Are we losing our individualism in a search for perfection?
Computers have, in no small way, contributed to this as, as an example, they offer us all the same fonts and spell-checker facilities. Anyone in the world could write these sentences in Arial 12pt. Apart from my choice of words and the order I decided to place them in, what singles out this piece of writing from anyone else’s, where is my individual stamp? How do you even know that I’ve written this? My handwriting is a left handed dyslexic scrawl, often difficult to read, so Arial 12pt at least gives me some hope of being understood. But it’s exactly this, my scrawl, that separates me and identifies me, along with the crossed out, wrongly spelt words and doodles in the margin. Who is to blame? William Caxton? Henry Mill? Gates and Jobs? How can you be an individual when your writing looks like everyone else’s? Handwritten songs and music from Lennon to Bach sell for thousands of pounds at auctions, but what now? If a lyric or piece of music is written using a word processor where is the interest and soul in that? The mistakes and rewrites are deleted the spelling is usually correct and it’ll be cut, copied and pasted to perfection, the anguish, struggles and mistakes, which any great artist goes through when creating are lost and with it also, possibly our understanding of the work itself.
As I’m writing this my (poor) grammar is being highlighted, how dare this software offer an opinion in such a way. Is your choice of font about as much of a symbol of your individuality as it now gets?
I use computers everyday, I compose and create, I write, I edit my photographs, but how am I really able to keep the processes I go through which, in years to come, will validate the decisions I make/made.
Have we become just too obsessed with this neatness and common form? What can we do to maintain any individualism (red underlined check spelling) when creating on our computers?
I think I’m searching for a way to highlight the many imperfections which single me out and make me, me.
I suppose it’s quite natural for us all to want the finished ‘product’ to be as good as it can be, but I also think we should not shy away from sharing the mistakes which we all make achieving this. This is where I fell asleep, somewhere around Three Bridges…no doubt to be continued…
What I find interesting about re-reading these thoughts is how much these concerns can be translated to certain other aspects of my life, not only with respect to my sound design, but also with regards to how my designs are realised by the sound operator.
In Praise of the Sound Operator!
In my early days whilst operating shows for the cream of British sound designers there was nothing more satisfying than a ‘clean’ show, a faultless performance. In those days (which actually wasn’t so long ago) the operator was responsible for firing any number of playback machines, fading up, fading down, cross fading, routing both sound effects and music (sometimes live, sometimes recorded) to any one or combination of loudspeakers, resetting EQ and auxiliaries, changing reverb settings etc. etc, all whilst keeping one eye firmly on the stage and the other firmly on a cue light. Complex and often very quick sequences of events where practised and rehearsed until they were right, if a mistake was made you had to have a plan up your sleeve to get things back on track with little, or no, disruption to the performance you were in no small way contributing to. It was often nerve wracking, flying by the seat of your pants experience, and not really a job for the feint-hearted. It was often a wonderful adrenalin fuelled rush. It was your live real-time contribution to a live real-time performance.
However things change, [good] sound operators are expensive, producers often want to cut costs and increase profits and computers have become an important part of our design process. I used to play the drums (insert drummer joke of your choice here) and I was also around when drum machines first became usable and, of course, everyone bought one in the hope that they too would become Depeche Mode. For a few years every hit record had a drum machine of one sort or another strictly keeping the tempo (interestingly so many of the good sound designers I know were also drummers). Soon it became obvious to music producers and audiences that (certainly in live situations) something was missing, performances were becoming just too automated and lacking any real soul…drummers started getting work again and music returned to sounding like music…once more it began to reflect our human emotions in the way songwriters and musicians intended us to appreciate and respond to their compositions. Sure, drum machines are still around, but are used far more sparingly and appropriately than when they first became prominent. For your information barely a week passes when I don’t spend at least a little time programming one myself for some project or another.
The point I’m trying to make is that the music industry rightly embraced an item of technology before returning to what is actually more beneficial to the art of music making, and in doing so giving a particular skill and responsibility back to the specialist. The question I’m asking is this, as sound designers isn’t this something we should also consider? Have we become so obsessed with our designs that human interaction (and along with that the risk of the operator making mistakes) has become something we’re no longer willing to accept?
Sure sound systems have become more complex but along with that we’re losing the human interaction in what will always be a live performance situation. Some of the things we now require are often impossible to do unless we breed a regiment of multi-armed operators, but other things haven’t changed and we’ve taken the responsibility of also doing these away from a person. In doing so are we losing the connection between the operator, performer and audience member?
Every aspect of my design work has been in some way influenced by the vast array of sound design talent I was lucky enough to work with as an operator, I understood exactly what they were trying to achieve, I had to in order to realise those requests on a nightly basis, now when an operator presses GO or NEXT is there any real understanding about the sequence of often complex events they are setting in motion and will this lack of knowledge affect the sound designs of the future?
Shouldn’t we just be more trusting, more often? Shouldn’t we insist that our work is realised and looked after by a fully trained, briefed, rehearsed and trusted human being? Isn’t what we do after all, ‘live’ performance? Isn’t live performance, whether that is music, dance, or drama, a group of human beings sharing the same space to present and experience something together, an interaction? Shouldn’t we be giving at least some of our sound design contribution back to a person to ‘perform’ on our behalf eight times a week? Have we lost confidence and trust in people to such an extent that we’re taking the responsibility for our work away from them and perhaps by doing so actually compromising our contribution to live performance? A live event. The benefits of show control are undoubtedly enormous but my feeling is that it is dangerous to completely lose all of the human element from our work.
So many questions!
Much like a composer watching an accomplished musician playing their music nothing gives me greater joy than watching a good operator play my sound and interacting not only with my design but also, and most importantly, with the performers whose work they’re supporting by doing so.
My feeling is that we need to at least start the conversation about how we create human interfaces which still allow us to program complex sequences into our preferred show control/playback software but which also allow more human interaction with how these actions can be realised in a real-time, live, situation.
I have nothing but praise for good sound operators and long may they continue (despite the economic pressures often imposed on us) to flourish. The benefits, not only for a production, but also the future of our art, is firmly in their hands.
I’m loving listening to the album Metals by Feist at the moment. I’ve been commuting everyday for the past few weeks between Brighton and London, a break in my day (something which I need enforced) … a wonderful couple of hours sat on a train, time to lose myself within a book, or inside some good music…
I’ve been so fortunate to be locked away (not literally, of course) in a rehearsal room with the fantastically vibrant, good humoured and talented cast of Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, the director Michael Buffong is skilled at creating an environment which enables people to excel and allows everyone to contribute to the production he is (most definitely) leading, in doing so he always gets the very best from those lucky enough to be on the creative journey with him. As we’re drawing close to our destination (the Press Night) I’m sure that we’d all like this whole process to continue rather than to end. The feeling is similar to that of playing in a band, where you all grow together and share in each others failures and enjoy your mutual successes.
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl is a wonderful play and well worth going to see if you find yourself in London, the intimacy of the Cottesloe Theatre lends its self perfectly to the production designed by Soutra Gilmour, beautifully lit by Jo Town and with some great music by Felix Cross . It’s a play which I believe most people who see it will be able to connect with in some way.
When I recently compiled a list of the plays that I’ve got most out of (both intellectually and personally) as a sound designer and which have deeply affected me as a person it was pointed out to me that all the playwrights were of African, or Caribbean descent, undoubtedly Errol John now joins that list. The writing of Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson and now Errol John have spoken to me in greater depth than many of their European contemporaries. They seem to write honestly and from real personal experience, it’s more than purely an observation of an issue, situation, or character but something so much deeper, far more real. Although there is some great humour in Moon it doesn’t rely on this to get it’s message across. Pure, honest and unpretentious writing about situations and feelings which affect us all.
Look. I’m no great writer, critic or literary academic but all I can say is that it’s worth well worth the effort to go a take a look, to read and to think about the issues that Moon on a Rainbow Shawl raises.
Towards the end of the forthcoming week I start work on Miss Julie, August Strindberg, Sweden … and a whole different thought process.
My work, the process of what I try to achieve is purely conceptual and emotional and I’ve been getting a little wrapped recently up with issues about the tools I use in order to realise my ideas, I’ll write much more of this at another time. However, I’ve now realised that when issues about 1′s 0′s and inanimate objects drain my energy I need to re-focus and concentrate on how I’m going to tell and/or support a story I’ve been given the challenge of working on rather than let my thinking become derailed by all this nonsense. Thankfully I’ve now got back on track and I’ll leave those concerns to those who care about them a little more than I do. All I’ll say now (by way of a trailer) is that, for me, ’live’ performance is an art and not a science and the automation of events which are dictated by actual (real time) on-stage human actions is something which needs to be given much more consideration than I feel it currently is. When it takes more time to program an event into some computer software than it actually takes for a human to do the same (that is, physical actions which produce the same result) using the manual controls in front of them, then in my eyes that isn’t real progress. Maybe training and encouraging our show operators to interact with the live performers is a better way to spend what little money we have at our disposal? Automation isn’t the final solution, or in some case even a viable alternative, maybe it should just be considered as another effective option to add to our armoury. Just a question I’m thinking about.
On that note…I’m going to record the performance of a concert pianist, using midi, and offer that as a solution to the problems of presenting a live concert which may sometimes contain the occasional fluffed note…which , of course, is just a joke to end with, I promise you…
Finally this band is also worth checking out … g’night…
I tend not to look back at past (passed?) years, preferring to look to the future, but today however, as 2011 draws to a close, I thought I’d share some of my random memories, experiences, thoughts, discoveries and rediscoveries. So much has happened this year, far too much to share here, so here’s a selection of things, in no particular order, with little structure and an obligatory rant (you’ll be pleased to know!). My random ramblings about 2011 -
2011 was, in most part, a wonderful year for me (I could end there but won’t) forging links with the brilliantly explorative Theatre Academy in Helsinki, having another amazing time again with my American colleagues at USITT in Charlotte (marvellous, talented, welcoming, and fun loving hosts), once again being able to accept an invitation to visit those frighteningly gifted students (and professors!) at Yaleand finally, of course, meeting all my international friends and colleagues at the Prague Quadrennial.
PQ opening ceremony...
PQ was, as always, amazing, exhausting and a little stressful. It’s so personally fulfilling and affirming to be involved and I can’t thank enough everyone who attended especially those who kept me calm, helped me stay sane, made me laugh and gave up their time to help, organise and ensure things ran smoothly. Also to the record number of artists and designers, many of whom made long journeys, to experience these remarkable ten days in the Czech Republic I salute you! I’ll be forever indebted to the wonderful array of talent who accepted my invitation to come and share their ideas, work and time with us in Prague, many thanks and much love to you all!
I created the sound for the above extreme costume piece…this was composed very quickly and independently from my other PQ responsibilities.
A National PQ Exhibit...
Nova Scena...My place of work and the centre of all the PQ sound events...
The Sound Kitchen...an audience
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The formation of the Association of Sound Designers was a much needed step forward for those of us involved with Sound Design for theatre here in the UK and I’d like to thank everyone who voted me onto the board of this organisation. It’s an enormous honour.
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Sound, theatre and the world are changing quickly and I feel very privileged to be able to make a small contribution to (hopefully) the positive changes which are occurring and also at being able to challenge those decisions which may not be to everyone’s benefit. What remains interesting and encouraging is that despite the financial restrictions being placed on everyone there still remains an air of creative positivity and possibility amongst so many. Although I do fear that in a world where changes are necessary those responsible for implementing some of these are making decisions which are not always for the best. Changes are only good if they are beneficial (in the short, or long term) to those affected by them and when they’re not made purely for the sake of being seen to do something (anything) [often] in desperation. Guesswork and hope isn’t the basis for making intelligent, life changing, decisions on behalf of others, the affects of which may be irreversible. I hope my fears with respect to some decisions I’m witnessing are proved to be wrong.
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Best performance I’ve seen this year has to be The Life and Death of Marina Abramović at the Manchester Festival. For me this was exactly what theatre should now be about, it stood out because it wasn’t (like so much on our stages), trying to be a film, or a television programme. It offered an alternative to the mainstream which is exactly what theatre makers should be doing. I feel strongly that in order to compete with the enormous amount of other ways audiences can spend their ‘hard earned’, theatre needs to provide a strong alternative to, and not a weak imitation of, the ‘competition’. Unfortunately not that many practitioners (and importantly producers) are brave enough to attempt this, particularly in the UK. It took an American director and Serbian performer to show us how this can be done successfully whilst offering their audiences both a thought provoking and entertaining production. Truly incredible.
A rediscovery of my year is also Serbian, a band called SAT Stoicizmo and their album Mah 2. I first heard Mah 2 twenty or so years ago and was reminded of them again courtesy of someone’s random twitter link, only 500 CD’s were ever made (it’s supposed to be listened to on continuous looped vinyl!) but I managed to track down a copy. Fantastic. Music to stir the spirit and fuel the anger which results in change.
There are two buildings I’ve visited this year and found breathtakingly remarkable, the first is the fantastic new Helsinki Music Centre Concert Hall and the Sibelius Academy, which I was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at just before they opened to the public and students. The Concert Hall is stunning in it’s complex beauty hidden within apparent simplicity. The main concert hall is larger but similar in design to the Royal Exchange Theatre, purely coincidental I’m sure! Helsinki is great city for the soul, a place which seems to value creativity and it’s artists. Many fascinating people and ideas seem to be lurking behind its sometimes brutal architecture. I was also particularity impressed with KIASMA, in fact I think Helsinki is my previously undiscovered city of the year!
Me...talking...in Helsinki
Theatre sound design students work exhibition...Helsinki
Stickers...Helsinki
A Barrel Organ I recorded in Helsinki
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff is a fantastic institution, with some wonderful students (and members of staff!) and also a new concert hall and theatre that has just recently opened and which is the second amazing building I’ve come across this year. If you’re in Wales make sure you check it out. In 2013 RWCMD will be hosting the World Stage Design 2013 exhibition. What more can I say but this is a real cultural and educational gem, a place which Wales can be truly proud of and the rest of the UK can hopefully take some inspiration from.
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Without fail every day this year I’ve heard some wonderfully inventive sound and experimental music, who am I to recommend, or dismiss, any of this? All of it has such enormous value and the fact about whether I like it or not doesn’t matter, but what remains true is that everything I hear has some kind of affect on me and my work. My hope is that people keep experimenting, exploring and ignoring convention and ensuring they keep embracing whatever it takes to make discoveries and remain adventurous whilst offering us all something which we can be inspired by and learn from.
If I was to suggest a random internet journey of sonic discovery then I’d suggest perhaps starting it here, here, or here and just seeing where it takes you…
My more mainstream music favourites of the year … so many, so many … but certainly these …
Tame Impala, a wonderful ‘start of the year’ discovery.
Laura Marling, an exceptional young talent.
Ensembles’ album Excerpts, a beautiful record.
The Fall, rediscovered again after many years, exceptional gigs in Brighton and Manchester along with a fantastic new album, Ersatz GB.
Still and always there for me once again in 2011 the music of, Pablo Casals – Bach Cello Suites and Zero 7 – Simple Things. Calming for the soul, familiar music when away from home, late night hotel room, jet lag addressing sustenance. A staple familiar diet when in unknown territories.
One of my own favourite pieces this year was something I created for Jen Hingleys Synaesthetic project called T1, T2, T3 … here’s the full version.
T1, T2, T3
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** Rant Alert ** (It wouldn’t be Christmas, or the New Year, without one)
I have a wish for 2012…Here’s hoping for the demise of mp3 … it’s has to happen sometime, be prepared and back up those i(yearn better quality audio)Pods. This may sound negative, it isn’t supposed to be in the least, maybe my wish should read ”I wish that everyone was able to experience music and sound at the highest quality possible and not in a way dictated to us by those who own the servers we download from.” Those who are selling us our sounds seem to prefer offering the consumer no more than poor reproductions of an artists often costly and lovingly crafted work. Mp3 has an enormous value as a method of sketch booking sound, or as a convenient way of previewing music but as the main method of experiencing all the sonic delights at our disposal? I’d argue that it falls some way short. Sometime this does feel like a one man crusade, after all the main perpetrators of this rubbish is Apple (that is as in Mac, not Macca’s record label) who after all is GOD … for the atheists amongst us think about it. I’ll accept that an artist has the right to only release their music as an mp3 if that is their wish…but it’s also true that the artist should have that choice, not the middle man. As an idealist and professional nothing but the best is surely good enough for our audiences and ourselves? Nothing but the best should ever be good enough, you probably wouldn’t buy a photocopied Miro would you?
** END OF RANT **
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And on that note … as I fall off my soapbox (I’m sure I was a pushed!) I just want to say…I’ve so much more to share from 2011 but …finally
My Hotel Room of the Year Award goes to this…(thank you Swansea!)
This year has been one of discovery, upheaval, happiness and at times a little sadness, much like any other…as always I’ll continue to share my likes, dislikes and some sounds here, here and here … and there’s other stuff scattered all around the internet if you ever care to take a look …
Have I mentioned I also designed some shows and have four productions opening between now and April 2012 more news on these soon!
Lastly I’m blessed with some remarkably loving, patient and talented friends, which I’ll be forever grateful for (and in all honesty don’t really deserve most of the time)…and I promise to try and make the next year a little easier for you all x (and I’ll also try to spend a little more time with y’all)
Here’s wishing everyone much happiness, peace and love in 2012.
In the June edition of Lighting and Sound International I was the subject of the Q&A section, you can read what I had to say here … Steven Brown Q&A LSI June 2011.
As you might have noticed my website is in the process of being updated by the wonderfully talented Jen Hingley, take a look at her work here … http://jenhingley.com/
x (and I’ll also try to spend a little more time with y’all)
