Ocmix

Mixer Patrick Pummill, left,
and sound designer Kai Harada
at the Studer Vista 5.
ware and measurement mics,” Celustka explains. “Kai would also go
from seat to seat during tech rehearsals to get a feel for the sound.” Setup
took two to three weeks of full tech days.
“Then, during preview performances, Kai would sit in a different
location each night so he could experience as many vantage points as
possible, in a true show setting,” Celustka says. “We continued to make
fractional-millisecond to full-millisecond crosspoint delay changes to
speakers throughout the tech and preview process, allowing the sourcing
to really take shape.”
The crosspoint delays ultimately used to create the sourcing effect
went as high as nearly 60 milliseconds, while amplitude changes were
only 1-2 dB, Celustka adds.
The 50 (out of the 112 total) speakers used for the audio sourcing included
Meyer UPJuniors, UPM-1Ps, MM-4s and M1Ds.
While the sourcing draws the audience into the drama, it also helps
eliminate distractions. Without this sophisticated level of audio sourcing,
“There would be hot spots, it would sound louder in places and a
lot less natural, more amplified. Also, you would hear an echo from the
other side of the room if an actor was really close to you…and it would
Photo: Eric Rudolph
sound wrong,” Harada explains.
However, it works seamlessly. The sound is natural and
seemingly un-amplified, and the complex sourcing goes
masterfully with the in-the-round staging, creating the convincing
effect that one is hearing the actors naturally project
from whatever part of the big stage they’re on.
As intended, it dials up the intimacy.
Foldback needs were simplified by the orchestration
of the seven-piece band. “Because the show is so brilliantly
written and orchestrated, we didn’t need to worry about
monitoring that much. If the orchestration were fuller, with
less of a chamber-music quality, foldback would be a bigger
concern, but Fun Home is written to have enough space for
vocals and beautiful music behind it,” says Harada.
For actors to hear themselves and each other on the big
rectangular space that is roughly twice the size of a typical Broadway
stage, they’re simply relying on the main system bouncing back. “We
were concerned; could an actor hear dialog from the extreme ends of
house? But it was never a problem,” notes Harada.
In fact, eight slots were designed into the stage floor for monitors,
“But we didn’t need them for hearing dialog, so we used those speakers
for sound effects,” Harada notes.
“I have strong feelings about not putting vocal foldback onto the
stage,” Harada says. “By the time you get it loud enough so the actors
can hear it, you’ve created a feedback loop; their mic is hearing it as their
ears are, creating nasty comb filtering and ruining the experience for
the audience.”
A proscenium stage always needs more foldback so the pit band can
be heard onstage, but most of the Fun Home band is onstage with the
actors (a few pieces are offstage and unseen; the band has in-ear Aviom
monitors).
Harada hid four big Meyer UPQ speakers up above the band and
Meyer UPJ-1P and UPJunior speakers near the band, to push the music
right out onto the stage. The UPQs are mainly what the audience hears,