Hi everyone! As mentioned in my previous blog, I’m one of the sound assistants. While I worked on sound for the past two Hoof ‘n’ Horn shows, this has been a completely new experience for me and I’ve learned a lot not only about the sound equipment but also about what goes on backstage. This is the first time I have actually worked back-backstage during a show rather than in the sound booth and it surprises me how busy everyone is, myself included. For whatever reason, I always imagined backstage being more of a waiting room for actors but having now spent time back there, it is definitely more of an organized chaos with people running back and forth for costume changes and scene changes, some cursing under their breath because of a missed cue. In addition, I thought that because I was backstage rather than in the sound booth I would kind of just be sitting waiting for something to happen but more often I find myself running from the green room to stage right to stage left trying to catch up with people to check and fix their microphones. I find it absolutely amazing how on stage everything can be calm or whatever adjective the scene is portraying while backstage everyone is hustling and bustling.
Now I haven’t had much experience with sound, in fact the past two shows were the only experience I’ve ever had with technical aspect of theater. While I haven’t been an active part in the setup of the onstage microphones or in the board operating (I did observe the initial training from Jen which was good but since I don’t work with it every day as Sam does, I doubt I could reproduce everything she explained), I have learned a lot regarding the small details in the setup and maintenance of the wireless microphones that I never would have thought of before. For instance, I had no qualms with wrapping the elements around the packs since it looks so neat, but it can actually damage the microphone. In addition, I learned about the proper placement of microphones, where to tape them, and how to hide the packs, all important things in regards to sound designing.
I have been so impressed with every aspect in this show: actors, costumes, set, props, lights, etc. I can’t believe we open tomorrow but I know it will be consistently professional and well, awesome.
