Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
When you can hear every word, thank the sound mixers
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/16/nx-s1-4993986/tony-awards-broadway-sound-mixers( "Audio will be available later today." )
When you can hear every word, thank the sound mixers
JUNE 16, 2024 5:00 AM ET
HEARD ON WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY
Jeff Lunden
Broadway musical Illinoise’s sound mixer and designer Garth MacAleavy does his preparation for the evening show at the St. James Theatre in New York, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.
Marco Postigo Storel for NPR
Ninety minutes before curtain on a recent Tuesday evening, Garth MacAleavey, the sound designer and sound mixer of the Broadway musical Illinoise, went through his checklist.
“I'm going to run pink noise through every speaker. Make sure everything's working,” MacAleavey said. Pink noise is “all of the audible frequencies of the human ear, all the same amplitude. So, we're getting everything from, I guess, 20Hz to 20,000Hz.”
Illinoise is a Tony-nominated dance musical based on Sufjan Stevens’ album Illinois and the singers and musicians perform on a split, multi-level bandstand above the stage.
Next, MacAleavey’s “A2” – backstage sound assistant Hannah Overton – played each instrument and talked into every microphone on the bandstand, to make sure they were working properly.
[...]
JUNE 16, 2024 5:00 AM ET
HEARD ON WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY
Jeff Lunden
Broadway musical Illinoise’s sound mixer and designer Garth MacAleavy does his preparation for the evening show at the St. James Theatre in New York, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.
Marco Postigo Storel for NPR
Ninety minutes before curtain on a recent Tuesday evening, Garth MacAleavey, the sound designer and sound mixer of the Broadway musical Illinoise, went through his checklist.
“I'm going to run pink noise through every speaker. Make sure everything's working,” MacAleavey said. Pink noise is “all of the audible frequencies of the human ear, all the same amplitude. So, we're getting everything from, I guess, 20Hz to 20,000Hz.”
Illinoise is a Tony-nominated dance musical based on Sufjan Stevens’ album Illinois and the singers and musicians perform on a split, multi-level bandstand above the stage.
Next, MacAleavey’s “A2” – backstage sound assistant Hannah Overton – played each instrument and talked into every microphone on the bandstand, to make sure they were working properly.
[...]
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
When I left a prior band due to members' cocaine issues, the soundman left with me.
When I entered a new band, I agreed with the condition that we use my sound guy.
Nobody objected at all, but it may have had something to do with the fact that he & I owned 80% of a 12,000 watt sound system. 
The 24 channel mixing console was 100% his, plus the reverbs, delays, & crossover.
He was excellent at EQing to get all the sounds to be heard without anything being louder than anything else. That was especially true about my various keyboard sounds, where I sometimes used 10 sounds in one song.
We were loud, but always very clear, thanks to his skills.
