I'm looking to create some depth of field for a stage musical.

I have a principal on a radio mic, who will shouting from a "roof top". Now obviously - he will have a close mic, but is there some sort of effect I can use to create the illusion that he is "high up and further away" than other people on stage? In my toolkit, I have the virtual rack on an LS9-32

I know I could just shut the mic off, and that may do the job - but would be useful for recording purposes to create the effect.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

John

Really you need firstly to have the illusion of position - it's no use if your audio comes out of the FOH speakers if they are at ground level - he's never going to sound like he's offstage and up high.

Next thing you might like to do is take some of the power and presence out of the voice. Roll off some mid and LF and see how that sounds.
Perhaps the easiest bet might be to turn off his mic and use a second mic in the wings, from which he stands a few metres away.

How about sending his voice on an aux pre fade to a reverb, add a lot of pre-delay and just use the "wet return" to mix?

Thanks for the suggestions - the show isn't going up for a couple of weeks, and I'm just trying to get the theory of specific things I want to achieve sorted in my head (and the incredibly useful offline editor for the LS9) before I get into the theatre.

I'll try anything mentioned in this thread and report back on the success.

Cheers

John

The actor will have to be involved as well. Lines spoken quietly and amplified will not sound like somebody shouting--the actor actually has to shout. Depending on the size and layout of the theatre this might work to your advantage or could be a problem. Certainly a shouting actor, even in the wings, will be heard in most theatres so it might be best to get the actor up a ladder or on a fly gallery or something to preserve the illusion of direction. If you do this, the idea of a prefade reverb effect (with a spot speaker up on the grid or something) might work. Otherwise, maybe have the actor completely offstage to do his shouting with a dry/wet mix from the effects speaker.

Bob

I don't think this will be a problem with this particular actor - the production is Oliver, and the actor is playing Bill Sykes. The first time I heard this guy in rehearsals, (put politely) his voice really frightened me!

John

In that case, this is one I've had to solve. As staged on the production I worked on, the sound had to come from high up, almost central, at the rear of the stage. The theatre we were in had a catwalk at high level across the back and we put the actor there to yell out his lines. I added some very slight reverb (wet only because the dry was loud enough naturally) through a speaker on the same catwalk and it worked pretty well.

(OT aside--the director of this one actually staged it in modern times with the kids being street urchins around Kings Cross station. It actually worked amazingly well with no script changes at all--but allowed me to help the above scene with some nice surround effects of a police helicopter overhead!)

Bob

yeah the ls9 effects will do. very short pre delay on the reverb and a bit of dry but mainly wet. If you can get a special speaker back stage would help a lot. In the past I have mounted two speaker in the wings left and right high up to act as monitors. Each being on a seperate mix allows you to use them as specials but also have a use during the rest of the show.

Maybe OP you could have a small powered speaker next to Bill and a mic plugged into it? (on a boom, unseen)

Yes, use his lav for slight delay through the FOH but the proximity effect can only really be done if the actual sound is coming from the area you percieve it to be.

John Denim.

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

After searching BR, a very old topic may prove interesting reading.

Linky

John Denim.

Pedant Alert

Er, John, when you say "proximity effect" I assume you're just meaning the directional cues you get when you place a speaker in the position where the sound is supposedly coming from?

I ask this because in audio engineering, "proximity effect" has a very specific meaning and your use is incorrect. The actual meaning of "proximity effect" in audio refers to a change in the frequency response of a directional microphone as the sound source is brought close to the microphone. The result of the change is a disproportionate increase in the bass response of the microphone. The effect is found in directional microphones due to the particulars of their construction and is not exhibited in omni-directional microphones.

I'm getting pedantic because "proximity effect" is a term that could easily be searched for in the BR and I'd rather we don't confuse some poor soul in a few years time!

Pedantry over.

Bob

I'm planning on having this exact set up (monitor wise). Rest of the show, they'll have piano (just incase the rest of the band confuses them) in them for the cast - nice idea for additional use.

Cheer

John

Ohh yea, you are once again correct Bob!
Of course, the term does refer to mic control.
derr.
Can I use this icon for ' dunce'?

John Denim.