Best way to indicate a pause before a sound cue?

[Watson]

I'd welcome opinions on this: in the show I'm programming, I have two or three sound cues which have to be played after a moment of stillness and silence on stage, so they can't be directly cued by a line or by an action.

 

It seems to me that there are two possible ways to manage this: [Note to George Lucas' lawyers: this is not the actual dialogue.]

VADER: I am your father, Luke. [WAIT three seconds, then GO SFX 7]

 

(Cue 7 being a dramatic clap of thunder)

 

Or...

 

VADER: I am your father, Luke. [GO SFX 7]

 

(Where the audio track for cue 7 begins with a 3 second silence)

 

The show is a small-scale one-man piece intended for festival performances, usually one night only, and using each venue's own tech staff, which means the absolute minimum of rehearsal.

 

Any thoughts will be welcome. Thanks.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[adamburgess]

I'd prefer the first one.

 

If I'm watching the action and hitting a GO button,

I'd rather know it had fired than have to look away to make sure.

 

And, if I'm watching, depending on the pace of the show on the night, it may be

slightly more or less than 3 seconds.

[Watson]

I'd prefer the first one.

 

If I'm watching the action and hitting a GO button,

I'd rather know it had fired than have to look away to make sure.

 

And, if I'm watching, depending on the pace of the show on the night, it may be

slightly more or less than 3 seconds.

Thanks for that. Your point about knowing that the cue has fired is a very good one.

 

Your second point is good too. What I'd really like to put is [Feel the pause then GO] but given the minimal amount of rehearsal time at each venue for an operator to get into the show artistically, is that a good idea? I do appreciate though that specifying a particular length pause is more mechanical than is ideal.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[adamburgess]

Even with limited rehearsals, a diligently put together show file (as you're doing) will be no problem to anyone with any experience.

 

Most sound/light ops I've ever worked with… they do do feel :-)

 

I've written stuff before, and I get it's tough to hand things over to someone else. I dare bet it'll be fine.

[pete10uk]

I’d second this stance. If you tell someone to press a button and nothing happens, the immediate thing to do is press it again. Especially if they are not that familiar with it or the instructions are that easy to understand. It is possible to mitigate this by programming the show not to fire the next item for a given period of time but if you are not well prepared as a tech even if nothing bad happens it adds that bui of panic and concern that the next cue might be wrong.

[Watson]

Many thanks for the new replies. Adding silence at the top of a track is clearly not a good idea. And I completely take the point that operators should be trusted to have an artistic input.

 

So [Feel the pause...] is acceptable? That's good.

 

I've written stuff before, and I get it's tough to hand things over to someone else. I dare bet it'll be fine.

Adam, you understand my position perfectly.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[Junior8]

The first definitely. You must know that the cue has worked. Don't depart from actual seconds or a simple count (1and2and3and is as good as anything) to a matter of 'feeling' - everything in running a show to a plor is mechanical after all. Feel the pause is not good enough it has to be planned. Edited May 11, 2021 by Junior8

[adamburgess]

Feel the pause... (≈3sec)

[Watson]

Clearly, if you ask a roomful of experts a question, you'll get a roomful of different answers...

 

Now I'm uncertain again! But perhaps, given that one person's mental three seconds is unlikely to be exactly the same as another's, maybe [WAIT 1 and 2 and 3 and] would be a good way of leaving the exact final timing to the operator. Thanks for the idea, Junior8.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[d_korman]

The first, definitely for me too, but generally the director will give the operator feedback if it's not what they want :)

[Watson]

The first, definitely for me too, but generally the director will give the operator feedback if it's not what they want :)

Thanks, though with the sort of quick-in quick-out single performances I'm anticipating, the opportunities are likely to be very limited. A tech stagger-through and - possibly - a complete run before the show tends to be the norm.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[sunray]

Definitely the first, I did a play blind when operator was taken ill.SFX were on a CD player.

there was a fairly rapid interchange between 2 characters on a mountain with one falling off

Harry, Careful.Fred, YES it's loose Cue4 rock cracking sound.Harry, How badFred, Bad Cue5 rock cracking soundFred, ARHHHHH Cue 6 rocks fallingHarry, Fred... Fred Cue 7 windFred, I'm OK as long as the rope holdsHarry, The pins goneFred, ARGHhhh Cue 8 sound of body splatting as it hits the ground below.Harry, Fred, Fred, FRED

SFX 8 had a long period of silence during which time I repeatedly pressed the remote play/pause button trying to fire it. Long enough for Harry to put his hands on his hips and stare at me.

I'd have much preferred: pause for count of 3 seconds Cue 8

 

 

 

 

That was riddled the returns

 

and I'd like to know why sometimes the work and sometimes they don't.

 

[kerry davies]

1. Listen to Junior8, he has it spot on.

2. No matter what you do it will still go awry if done enough times.

3. Don't make a big thing out of it going wrong if it ever does.

4. Never ever forget that the audience does not have a script and won't know whether it is "right" or "wrong" so can it actually be right or wrong?

 

In response to Sunray, a well-known panto had similar occur. Early in the run the SFX of Mr Toad driving into the canal was miscued and a smashing greenhouse effect was used which was such a hit with the kids they had to keep it in. They also had to keep in the original cast double-take to the audience.

Edited May 11, 2021 by kerry davies

[Watson]

Definitely the first... SFX 8 had a long period of silence during which time I repeatedly pressed the remote play/pause button trying to fire it. Long enough for Harry to put his hands on his hips and stare at me.

I'd have much preferred: pause for count of 3 seconds Cue 8

Another vote for precision and unambiguity. Thanks.

 

Never ever forget that the audience does not have a script and won't know whether it is "right" or "wrong" so can it actually be right or wrong?

A very good point, though in my days at the BBC I did once accidentally enhance a tender scene in a Biblical epic by playing in the sound of a Galapogean giant turtle's mating call. Fortunately, it was only in a rehearsal: I think someone might have noticed if that had made it into the final show.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Watson

[alistermorton]

I've seen "beat" marked in the script to mean about a second, so 2 beats about 2 seconds, etc.