Watson

Thanks, and for your other thoughts too. Much appreciated. Looking around online I've seen several varying examples of a marked-up performance script: is there a near-universally accepted industry standard for that, too? The two major variants appear to be a two-column approach or a layout which incorporates the cues into the body of the script (in the manner of stage directions) but clearly differentiated with coloured highlighting or distinctive fonts or other means.

kgallen, most of that was familiar to me, but I'm grateful for the reminder.

Thanks for the latest replies and excellent advice. I worked for some years as an audio technician at the BBC, so I'm well aware of the importance of clarity and labelling and making things as simple as possible. GR1, we are a very small company: a stage manager would be a luxury. The on-the-road team usually consists of just one actor, who handles pretty much everything himself.

Thanks for the thought, but I'm reliably informed that QLab is pretty much the industry standard and that most theatre technicians use it and are familiar with it, so I'd prefer to go down that route. Brian, thanks, but the same applies. .

A 3.5mm jack socket wouldn't be a problem. Files in order wouldn't be a problem. Correct ins, the same. But some outs have to be done live, either as snap cuts or fades, the timing depending on the actor's performance. That isn't possible, unfortunately: the actor wouldn't be able to guarantee consistent timing and I won't ask him to regulate his pacing to match pre-recorded adjustments. Ah, but I'm not the performer, or even likely to be there. Many thanks for your thoughts. That's excellent; I imagined that Mac software required a different format for audio files. I'll look at the software. Many thanks.

I had wondered about something like that. It would mean familiarising myself with the Mac and its ways, but that might be no bad thing. Questions arising: Would I be able to convert my wav files to whatever the appropriate Mac format is without loss of quality? Does the free version of QLab permit mixing from cue to cue and/or playing a specific spot cue over a continuous background? In rehearsal and our few tryout shows I've been handling the sound from a Windows laptop running a package called Cue Player Pro which does allow these and I've been expecting to have to simplify the sound design to remove the necessity (imagining that the software isn't widely used professionally).

Dear themadhippy, thanks for your speedy answer and good advice. I can certainly put the cues on a thumbnail drive, a data CD, and as separate tracks on audio CD. And in view of your wax cylinder mention, perhaps an audiocassette as well. And I can supply wav and mp3 files but unfortunately I have no way of converting to a Mac format (I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the Mac and its ways). That's useful. So presumably you'd also be OK with balancing the long continuous background track against the performer on the fly. as long as the script made the necessary changes very clear?

Hi. I'm the co-writer and director of a one-man play which is just beginning to get bookings for single shows or short runs at various festivals. The piece uses quite a number of sound cues, which at the moment I have saved as individual wav files. Each venue will have its own sound technician who willl work the performance, and I expect that technical facilities and gear will vary widely from place to place. Given that the only rehearsal/prep time will be on the day (or first day) of the show, what's the best way of supplying the necessary files? Will a resident operator expect to be handed a thumbnail drive or similar containing the separate files, for her or him to load up into whatever software they use? And in performance is it usual to ask the technician to balance the show live, adjustng levels as necessary for each cue? Or is the correct thing for me to record each cue at the correct relative level for its context? In one instance, a sound effect runs continuously for several minutes and has to be ridden up and down according to what the performer is doing or saying. Will a technician expect to be asked to do this? Apologies for all the questions but any thoughts and advice will be very welcome. Many thanks.