glennryan

Yes, I've had a go at this a few times - the best one (a Farndale farce) the butler pulls a the cord on a standard lamp, but instead of lighting up it makes the phone ring, then he answers the phone which makes the lamp light up, then a bit of to and fro. A funny effect that was really sold by the real phone bell. And, as you mention, you can set the cadence yourself if you use something like audacity. G

Good point. I tend to get away with doing things like this too, but to be future-proof (i.e. when I'm not there on occasion, or if I ever leave the group for whatever reason) we need a setup that's relatively easy to set and use. Also, we've got very limited time in a shared town hall, so setting up something that messy every performance becomes a big drag. G

Thanks, we're fine for the basics but good to hear it again and with the right terminology. The main thing is going beyond 2 channels. Good point, I'll bear it in mind. Ease of setup/use is a major factor for us too, as we're all volunteers (and some are less inclined that others to put in the effort to learn new things). Our current setup is fine as far as all this. It's the multiple channels we're after. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely think about multiple playback sources. G

We're after replacing our current PA (a 2nd hand donation) anyway. But will keep this idea in mind. Thanks ;) Thanks, this is a great answer - explains how the pro's do it, the rationale, and what I need to think about. Cheers - I'll go have a think about all this. Now I've got the basic idea (and most importantly the jargon) I should be able to come up with something that suits our needs/budget. G

Thanks for all your comments ;) We've used the set up you describe, but as we grow and improve we're always looking for new challenges (it's a hobby after all) and have found our sound effects could do with catching up a bit with the rest of our productions in terms of quality. This is what I'm interested to learn about - if I add some small speakers on leads, how do I get the sound effect to play on those and not on the other speakers placed around the stage? Good suggestion. I've started to encourage 'real' sounds - a few doorbells, figured out how to make a phone ring on cue, etc. The actors and directors all feel that the increased realism is really helping them push themselves to be better too. Yes, I'm conscious of this. Think our previous tech peeps might have been guilty of this as the directors all seem hesitant about using background/ambient sounds as they're too loud and drown out the actors (we don't use mics). But I've recently convinced a director to let my try some background/ambient sounds (a kettle coming to the boil in the distance, rain on a window, onboard a train, etc.) and they sounded really convincing with good placing and careful levels. Thanks, I thought this is what I needed (a way to match sounds to channels, a way to output all those channels to an amp/s, a way to amplify each channel, a speaker/s for each channel) but didn't know what any of the bits were called! So using an interface I'd need an amp for each channel? The PA we use now has an 2 amps, 1 left 1 right, so are there products which similarly have many amps for each channel all in one unit? (a bit like a surround sound system you get for DVD player??) And thanks for the suggestions, I've looked up the Scarlett range, and will continue to have a look about at similar products. I'd heard about a few of those software packages, so I'll check those out too. That's awesome. I've done a similar thing (but much more basic) with a train coming in to a platform (from stage left to right) just using stereo speakers, which went down quite well. Thanks again everyone who commented. I've got plenty of homework to get started on. Any other recommendations, particularly good cheap hardware, would be much appreciated ;) G

Hi everyone, I help with various things technical/backstage at a (very) amateur theatre group. I volunteered to help when their last tech guy left, so I've *never* had the opportunity to learn from or work with someone who knows what they're doing! (we mostly get by ok) For dramas, where the director is aiming for realism, I've used a stereo setup to play sound effects coming from the general area (left vs right) where the prop/actor/etc is located. I'm sure this is done in a much more sophisticated way in other theatres and I'm wondering how it's done?? I want to be able to have a number of speakers in each section of our small stage (thirds would be fine, quarters better, and sixths probably ideal) and potentially extras for certain props (e.g. a telephone or a crying baby in a crib). I could guess how to do it, but would rather do it right (or at least understand the right way to do it, so I can see what will work for us). Apologies if the answer is already out there (or on here). I have spent a good few hours looking about, but it's difficult to find answers if you don't know which search keywords to use! Thanks in advance G