Ilthigore Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 I am currently enquiring into the possibility of upgrading our school theatre sound capabilities with some form of computer-based system for both playback during shows, and audio editing. I was wondering if you could offer any advice or point me to some packages (hardware + software) which might be suitable for this purpose. I'll outline a basic spec I'm interested in. Must play back (and, if desired, loop) sounds as good as instantaneously following the pressing of a play button (or even better, maybe with multiple keys assigned to different sounds). This button should preferably be fully hardware (as opposed to a mouse clicking on a play button). Must allow audio to be edited, including some kind of sequencing, splicing, and multi-tracking facility, effects and equalisation, compression, and pitch/tempo adjustment. MIDI compatibility would be highly desirable, as well as (at least the possibility to extend its capabilities in the future to) sampling. In practical terms, I need something that isn't going to be damaged as easily as your average desktop PC (although I do not plan to connect it to the Internet). It must fit into a fairly small space. It must also be as user-friendly as possible (by which I mean, can be operated with only minimal training, at least for playback - this is for use by student "stage crew"), but not at the expense of facilities or ease of operation. It must have a fairly large hard drive (I'm thinking 60GB plus), so we can gradually develop a library of SFX, reducing the workload each time a new play comes up with requirements (thunderstorms, forest ambiance, etc come up a lot). Finally (and importantly), I think we have about £1-2k allocated for this (although I am a student doing research on behalf of the school, so the exact financial details are unknown to me at this time). Any advice (or perhaps your experience with such systems) would be useful. Thanks to Nick S, whom I believe is also working on this, and developed many of the points I have made above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beware Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 As a quickie, I'd suggest a rack mount PC (with sliding LCD screen in the rack maybe), running Cubase (multitrack, loops, recording, playback) and Sound Forge for editing (or Audacity if the budget gets tight). I would think you could also find some software that you could assign SFX to keys on the keyboard, and possibly even a USB keyboard (ie, not QWERTY) that you could label up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreatBigHippy Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hey up,Been doing the same for our school theatre. As soon as its built I will be trying out SCS (Sound Cue System). http://www.soundcuesystem.com It is reasonably cheap (only just over £100 if you want the full spangly version) and does an awful lot.It won't help you edit but there are plenty of programs for that. Goldwave is good for wav editing. I use cubase mostly but at £300 a pop for SX its probably not a good choice for standalone theatre.Great thing about SCS is that if you have a decent (8 I/o) soundcard (essential! don't cheap out on this or all the money thown at everything else will be pointless) you can pan between any two or two sets of speakers!As I say, haven't tried it live yet but the PC reqs are low (apart from Soundcard), accepts midi control also. If you check thr forums people have use this to set up midi devices on stage that trigger sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 There is some info on the wikiComputer Based Playback It's still incomplete, so please consider adding your knowledge (fact, not opinion) here. Also see this topic, and this one and this one and this one and this one and..... you did check the "search facility" in the top right corner, didn't you? - those are just the ones I found by going back 6 months... I would suggest that it might be worth considering having two systems - one for creating the material, and a dedicated playback machine. The playback machine doesn't have to be a high spec unit - I've thrown out PCs that would be perfectly adequate for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dj Dunc Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hi there. Just recieved our new pc system for our drama dept in secondary school. it is a 200gb hard-drived model with dvd rw and a creative sound card which outputs at the front and the back (7 speaker outputs + 3 or four other outs) and we are running goldwave for editing mp3s and recording them, and scs9 for playback which is working a dream. We have a tft monitor all in a flightcase (note the pc tower is upright) and it is a dream to use. We have catalogued all our 50,000+ sound effects on and it is working perfectly. I believe the computer cost around £500 all inclusive but I dont think its a reliable figure. You could try a cube pc which is very small. Pm me asap if you want more info as I am using it for a large production in the next two weeks and ill get the tech director to hunt out the paperwork Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundo26 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 Hi there are many programs you could use, For editing and manipulation I prefer Sony Sound Forge. For playback you could try Chris Moyles sound machine at www.chrismoyles.net this enables playback of audio clips to be assignes to the keys of your keyboard. there are lots of samples on the site or you can make up your own packs. The best thing is that it's free unnecessary repating of original post removed - mods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 For playback, have a play with Soundplant. It's free, but if you register, you also get the ability to play mp3s with it. It can also loop and stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJProctor Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Hi There, Two little bits of advice really, from the point of view of running a show from a PC, you dont need any magical machine or anything like that, the most critical part is the sound card. Ok you dont want it to be slow at playing effects etc, but no pc will be unless its over 5 years old. You want some good memory one board too. However for editing you want lots of processing power and memory, I think in an ideal world you want 2 PCs one for running a show, which can be basic but with a great sound card on, and one for editing, which has the power. Also the Show PC really wants to have no other software on, and ideally no internet connection to make it ultra reliable. Regarding software, well everyone has their favs, so all I can suggest is try them all and find out which you prefer. On Wiki there is a list of the different software, basically just go down the list, download and play.... Have fun. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon MFR Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Greetings... I can fully recommend Cubase for multi-tracking, editing, pitching, playback, looping, it does pretty much everything. However, I would advise on the one inherent problem that springs up from time to time with this package; the endless compatibilty issues with associated hardware. I use the Delta 4/4 soundcard, and even though it works 100 % (both in and out) with Steinbergs Wavelab, there are MIDI compatibilty and recording issues that I cant seem to get to the bottom of with the device. But if you can get it working with whatever external device you choose, then you shouldnt need much more. If you're not intending to record 24 simultaneous tracks you should be fine....but make sure you have enough RAM to cope, things can get a little slow! Think about optimising the system too (removing all the unused parameters and programs that lie dormant in a computer) as this will give you more power.....but (as has been said before) try a few of the trail versions first, and pick your fave. Not everyone is the same, and some prefer one package to another, even though both will do pretty much the same thing. Good luck treacle :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WJProctor Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Just another quick thought, if its for a school would I assume correctly that it will be students using the software. If so this means a high turn around, and a student may only use the software for a year or so, so you will need to be training new students all the time. Becuase of this you want software that is easy to use, and can be picked up really quickly. Maybe involve the current students, they will have their own ideas. I'm guessing you probs already have done this anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Since everybody else is putting in a plug for their favourite tracking/editing software, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest a look at Adobe Audition. I use that almost exclusively and have to say that, feature for feature, it's pretty darn hard to beat. I've had flirtations with Cubase, Sound Forge, Protools, etc. but I keep coming back to Audition because it has so much built into a single programme (I have very few extra plugins because Audition does most of what I want) and the user interface seems simple and intuitive to me. For playback, I can't better the suggestions you've already had. SFX is great but very expensive, SCS is cheap and almost as good, and Soundplant is free and good for "freestyle" shows. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_korman Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 For playback, I can't better the suggestions you've already had. SFX is great but very expensive, SCS is cheap and almost as good, and Soundplant is free and good for "freestyle" shows. Bob another endorsement for SCS from me - I discovered it a few years ago, showed the tech manager at out local theatre and they have it at both venues - it's very good, and superb value for money. I also have it on my laptop and home PC, so I can pre-prepare all the recordings and effects and cues, dump them onto a USB stick and just take that to the threatre. Wouldn't do a show without it - makes running the recorded sound just like running the lights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambone Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Ableton Live. Hugely powerful. I single-handedly sequence and control live surround audio, on-the-fly remixing and live percussion, 19 DMX lighting fixtures, VJ video, and remote PTZ cameras with it. Use any USB device (keyboard, joystick, etc) or any MIDI controller. The Faderfox units are particularly popular. I use an LX2, as well as a Behringer BCR2000 and FCB1010. There isn't much you can't do with Live. Others are using it for theatre cueing, amongst many other uses. Version 6 is imminent, and will probably include more comprehensive audio editing features. The demo is free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 not going to talk about software, loads of people already have. We have little "remote control" boxes with FF, RW, Play and Stop buttons on - like the old revox remotes, which plug into the joystick port on the computer. bit more positive action than a mouse. made by Orbital Sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted July 6, 2006 Share Posted July 6, 2006 You should (he says, modestly!) read this post. Can some Wiki mod add it to the Wiki? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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