Speaker Selector Switch

[Campbelltt]

Hello,

 

Im sound designer for a show at college, and we need to make sounds come out of random places and at different volumes.

 

Is there anyway this is possible only using 1 sound desk and 1 set of amp?

[LX-Dave]

1 set of amp

 

I presume it's still a stereo setup? Simply adjusting the pan for different sounds would be a simple yet surprisingly effective method...

 

 

Dave

[Campbelltt]

I meant so that you could use speakers that are placed in DSL or USR and not the ones FOH,

 

Chris

[ChazHS]

Hello,

 

Im sound designer for a show at college, and we need to make sounds come out of random places and at different volumes.

 

Is there anyway this is possible only using 1 sound desk and 1 set of amp?

 

Not to sound rude, but as a sound designer surely you should know the answer to this?

 

Technically it's possible to have two different sounds in two different places if this is a stereo amp, but I wouldn't say it would be effective.

[Campbelltt]

Im studying Technical theatre at college, so im still learning,

 

its seeming hard to explain what I mean

[themadhippy]

muliway switch to select different speakers,switch common to the amp output and each speaker on a difefrent switch position , ride the faders to alter the levels

[Campbelltt]

Thanks

 

Is there anyway of doing it without buying, this is only because the show budget loads

[themadhippy]

A suitable switch from maplins will cost less than 2 quid.

[mrcog]

If your studying technical theatre then surely you could ask your teacher/lecturer and they would go through it all in detail, in person, which would be a much better way to learn!

[Campbelltt]

I was just seeing if there was anyother ways, no harm in asking

 

can you copy a link to the suitable switch?

[paulears]

If you are the sound designer, your lecturer/teacher should have provided you with the basic groundwork - I'd suggest that your college will probably have all this stuff in the electronics department - simple switches are not rocket science - and if you are struggling just explaining what you mean, then your grades will be a bit iffy at the end?

 

I'll also change the title - speaker slectivity isn't a real word?

 

I presume you don't mean random places, you mean specific places? There's a big difference. Is your 'set of amp' just one stereo amp, or do you have a stereo amp for the main loudspeakers and then another for on-stage monitors?

 

The simple way is with a switch as mentioned, or maybe a row of switches, with each one connected to a loudspeaker hidden in the locations you need to have sound come from, and then your operator simply selects each one on cue and fires off the effect.

 

If you have a cleverer mixer, and more amps or active speakers, then you can put one speaker per send, and do it from the desk.

 

Plenty of solutions. If you really want to be able to make a sound zap from speaker to speaker very quickly, you could use push buttons or some other kind of switch - I guess this is what your sound designer role is.

 

Sounds to me as if you're doing a BTEC unit - and if this is the case, your grades might very well mean you have to do this design yourself, and getting help from others might be a bit of a problem if you want the higher ones!

 

There's some scope to get some good grades here if you are doing BTEC Sound Design as one criterion says:

produce designs that follow conventions with innovation and show ability to predict production requirements and satisfy them in a professional manner

 

So designing your switching panel might well fit in here - but it has to be your design, not ours?

[Campbelltt]

The show isnt until Febuary and we havne't even started production meetings yet as we have 3 more shows to produce before it, im only getting ideas to see if it is even possible

 

We have 2 amps for the 2 sets of FOH loudspeakers and 1 amp for the 2 bass bins

 

I am studying Technical Theatre BTEC, and sound designer is a unit as part of the course, which we haven't covered as we only started last week.

[swampman]

A good few years ago we set up a "Belen": a model village of Bethlehem for a local authority. The orginal plans were to run a PC with an 8 output soundcard... Costs became an issue so we swiched the control to one stereo amp and a track with the parallel printer output of the PC controlling 8 relays to switch the speakers etc for the different locations: music, dogs etc...

All was abandoned and we had to use a single soundtrack looped on a CD when the only place to put the PC was next to the pyrotecnics in a volcano!!! Just as well as one went off wrong on the timer and the firebrigade was called in!

You must look around with imagination and always absorb details of solutions - complex or simple - at any opportunity: e.g. fair grounds, wax museums etc.

[paulears]

I agree with swampman - innovate. Many years ago I was working on a show that was supposed to have a fairy flying around and the director didn't want a followspot beam - he said it was too 'blunt'. My solution was to put car indicator lamps all over the set - like a star cloth but with bigger bulbs. There were sixty or 70 of them wired back to a panel where I'd pushed in drawing pins to match their positions on set. To make them work was a car battery and a biro with a screw glued into the end. By running the pen over the set drawing, as each pin made contact the lamp glowed and went out again. You could do one on, or lovely sweeps across loads of pins, making the fairy able to 'fly' all over the stage area, landing on the mark!

 

You might be able to do something similar with sound - but you need to experiment.

 

From your description - you'll be looking for more amps. I suspect you'll come up with the design, cost it, then ask the college to make it happen, money wise. Probably best to come back to this once you've got into it a bit and had some input from the staff. Don't forget the 'rules' are available so you can see what things you do generate your grades!

[mervaka]

I'm sure you can pick loads of marks up in the design area even if it doesnt come to fruition because of cost.