M.D. Talkback

[soundman208]

Scenario is a local am-dram company doing a production of a West End musical with a 13 piece orchestra situated in the pit front of stage. Pit depth is quite deep with M.D. (who is also playing keyboards) elevated for cast sighting and therefore not in direct eye contact with other players. Due to the complexity of varying time signatures in some of the music he is worried about timing issues and has asked what options there are for talk back facility to the orchestra so that he can bar count as need be. Normally the solution would be easy via some form of Aviom type monitoring but big issue is that there is no money in the production budget for such a system. Any thoughts or similar experiences of how I can meet this challenge will be most welcome!

[samchurchill]

Do the musicians have any IEM (in-ear monitoring)? This doesn’t have to be an expensive system like Aviom.

[sandall]

Might it be easier to leave the MD at orchestra level & use a camera & CRT monitor(s) for the cast?

[GR1]

Put rostra in the pit to keep the MD in eye contact with both the cast and the band. Even if you have to get rostra made to measure it shouldn't cost much. Musical theatre is simple so keep the human contact where possible before looking for a technoligical solution.

[paulears]

If the orchestra are unaccustomed to wearing headphones then just give them a few screens so they can see the md - he can count and nod and that's all they need, and simple.