HAMILTON's Sound Design

[morosco]

Posted: 6/11/16 at 5:46pm

Some 172 individual loudspeakers, more than [sound designer Nevin] Steinberg has ever used before on Broadway, are placed throughout the 1,319-seat Richard Rodgers Theatre. The speakers are located above, around, behind, and even below the seats, enveloping the audience in a lush sonic environment in which sound seems to come from all angles. The system is precisely tuned so that each of some 20 zones in the theater receives its own customized mix—each one meticulously calibrated by Steinberg during the show’s previews—depending on their location in the venue.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hamilton-is-revolutionizing-the-art-and-science-of-broadway-sound-design

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 6/11/16 at 5:54pm

This is a fascinating read. 
Also, it had never occurred to me that the mics are digital and that that everything would be a streamed digital sample these days. (Not just pre-recorded sound)

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 6/11/16 at 7:03pm

This is an example of why there should still be a Best Sound Design award!!!

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/11/16 at 7:21pm

¿Macavity? said: "This is an example of why there should still be a Best Sound Design award!!!"

I think it is also an example of why it isn't. None of this stuff is within the wheelhouse of the overwhelming majority of Tony voters. As I have said before, I don't think it can be a technical achievement award; it needs to be a design award on the same bases as sets, costume, lights. We don't honor best stitching.

[¿Macavity?]

Posted: 6/11/16 at 7:33pm

^ I completely agree.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/12/16 at 2:41am

MarkBearSF said: "This is a fascinating read. 
Also, it had never occurred to me that the mics are digital and that that everything would be a streamed digital sample these days. (Not just pre-recorded sound)"

Microphones are not digital. The mics' analogue signal is converted to be digitally processed/mixed, and that digital signal is sent to the amps where it converted back to an analogue signal.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 6/12/16 at 7:27am

Thank you. So - the analog signal from the mics is sent to a (device or app which digitizes it) where it is mixed and controlled by the sound engineer (and preset settings, no doubt) in digital form, and then to (another box or app) to amps where it's turned back into the analog pulse for the speakers?

I may have taken the digital camera comparison too far -instead of photosensitive particles being replaced by sensors, there are still acoustical membranes capturing and replaying natively analog pulses at each end.

Is this correct? (At times I feel like the congressman whose explanation for the then-new "information superhighway," the internet was like a collection of tubes.)

Updated On: 6/12/16 at 07:27 AM

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/12/16 at 11:18am

In a general sense, yes you've got the idea. All the mics are patched into a manufacturer-specific rack (box) which allows for the digital distribution and manipulation (mixing the how) of those signals. The manipulated signal is distributed to the amps in any number of ways, and at some point along the line is converted back to an analogue (and amplified) signal.

 

To go with your photography analogy: it would be like shooting on film, scanning and editing in Photoshop, and then printing the processed photo.

Updated On: 6/12/16 at 11:18 AM

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 6/12/16 at 7:02pm

Thanks!