------------------ Sound Operations ------------------

For the Priestley College Winter Showcase, My job role was the sound operator. This job entailed collating sound tracks from choreographers and directors and editing them to the desired sound required in order to meet the performer’s demands. I edited sound tracks through garage band then dragged them on the QLab, which was the software we used to run the show. QLab is a multimedia playback cue-based software designed for theatre and live performance – QLab is an Apple Mac based software which is not compatible with windows xp. Below are screen shots from the QLab winter showcase file:

The first screen shot is the beginning of the list of tracks used for the winter showcase. As you can see the first one is in a box (highlighted in a red box), this is because it is a group. A group contains more than one track but can be titled as one name depending if they are all being used for the same purpose. This group is the audiences seating music which is why this specific box is labelled entrance music – this box contain 10 tracks in total, equivalent to just under 30 minutes worth of sound. Once the audience was seated and performers were ready at the side of the stage I pressed the button (highlighted in blue) in order to stop the music and prepare for the first performance which was Bollywood (highlighted in green) alternatively you can press the Escape button (Esc) on the key board and that will also cut the sound.

Below is an example of another group used within the QLab showcase tracks, this is want the group looks like once you click the small arrow (highlighted in red).

The next screen shot is of a fade. Fades are used when there isn’t a specific time period to cut the music. Fades are most commonly used when actors are stalling time for performers to get ready or for the technical crew to get the stage set as both these scenarios time periods can vary depending on the situation within the performance environment. We add a fade using the image (highlighted in red) and dragging it into the correct place within the list. In order to add a time frame which you want to carry the fade on for click on the digits under the list action (highlighted in blue).

In the screen shot below you can see the track ‘Explosions’ is playing. In order for the track to play we press the button (highlighted in red) or alternatively press the space bar down on the key board. As you can see we entered Cues into the box (highlighted in blue). This allowed us to keep track of where we were up to during the performances and not the precise moment when to play the music.

The final screen shot is to show where we inserted gaps for speech. Within the winter showcase we had comperes who would come on and address the audience as to what the next group of performances were about without giving to much information away. Comperes are often used when fast changes are taking place between performances requiring specific individuals in both. In order to add a speech gap select the image (highlighted in red) and drag it to the desired destination as seen in this screen shot is (highlighted in blue). Dragging speech gaps into QLab for performances whereby there is no sound to be played is crucial in order for sound operators to avoid unnecessary confusion.