Theatre Radios Part 1

Nick has spent the last 19 years working in the sound industry. He began his formal education in sound from the bottom - learning to coiling and cleaning speaker cables. He has since come a long way and has worked on many big name concerts and tours in Asia and in the UK. Nick is currently employed as the Head of Sound of a major production rental house based in Singapore.

Theatre Radios - Part.1

by Nicholas Chua

Running of radios in a theatre environment is pretty similar to that of any other shows, except its more defined in the ways of positioning. Most of the topics and discussions hereon are based on my personal experience in the UK theatre scene.

Bald persons, Wigs, Hats, Treated hair, Dual mics and single mics, Ear Hangers, Coat hangers, Shape of the person’s head, Bone structure, High forehead, Receding (lets call it a high hairline), Color of the skin, Hard access to the packs and mics in costumes, Elastic belts, Double transmitters, Comb, Comb with a pointy end (used at times to poke the artist), Your personnel wrap around belt with all the items you will ever need when you leave your work area, and what happens if the cast needs to get naked and there’s no where to hide the pack and mic, and yet the person still needs to be amplified?

All the above mentioned will affect the position of where the microphone and the transmitter is placed on the artist.

In my previous article, we were discussing about handheld mics and getting a good input into it. We are now dealing with small, hard to see microphone capsules and almost invisible mic cables. Maybe even things stuck to the side of your face (hopefully not). The same applies to the knowledge of a runner in a theatre as in a corporate setup: Sound systems, Signal flow, Cross patching, Last minute changes, Faulty gear due to wear and tear, and getting the correct signal to the desk.

There are two ways to get to run radios backstage on a UK production, be it West End based or touring.

1: You graduate from one of the audio/ theatre colleges in the UK. You start from scratch, be it by joining a rental company or working straight in the industry in a theatre in London. As time goes by, you will get exposed to the different types of shows. You get better at what you do with audio, and you get better with dealing with those mics I mentioned earlier about.

2: You might be noticed while you were still in that audio school - headhunted as some would say. People might like the way you do stuff or might like the way you deal with things in that school. Your “attachment” to any theatre. So before you even graduate you “might” have a job out there. You will be called into interviews and you might start immediately on a show in “town”.

Which ever method, if there are more, that a person takes, the first job would be a number “three”. Depping on shows is most likely the start point for any new person into that industry. Depping might be looked at as a number three’s job.

A standard show entails three persons. The Sound Op (Number 1), the one next in line to mix but is in charge of all things back- stage radio and system wise (Number 2) and the last person, radios only but learning the sound system as well (Number 3).

Note:- Depping means to cover someone on the show that is sick, or normally, when the number 2 is up front learning the show, and there needs to be one more person back- stage. Number 3 will take over Number 2’s role backstage. That’s where you come in as a “dep”. Depping allows you to work on many different shows if you can. Learning is the key word here.

I will leave the job of the Sound Op out in this discussion. Lets explore the world of the radio runner (Applies to any one backstage doing radios).

A: Touring Short runs in venues all over the country, could be 1 week, 2 weeks or up to a month. After the mass effort of unloading the truck(s), and setting up of the sound system, you as a person(s) dealing with the radios, follow a path generally listed below. There might be a touring sound production engineer on your tour, there might be not, to assist you in the below:-

 Placement of your radio racks. Am I getting in anyone’s way? Is it easily accessible? Safety? Maybe even ease of tearing down)

 Placement of your antennas. (Good line of sight to transmitters? Will my cables get caught when that DSL slider moves on/off stage? Any metal objects in the way?)

 Placement of your work area (i.e., space constraint). You will need some form of work table, be it a real table or a four footer flight case. Large enough for maybe 20 transmitters with microphones attached, and for all the assorted stuff you will use on the show.

 Knowing the route to the casts’ rooms. It might take a while to know which cast is in which room but its good for yourself if you can get over this by 3pm. Know every exit route the cast may take from the stage to their rooms. Catch them there if you need to. You can’t fix a crappy mic or transmitter if you don’t know where the cast is after they come offstage. Or even before they get on stage.

 Most, but not all, of the Sound System. (Mentioned above, your knowledge)

You, as the radio runner, must know all this. There are no RF engineers to troubleshoot for you.

There are no radio system engineers to solve your radio transmitters and receivers problems if any. There is only Sound number 1, 2 and 3. You three, or two, will run the whole show, day in and day out, for however long the show goes on taking into mind that every so often when you move to a new venue, a new set of issues always turn up. And these issues have to be fixed by your team and you.

Note:-

Before going on tour, the show would have been setup and running for a while and most issues fixed. That first venue is where you get all your radio issues sorted out. Things like what I wrote about in my 2nd paragraph. You might also have been going to rehearsals prior to the cast going to the venue. Do your homework there and you will have less to do when they come.

B: Fixed Venue shows (Long Term) Moving into a theatre with a new show is always fun. The whole team is there, from the Sound Designer, the Sound System Engineer, the Production Engineer, the team of freelancers, the company that supplies the gear for the show, and the RF Engineer. The support from everyone involved in the sound setup. Even after the show opens, support is always round the corner. Help if needed is always there. Totally different than on tour.

You, the radio runner (either as a dep or a number three), will only be doing the radios. You might be involved in the setup of your radio system. Dealing with the placement of your racks, your antennas, and your work area. That is roughly the entire scope of your job during a set up.

Prep. Always Prep*. Get your stuff ready - pen, notebook, tape measure, elastic band, brown markers, black markers, all kinds of markers, pliers, cutters, scissors, needle and cotton, plastic containers, elastic cloth (to make pouches), serving trays, penknives, hairpins, hairclips, safety pins, skin colour tape, medical tape, clear tape, paper glue, cloth glue, wig glue (get it from wardrobe), nail colouring, nail polish, coat hangers, plastic ear-shaped hangers, baby wipes, tis- sue paper, extra mics, extra packs, extra receivers, batteries, disposal of used batts, and finally, alcohol wipes.

*The same applies for touring. Get all these sorted out before the tour starts proper.

Hint:- Getting to know the people in the wardrobe department is pretty high on the must-do list too as they will be the ones sewing your pouches and making it fit into the costumes and doing it in a way whereby you can get easy access to the pack when you need to. They will also help you to wash or re-sew the pouches if needed. Even changing of the elastic belts. Basically, get to know them!

And voila, you’re all set! Once its done, its easy going. Everything is in place and you will have lots of time to do the above.

*Don’t miss the concluding installment of “Theatre Radios” in next month’s issue of AVL Times.

at AVL Times, by Clarence