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The designer definitely gets more involved at the loadin than he may have at the build. The designer may stop by occasionally, but don’t expect him to stay there all day. The designer’s assistant and possibly his associate will be at loadin the entire time to answer questions and make sure things are progressing the way they should. It is more than likely that the designer is working on another show and doesn’t have a lot of time to be at the load-in. It is common for designers to set goals so they can be around for important events. The mixer is typically the conduit of information about how the load-in is going, and it is important for the mixer to be able to assess the status and predict how long projects will take. A designer might tell the mixer that he wants to be around when the center array flies out, and he may ask when it will fly out. It is up to the mixer to analyze the load-in and plan a schedule with goals and to meet those goals. The last thing you want is for the designer to show up because you told him the array would be flown and it isn’t even close.
The designer will also be there to focus the speakers and make adjustments to the system. The system drawings and paperwork are a good jumping-off point, but it is very likely that speakers will need to be adjusted once you see them in the space. If there are any issues with sound equipment and lighting or scenic elements, the design team can communicate with the other design teams to come to a compromise. The sound design team also works behind the scenes with wardrobe and wigs to develop a mic plan for how the actors will be mic’ed. If you are lucky, all the women will be wearing wigs and the wig designer will allow you to put the mic packs in the wigs. This is very common on Broadway.
There are many benefits to putting the mics in the wigs, but the main benefit is that the mics last much longer. The mics tend to go through less stress in the wig and the connectors can last for months, if not years. Typically, when we put the mic packs in the wig we order a shorter 18" version of the mic. If you are going to put the pack in the wig, you need to plan this out in advance with the wig department so that when they build the wigs they leave room for the pack. When the packs are placed in the wigs, the process starts with a wig cap on the actress. Then the pack is wrapped in the wig cap and pinned into place. Then the mic is pinned into position and placed exactly where the sound designer wants it. Most actresses really like the mic pack in their wigs. It is something they never have to think about and there is no cord running down their backs and there is no tape slapped on their necks.
The design team will also be dealing with sound cues and recordings for the show. Hopefully, before tech starts, the sound cues for the show will basically be built and loaded into SFX or some other playback system. There are times when shows use click tracks on Broadway. It is not very common and it is a closely guarded secret when it is used. A click track is a recording of vocals or other sounds played back with the orchestra. It is called a click track because it is a multiple channel audio cue that has a metronome on one track for the conductor and orchestra. Typically, the click track is fired by the conductor and the band plays along to the metronome. In the house the recorded vocals are mixed in with the live vocals, if there are any live vocals.
Actors’ Equity has to approve the use of any click tracks and they are reluctant to approve these recordings. For Actors’ Equity to approve the recording, it would have to be proven that the use of the track would not negate a job. A show that has a big dance number and the cast is too winded to sing while dancing isn’t necessarily going to be approved to use a click track, or vocal sweetener. Actors’ Equity would recommend hiring more actors and having them sing offstage instead. If, however, the song involves the two leads in the show and it isn’t physically possible for them to sing while doing the action in the scene, then Actors’ Equity would probably approve the use of the click track.
There are times when a conductor will use a metronome with no vocal track. In this case no approval is needed because it is solely for the musicians. Hairspray is a good example of this. In order to keep the music the same tempo for every show the conductor and musical supervisor decided to use a metronome. Every musician in the pit wore headphones and listened to the metronome while they played. The result was a perfectly timed show every time.
The design team will also coordinate with the music department on the pit layout and instrumentation, as well as plan for special needs in the pit. The music department consists of several people: the composer, the orchestrator, the arranger, the copyist, the music supervisor, the conductor, and the music contractor. Some of these positions will be obvious and familiar. The composer obviously is composing the music. Once the composer has composed the basic structure of the music, the orchestrator takes over and fleshes the music out for a full orchestra. On a revival where the original composer is dead, a show will have an orchestrator deal with needed changes in the incidental music and tweaks to the score. The orchestrator’s job on a revival is to maintain the intent of the original orchestration while bringing a new point of view to it. The arranger deals with the vocal arrangements. The copyist documents all of the music and prints it out for the musicians. The music supervisor is basically the director for the musicians. The music supervisor is similar to a music director. The music supervisor can make decisions about instrumentation or tone of the music and works closely with the orchestrator to create his or her unique vision of the music in the show. The conductor conducts the orchestra. The conductor’s job is to maintain the vision of the music supervisor. The music contractor hires the musicians. If you want to play in a pit on Broadway, you will want to get to know the music contractors.
The design team will communicate with the music supervisor to find out his likes and dislikes. Ultimately it is the sound designer’s job to help bring the music supervisor’s vision to life. If you like more guitar than the music supervisor, then you are going to have to learn to like less guitar. There have been times when I have said to a music supervisor, “Was the guitar too quiet in that song?” and I get the response, “No. It was perfect.” And I begrudgingly reply, “Oh, good. I thought that’s what you wanted.” There are lots of things that need to be figured out with the music supervisor. Some supervisors really like Aviom mixers and headphones for their musicians. Some hate it. Some like having monitor speakers all over the pit. Some want none. Some like tons of baffling and Clear Sonex, which is a treated Plexiglas. Others want none. It is important to remember that it is their pit and we are there to accommodate their needs.
The sound designer will also be expecting to have a couple of sessions of quiet time. Quiet time is time when everyone else leaves the theatre and the sound people get funky. Well, maybe not funky. It is when we turn on the pink noise and blast it for hours and EQ the room. Different designers have different techniques for EQ’ing a room. Some will use Smaart. Some will use Meyer Sound SIMM. Others will use their ears. And a few will unfortunately propagate the stereotype by using Steely Dan. Typically we are given the theatre in the evening to do this work.
The quiet time sessions typically occur in the days just before cast onstage, which is the first day the cast will wear mics and be onstage. When the designer does his quiet time, he will want several mics around the theatre so he can compare the sound in different parts of the theatre. He will also want someone dedicated to moving the mics around. It is important to document the seats where the mics were during the EQ’ing, so that if the designer needs to go back for some reason then it can be done accurately. Once the system is EQ’ed, the load-in is done and it is time to tech. There might still be things to be done, but the system has to be up and working and stable at this point.