Jersey Boys Sound System Update
November 7th, 2006Entertainment Technology has an interesting article that talks about the sound system behind Jersey Boys. The 2006 Tony Award winner for Best Musical features sound design by Steve Kennedy, who won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design. The sound system includes a J-Type live production console, supplied by Masque Sound, operated by Julie Randolph, with Dave Shepherd and Mike Terpstra on the full-time sound team.
Sound operator Julie Randolph explains some of the musical challenges involved:
It’s a loud show, but the acoustic image is constantly changing because the band moves all over the stage. There are two drum kits on turtles, which are capable of rotating 720 degrees. Several actors play instruments in the show, and all of the pit band make appearances on stage throughout the show. Steve always uses excellent equipment throughout the chain. We’re not trying to pretend that this show isn’t miked – we’re just presenting an accurate sonic picture of what the talent is doing up there, because what they’re doing is pretty amazing.
In designing the show, the theatre itself provided certain challenges, particularly with regard to speaker placements. Built in 1925, the August Wilson Theatre has a very low overhang from the balcony, with seats at the back sold as having an obstructed view. From a day-to-day perspective, the age of the building makes it susceptible to climatic changes, keeping Julie and the sound team on their toes! At FOH, the J-Type comprises a main frame and side car, which is positioned up on end for space considerations – a bonus from Julie’s point of view, as it makes everything easily accessible. In addition, the system includes Cadac’s M16 remote controlled microphone amplifiers as an effective means of overcoming the tremendous cable runs involved. There is around an extra 150 feet of cable in the regular runs to accommodate the turtles and other moving platforms.
Julie expands:
The M16s are tremendous, with the remote control unit giving us real flexibility to monitor inputs and make changes at FOH. Best of all, the Cadac pre amps sound amazing – they are simply the best out there. What I like about the J-Type – besides the fact that it’s a great sounding board – are things that you tend to take for granted, until you work with another console that doesn’t have the same features; like fader open indicator lights, a really responsive EQ, the meters so you can see exactly what’s happening with signal flow throughout the console. Plus it has headroom for days and plenty of outputs.
Is it possible to get a tour of FOH setup and the sound used in JB?
Seen the show twice, and coming from an admirer of behind the scenes sound in musicals, would love to get a tour of everything.
Thanks,
Mike
Comment by Mike — December 28, 2006 @ 11:01 pm