Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2001 - 61

Aural and Visual Communication

The orchestra sits hidden in the pit along with the singing chorus positioned behind the conductor. None can see what is going on onstage. The
conductor requires a monitor to hear the onstage singers and the remote
live stage band. He also needs to be able to see a reasonably close-up
picture of the stage singers' faces to know that they are singing the correct music and in time. There is a camera and specially trained camerawoman who relays this detail to the
conductor. The conductor in turn is relayed to large screens set in the voms of
the auditorium and to hidden locations
on stage. It is worth noting that in
Bregenz they are aware of the light emitted by these monitors and therefore adjust their brightness so that they remain
discrete. (I grow increasingly frustrated
in certain British theatres where the spill
from an offstage monitor can be brighter
than the stage itself).

Sound Areas

Ideally one would divide the stage into 20
sound areas. 10 speakers for each area
would require a total of 200 speakers
which is neither possible nor practical.
Instead Fritz uses just 56 speakers by
channelling different signals into each.
Their positions are shown in the composite speaker diagram (figure 4).
Fritz in fact divided the stage into 16 sound areas. Based on the
law of the first sound wave-front, it is the singer's (original and undelayed) voice that gives the listeners' ears the direction. In order to
assist the singers, who are the most important sound sources in
terms of timbre and direction, but who cannot sing towards all parts
of the audience at one time, Fritz needed directional loudspeakers
within each area. These could be built into the set or might pop-up
when required on a pneumatic telescopic stand. (It is surprising how
little one notices these devices within the large stage expanse). Each
speaker in each of the sound areas can be programmed with a time
delay-between one and 120 milliseconds-to change the focus of
the sound source and all these factors can change as the singer
moves from one sound area to another. Just to keep things complicated, there are three casts (playing consecutive nights) who strictly
follow the same blocking but variations-both planned and spontaneous-do occur especially when cast members cover for each
other. So while the main plot may be recorded, each performance
has to adapt moment by moment to the eccentricities of that cast.

Balancing Act

It is just about manageable to manually follow two singers as they move
left to right and front to back across the stage. But there may be as many
eight singers moving independently at any one time. The mixing console
is therefore programmed with automatic cross-fades on separate times
for the main cues with manual override to cover any unexpected
changes. Fritz uses a loudspeaker matrix system with a moving time delay
of between 10 and 20 milliseconds.
In all, three sound systems are in operation. One, described as "the
moving system", provides directional sound as a performers moves be60

tween sound areas. Movement of sound among the speaker complexes is
accomplished with a ribbon controller. The matrix system channels a
combination of six or seven different sound patterns with appropriate
time delays into each speaker. These take into account volume, frequency, balance, wind adjustments and when a singer faces up stage. The
third is a digital mixing control system with step by step variations, operating cue by cue much like any lighting control.

S U M M E R

2 0 0 1

TD & T

Figure 4

Figure 5
O

Control

The sound control room is situated undercover at the back of the seating
with the windows open. The Bregenz Festival uses a TOA-ix9000 digital console with 156 inputs and outputs. This console adapts to increased numbers
of channels by using the same controls for different pages: one for principals, one for orchestra, one for chorus, one for effects, live stage band
etc. A maximum of 110,000 watts is required for sound.
There are four sound crew on stage, two in control (one on TOAix9000, one on direction); one sound designer, one technician, one security/back up, one in the remote studio and one on focus camera work.

Contingencies

With so much riding on each performance it would be a disaster if anything went wrong-especially for the house staff who would have to send
7,000 disappointed people home early. The Festival cannot afford to cancel a performance and as each is also continuous (150 minutes) there is
no point at which to rectify an error.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2001