Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020 - 41

are many institutional bodies throughout the sound world that set and
recommend best practices and/or
standards. USITT is one of them.
USITT is about to publish the first major revision to the sound documentation standards in more than a decade.
The USITT Sound Documentation
Working Group has adopted "plug"
and "socket" terminology already
(however, there is no discussion of
clocking in that document, so it touches on only one of the two topics addressed here). In addition to USITT,
a number of organizations would

need to adopt the revised language,
including Audio Engineering Society,
European Broadcast Union, and the
International
Telecommunications
Union. These organizations issue
briefs and standards identifying terminology and symbols, and thus this
topic must be taken up by them as
well in order to be adopted by the
industry.
This is a tall mountain to climb, but
we can begin step by step, with our own
paperwork, in our own theatres and
shops, on our own crews. The theatre

industry is known for being inclusive-
let's live up to this reputation and embrace a more inclusive language to
describe our tools and our work.
Josh Loar is a sound designer,
composer, multimedia artist,
educator, and author. He is
professor of practice in sound
design at Michigan
Technological University, chair of the
USITT Sound Documentation Working
Group, and author of The Sound System
Design Primer (Routledge, 2019). Visit
www.joshloar.com to learn more.

Works Cited

Joining the Conversation:
Please fill out the "Replacing Outdated Sound Terminology" Google survey
located at: https://forms.gle/hgE7jXkHvYCPyuya8
Your responses will help us determine the best way to update our language.
Also, watch for news from the USITT Sound Commision on the the final version of the USITT / TSDCA Sound Documentation Recommended Practice

USITT / TSDCA Sound Documentation
Recommended Practice
Lanzendorfer, Joy. 2017. "Why Aren't There
More Women Working in Audio?" The Atlantic.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/
archive/2017/08/why-arent-there-more-womenworking-in-audio/537663/
Rayburn, Ray. 2017. "A Brief History of the XLR
Connector." http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html

JobsUSITT
Whether you are looking to call a cue or design a
costume or create an all-new digital projection - or
teach others how to do any of those things - the
best place to start your job search is at the all-new
JobsUSITT.

RECRUITERS: Draw even more
candidates with our new Featured
Jobs enhancement. Contact our Sales
Department to learn more.

JobsUSITT is industry's leading choice for
recruitment because the industry knows that its
best candidates for live entertainment design
and technology positions are USITT
members.
Along with the rest of our
website, JobsUSITT has
been upgraded to give
both job seekers and
recruiters a more robust
marketplace.
Find out more at

www.usitt.org/jobs
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Content placed on JobsUSITT is solely the responsibility of the
advertiser. USITT assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of
the content.

SUMMER 2020 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

| 41

http://www.joshloar.com https://forms.gle/hgE7jXkHvYCPyuya8 https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/why-arent-there-more-women-working-in-audio/537663/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/why-arent-there-more-women-working-in-audio/537663/ https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/08/why-arent-there-more-women-working-in-audio/537663/ http://www.soundfirst.com/xlr.html http://www.usitt.org/jobs

Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020

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