Live Sound

We rigged up the same PA system as the first week but this time we added in a keyboard, vocoder, a guitar and a set of drums. We used a DI box for the keyboard and the guitar. We then used the mixing desk to make the level of all of the instruments even. We did this by adjusting the gain on desk until all of the instruments complimented each other. We sometimes had to single out each instrument in order to hear it properly, to do that we would solo the channel of the instrument.

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Live Sound

During this lesson, we set up the same PA system as before except this time we used a smaller, more compact mixer. The power amp and pre-amp were screwed in to a rack. Although, we were familiar with the PA system, we found that it was slightly more difficult to plug things into both the pre-amp and power amp because they were in a more confined space which was also quite dark.

Live Sound

We started learning about how to rig a PA system. We used an SM58 microphone, connected it into a pre-amp using an XLR cable, then we used a jack cable to connect the pre-amp to a speaker control so that we could adjust the gain of the microphone. Using another jack cable we connected the speaker control to a power amp and then finally we connected the power amp to a couple of speakers.

We went through the health and safety of setting up the system, we covered things like making sure that cables are neat and tidy so that they are not trip hazards. We also learned that when setting up the PA system, we shouldn't plug or unplug anything whilst the power is on because that might cause a power surge thus making the system pop and that could damage people's hearing.

I will use what I have learnt in the future in a place work if I am ever required to set up a PA system.

We drew a chart of the PA system that we rigged.
We labeled the equipment that we used including the cables

Introduction to the Royal Opera House Design Challenge

We started looking at the Royal Opera Design Challenge which is based on a ballet of Romeo & Juliet. We had a look at the director's visions, two of which were set in a modern era and one is set in the original period of the piece. I have chosen Vision 2.

In order for us to be a little challenged so that we can develop our skillset, we were asked to go for one of the modern visions and a different category from the one we chose last year. As I chose Set Design last year, I have decided to do Marketing Strategy & Design.

So far, I have three ideas for my final piece. One idea is to create a poster, my second idea is to make a trailer and my third idea is to create a 360 virtual reality tour. I am likely to go with my third idea as I think that it will stand out from the other people that enter the competition.

Repatching The Theatre

We spent a couple of days repatching the theatre as the magic sheet didn't correspond to the channels that lights the were plugged into. The theatre was also a bit of a mess in terms of the way the cables were arranged.

Our tutor asked us to do a one-to-one patch in order to make it easier to use the lights in future shows.

The Victorian Age

During this lesson we looked at theatre during the Victorian Age as a way to do some research for the Christmas play that we're doing - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

I learned about how melodrama was the new and main style of theatre during the Victorian Times which will be useful when I'm lighting a melodramatic piece in the future.

As someone who is interested in lighting, I'm going to use this information to light the Christmas show in a more informed way.

We also had a brief look at the ballet of Romeo & Juliet for the Royal Opera House Design Challenge in order to get an idea of what previous productions had done for the ballet in terms of set design and costume design.