San Francisco, CA (August 5, 2014)—For San Francisco’s Hillbarn Theater’s performance of The Color Purple, sound designer Alan Chang of Coral Canopy chose a range of Lectrosonics products to help with the wireless microphones, DSP and audio networking technology for the shows.
For wireless microphones on the production, Chang deployed a combination of 23 Lectrosonics SMV and SMQV Super Miniature beltpack transmitters as well as LMa beltpack models. On the receiving end, he utilized five fully stocked Lectrosonics Venue receivers outfitted with a combination of VRS and VRT receiver modules configured for Narrowband, Wideband Mid, and Wideband Low performance. Additionally, a Lectrosonics UMC16B UHF Multi-Coupler was used for RF antenna distribution. This equipment was used in conjunction with DPA 4061 and Countryman B3 microphones.
“The Color Purple is a three-plus hour-long musical, which entails very precise battery management,” explained Chang. “We relied on Lectrosonics’ remote capability to sleep the transmitters for battery conservation by playing a series of tones and beeps from the RM Remote or from the LectroRM app on a smartphone. In addition to the sleep capability, the RM remote and LectroRM have the capability to change audio gain levels, frequency channels, RF power levels, and locking features. This is a tremendous amount of capability that is particularly useful in theatrical environments where you don’t want to disrupt wardrobe.”
For signal management, Chang used a Lectrosonics Aspen Series SPN1612 16-in/12-out digital signal processor to handle the majority of the music and vocal performances plus some sound effects cues. He also placed a Lectrosonics DM812 8-in/12-out Digital Automatic Matrix Processor into service, which he specifically used for the sound-effects driven loudspeakers. Further, he used a Lectrosonics DNT0212 Dante network processor. This unit handled sound-effect playback through two networked computers (an Apple MacBook Air and a Mac Mini) and provided reverb processing and enhancement for the vocals.
“We needed to specify a sound-friendly system design for The Color Purple that enabled us to have networked computers controlling sound effects cues as well as system management. The Lectrosonics ASPEN and DM processors were ideal for this purpose and Lectrosonics technical support services were great in their ability to assist us,” Chang said.
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