Audience questions - Page 2 at DVinfo.net
DV Info Net

Go Back   DV Info Net > The Tools of DV and HD Production > All Things Audio
Register FAQ Today's Posts Buyer's Guides

All Things Audio
Everything Audio, from acquisition to postproduction.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old June 30th, 2023, 08:24 PM   #16
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,791
Re: Audience questions

Oh, yeah, guys, I didn't mention that some of the presenters are off site and will be coming in via Zoom. Getting the audio out of the Zoom computer seems straightforward compared to this Q&A jazz. Chris, it's an interesting idea, but I don't have the courage to try a 30-person Zoomer. I wouldn't want to take credit if the whole thing went south.

Allan, that's a great story. I can relate. When I was just out of high school, I got involved with a community theatre group. They had bought an old frame church building to use as their venue. The entire building had 120/240 volt service with a total of four screw-in 15-amp fuses. Just before the curtain went up, my job was to run downstairs to the "lobby/lounge" and unplug the refrigerator, cold drink dispenser, and popcorn popper. Otherwise, when the stage lights came up, the fuses would blow, causing an unscripted blackout. After two or three shows, I moved on to other things. The group did not fill my vacant position. Instead of the "load balancing" scheme, they just put pennies in the fuse sockets, allowing for infinite amperage. And yes, the theatre eventually burned to the ground. The cause was determined to be "defective wiring." I guess the fire inspector never found the pennies.

Show biz ... gotta love it!
Greg Miller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30th, 2023, 09:12 PM   #17
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Sydney.
Posts: 2,930
Re: Audience questions

Ha hah, great times. We’re off topic but here’s another one. I wasn’t old enough for a drivers licence, and one night the senior engineers wife rang to say he was ill, could I record the 2 shows tomorrow?

I’d seen enough, he even let me record a show, so I said yes. The gear truck came for me early next morning and we went to a community hall just out of Sydney. We gradually set all the gear up, laid all the cables out, 2 big audience speakers with 2 mics, then the mixer and 2 tape recorders, but my position was very small.

The only place I could put the big power amp. for the audience speakers, was in the halls kitchen sink. I went out to the truck and got a big spanner to lock the taps off, the audience and talent arrived and off we went.

About 1/2 way in the first show, an elderly committee lady decided she wanted a cup of tea, not being able to turn a tap on she found her own big spanner, turned a tap on and flooded my amp. There was a loud crump! the hall main fuses blew, all the lights went out, my recorders stopped dead and the quiz master and his attractive assistant stood staring out into the dark hall. I managed to fix the problem and we started again. After that I recorded more shows and that’s how I learned all the tricks.

At Xmas 1957, the big bosses presented me with a new Swiss Breitling watch and I still wear it today.
Maybe we should start a thread here, so others can relate their war stories?
__________________
Drink more tap water. On admission at Sydney hospitals more than 5% of day patients are de-hydrated.
Allan Black is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 30th, 2023, 10:06 PM   #18
Regular Crew
 
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Oregon City
Posts: 43
Re: Audience questions

As to wireless mics, we use the Rode Wireless Go II and have good success in a crowded spectrum. One of the nice thing about it is that each transmitter can record an internal safety track while still sending to the receiver. The batteries last for several hours of continuous use, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2855/KBID/3801

Rode also makes a handheld adapter for the transmitter, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2855/KBID/3801
__________________
Travel blog, www.luinil.com.
Larrie Easterly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 5th, 2023, 09:04 AM   #19
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Lowestoft - UK
Posts: 4,045
Re: Audience questions

I have a conference kit - it's too small for what you want, but I have 12 identical cheap electret condensers and individual round table stands - connected to an X32 using just the mite buttons. Plenty of ins and outs and with a dozen people and a good direct line of sight to them, it's easy - plus you can always stuff gates and things on the channels and let the thing automate itself. I guess it would scale up to the maximum input quite well?

The other thing you could do is hire in a proper conference system, where each delgate gets a little panel, where they can control volume into an ear piece and a button to make their mic live. These can handle up to parliament size conferences. Might be expensive to buy but hire costs are usually expensed anyway.
Paul R Johnson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 5th, 2023, 09:07 AM   #20
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Lowestoft - UK
Posts: 4,045
Re: Audience questions

I have a conference kit - it's too small for what you want, but I have 12 identical cheap electret condensers and individual round table stands - connected to an X32 using just the mite buttons. Plenty of ins and outs and with a dozen people and a good direct line of sight to them, it's easy - plus you can always stuff gates and things on the channels and let the thing automate itself. I guess it would scale up to the maximum input quite well?

The other thing you could do is hire in a proper conference system, where each delgate gets a little panel, where they can control volume into an ear piece and a button to make their mic live. These can handle up to parliament size conferences. Might be expensive to buy but hire costs are usually expensed anyway.

EDIT

The spirituallist things are very popular here, and extremely odd - and while there is always an element of showmanship, sometimes they just get weird.

The person on stage makes contact with the spirit world (yes - people believe this) and they talk to the audience. If you want to see how they manage the mics in the audience
Paul R Johnson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 8th, 2023, 11:23 AM   #21
Trustee
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,791
Re: Audience questions

I listened to only the first three minutes. After that I muted the audio. I couldn't listen to any more of the nonsense. I'm rather incensed by the thought of this guy profiting from other peoples' grief. That doesn't even address the issues of authenticity, honesty, etc.

However, I saw the lady in the stalls with the wireless hand mic. Of course it sounded great. I did not see any other audience members using hand mic, nor any passing around of same. I'm not sure how that lady came to have it in the first place, but of course she's a member of the cast, and that's not relevant to the audio quality. Of course that venue is completely different from the one I'm discussing.

At any rate, thanks for posting. It clarifies what goes on at these shows. Show business ... wow!
Greg Miller is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 10th, 2023, 10:19 PM   #22
Equal Opportunity Offender
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posts: 3,065
Re: Audience questions

Yeah, it's all a bit cringey and irky. "Someone between 70 and 71." Yeah, 75 will be close enough.

I can guarantee you if he is communicating (as a medium) with a spirit, it's not a dearly departed human spirit. But that's another issue and well outside the scope of mere video and audio stuff.

Whilst the audience member appears to have the mic already, they may well have edited out the fumbly part of her raising her hand in response and having the mic handed to her. I'd certainly edit it out for brevity in a recorded (not live, boom-boom) programme.

Andrew
Andrew Smith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old July 12th, 2023, 12:09 AM   #23
Inner Circle
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Lowestoft - UK
Posts: 4,045
Re: Audience questions

Mic runners in aisles, but the gaps “hang on wait for the mic” and for the camera to find them have been edited out.

We have some legal stuff. Every show MUST contain words and a warning that the event is for entertainment purposes. But the audiences are absolutely convinced. While the event is on, the crew on headsets are very vocal about what is going on. There was a famous one who had a man feeding her info via an earpiece and she got caught out badly and outed. Colin fry was a genuinely nice man, and I never saw him preparing to cheat or doing anything I could identify as dodgy. Sadly he passed away suddenly, so they’re not immune.

My own sound man was usually vocal about it all being a clever scam, praying on susceptible people, until the time when his voice popped up on comms. “That’s my wife and daughter!” Horror in his voice as he didn’t know they were coming, and has even paid for their seats. It got worse. The spiritualist suddenly said he was in contact with aunty Joan who passed the year before, and she had a message congratulating the daughter on her good news. Ian was shocked. This daughter had told the, she was pregnant only a few hours before and they’d told nobody! I’m science based, and hopefully intelligent and I would love to say these things are 100% fake, and I’ve seen too many weird things to say they are. Clearly there are old frauds and showmanship, but some things they reveal are too weird to work out.

The strangest thing was when chatting with Colin fry, he started humming a song. The stranglers, golden brown. A tricky song from the 70s. We chatted about how hard it was to play with the extra note every few bars. Next day I went to a funeral, and the coffin was carried in to that song. The family said it was my friends favourite song, how strange.
Paul R Johnson is offline   Reply
Reply

DV Info Net refers all where-to-buy and where-to-rent questions exclusively to these trusted full line dealers and rental houses...

B&H Photo Video
(866) 521-7381
New York, NY USA

Scan Computers Int. Ltd.
+44 0871-472-4747
Bolton, Lancashire UK


DV Info Net also encourages you to support local businesses and buy from an authorized dealer in your neighborhood.
  You are here: DV Info Net > The Tools of DV and HD Production > All Things Audio


 



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:59 AM.


DV Info Net -- Real Names, Real People, Real Info!
1998-2024 The Digital Video Information Network