Developed by CTR Electronics, and distributed exclusively by Orbital Sound, the CSC system provides sound effects and show-control management on theatrical, musical and live-event productions worldwide. Now available as a free download for iOS devices from Apple's App Store, the CSC tRemote iPad app is also making its debut on the current UK tour of the hit musical Starlight Express, where it is an integral part of one of the most elaborate CSC deployments to date.
The CSC tRemote app is providing the production's deputy stage manager (DSM) with a wireless remote viewing and triggering facility, to monitor and control the 100-plus sound effects being handled by the CSC system. With an iPad located at the prompt desk, running the new app, the DSM is able to see the scrolling trigger list and, during rehearsals, can pick the show up from a different position if required. Two sets of CSC racks are being used on the tour - one front of house, and the other in the orchestra pit - with each configured as a dual-redundant system, and providing 16 and 24 track outputs respectively.
Dan Samson, associate sound designer and production sound engineer on Starlight Express, outlined the part being played by the tRemote app: "The cues stored on the front of house system are controlled by Jack Chandler, the show's DSM, using the new iPad app. Jack has full command of the Voice of Control, the small child in the storyline who is playing with his train set.
"Although the audience never sees him, the Voice of Control is a very important character, and has to say his lines exactly on cue for the illusion to work. For this tour, the emphasis of the show has shifted to DSM control, and Jack is effectively "mission control" in this context, with the tRemote app giving him much more flexibility than the usual four-button control panel.
"Having back-stage visibility and control of the trigger list has many applications, and is a real step forward. As well as managing over one hundred Voice of Control cues, the front of house CSC racks are also controlling the surround-sound effects - which feed into the surround and proscenium speaker systems - as well as a number of incidental cues.
"All the CSC racks are networked, with appropriate elements of each synchronised together, to form an immensely adaptable and powerful system. We have had unrivalled support from Orbital, during the planning stages and throughout the tour, and from the developers CTR Electronics. Orbital's Richard Carter has given us a lot of assistance with configuring the CSC racks, and helped to implement every idea we came up with."
The orchestra-pit CSC system is feeding click-tracks into the headphones of the nine musicians in the live band, and controlling the replay of other music segments, with the MD having start-stop buttons to trigger the cues. Crucially, this system also utilises one of CSC's multiple WAV players to deliver SMPTE time code, which triggers the replay of the 3D video material for the show's all-important roller-skating race sequences.
(Jim Evans)
