"I have 97 separate mute scenes for the 75 minute show," said Heaven & Hell FOH guru Nick Joyce, a veteran live sound engineer who mixed the show on a Crest X8 provided by Marathon Sound from Salem, NH. "The production seems simple to theatre-goers, but it's a complex audio production with rapid-fire lines and singing in singles and groups. There are times when I can't take my eyes off the script, mixing by total instinct."
Joyce works several shows at the Conservatory every year, so when the time came to address the sound system design for Heaven & Hell in the Conservatory's 380-seat theatre, he called Paul Carelli of Morin Productions. "Paul and I have known each other for a long time - ever since I came to Boston in 1979," he explained. "I thought the Outline array would be perfect for the show. The producers of the show wanted it to be a loud, high-impact show with big dynamics. They wanted the sound to move through a huge spectrum - from the full band down to a whisper."
Carelli and Morin Productions provided support by way of two four-box arrays of the Outline C.D.H. 483 Hi-Pack and one Outline Subtech 218 twin 18" subwoofer, all powered by Outline Twin Pulse Series T6.5 amplifiers. In addition, a Micra II SP self-powered loudspeaker and a Micra II passive loudspeaker were used for front-fill.
System processing was handled by the Outline Genius 26 2x6 processor. Joyce used a Behringer speaker management system to send a stereo LR feed to the processors. "This gave me some additional parametric for the RF without needing to do some radical EQing," he noted.
Joyce, along with Bill Rauworth, Jennifer Lin and Lachlan Fife, were able to pull off a successful five-day run of the Heaven & Hell production in March. Joyce explained that the professional staff and pro audio gear were instrumental in pulling the show together. "I only saw and rehearsed the complete production with the full band and actors twice before we opened," he said. "I didn't hear what the band was going to play until the first dress rehearsal. The show is pretty precisely timed, but sometimes my job is done by feel. It's human beings and live music."
(Jim Evans)
