Broadcast News

Bookmark and Share
20/07/2021

Point Source Audio Bolsters Complex Outdoor Musical

News Image
A complex outdoor production of 'Working: A Musical' has been delivered in Dallas with the help of some Point Source Audio solutions.

For the first time since March 2020, the Dallas Theater Center welcomed a live audience at the start of July to the see the musical adaptation of Studs Terkel's bestselling book, featuring original songs by Stephen Schwartz ('Wicked'), Lin-Manuel Miranda ('Hamilton', 'In the Heights'), James Taylor and more.

'Working' showcases the voices of teachers, waiters, truck drivers, and other essential workers, so the production sound quality needed to be befitting in recognition of their vital service day in and day out.

The production called on CO-8WD waterproof headset microphones from Point Source Audio to address the challenging environment.

Away from the sound quality, one of the main considerations behind the choice for the CO-8WD was the setting for the production. "This show is outdoors, in Texas, in the middle of summer! The weather is a really important factor to consider, so the fact that Point Source Audio mics were waterproof was a big selling point to me," explained Kyle Jensen, Assistant Head of Audio and Video for the Dallas Theater Center and sound designer for the production. "We anticipated really hot temperatures, really high humidity levels, so being able to have something that stands up to that sort of abuse was very important."

This being said, the CO-8WD proved itself to be the right choice with its sound quality too. "In the pre-prep process we were able to play around with [the mics], and they sounded fantastic," recalled Jensen. "One of the things that stood out to me as well as my staff engineer was how good they sound on female cast members, or people with higher voices. My staff engineer is female, and we put the mic on her and when she started talking, it had this really nice fullness about it that a lot of microphones sometimes lack with people who have higher timbre voices, and that was something that really stood out to me."

In addition, safety of the performers was a further consideration. "Just considering the amount of people that would be possibly coming into contact with these microphones, I wanted to make sure that it was not only something that was extremely good sounding but also something that would be able to withstand repeated alcohol swabs," recalled Jensen. "The ability to self-mic was important too. Everyone in the cast was double-miked so we could cut down significantly on the number of times our audio tech needed to go and fiddle with someone's microphone. All they needed to do was battery up the transmitters, put them at their dressing room stations and walk away. This was also the reason why we went for the Point Source microphones; I wanted a boom-style microphone for the show that would be easy for the cast members to hook on their ears without worrying about audio engineers getting involved in doing it for them."

With the production now complete, Jensen is happy to have welcomed a live audience back to the venue. "It has been wonderful to have a live audience back for the production, particularly one made up from so many healthcare and essential workers," reflected Jensen. "Working: A Musical was such a cool show, honouring these people who deserve to be recognised, and the Point Source Audio microphones performed flawlessly throughout the run."

www.point-sourceaudio.com
VMI.TV Ltd

Top Related Stories
Click here for the latest broadcast news stories.

11/11/2016
What Is The Future For Immersive Audio?
Peter Poers, Managing Director at Jünger Audio, looks at production efforts versus consumer experience. Introduction Along with the evolution of highe
22/05/2014
Sound Mixer Relies On Sound Devices' Digital Recorder For Audio Production
Veteran Sound Mixer Danny Michael, whose recent portfolio includes the high-profile feature films The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller, Jo
09/08/2012
Blackmagic Design Announces Major New Software Update
Blackmagic Design has announced a major new software update that adds full-audio mixing capability to its ATEM 1 M/E Production Switcher and ATEM Tele
10/04/2002
Sonic introduces DVD-Audio Centre LE
Sonic Solutions have introduced the DVD-Audio Creator LE – a highly-affordable DVD-Audio authoring system with advanced features. Incorporating core t
29/05/2018
Media Production Show To Put Huge Emphasis On Audio
The Media Production Show (MPS) is to put a huge emphasis on audio this year with a host of new exhibitioners and practitioners. The MPS 2018 will fea
15/01/2013
Jünger Audio Crontrols Loudness For TVE
Spain's national broadcaster TVE has selected Jünger Audio’s loudness control technology to normalize the audio across a number of its television chan
13/08/2004
Avid to acquire M-Audio
Avid Technology has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Midiman, Inc., doing business as M-Audio – a leading provider of digital audio and
17/07/2023
ES-Pro Audio Appointed To Handle Prism Sound's Range Of Audio Converters
Prism Sound has appointed ES-Pro Audio to handle its entire range of audio converters to the professional market in Germany. Formerly a Prism Sound re
22/07/2015
Jünger Audio Prototype For IBC 2015
Jünger Audio will use IBC 2015 to showcase a prototype audio monitoring solution that will allow broadcasters to check the quality of all immersive au
20/06/2022
Production Headroom Chooses Point Source Audio Microphones
Over the last 20 years, Productions Headroom has built its reputation as an innovative broadcast rental company that can deliver unique solutions for
23/02/2024
Innovative Production Services Elevates Audio Production With Lawo
Innovative Production Services, a leading provider of cutting-edge event production and OB solutions, has announced the acquisition of the state-of-th
22/03/2017
Jünger Audio Demos Audio Processors At CABSAT 2017
Jünger Audio will be promoting its Smart Audio concept at this year's CABSAT exhibition in Dubai (Booth 102, Hall 1) by focusing attention on effectiv
02/03/2016
Jünger Audio To Focus On Smart Audio At NAB
Jünger Audio will focus its attention on Smart Audio - an entirely new concept aimed at helping broadcasters embrace automated audio production, parti
23/02/2017
Jünger Audio To Demo Audio Processors

Jünger Audio will be promoting its Smart Audio concept at this year's CABSAT exhibition in Dubai by focusing attention on effective, high quality and
20/04/2017
Hearing You Loud And Clear
What is audio processing or loudness control and what is it used for? Audio processing has long been used for radio and studio production, however now