lighting sound america a whole new audio world · aladdin, the new musical produced by disney...

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66 • August 2014 • Lighting&Sound America TECHNICAL FOCUS: SOUND Aladdin, the new musical produced by Disney Theatricals, has taken Broadway by storm. The stage version of the popular animated film won rave reviews for its inventive staging by Casey Nicholaw, the Tony-Award win- ning performance (as Aladdin’s genie) by James Monroe Iglehart, and the lavish design (scenery by Bob Crowley and lighting by Natasha Katz). Ken Travis’ sound design for Aladdin is based on a source-oriented reinforcement approach, encompass- ing 40 wireless mic channels, distrib- uted through a Studer Vista 5 console via 192 matrixed TiMax output chan- nels to some 200 d&b audiotechnik loudspeakers arrayed throughout the theatre. “On this show, I had more toys than usual,” Travis says. “Disney really wanted a cinematic sound design, a big immersive experience like you’d get on a Disney ride, but they didn’t want it to be distracting. So they gave me everything I asked for in order to achieve that. A sound mixer who worked on the film version of Aladdin sat with us one day and said, ‘I know how I would do this on a film, but how the heck are you doing it live?’” The system design enabled Travis to create new sound design elements that in the past were unattainable. “A good example is the spooky voice in the lair of Jafar [the show’s villain],” says Travis. “We wanted the voice to be kind of creepy without making the audience aware that the sound was being manipulated to come from any particular direction. We just wanted to keep the voice moving and floating around your head. Then when he gets angry, it seems to come up from under A Whole New Audio World By: Alan Hardiman Sound Design for Disney’s Aladdin Above: The Cave of Wonders. Masque Sound supplied Aladdin’s sound gear. Copyright Lighting&Sound America August 2014 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

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66 • August 2014 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: SOUND

Aladdin, the new musical produced byDisney Theatricals, has takenBroadway by storm. The stage versionof the popular animated film won ravereviews for its inventive staging byCasey Nicholaw, the Tony-Award win-ning performance (as Aladdin’s genie)by James Monroe Iglehart, and thelavish design (scenery by Bob Crowleyand lighting by Natasha Katz).

Ken Travis’ sound design forAladdin is based on a source-orientedreinforcement approach, encompass-ing 40 wireless mic channels, distrib-uted through a Studer Vista 5 consolevia 192 matrixed TiMax output chan-nels to some 200 d&b audiotechnikloudspeakers arrayed throughout thetheatre.

“On this show, I had more toys thanusual,” Travis says. “Disney reallywanted a cinematic sound design, abig immersive experience like you’dget on a Disney ride, but they didn’twant it to be distracting. So they gaveme everything I asked for in order toachieve that. A sound mixer whoworked on the film version of Aladdinsat with us one day and said, ‘I knowhow I would do this on a film, but howthe heck are you doing it live?’”

The system design enabled Travisto create new sound design elementsthat in the past were unattainable. “Agood example is the spooky voice inthe lair of Jafar [the show’s villain],”says Travis. “We wanted the voice tobe kind of creepy without making theaudience aware that the sound wasbeing manipulated to come from anyparticular direction. We just wanted tokeep the voice moving and floatingaround your head. Then when he getsangry, it seems to come up from under

A Whole New Audio WorldBy: Alan Hardiman

Sound Design for Disney’s Aladdin

Above: The Cave of Wonders. Masque Sound supplied Aladdin’s sound gear.

Copyright Lighting&Sound America August 2014 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • August 2014 • 67

your feet when the subwoofers startshaking the floor, and the voice imagegoes right to the center cluster.

“By contrast, when Aladdin singsthe intimate song, ‘Proud of Your Boy,’they wanted it to be all about him, sothe sound has to image exactly to him.But a couple of scenes later, when wego to ‘A Friend Like Me’ [the wildlyextravagant Act One closer] with theGenie, it suddenly has to become verybig throughout the theatre, with everybell and whistle you could ask for.”

In one of the show’s most magicalsequences, Aladdin and PrincessJasmine, his love interest, take a rideon a magic carpet. “When Aladdin andJasmine rise up in the air on the car-pet, if you close your eyes, the audio

goes right up with it,” Travis says. “Wesat with the actors when they got towatch it, and even they were like,‘Wow! The voices are coming rightfrom the actors’ mouths!

“What we like about the system isthat it never calls attention to itself, butit adds a ton. And we’re doing it on allthree levels—the orchestra, mezza-nine, and balcony all have the same

“On this show, I had more toys than usual.Disney really wanted a cinematic sound design,a big immersive experience like you’d get on aDisney ride, but they didn’t want it to be dis-tracting. So they gave me everything I asked forin order to achieve that. A sound mixer whoworked on the film version of Aladdin sat with usone day and said, ‘I know how I would do this ona film, but how the heck are you doing it live?’”— Travis

Disney Aladdin TiMax Tracker CALIBRATION DATA – OB DH

65:95Master

66:E0

65:98

4E:4F

6B:3E

4E:48

66:E1

X= 0Y= 5.63mZ= 0

X= 0Y= 0Z= 0

DS12GroupCal Ref:

DS34GroupCal Ref:

*

*

*

*

DS34 Group:Ref4 = 2.5m

DS34 Group:Ref3 = -2.5m

DS12 Group:Ref1 = 2.5m

DS12 Group:Ref1 = -2.5m

+X

-X

+Y -Y

Ref3 = 12.873mRef4 = 8.983mHeight = 5.288m

Ref1 = 10.616mRef2 = 6.357mHeight = 4.126m

Ref3 = 8.741mRef4 = 12.77mHeight = 4.875m

Ref1 = 6.325mRef2 = 10.590mHeight = 4.136m

Ref1 = 18.180mRef2 = 20.376mHeight = 4.686m

Ref1 = 18.580mRef2 = 18.533mHeight = 4.834m

Ref1 = 20.474mRef2 = 18.220mHeight = 4.642m

This map shows the layout of TiMax Tracker sensors.

68 • August 2014 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: SOUND

system, so everyone gets the sameshow,” he says.

The key to both the pinpoint local-ization and immersive surround is the

manipulation of image definitions cre-ated in the three 64 x 64 TiMaxSoundhubs, each image definitionbeing a unique set of levels and delays

from each individual microphone oreffects input to each loudspeakerchannel. As actors move from one of14 pre-defined stage zones to anotherin any direction—left-right, front-back,up-down—the preset image definitionsmorph seamlessly from one to anotherautomatically in real time, followingdata input from the TiMax Tracker sys-tem. Unobtrusive 1"-square radar tagsworn by performers are tracked viatime of arrival and angle of arrival byseven distributed PoE sensors, yield-ing positional information accurate towithin 6" in any dimension. TheTracker information is input to theSoundhubs as a MIDI data stream,triggering each input’s image definitionand the gradual transitions from onedefinition to another as each performer

“Because Travis’ sound design involves veryrobust low-frequency effects, such as the 20Hzrumble that accompanies the ceiling collapse inthe Cave of Wonders, he conducted a seismictest prior to the show’s opening. ‘We brokethree chandeliers with the subs during the tryoutin Toronto, and we didn’t want to do that againin The New Amsterdam Theatre with its amazingplaster work. So we ramped the levels up over afew days and then had it tested, and we got theOK. Nobody wants the ceiling to collapse.’”

These photos show the seven PoE Tracker radar sensors in the New Amsterdam Theatre.

moves around the stage.Similarly, immersive and localized

sound effects replayed from QLab arespatialized and steered via MIDI datafrom QLab that triggers dynamicdelay-based pans preprogrammedusing the TiMax PanSpace graphicalobject-based pan programmingscreen, which allows the designer todrag input icons around a set of imagedefinitions superimposed on a .jpgimage of the stage and theatre.

“Every single loudspeaker array andbox in the house is time- and volume-curved for each zone,” Travis explains.“When performers travel from extremeright to extreme left, there’s about a3dB level difference, but the time shifts14ms. As they move vertically, up onthe carpet for example, we’re subtract-ing time to the center cluster.”

Such small differences in the timingof delays from each zone to eachloudspeaker permit each audiencemember to localize the performeraccurately, no matter where he or sheis seated, in contrast to conventionalamplitude-based panning, whichworks well only for those seated nearthe center line of the theatre. This aidsin maintaining realism and clarity, andeliminating audience stress, which canbe caused by trying to figure out whois speaking or singing.

The loudspeaker system includesmore than 200 d&b audiotechnik cabi-nets. The front left and right arrays areeach comprised of eight d&b V8 cabi-nets, while the center cluster includessix V8s and four V12s. Low-frequencyeffects are handled by six V-Subs,arrayed horizontally on the trusses,and two J-Infra subs. Eight E5 light-weight two-way cabinets and twoE12X compact subs handle front-fillduties. Proscenium side-fills are pro-vided via a single E8 on each side.

Sound is distributed throughout thethree seating levels via 105 E5s and 42E6s. The balcony is reinforced by asupplementary left-center-right systemcomprised of three full-range Q7s,while the orchestra has a pair of dedi-

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70 • August 2014 • Lighting&Sound America

TECHNICAL FOCUS: SOUND

cated Ci7-TOP horn-loaded cabinetsarrayed center-left and center-right.

Foldback to the performers is distrib-uted around the stage through 12 E8s,

three E5s, and a pair of E12X subs.Power to the system is provided by 80D6 and 20 D12 amplifiers.

Because Travis’ sound designinvolves very robust low-frequencyeffects, such as the 20Hz rumble thataccompanies the ceiling collapse inthe Cave of Wonders (where Aladdinmeets the Genie), he conducted aseismic test prior to the show’s open-ing. “We broke three chandeliers withthe subs during the tryout in Toronto,and we didn’t want to do that again inThe New Amsterdam Theatre with itsamazing plaster work. So we rampedthe levels up over a few days and thenhad it tested, and we got the OK.Nobody wants the ceiling to collapse.”

“I love the way d&b voice theirboxes—you really don’t have to EQ it.There’s one EQ cut of about 2dB onthe arrays at around 250Hz to takecare of the room, and one delayadjustment to align the sub array.Other than that, all the delays and EQsare done with TiMax,” he says. Every

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A plan view of the 14 stage zones on the TiMax Tracker programming screen.

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • August 2014 • 71

TiMax Soundhub input features four-band parametric EQ, and beyond thelevel and delay adjustments providedto set image definitions in the matrix,there is a further control layer of level,delay, and eight-band parametric EQon each of the 192 TiMax outputchannels.

Several noteworthy elements inTravis’ approach to miking performersarose from the sheer number of cos-tume changes and the proliferation ofturbans worn by the cast. “In onescene alone, there are more than 70costume changes in four minutes.Everyone’s putting on various turbansand taking others off, so anybody witha speaking part has a redundant micbuilt into a turban just in case it evergets pulled out of position,” he says.“In fact, some people wear up to threemics at a time. I never want to see amic, and we run them a little high inthe hair line so they get covered.Wherever possible, the transmittersare also fitted into the turbans.”

Because the Genie is bald anddoesn’t wear a turban, his mic is builtinto a prosthetic made for his chin.“He wears a DPA 4061 and aSennheiser MKE 1 for redundancy.The only reason he can’t wear twoDPAs is the weight, because of theway the prosthetic is attached. Butyou never see a mic on him at all,” hesays. “We empower our actors to han-dle their own mics: We show themhow to wear them, then take them tothe console with a dresser and a ham-per with all their costume changes init, and we EQ each mic to get it rightwhere we want it for each costumechange. Then we let them hear whatthey sound like when the mic is not inthe right place, and that makes themwant to wear it correctly.

“I have an amazing team in associ-ate sound designer AlexanderHawthorn, front-of-house mixer GabeWood, production audio by LucasIndelicato, and Marie Renee Foucherand Bill Romanello taking care of mics

and RF. We learned how to operateTiMax quickly so that no one’s everwaiting on sound,” Travis says.

“Aladdin is one of those showswhere the director can play stump-the-sound-designer. Go ahead; ask foranything. This system is the Genie.”

A close-up view of one of the TiMaxTracker sensors.