I've been designing and recording theatrical sound effects for most of my adult life. In school, I used the library's LPs to mix effects down to cart and cassette for the theater and the radio station. As a freelance sound designer in New York and on the road in the late 1990s, I [pithy you've-come-a-long-way-baby graf here]
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Customarily, regional and community theaters (at least the ones I've dealt with) that got at all ambitious with sound – doing Irma Vep, say, with sixty sound cues, or Terra Nova, whose sound is integral to its effect – have had two scenarios to choose from.
Scenario one: Go through contacts and hire a designer. Aside from her fee, which might be $500 to $1000, you've got to cover travel and lodging expenses. (If you've hired the right designer, of course, the work will be very good.)
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Scenario two: Find a local resident who has some interest, and maybe some equipment. He might have access to the Elektra or BBC libraries of effects. The show doesn't carry the same impact as it might with a professional designer, but at least it works, and your producer and accountant don't have cardiac arrests, which is good. |
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I can tell – just from the way you're looking at me – that you think I might be about to propose a third scenario, one that combines the strengths of these two.
Well, let's talk. |
