It was back in the autumn of 2000 that a pre-production model of Yamaha’s PM1D digital mixing console quietly made its way out of the Brixton offices of sound rental company Orbital and headed to London EC1.
The console was installed in Sadler’s Wells theatre and made the PM1D’s public debut on the Royal Shakespeare Company's musical adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Augmenting the original sound design of Scott Myers, the PM1D-controlled production ran from 7th December 2000 through to 2nd February 2001.
At the time Scott said: "With the facilities on the PM1D I believe it will enable me to quickly yet subtly achieve simultaneous complex operations such as various changes in orchestra colours, difficult changes in foldback mixes, and multidimensional sound effect placement. This should allow me to give the audience a first rate theatrical experience."
With the benefit of seven years hindsight, Scott is still very positive about the PM1D’s debut. “I’d worked with Orbital on many West End shows and had also had discussions about the PM1D with Yamaha, so I volunteered as a guinea pig,” he smiles.
“Of course there were a few teething problems - there always are when such a major leap in technology makes its debut - but it was a good experience. Had I used an analogue console, the mix position would have taken up 18 seats. Using the PM1D meant it took just six. Immediately it was obvious that the PM1D could save thousands of pounds over the run of a show.”
There was relatively little fuss or fanfare, but that pre-production PM1D quietly began a process of change in theatre which has since seen sound in many theatres literally revolutionised. Digital audio has had a profound effect on theatre sound – from changes to the way sound designers and operators work, through what is literally possible to achieve, to audience perception and expectations.
Currently there are PM1Ds on a number of the top productions UK productions in London and on tour, as well as in the USA. The London production of Cabaret and tour of This Is Elvis feature sound design by Ben Harrison, while current tour of The Rocky Horror Show features sound design by Rick Clarke. Meanwhile, in the USA, Disney sound designer John Shivers and associate sound designer David Patridge are also regular PM1D users, currently on a major touring production of The Little Mermaid.
Ben, Rick and David generously gave their time to discuss their thoughts on digital audio, how it has affected their jobs and why, from those humble 2000 beginnings, the PM1D has risen to become a star of the global theatre scene.
“In 2005, John and I did a show called In My Life,” says David. “Although it was an analogue main console, we used a Yamaha DM2000 for the band. It was a small Broadway theatre and the advantages of digital were obvious. Previously I had used a PM1D on a touring production of Mamma Mia, so when we did the Broadway production of Tarzan and now the Little Mermaid tour, the PM1D was the obvious choice for the main board.”
Head of sound at Leicester’s Haymarket theatre from 2002 to 2006, Ben Harrison’s first use of the PM1D was in that year, on the touring production of Whistle Down The Wind. “It was an interesting time,” he says. “The PM1D was still cutting its teeth and developments to the software were continuing to be made during that run.”
History has proved, of course, that the dedication of Yamaha’s engineers and the many theatre sound professionals that helped the PM1D’s ongoing development have been well worth it.
“The more complicated shows get, the easier it is to spec a PM1D,” says Ben. “You don’t have to worry about getting outboard in, it’s already there. Not worrying about the cost implications of how much outboard I can spec on a job is a big advantage.”
Designing the sound for Cabaret, currently at the Lyric, Ben’s use of a PM1D meant that he specced no outboard apart from a CD player and a sampler for sound effects.
“It’s also peace of mind for me,” he smiles. “It’s very easy for an operator to drift, to make little changes each night. So if I go back after a few weeks, by re-loading the saved state I can instantly get the board back to the state it was when I was last there. But then I can also take it straight to the revised state. I much prefer to use a digital desk, if I do a small corporate job and there’s an analogue console I find myself going “I’ll just do this… oh no, I can’t!”
Rick Clarke – sound designer of many West End and touring productions - was another early PM1D user, although his hand was perhaps forced a little when his favoured analogue Amek console ultimately became a casualty of the takeover by Harman.
“The PM1D was just out, the number of ins and outs suited me and I liked the ability to do a lot more in the digital domain,” he says.
The first show he used a PM1D on was Our House, the musical featuring the music of Madness.
“I needed to do complete system changes during the production, as it would abruptly change from dialogue to rock ’n’roll,” he says. “I developed a technique to do complete system changes on a cue push, to totally re-image the system. There were well over a hundred cues - it would only have been possible on digital.”
Swift tribute was paid to Rick’s sound design, not to mention the flexibility of the PM1D, when Our House won the Hilton Award for Best New Musical at the 2003 Oliviers.
RADICALLY SUCCESSFUL
But this doesn’t even scratch the surface of the vast changes that digital audio has brought to theatre. Theatre producers, audiences and critics are notoriously picky about sound. And if the changes that digital has brought hadn’t been radically successful, the producers, sound companies and sound designers alike simply wouldn’t have adopted digital as wholeheartedly as they have.
Digital sound is now a fully integrated part of society, which means that theatre audiences now expect the magic that is weaved in the cinema, on their home entertainment systems, MP3 players, digital radios, and online broadcasts to be available in theatre.
“With these Disney shows, audiences expect a degree of finesse and polish that are the inherent values of a Disney production,” says David Patridge. “I think a lot of the time audiences take theatre sound for granted. They are not as aware as I would like them to be, considering we jump through a lot of hoops to make it happen! I wish reviewers and theatregoers would note sound and be a bit more interested in what we’re doing.
“Sound contributes a great deal to the overall experience,” he continues. “People probably can’t put their finger on why a show is so good, why they are telling their friends to go and see it. But a lot of that is because of the sound - and the things that we can do now are all possible because of digital technology.”
From a producer’s point of view, the small footprint of the PM1D and the lack of required outboard also means that more seats can be sold - a point that all three sound designers highlighted. And from their point of view, it also means that it’s easier to accommodate the console in the best acoustic position in a venue.
But it’s the creative opportunities offered and the changes to their jobs that Ben, Rick and David speak most about.
“The footprint drives it, but we really appreciate the feature set,” says David. “With total recall of every parameter, you can change things from cue to cue that you couldn’t do with an analogue desk. You can change EQ for when a character changes costume (for example they put on a hat), you can change pans for their position on stage - you can be creative in a way that is impossible with a single operator analogue console.”
Rick Clarke agrees, adding: “Being able to move the sound image around according to the scene is a major step. It makes it sound more natural and increases the drama of the entire production.”
David continues. “And of course there’s band effects - you wouldn’t buy rack of compressors, gates and reverbs for a band in a theatre, it would be cost and space prohibitive. So having that on every channel has created all sort of possibilities, it allows you to do a lot more in terms of polish. And with locating input/output racks around the theatre, you can have very short cable runs before the microphone signals hit the preamps.
In some ways digital audio has presented sound designers with a ‘vicious circle’. All the creative potential inevitably leads to increasingly complex shows which, in turn, drive the requests for more creative potential!
In turn, this inevitably leads to ever-greater programming requirements. With technology affecting every part of a theatrical production, every department has an increased amount of work that it needs to fit into the technical production period. Yet, despite this, technical rehearsal times haven’t got any longer. Indeed, as Rick Clarke points out, in some cases they’ve actually decreased.
Fortunately digital consoles have an answer for this - the ability to be programmed offline and for the data to be loaded quickly into the console via pocket-friendly memory cards. “There’s an art to programming a digital console, but once you’ve got that nailed it’s great,” says Ben Harrison. “To be able to sit at home and set the desk up is a tremendous advantage. It really helps with the amount of work at technical rehearsals.”
Interestingly, Rick Clarke feels that this has also benefited him as a designer, as his influence on a show’s sound is now more profound.
“My influence on the sound design is actually greater than with analogue, because I do a lot more work before getting into the theatre,” he says. “Working offline, I personally set up the desk beforehand. Then, when we get into the theatre, I upload the data and we’re working exclusively with my settings, not what the system limits us to. It also makes show a lot safer because you can back up the settings for instant recall, of course.”
This illustrates yet another benefit, which has had a major knock-on effect for touring productions. Not only can the all the audio programming be transported on a memory card, but there isn’t even a requirement to physically lug a console from venue to venue. As long as a PM1D can be hired locally, the show is quickly loaded in via the memory card and the sound team is ready to go.
“It certainly makes touring easier,” says Ben. “You get in, load the show and it’s just a matter of adjusting your outputs to each venue.”
The speed of setup is another bonus for producers and promoters, meaning that venue time is significantly reduced.
“Touring the Rocky Horror Show on a PM1D has meant that you get in to a venue and the show opens the same evening,” says Rick Clarke. “To be able to open a show that complex so quickly can only be done on digital.”
Another advantage is that all monitor feeds can come from the PM1D, plus the small matter of wireless control, which allows sound designers to adjust the audio system from anywhere in the auditorium. “The ability to access all parameters in the consoles through wireless remote is another area where digital has made a huge impact,” agrees Rick.
“Via a laptop or wireless tablet I can change the matrix mixes, delays, etc for the area I’m sitting in, which means I know exactly how the show sounds in every part of the room and I can ensure that the sound is as good as possible.”
This is possible, of course, with the help of a second person. But not even leading sound designers like Rick, Ben and David can be in two places at once. So the ability to use wireless control saves time, bodies and any chance of mis-communication.
ONGOING PROCESS
Now entering its seventh year as a front line theatre console, the PM1D is undoubtedly a major success story for Yamaha. But that doesn’t mean that the company has stopped listening – far from it. In order to keep the PM1D at the forefront of theatre sound, Yamaha’s technicians naturally continue to work with a variety of leading sound designers to ensure that the console delivers what’s needed. And they are more than happy to listen to the feedback from those at the sharp end.
“We have to remember that the PM1D is getting on for a ten year old platform now, so improvements could inevitably be made and it will no doubt move forward,” says David.
“A further reduction in the physical footprint would be good - why not have a programming surface that is a PM1D size or larger, but something smaller to actually run the show? Seats in Broadway are expensive so producers want to really maximise revenues. They will come to expect smaller surfaces as the technology develops, meaning we free up even more seat space.
“On the operation front, there are certain things that you do in an analogue console when you want it to stay there and not be recalled cue-to-cue,” he continues. “Hopefully the software being able to ‘intelligently’ anticipate those kind of operator demands will move forward.
This is echoed by Rick, who says: “I often use all 48 outputs on a PM1D and the ability for it to only do updates on cue pushes, rather than looking at the entire system when you change cue, would be really useful.”
“The PM1D caters for musical theatre exceptionally well,” says Ben Harrison. “Every show throws up slightly different things that the desk is required to do and Yamaha has been fantastic about finding ways to get it to do them.
“Speccing a PM1D is reassurance and peace of mind. I’ve never had one fall over during a show and I’ve put them through some fairly tough situations!”
“It has rock solid reliability,” agrees David Patridge. “Which is one of my main reasons for using it over other digital desks. It just works! And if it doesn’t work, it t tells you what’s wrong and how to fix it. Plus Yamaha’s tech support is excellent. It’s a proven platform and designed to be robust.”
Rick Clarke agrees, sayings: “As well as UK touring productions, I’ve used the PM1D on West Side Story in Europe and the far East. It was very successful and has many advantages over other consoles.”
Coming full circle, although Scott Myers career has subsequently taken him away from the PM1D itself, the pioneer is still using Yamaha digital consoles which have all seen the benefits of so much development from the PM1D filtering through. Now technical manager at The Junction, a wide ranging live entertainment venue in Cambridge, his console of choice if the Yamaha M7CL.
“I bought two M7CLs for The Junction and they’re working really well,” he says. “The only issue has been changing the culture of engineers. A year ago technical riders for live bands would say “no digital”, but that attitude is becoming very rare now.
“The truth is, now almost every engineer that comes here wants to take the console away with them!”
