Sound Advice for School Productions

Our goal in filming your production is to capture your performance as accurately as possible.

Most schools are not aiming for a perfect performance and nor should you.  We understand that mistakes may occur, both on and off stage, which could impact the quality of recording we are able to offer you.

Below are some things that we recommend you consider for when we film your performance.  If you have any questions or queries around these things, please feel welcome to contact us.

Sound Advice for School Productions

• Because we aim to capture the overall sound produced by your sound system, wherever possible aim to balance out the levels of all microphones to provide a consistent sound mix.
• Turn microphones off when they are not needed.  This seems obvious, but it is easy to leave mics turned on once the character has stopped talking. Wayward mics add confusion and distraction to an audio mix.
• Turn microphones on when they are needed!  Again – seems obvious but you would be amazed at how often mics are not turned on in time. Nothing worse than a mic that is turned on halfway through dialogue (except not being turned on at all?!).
• Balance out music so it does not overpower the microphones.  We can always layer the music track over the recording but we can’t bring back singing that was overpowered by the music.
• We recommend you are very systematic around when mics are turned on/off. Number the microphones or use colours to distinguish them so characters pick up the correct mic and the sound technician knows which one to switch on.
• Headset/lapel mics can be very useful – particularly for characters who need to move around a lot.
• Handheld mics – although they may not ‘look’ as natural – often provide a more reliable sound (if held correctly). Great sound is worth the minor inconvenience of a handheld mic.
• Foldback speakers can be helpful in providing singers music/notes to pitch themselves to.  This can mean the music volume in the front of house (and/or our recording feed) does not need to be as loud.
• While it could work to have students operating sound equipment (e.g. laptops for music), we recommend that you assign these roles to adult to maximise success – or, at least, have adults overseeing the operators.

If you have any questions about the filming of your production, feel free to contact us.