www.avinteractive.com: Cirque de Soleil’s latest production, R.U.N, which opened on 14 November at the Luxor in Las Vegas, continues to flip theatre expectations with a little help from Point Source Audio microphones. A live-action graphic novel out to thrill, R.U.N delivers “back-alley fistfights, bike jumps, car chases, high falls, and body burns,” the sounds of which are captured in all of their visceral intensity though the inventive use of Point Source GO-8WM mouldable microphones.
4 comments:
Cirque de Soleil has been and is still a leading figure in experimental live entertainment. This article just proves how much effort they put into each show they produce. The sound designer for R.U.N, Jonathan Deans, is a world renown sound designer who has been working for Cirque since the early 90's. His fascination with experimenting with sound is what led to the development of this show. Cirque is slowly shifting its format from acrobatics to more stunts in this show, and the idea to have live audible sound effects during these stunts is very exciting. It's almost like a comic book coming to life with the grunts and groans of the stunts broadcasted live to the audience. The mouldable Point Source microphones are an ingenious way to allow the actors to do the stunts, while also having their bodies act as microphones. I hope R.U.N's tour comes someplace close by, as I would love to hear the show. And maybe see it too.
Having had many a headache caused by body mics in a more standard musical setting, the capabilities of these microphones sounds impressive. Mic packs and elements are notorious for coming loose with actor movement, for shorting or breaking when subjected to minor stresses, and for being so horribly unadapted to actors sweatting, which, of course, they do. If these mics can stand up to the kinetic and sweatting intensity of a cirque stunt show, that will put them at the top of the wishlists for theatrical sound departments. Operating up to 136 dB SPL is also very impressive, as cheaper elements often quickly clip and distort when things get loud. All that is not even to mention what appears to be the primary claim to fame: the 'mouldability' and ability to be easily shaped in unconventional ways for novel situations. That could save hours of building annoying and delicate rigs with floral wire and elastic.
This mic seems like a really cool toy to play with even if we don’t really have any good excuse to use them in our school of drama. I’m sure micing stunt performers like that is relatively new because of all the complications that bring, but this is certainly a new and exciting way to make the show (as they say) more “visceral.” Movies specifically, but TV as well have a huge leg up when it comes to sound effects. Foley artists are tirelessly making sounds to match, but in this show, there is the real thing. Boosting sound like grunting and things hitting each other is really cool. This technology will continue to improve, but I wonder if as that happens people will be confused because there will be a difference between the visceral sounds they experience in movies vs. the ones they experience in live shows because movie sound effects are so manufactured, leading to a difference between reality and what we perceive reality is
Having the ability to mix the sounds of the performers instead of artificially creating them can have a huge impact on the quality of the performance. Being able to incorporate microphones onto performers in a discrete and durable way opens up so many doors when approaching a design, especially for the types of performances the cirque puts on. It reminds me a lot of a video I saw about audio engineers for live sporting events, and how they place microphones everywhere they can to get as much as possible to create the most immersive and entertaining soundscape. In our staged world, having those extra lines of ambiance or effects on our boards only helps support the designer, and creates a more realistic production experience for the audience. Instead of having to rely on a bank of sound effects (many of which are manufactured as Owen points out in the film industry) which if not used well can negatively distract an audience member from the action, they let the action further the audience's experience. I hope to see these incorporated more and more into our business when they become more financially viable.
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