Technical Production: Sound

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Communicate the technical aspects of a sound system with Sound Designers, cohabitating with Lighting and Scenic technicians, working with an audio team to realize the aural requirements of a production.
• Assemble and document a sound system from beginning to end, with the ability to evaluate anomalies that will arise with sound and how to effectively resolve them using aural measurement tools.
• Apply different types of microphones and mic placement for the creative amplification of vocals and instruments, developing the ability to aurally identify the timbre of each for the desired artistic choice.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Attendance, Participation, Journal	5%
Shop Hours	10%
Dante Level 1 Certification	10%
System Block Diagram	10%
Wired Microphone Comparison	15%
Wireless Microphone Partner Project	20%
System Installation & Documentation	30%

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
≥ 93.0%	A
90.0%-92.9%	A-
87.0%-89.9%	B+
83.0%-86.9%	B
80.0%-82.9%	B-
77.0%-79.9%	C+
73.0%-76.9%	C
70.0%-72.9%	C-
60.0%-69.9%	D
<60.0%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance, Participation, Weekly Journal: Students are expected to come to class and participate in lecture discussions by asking relevant, clarifying questions, and contributing to the dialogue in learning audio equipment. Students will create a journal, turned in weekly, preferably handwritten, with content to fill a minimum of one full page of bound notebook paper or one full page in a Word document.

Audio Shop Hours: Students are expected to complete a minimum of sixteen (16) hours in the Audio Shop, with an expectation of one (1) hour per week, which may include production load-ins, strikes, and shop maintenance. Students must coordinate with the instructor of when they plan to come in to do their hours with a minimum of 48-hours’ notice, subject to instructor approval. Students assigned an audio practicum for another course are expected to do these hours in addition to their assignment and may not use the mandatory load-ins, sitzprobes/wandelprobes, tech rehearsals, dress rehearsals, performances, or strike as possible ways to complete hours, unless they are not already expected to work such events.

Dante Level 1 Certification: Students will go through the free online Dante training provided by Audinate and present their certificate of completion for Level 1 understanding of Dante audio.

System Block Diagram: Students will create a System Block Diagram / Flow Chart of the sound system of the Light Lab using Vectorworks.

Wired Microphone Shootout: Students will each research a microphone and a placement technique provided from a list and mic up an instrument to record all the students’ choices. Students will then take the recordings and analyze them to decide which mic and technique sounds the best to them.

Wireless Microphone Partner Project: Students will work with a partner and put two wireless lav mics on them. The first mic must be a custom ear rig. The second must be researched by the student and hidden on the partner. Mics will then be recorded and students will compare the ear mic to the mic they researched.

System Installation and Documentation: Students will be given equipment that they must assemble in the correct order to create a functioning sound system and properly document by drafting a system block diagram / flowchart.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

• The Sound Reinforcement Handbook by Gary Davis, Ralph Jones
• Vectorworks
• Shure Wireless Workbench 8