There is a reason someone, long ago, created the saying “If
something can go wrong, it will”. That reason is because, if something can go
wrong, it will! Anyone who has ever had to sit behind a mixing console or get
in front of a group of people to do a multimedia presentation or perform on
stage in some capacity has most definitely experienced a situation where
something didn’t go as expected. Forget about the fact that it was probably embarrassing
to say the least, it most certainly would have had a negative effect on the
event and quite probably the audience as well.
Let’s face it, we’ve all been there! And the cold reality is
that when we are dealing with technology, sometimes things happen that are
beyond our control and we just deal with them. But in my many years of
experience in the AV industry, one fact has continued to slap me in the face;
over and over again. The overwhelming majority of problems that I have
experienced or witnessed could have been prevented with a little bit of
preparation and attention.
I’ve developed a saying myself over the years and it is, “If
it’s worth doing in the show, it’s worth doing in rehearsal”. I think it is
pretty self-explanatory, but in a nutshell, if you are going to do something
for real, do it for practice first. I’ll give you an example of one such
instance that just happened to me very recently.
I was running sound for a high school concert and had spent
a good deal of time testing and EQ’ing all of the microphones that were going
to be used. One of the microphones was placed on the piano and another one was being
used for vocals at the piano. I played and sang with both mics and had one of
the performers do the same so I could get the sound that I wanted. I went on to
prepare the remaining mics for the show and then hung out in the control room
until the concert began. At the last minute, I realized that the curtain was
being shut prior to the choir coming on stage. This was not something we had
discussed or practiced. It was soon very obvious that the curtain was not going
to close without adjusting the position of the piano. I immediately recognized
this as a potential problem.
The curtain finally opens with the choir in position. They
begin to perform the selections and then one of the solo artists comes to the
piano to perform his song. Well, my fear had now become a reality when I
realized that the piano mic never made its way back to its proper position. The
piano had to be moved to close and open the curtain and no one even thought to
make sure that when things were back in place, to replace the microphones. The student
performed with a vocal mic and no piano mic. You could barely hear the piano at
all in that huge auditorium. It was a shame because he was very talented.
I had no prior knowledge of the curtain closing so I didn’t
even think to go over anything like putting the mics back in place. This is a
perfect example of a situation where some simple preparation would have
prevented this mistake from happening. I have countless examples like this of
theatrical productions where the director decides to add sound effects to the
show the night of the show. Disastrous isn’t really an accurate enough word to
describe the end result of those decisions! How about the number of times
someone comes to an event and doesn’t feel the need to set up their computer
ahead of time to test the projection they plan to use in their presentation?
How many times does that go well?
The point is that in almost every case, these problems could
have been avoided by spending a little bit of time testing and practicing
everything that is going to happen during the performance. Something so
insignificant as closing the curtain can have detrimental effects on the end
result if it isn't given proper attention.
