Vasantha Saparamadu - BMR 2010

Sounds, life, the universe and everything

Hi All,

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—
Of cabbages—and kings—
And why the sea is boiling hot—
And whether pigs have wings."
                              - Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

I'll talk of sounds.

Compared with what we had during the rehearsals, sounds were a success in the show. But, that's not a good measure, and people don't come to a show to see how much better it is compared with the rehearsals. So, let's forget about the rehearsals for a moment. There were too many sound stuff-ups in the show. In the past, I would be unhappy when there had been one stuff-up. In that sense, I have to categorise this as a monumental failure as far as the sounds are concerned. Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do myself on the day to prevent those problems, as the whole sound set up is operated by HC staff. However, as the sound manager, I'm responsible for sounds, and as such I have to bury my head in shame. There are a number of things we can do before the show to improve the situation.  Perhaps, we can meet someday in a relaxed environment (i.e. not a rushed-through meeting) to discuss all BMR issues. And there are a number of things HC can do on the day of the show to improve the situation.

Talking of sounds, I just remembered this good story. It was when we used to do the Sinhala school concerts at the Hills Centre. It must have been about 15 years ago. Once Athula Ginige was the sound manager. He got me to assist him. The following year I became the sound manager. Rehearsals went alright. In those days we operated the playback equipment at HC, i.e. the cassette players. [CDs, and particularly recording them at home, were unheard of!] I had the cassette for the first item loaded and ready for the show. When the house lights were turned off at the start of the show, it was pitch dark where I was sitting. (In the previous year, they had some light there and there was no need for a torch, but since then they had changed the set up near the control desk.) I managed to press PLAY at the right time, but there was no way I could see the next cassette to load for the following item. HC sound/lighting guys couldn't give me a light. There was less than 4 minutes left in the first item. When I looked around, I saw Tissa Liyanage standing behind me. I told him, "Machan, bring a torch from somewhere before this item finishes!". I don't know how he managed it; he brought not only one but two torches in no time. I had about two minutes to spare before the next item started.

So Tissa saved me from my major sound disaster then. I suppose I was lucky that it took another 15 years for that to happen!

Perhaps, it's time for me to retire, or at least, to apply for long-service leave :)

Regards,
Vasantha