58 THEATRE & STAGE
ZACTRACK
SOUND IN THE FOREGROUND These days, people approach Owen with job offers, not the other way around. “I’m now considered a pioneer in immersive audio,” he says, but he isn’t trying to brag. “The irony is it’s not a new thing, and I’m not the only person who’s been doing it. What I’ve potentially pushed is the idea of mixing a whole show in surround sound. I’m trying to follow the lead of cinematic mixers who do movie scores – they put stuff wherever it feels right. “When I first started, sound was something to be apologised for,” he continues. “Everyone pretended that there wasn’t sound – microphones and speakers had to be hidden, and the sound was minimal. But that isn’t actually what the majority of audience members want today.” Owen compares live theatre, as it’s done today, to being in the crowd at a concert or being in a cinema. “You go to also used on productions like Back to the Future and Cinderella . “The system offers tracking data via the PosiStageNet protocol, an industry- standard format widely used across live entertainment technologies,” says Hindinger. “The PSN data can be distributed through the show network, enabling seamless integration with sound, lighting, video and automation systems. Multiple departments can then use the same positioning data to create synchronised, highly responsive production environments.”
between them? “When it comes to building a touring sound system, you have to create the best possible compromise,” says Owen. “You’ve got X amount of truck space, X amount of budget and X amount of time – and time is a big limiting factor. On Broadway, you might be afforded four weeks to load a system and then another four weeks of technical rehearsals to get it right. On a touring show, you load in at 7am, and the curtain goes up at 7pm. They’ve only got 12 hours, and they do it week in, week out. I’m completely in awe of that,” Owen admits. “What I design is often based on what can be achieved in that 12-hour window. There’s no point in putting a load of fancy stuff on the list if the crew doesn’t have time to take it off the truck. We design the best possible system we can that’s flexible enough to deal with different venues.” MJ The Musical ’s sound design would be incomplete without the zactrack SMART system. “It uses real- time radio-tracking technology to generate positioning data,” says Ryan Hindinger, market manager, lighting, at its distributor ACT Entertainment. Through pinpointing performers and other onstage elements, zactrack ‘ensures the audio is localised’, adding to the show’s immersive sound design – all while being invisible to the audience. The zactrack system is a versatile, venue-agnostic tool that Owen has
Learn more about Owen’s work at garethowensound.com , and catch MJ The Musical on Broadway and elsewhere around the world in the chest. They want Alan Silvestri’s theme to wrap around them and take them back to their childhood, when they first saw Michael J Fox on a skateboard. Truth is, most people don’t care about the invisibility of sound any more, and that’s what I’ve made a career out of: cinematic sound design.” a movie theatre and a spaceship flies over and your chest shakes,” he says. “There’s a sweeping orchestral sound around you. Yes, there are plenty of purists, but there are a lot more people who simply want theatre to sound great; they don’t care where the sound’s coming from. “Take the average person going to see MJ The Musical or Back to the Future ,” he continues. “They want Thriller to hit them
MJ The Musical highlights a desire to put immersive sound front and centre
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