Sound designer for Pulitzer Prize—winning composer John Adams and engineer for Kronos Quartet, Mark Grey has toured through most major opera and concert hall stages.
When reinforcing large indoor opera, stage monitoring for soloists and chorus is critical. Keep the ondeck sound as “acoustic” as possible, but get maximum coverage around all action areas. Folding back spot mics in the orchestra with an “inverted orchestra foldback” approach reduces feedback issues. Typically, strings are placed throughout the pit opening, woodwinds are directly under the apron edge and brass/percussion are deeper understage. Use a set of flown stage-left/right downstage fills, and another set upstage. For the downstage fills, mix 10% strings, 50% winds and 70% brass/percussion. For upstage fills, mix 80% strings, 40% winds and 20% brass/percussion. If singers cannot hear themselves, reduce all onstage loudspeaker levels, and then adjust the balances. If still no luck, feed about 10% of 2.5-second vocal reverb to the upstage fills only. Never foldback lavalier mics to the stage.
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