“Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol,” a seasonal highlight of London theatre this year that’s running for a month at The Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, is employing d&b audiotechnik Soundscape immersive audio technology in the hands of sound designer Richard Brooker.
The show, first produced in Boston in 2019, takes Charles Dickens’ classic festive tale and transplants it to 1930s East Tennessee. There, Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Robert Bathurst) is the owner of the local mine, bank, and general store, and the much-loved tale unfold accompanied by the music and lyrics of country music legend Dolly Parton.
Brooker is experienced in musical productions worldwide, as well as in work for countless live artists and particularly for BBC Proms, and recently, he’s dabbled with what he calls “hybrid” use of the Soundscape system but this was his first full venture with the technology.
“This, for me,” he explains, “is the type of venue and show where Soundscape is the ideal choice. It’s not a natural home for a theatrical piece – it’s a concert hall with a concert hall’s acoustic and seating plan. It struck me that with one continuous seating rake, with the furthest seats up to 45 meters away, it would be challenging to deliver an appropriate level – but also image – of sound. That’s where Soundscape comes to the rescue.”
With performers and band members involved in the on-stage action, Brooker makes use of Soundscape’s En-Scene module, which allows for the “location” of up to 64 sound images. Alongside this he employs a ZacTrack performer tracking system from Ambersphere Solutions to that a more precise sound image of every voice and instrument is relayed to the audience regardless of where they’re seated. “Soundscape also enabled us to put some of our transition sound effects through interesting and exciting journeys in the space,” Brooker adds.
Supplied by Autograph Sound, under the direction of Will McGonagle, the system sees Soundscape working through d&b cabinets that include members of the Y-Series (line array and point source), T10P, V-SUB and B22-SUB. With the acoustic difficulty of the room itself, Brooker found Soundscape’s En-Space module to be a useful tool. Drawing on a library of multi-response emulation recordings of acoustically renowned venues, En-Space enables the designer to enhance or build an acoustic environment.
Brooker says, “It’s not a friendly acoustic, either for acting or for PA, but after much tweaking and experimenting, Soundscape gave us the best sound achievable for speech and music in this tricky space.”
He and associate sound designer Kelsh Buckman-Drage were assisted in an extremely limited production period by d&b’s Adam Hockley. “Adam offered incredible support, assistance and advice,” says Brooker, “and that gave me the confidence to push through and really exploit the true benefits of Soundscape. My associate Kelsh and I have learned an enormous amount about the valuable tools that Soundscape can offer.
“Soundscape is a tool – an exceptional tool – and like all tools you need the right one for a specific task. Soundscape is appropriate for many applications in the theatre world – plays, musicals, and immersive installations. It’s also very adaptable and brings a new depth and dimension to orchestral and rock and roll concerts alike. It is very clever!”
