Cliff Richard's legendary 1963 movie Summer Holiday has been successfully transformed into a stage musical. MARK CUNNINGHAM took off for Blackpool to speak to the sound designers and engineers who have helped to make it a success.

You either grinned or cringed at the sight of Sir Cliff's impromptu vocal performance at rain-drenched Wimbledon in July. Whatever your reaction, Cliff's performance drew more attention to the new stage musical based on his famous movie, Summer Holiday. Since it opened in June, it has been playing to packed houses at the Blackpool Opera House, where the cast features Darren Day in the lead role of Don, the teenage go-getter whose whizz of an idea it is for his pals to spend their holiday driving around Europe in a double decker bus. The original film carried little weight as a story, and this incarnation adds no more. For fans of Cliff's early material, however, it provided the means to hear highly authentic performances of hits such as 'Bachelor Boy', 'The Next Time', 'Do You Wanna Dance', 'Move It', and, of course, the theme song.

Supplying the PA rig and associated expertise was a three-man team from Jim 'Nick-Nick' Davidson's newly-formed production rental company, Effective Productions. Graham Simpson, Peter Cox, and MD Rick Price jointly handled the sound design, specifying a system almost wholly comprising of Nexo cabinets, distributed by Marquee Audio.

In the proscenium itself were eight Nexo PS15 cabinets (four in the stalls, four in the circle) powered by Lab Gruppen 2000 amplifiers. The passive PS15, which features a long excursion 15-inch driver and three-inch compression horn, was originally developed as a stage monitor, although Graham Simpson had other ideas for it. "It'll blow your head off with the right amplification!" he said. "There isn't a massive amount of bottom end on the PS15, but that isn't such a bad thing in this environment. It has more of a cone sound rather than that of a direct radiating cabinet. One of the reasons we are interested in it is because it isn't a bi-amp box, so it is more cost-effective because you don't have to buy two amps and a crossover for it. It enables the end user to assemble a very cost-effective complete system, and for us that was a major consideration. But as a single box, it also has to handle the band and the vocal side of the show, and being a very clear and neutral sounding box, it does that very well."

A pre-rigged truss supported a vocal cluster of eight Lab Gruppen 1300-driven Nexo PS10s — a bright-sounding ten-inch and one-inch passive 200 Watt cabinet. The remainder of the PA was powered by a combination of Crest Audio 4001, 4801, 6001, and 7001 amplifiers. Positioned around the auditorium for delay relay purposes were 30 JBL Control 1 speakers, with delay times calculated to an on-stage mid point by Summers, using only a phase-checking click track and his own ears. In the gallery were four Apogee A5s, while A2s were installed at the front of the stage. Facing the audience at each side of the stage were two Meyer Sound 650 subs. Simpson commented: "We had to pigeon hole the subs in the proscenium, because there is a travelator at the front of the stage on which members of the cast cross at various points in the show."

CONSOLES

At the front of house, Rob Summers was controlling via a 52-channel Yamaha PM3500 console (using 40 channels) and, for the band only, a 24-channel PM3000 console. Simpson said that the front of house demands of the show originally suggested a whopping 90 channels, which was not possible with anything Effective carried in stock. The solution was to purchase a console which would perform some automated tasks, and, eventually, the Yamaha PM3500 became the answer to the team's prayers.

"Unlike the 4000, the PM3500 has the availability of MIDI scene control and muting," said Simpson. "Being hands-on fans, we've only used automation for the critical area of sound effects from three Denon DN990R cart machines. We came up with a theatre sequencer package by Roland Hemming that I'd previously seen when I was a production manager on another show. It's great because it automates just a few mute snapshot scenes on the desk and also fires the cart machines, so Rob can just focus on mixing the show. Musically, we don't have any automation, because that part of the show requires only a straight mix. But there are so many sound effects in the show, the list goes on forever! So Rob got his hands on the automation and started to put his own cue list together." This reliable system, which is controlled from an Apple Macintosh Powerbook 190cs lap-top, was also used to cue programme changes on the Yamaha SPX 1000 and three 900s, such as the critical Hank Marvin-type delay setting for the lead guitar — naturally a red Fender Strat with a busy whammy bar!

The PM3500 features four stereo matrices, and Rob Summers believes the choice of this console has saved the added expense of adding an 8 x 8 outboard matrix, such as a Midas. "It's very easy to use, and unlike other desks where there appears to be endless ways of muting the desk, it's straightforward," he commented. "The ergonomic layout of the desk is friendly, and the very visible controls allow you to get to the appropriate pot instantly. It has lost some features that were present in the 3000, but it has gained more, such as the VCA solo facility which is on the Soundcraft Europas we have, and it's brilliant. The EQ is very good, but you have to keep your eye on the cast members in case they come back after costume changes with their headset mics in a slightly different position, and you have to adjust the EQ to compensate. For us in a theatre application, the use of EQ is normally for problem fixing rather than for stylising a sound like you would in live rock'n'roll."

Summers and the Effective team used the BSS Varicurve FPC-900 hand-held remote system to adjust the system EQ during rehearsals, and replaced it with the Varicurve FCS-926 dual equaliser/analyser master unit at the start of the show's season. "Varicurve has become a standard requirement for theatre, and a real life-saver especially for touring theatre shows where you are working to such tight set-up schedules," said Summers.

WIRELESS MICROPHONES

During the planning of Summer Holiday, Effective Productions spent a considerable time sourcing the optimum wireless microphone system, knowing that a large amount of individual UHF channels would be required for the cast. Effective's Peter Cox says that although Sennheiser was suggested as an industry standard, the timing coincided with that manufacturer's shift to its prohibitively expensive SK-50 system and his budget would not entertain such an investment. However, Cox recalled meeting Chris Gilbert of Trantec at last year's PLASA show where he was treated to a demonstration of the company's new S5000 UHF system with computer interface. He eventually purchased the system in bulk for the Blackpool production.

Cox said: "When we were getting ready to go out with Jim Davidson's Sinderella adult pantomime and needed a radio system, I got in touch with Chris and took a 12-way Trantec system which we were very pleased with, because it did everything a theatrical radio system should do, and a lot more. People will routinely spend thousands of pounds on equipment because of certain special features, but apart from its very attractive pricing, the S5000 sounds excellent with most capsules we put on the mics."

By the time of Summer Holiday's production rehearsals, it was decided that the 12-channel system would be updated with an additional four receivers and transmitters to create a 16-way system for the 16 Sennheiser MKE-2 lavalier microphones, customised as headsets by Trantec especially for the show. Ten VHF hand-held systems were also specified for use on the all-singing, all-dancing medley finale. "These VHF systems were needed, because there is so much choreography going on at that point, and we needed something that was really kicking," said Cox. "You can get a fairly forceful sound from a lavalier, but in this situation, with a full-on rock'n'roll sound and people literally shouting the songs, we found that only the hand-helds would cope. Also, the band were on stage with two guitars, so we needed something that also had a guitar pack package."

Trantec's Chris Gilbert said that the Blackpool crew were running the maximum number of individual frequencies legally possible on VHF (173.8MHz through to 216.1MHz) and Channel 69. It is possible to run larger systems by using other UHF channels such as 22, 24, 25, and 35, but the advent of Channel Five television will reduce that availability. "To run 16 channels in one television band is something that no-one else seems to have been able to do, 14 being the maximum. We weren't certain it would do 16; we guaranteed 15, but Effective Productions requested 16!" commented Gilbert. "The VHF units are crystal controlled with ten specific spot frequencies. All of the UHF units are identical, and you can change frequency just by dialling it up. Within each receiver unit, you can have a maximum of 64 different frequencies, but we have to limit them to adhere to UK regulations. In the USA, on the other hand, we have 30-channel systems running. Because this is a fully synthesized system, companies like Effective don't have the problem of having to organise 16 separate rentals for one frequency."

Digby Shaw, who doubled as both the radio systems and monitor engineer, explained how the 16-channel requirement was arrived at. "As normally happens, we were sent a script, and it was up to us to run through it so we could decide on how many characters would need a pack. If you have a script with 30 or 40 cast members in it, and you obviously want to attempt to cover the lines from each one of the cast, if cost and frequency availability allows it, you will supply a pack to each of them. But we have had to design a kind of pack choreography, which allows packs to remain with the ten main characters at all times, and others are shared. There are 12 pack changes in total during the whole show, although they all have their own mics. We calculated that we would need 16 channels of UHF, and luckily, it was achievable. Instead of buying a 16-way radio system, what you are in fact buying is a 16 x 16-way system, which is a major difference."

Shaw knew from experience that the backup protection of the S5000 system leaves little space in which fate can deal a blow. If a transmitter pack fails, the engineer is relieved of the time-consuming task of searching for a pre-tuned replacement. Quite simply, any pack will do. Being digitally-locked, the engineer is able to tune a pack to the corresponding frequency and be up and running immediately.

PC POWER

The fast pace of Summer Holiday dictated that the sound crew would need all the technical assistance possible to ensure smooth transfers between scenes. And surely the ultimate show control has to be the one designed by Trantec for its S5000 system. Designed in response to demand after the 1995 Frankfurt Musik Messe, this Windows-based software package monitors and reconfigures show scenes and a performing cast, as well as identifying receiver status. The prototype was first shown at the Audio Technology 95 exhibition; and last September, Trantec was able to demonstrate the whole system for the first time at PLASA, where it was honoured with the Best New Product award.

Explaining the design, Chris Gilbert said: "There is an interface unit which links all 16 receivers and the output from that unit goes to an RS-232 or 422 port, so you can either send information to a local PC or up to the front of house desk by a multicore. With help from Peter Cox and others who are using the system in real scenarios, we are making improvements to the software all the time. When the receiver and transmitter system was originally designed, there was no intention of having a computer system, because we never envisaged a need for it. But we eventually completely redesigned the system to make allowances for a computer interface output. Our first practical use of the package was when it ran on Sinderella from November to January, after which it toured for a further three months, and if any problem did arise, it was solved instantly."

The video monitor provides a very intelligible graphic status display of all 16 UHF channels, and a 'walk test' around the stage will indicate any audio drop-out zones. In cases where the engineer suspects, for any reason, that a transmitter pack may fail, he can simply keep a beady eye on the monitor, which will clearly indicate if a signal is unacceptable. The solution thereafter will be to switch to a stronger frequency. The software also allows microphones to be muted from the control rack.

Digby Shaw said of the system: "The sound engineer can write the show into the computer, and for every scene, it will reconfigure all the receivers and you don't have to physically do anything. I have scene changes programmed in, and it updates the information of who is wearing which packs for each different scene. It will also prevent you from making any mistakes. If you should accidentally put two people on the same frequency, a warning will flash 'frequency conflict'. Another useful facility is the log, which keeps a record of every system action during the performance, and if the producer questions an assumed microphone drop out, the log will identify the exact point at which it happened, or it might even prove him wrong!

"I've done a lot of shows without any control like this, and it's rather like working on an old-fashioned telephone exchange, plugging in, listening, and waiting for a problem to arise. But this allows me to sit back and relax, knowing that the monitor will instantly alert me to a problem instead of me having to look for it. We have another extension monitor at the FOH desk that allows Rob to keep an eye on things, while I go around the stage doing pack changes, and he can then relay any fault information to me when I return to my position."