Orbital Sound, has successfully held its annual autumn training course, “Developing Sound Skills for the Theatre”, at the end of October. Attended by a full house of 24 students, from varied backgrounds in the theatre industry, the free two-day course provided an informative and practical framework for anyone wanting to broaden their skills in theatre sound – across wireless communications, digital mixing consoles, show automation and sound system design.
Orbital’s autumn course represents an important and popular aspect of its theatre-skills training programme, which features a growing number of courses during the year, complemented by manufacturer-specific training. The course featured two sessions each day, with Day 1 covering Wireless Communications, using HMEs digital wireless intercoms as technology examples, followed by Digital Mixing Desks, in partnership with Yamaha. Day 2 began with a session on MIDI and desk automation, using CSC Show Control software, and concluded with a session on electro-acoustics and sound system design, in conjunction with d&b audiotechnik.
Orbital Sound’s Theo Holloway, who manages the company’s training programme, explained:
“Our courses are proving extremely popular, with the students for this years autumn course coming from a variety of backgrounds, including freelancers, hire company and venue staff, drama teachers, recent technical theatre graduates, and stage managers. Training is a particularly important issue in the current commercial climate. With the job market under such pressure, having the appropriate training and experience can provide a valuable competitive edge. The other key driver is the theatre industrys consistently high standards – across the professional and amateur sectors alike – with audience expectation fuelling the rise in production values. Quality counts, and to achieve it you need people with the relevant skill set.
“Our courses are structured such that whatever the students’ diversity of background and skill, we can ensure they can take away something useful at every level, and appropriate for their own environment. We had excellent support from our suppliers – including Yamaha, who helped with the Digital Mixing Desks session, focusing on the LS9 and M7CL consoles, and d&b audiotechnik, who assisted with the session on electro-acoustics and sound system design, using their T-Series loudspeakers for practical examples. Both companies have a long-established commitment to training – this is a valuable asset for us, underlining our partnership with them and mirroring our own commitment.
“This course was mainly technology focused, and provided an introduction to the principles of how more advanced theatre sound systems operate. It gave everyone opportunities for practical, hands-on experience with each of the prime elements in the signal chain and, for many, it was a chance to quiz our experts and raise any specific issues that they’d encountered in the field. We had an overwhelming response to the course, underlining the demand for specialist training, and it represents an ideal complement to our Easter Sound Fundamentals course, which provides a more general overview of theatre sound practice.”
Orbital Sound is adding a number of training opportunities to its 2010 programme, aimed at a variety of skill levels in theatre sound, and will be announcing course dates and content shortly.
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