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"The talent is really raw, but the quality of the speakers and they way they are tuned makes it easy to work with the untrained voices. They may be loud one day, then blow their voice and be quiet the next. But I have gain for days to deal with it. Everything I have come to expect from a Meyer rig is there, and it delivers every night."
- Christopher Cronin
Production Sound Mixer, Def Poetry Jam
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Russell Simmon's Def Poetry Jam turned Broadway topsy-turvy this season, flouting conventional wisdom and perking up the jaded critics. The New York times called it "the most singular offering in mainstream New York theater these days" while Time magazine found it "a fast-paced, highly charged evening that manages the rare feat of satisfying insiders while introducing outsiders to something revelatory." The stars of the show, all Broadway newcomers, are a team of nine hip-hop poets who – with intermittent assistance from a vinyl-spinning DJ – slam home the goods through a brawny PA built around Meyer Sound loudspeakers. The sound of the show, as heard by the audience, was conceived by another fresh face on Broadway, Elton Halley. His primary concern as sound designer was fashioning a system that could cover the 1100-seat Longacre Theater with distinct vocal intelligibility, and also produce a club-like impact for DJ mixes blending everything from sixties soul to blistering 21st century urban electronica. "When we wanted to bring up the music, it had to be full and warm – and very loud," says Halley, "But the system also had to articulate clearly and respond to everything we wanted to do with the poet's voices. With the Meyer system, we could do it all." The system for Def Poetry Jam, as designed by Halley in consultation with production sound mixer Chris Cronin and supplied by ProMix of Mount Vernon, New York, is largely based on Meyer Sound's self-powered series, with some veteran conventional units used. Left and right proscenium speakers at the orchestra level are CQ-1 Wide Coverage Main loudspeakers, with UPA-1P Compact Wide Coverage loudspeakers up higher at left and right for the mezzanine. The deep balcony is covered by another CQ-1 pair flown from an overhead truss, with each loudspeaker spaced about eight feet off the centerline. Three UPA-2P Compact Narrow Coverage loudspeakers are placed in between: one horn down for center orchestra coverage and two for the mid-mezzanine – though Halley says these two are normally not used as the CQ-2s cover so well. Front fills were a challenge: the stage apron is only two feet high and made of cement, so to cover the first rows Halley tucked away a pair of UPA-2Ps just upstage of the firewall. A dozen UPM-1 conventionally powered loudspeakers cover seats under the balcony and mezzanine, with deep bass rumbling from a pair of 650-R2 subwoofers lodged in an (unsold) front box. "We pushed the sub crossovers down to 75Hz and latched into a tub-thumping feel that fits right in with the music," says Cronin. Since this is hardly typical Broadway fare, the production presents some unusual challenges for the audio team. For one thing, the performers are street-wise poets, not trained stage actors. "The talent is really raw, but the quality of the speakers and they way they are tuned makes it easy to work with the untrained voices," says production mixer Cronin. "They may be loud one day, then blow their voice and be quiet the next. But I have gain for days to deal with it. Everything I have come to expect from a Meyer rig is there, and it delivers every night." Elton Halley expresses the same confidence in the system's foundation. "Hearing them is the proof, the way they respond to what I need them to do," he says, "and that has made me a big fan of Meyer products." Although Def Poetry Jam marks Halley's debut as a Broadway sound designer, he was not a newcomer to the show. He landed the New York assignment based on his contributions to the production during its earlier summer run at San Francisco's Theater on the Square, one of several Bay Area theaters where Halley has garnered a long list of credits as a sound designer and production mixer. "The owner of the theater, Jonathan Reinis, brought in the show and introduced me to the director, Stan Lathan," recalls Halley. "I came up with a design, he loved it, and asked me to stay on for the Broadway run." Chris Cronin was a natural choice to assist him in the transition to Broadway, as the two had stuck up a friendship earlier when Cronin came to San Francisco with Lily Tomlin's Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. So when Halley hit New York, he felt he had all the help he needed to successfully transplant his designs into the larger Broadway venue – and also assure that sound would maintain the same high level throughout the run. "It's a great crew out there, and I tip my hat to them. Broadway is exciting," he confesses, "but in the end it's all about getting the job done. And that's much easier to do if you are surrounded by people who share that same dedication." After two weeks of Broadway previews, Halley returned to the Bay Area to fulfill prior commitments, though he stays in touch with the crew and regularly monitors response to the show in the press. "I really believed in this show from the beginning," he says, "and I've enjoyed watching the performers grow and mature, and seeing the show develop day by day into something more powerful and more profound. I hope people get out to see it. It's fun, but it also makes you think."
January, 2003
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FEATURED PRODUCTS
CQ-1 CQ-2 UPA-1P UPA-2P UPM-1P
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