I’ve been privy to work in front of and behind the scenes with a few venues. The dynamics of shows is advancing at a rapid pace. What should happen is a pulling back of the reins. But instead, its full speed ahead. Bigger, greater, more intricate.
There are a few schools of thought as far as management production is concerned. One school is that everything is pre-planned. The other is going in assuming that things will go wrong because you have conceded control of major critical paths.
There are some serious synchronization issues happening and it seems like they are going to get worse (in the case, for example, of 2 lead singers from different parts of the world streaming 2 streams (i guess they get premixed?).
Anyway there are 4 major control points. In current day, these are handled each by different people. So the Murphy Law is having a field day gorging himself on misfires that are almost guaranteed.
1) a speaker/MC introduces an act
2) the curtain must open
3) the music must start
4) dancers must start dancing
5) one (god forbid two) live singer(s) start singing
then the reverse
6) music stops
7) dancers stop
8) lead singer stops singing
9) curtain closes
10) MC cuts in and segues to next topic
Issues abound. I’ve heard them discussed in crew-chat. Seen results from audience POV.
As you can surmise:
a) some things have to happen at the same time
b) some things have to happen before other things.
c) some things require hearing a Q.
d) some things require manual triggering.
Even after rehearsal, Murphy had these items for lunch.
So the idea is try to address these issues. There are 2 schools of thought.
One, prepare as if there is nothing you can do and have responsive tools and actions that let you change course mid-stream to adapt to shifts in timings and misfires, assume the worst and manage it.
Two, take more control of the critical paths. This is the Artiste school of thought. And there are new issues that this approach faces. I am working feverishly to iron out wrinkles . Preventing the issues before they occur.
Its a very hard-sell because people are ingrained in the old mode and pride themselves on being able to fix issues midstream
But Artiste is a big advocate for:
1) Controlling the start of the music (be it sound or media)
2) Synching the beginning of the dance and/or movers to the start of the music
3) Controlling the opening and closing of the curtain
These controls mitigate most of the issues previously mentioned.
The problem was raised of people coming in late hearing mid-stream so to speak. I am learning how that relates to mp3s vs media. While there is an acknowledged delay (20+ seconds) in streaming when the stream must travel from streamer up to streaming server and back down to listeners, the playing and hearing of YouTube is instant as is the solution of the music being already uploaded to a server as an mp3 (this one i am still trying to learn how to do).
Sound delays are the bane of coordinating multiple listeners who depend on aural cues.
So groups of more than 2 are new territory for the Artiste GOLD so we may encompass our own issues. We will tackle them as we come upon them. Imagine trying to create a HUD or tool to address all of the needs of today’s artists NOW. So glad I started 4 years ago and had vision.