Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1491103
40 S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y What were some of the other challenges involved? On top of the routing and up-mixing challenge was that I was also pre-dubbing with a flat screen reference video of a sphere. So, when an object is going from the bottom to the top of the screen, I'm actually panning from the front of the room to the back because the audience in the dome will be looking up at the planetarium's sphere and not forward like a movie theater. That was definitely something I had to get my head around and get used to. One tool that really helped was the 360 panner by Audio Ease as it has a layover screen. When a planet goes whooshing by, I could draw the movement of the object, which helped with the visualizing and timing of panning the objects. Dan Radlauer, the composer, had to adjust his approach to composing to a sphere instead of a flat image. We both agreed to create a concert-like space and not move and pan instruments too much. Let's talk about the planetarium's layout. With the speaker layout, you have the LCR up front with the sub, with a narration speaker (Voice of God) next to the center speaker, a lower ring of 10 speakers sitting about six feet above ground level, a middle ring of 10 speakers halfway up, and then four speakers at the top of the dome. The speakers are as follows: RSL Left, Center, and Right speakers, one Narration Meyer CQ-1 speaker, four Meyer UPA-1P Surround speakers, 10 Meyer UPA-2P Horizon speakers, 10 EAW UB 12Si Side Fill speakers, and two Meyer USW-1P Subwoofer speakers. This show has live narration, how did you deal with that? That was probably one of the biggest challenges of this project. At the start of the project, I was mixing to a temp narration that helped mold the timing of the peaks and valleys of the mix. We would then send the pre-dub mix to performance director Chris Shelton, so that they could start to rehearse with the pre-dub. The show has 1 of 12 narrators who are rotated for the shows, and each has a wide range of timbre and projection between the male and female voices. They all go through 50-plus hours of rehearsals with Chris to lock down their timing since the mix can go from a quiet whisper to a sonic boom within seconds. With this, the show is a live performance rather than a film, as it gives you a unique experience every time you see it. How did you mix the narration into such an immersive space in 28.1? At first, we were going to use the narration speaker and mix it like a film with the narration coming from center. But because the audience is sitting in a circle, certain Setup at Sound Striker Post with an Avid S3 and iPads utilizing Sound Flow. The video is projected flat, representing the planetarium dome. The dome's speaker layout.