Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Practically all day was spent preparing for tomorrow, and everything is in order on all fronts. After burning an audio cd of the second set soundtracks, I rehearsed the second set (Malaysia poems), for the first time reading them all aloud, with all of the images up on two screens and the sounds playing. I learned that the timer on one computer is slightly slower than the other, which means that the span of time between the projection of images will gradually grow longer as the presentation progresses. I also made notes on areas where some images needed to be removed, but in all I was pleasantly surprised at how well everything worked together.
After lunch I worked on the first set, outlining how the tech would work, finding the poems that accompany the animations (sometimes revising them in the process), and read all of them aloud. The sounds and poems are all a bit carzy—I’ll be interested in hearing what people around here make of them.
The tech “rehearsal” (we didn’t really rehearse, just got the gear organized) went well, although I need to acquire (at one of the local malls, hopefully) a headphone to quarter-inch plug adapter, so that sounds can be played from the laptop onto the PA. The other odd thing that I’m hoping to rectify is that one of the projectors projected white as yellow—I don’t know if this is because there’s mildew on the bulb or what, but I’m also going to try to borrow another projector for the show. In general, the projections were light, as it is an indoor-outdoor space, but that’s OK. What’s really awesome is the sound in the hall. The atrium is a narrow six story cavern, which gives a great reverb but prevents the sound from bouncing around too much. What we were able to play through the speakers (voice, instruments) sounded totally great. In all, very encouraging. Good to have the work organized, and to have the tech mostly ready to go too.
Afterwards, Siew Wai and I went up to her office to rehearse the second set together—she’s accompanying me on a variety of instruments: whistles, didgeridoo, bells, harmonica, and other percussion. The reading of the poems went even better than in the morning, although the two cups of teh terik I had earlier in the afternoon didn’t help my voice much. It was good to go through the material with Siew Wai, good to hear the sounds she is working with, and have another chance to review the poems. Sua Bin sat in for a bit of it but left so didn’t get a chance to get his impressions. I’m pleased with how everything has turned out, will make a few minor adjustments (to images) tomorrow, and wonder what everyone else will think.
After lunch I worked on the first set, outlining how the tech would work, finding the poems that accompany the animations (sometimes revising them in the process), and read all of them aloud. The sounds and poems are all a bit carzy—I’ll be interested in hearing what people around here make of them.
The tech “rehearsal” (we didn’t really rehearse, just got the gear organized) went well, although I need to acquire (at one of the local malls, hopefully) a headphone to quarter-inch plug adapter, so that sounds can be played from the laptop onto the PA. The other odd thing that I’m hoping to rectify is that one of the projectors projected white as yellow—I don’t know if this is because there’s mildew on the bulb or what, but I’m also going to try to borrow another projector for the show. In general, the projections were light, as it is an indoor-outdoor space, but that’s OK. What’s really awesome is the sound in the hall. The atrium is a narrow six story cavern, which gives a great reverb but prevents the sound from bouncing around too much. What we were able to play through the speakers (voice, instruments) sounded totally great. In all, very encouraging. Good to have the work organized, and to have the tech mostly ready to go too.
Afterwards, Siew Wai and I went up to her office to rehearse the second set together—she’s accompanying me on a variety of instruments: whistles, didgeridoo, bells, harmonica, and other percussion. The reading of the poems went even better than in the morning, although the two cups of teh terik I had earlier in the afternoon didn’t help my voice much. It was good to go through the material with Siew Wai, good to hear the sounds she is working with, and have another chance to review the poems. Sua Bin sat in for a bit of it but left so didn’t get a chance to get his impressions. I’m pleased with how everything has turned out, will make a few minor adjustments (to images) tomorrow, and wonder what everyone else will think.
# posted by chris funkhouser @ 7:35 AM 
