Who are we?

Tony and Andrea are a husband and wife team who run a Sound Hire and Installation business from premises near to Darlington in County Durham.

Tony Atkinson began his career in Sound before leaving Grammar School. He trained as an Electronic Engineer with a particular interest in sound and musical instruments. He has designed and manufactured sound equipment for exports as far afield as Mexico and Japan.

The first trainee ever to achieve the M.Inst., S.C.E. qualification at the age of 20 years, he went on to become the youngest member to serve on the National Council of Sound and Communication Engineers Associations. A member of the Association of British Theatre Technicians, his experience in the provision of sound reinforcement covers almost every occasion from Royal Visits to National Eisteddfods and he has also provided sound for a diverse range of artists from Ken Dodd to the highly acclaimed Indian artist, Ravi Shankar.

The company also specialises in the installation of Sound Reinforcement and Induction Loop Systems for Churches. With over 500 Church systems installed to date including both Middlesborough and Newcastle Cathedrals. The most distant installation is a church in Bath!

Andrea Atkinson has long been associated with the amateur theatre world having played many leading roles before adding the technical side to her repertoire. Several years as an assistant sound technician coupled with her own on-stage experience provides her with a unique combination of skills from make-up to sound design and operation.

A busy hire diary means that she frequently runs the sound for major productions herself because Societies dates often coincide so the company now operate two complete theatre sound hire rigs.
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What do you get for your money?

Providing sound for the average week's run of a production will involve us in anything from fifty to eighty hours of work. We will bring into your venue specialist theatre sound equipment valued in the region of £30,000.
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What do we do?

We begin by discussing with you the proposed production, the venue and the Directors requirements. If the venue is new to us, we will visit the site with you and discuss access arrangements, any fire requirements, sound operation position and any other details.

An itemised written quotation will then be provided for the Society's consideration. If the quotation is accepted we then arrange to attend rehearsals to plot the show for sound. This will involve discussing any sound FX which may be required (these are now all recorded onto our hard disc sound FX computer for instant replay), also any special effects will be discussed such as echoes or reverbs which may be needed for atmosphere or sound enhancement. Each character will be noted for voice levels and positioning on stage in proximity to other characters. The wardrobe department will be consulted about costumes, any fast changes that may occur and also any wigs that may be used. The colour of wigs and hair will be noted to assist in the choice of miniature hair-line microphones later. We insist on hiding radio microphone packs and head mics completely so we will also discuss make-up details and appropriate positions for wearing the transmitter packs.

Prior to each performance we will install the radio microphones for each performer ensuring that they are as comfortable and unobtrusive as possible.

On the day of the get-in we will arrive at a pre-arranged time and work in with the rest of the stage crew to minimise disruption, installing all the sound equipment as previously agreed. We will already have discussed any requirements with the Director prior to the technical rehearsal and will run the sound throughout. This will normally involve micing up for the rehearsal even though costumes may probably not be used until dress rehearsal. We will then run sound for the dress rehearsal and respective performances.
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Why good sound is so important to Amateur Theatre?

Twenty five years ago only a few of your audience would have been to a West End musical. No-one owned a CD player. There was no stereo FM radio, no satellite channels, no video recorders. Your orchestra pit had no synthesisers, electric pianos or electric guitars. Your cast probably had a good number of trained voices amongst them. Your audience could probably hear most of what went on unless, of course, they were elderly with hearing not quite as good as it used to be.

Today most of your audiences will have been to see a West End show. They will have been exposed to half a million pounds worth of sound technology. They will have heard every word of dialogue and song and would probably not think that the orchestra was too loud! They might not even have seen the orchestra because it was hidden away under the stage or behind the set, not as so often happens with amateur theatre, three feet in front of the first row of seats on the same level and separated only by a small curtain.

Today's audiences will own a video, a stereo car radio, probably a CD Player. They won't notice the enhancement effects, the reverbs and echoes applied to the recordings of their favourite songs and shows. They won't that is, until your Society performs these songs without these effects and they sound, not quite loud enough over the orchestra, a bit dry and, well not really like the recordings they are used to!

As a Society you will want to keep your audiences and be able to perform shows that are not 'the old favourites' guaranteed to sell out. If you want to move with the times and survive as an entertainment medium then you need to invest in the future now. You need to invest in good sound. Bad sound is worse than no sound at all so make sure that your Sound Engineers know that your reputation as a Society rests to a large part, with them.

Make the first move now, contact TONY or ANDREA on the numbers shown.

Discuss your sound requirements and budget with us, we are almost certain to be able to help in one form or another.

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