Shure UHF-R Systems tap into smash success for 42nd street

26/06/2017 Shure UHF-R Systems tap into smash success for 42nd street

Hit West End Production Uses Over 80 Channels Of Wireless At Drury Lane

The new UK production of the classic musical 42nd Street, playing  since April this year at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West  End, has been an unmitigated success since its press night produced a  swathe of five-star reviews from all the critics. Behind the scenes, the  musical is also breaking new ground, with over 80 channels of Shure  UHF-R wireless microphones (UR1M transmitters and UR4D receivers) in use  at any one time — if not a West End record, then certainly one of the  shows with the highest wireless channel counts in London theatre  history.

Award-winning Sound designer Gareth Owen is responsible for all of  the audio infrastructure on the 42nd Street revival, and has been a  long-time user of Shure wireless systems. 

About the UHF-R

Ever since they released the UHF-R system, we've had good results...  and when I find a system that gives me good results, I stick with it.

Gareth Owen, Award-winning Sound designer responsible for all of the audio infrastructure on the 42nd Street revival 

Given that 42nd Street has run on the West End before without such a  high number of wireless microphones, what pushed the channel count so  high for the revival? "It's the huge cast of 42nd Street that does it,"  adds Gareth's Associate Designer Olly Steel. "There's never fewer than  42 cast members on stage at any time, they all sing at some point, and  we double-mic the six principals to guard against sweat damage to the  transmitters... so before you even start to think about spares, we're  over 60 channels.” And as Olly goes on to explain, the feet of some of  the cast and chorus are also miked up so that the live sound of  tap-dancing feet can be clearly heard in many of the musical numbers.  The so-called ‘tap mics’ add another 24 channels to the wireless total.

The high wireless channel count is also a function of the increasing  ease of use of such systems, as Gareth Owen explains. "Transmitters are  much better built these days, they're more compact and don't run so hot,  and if they're dropped, it's not as serious as it used to be, because  being lighter, they don't land with so much force... the technology has  really matured." The production's Deputy Head of Sound, Reese Kirsh, who  is part of the 42nd Street backstage crew comprising Wes McCann, Sarah  Dickson and Nikki Hulme, puts it another way.

About the UR1M

You don't have to be so selective about wireless any more, basically!  The UR1M transmitters perform well, and they're a very convenient size —  they're my favourite pack to use.

Reese Kirsh, Deputy Head of Sound in the 42nd Street backstage crew 

Of course, many of the frequencies formerly used by West End shows  for wireless mics have been rendered unusable since the post-Digital  Dividend spectrum auctions in 2012, and licences to a further large  slice of the RF spectrum currently used by theatre productions are due  to be put up for auction next year. Was RF frequency planning for 42nd  Street more of a challenge than it might have been a few years ago?  Undoubtedly, explains Olly Steel. 

Olly Steel, Associate Designer for 42nd Street 

There was initial concern at the high RF channel count in the  planning stages of this show, but in practice, the challenge has been  more about having that kind of high channel count in that location,  right near half a dozen major theatres who are also using wireless, and  in the middle of London, which is itself a fairly RF-heavy environment.  That it works is down to clever frequency coordination and planning,  which was thanks to Orbital Sound.

Brixton-based Orbital Sound supplied all of the audio and  communications infrastructure, including the Shure radio mics for 42nd  Street, and the company's Technical Director, Bill Addison, was  responsible for the frequency plan. He admits that running the requisite  number of wireless channels was a stretch, but just about achievable in  2017. 

Bill Addison, Technical Director at Orbital Sound  

It was quite tight for an analogue radio mic system like this. If we  tried to do the same project in five years from now, though, after the  loss of the 700MHz band, I think we would really struggle. Digital radio  mic systems, like Shure's new Axient Digital, will help with that to a  certain extent, as they're more spectrum-efficient — you can pack a  higher number of channels into a smaller range of frequencies.

Shure's Wireless Workbench 6 proved its worth during 42nd Street's  technical rehearsals in the Spring, and specifically the real-time RF  performance log captured by the new Timeline function, as Deputy Head of  Sound Reese Kirsh admits.

We're using the updated version of Wireless Workbench 6, 6.12.1. The  Timeline function was a godsend for monitoring RF quality over time  during rehearsal... when we were checking how the radio mics were  working, we could look back and see the data around signal interference  issues, and see exactly what wasn't going according to plan instead of  educated guesswork after the event. It's been a real game-changer, that.  We also use Workbench for real-time monitoring of the systems, to keep  us informed of battery levels and so on.

Reese Kirsh, Deputy Head of Sound  

During extensive technical rehearsals throughout February and March,  the large-scale wireless system was strenuously tested and deemed fit  for use. Since the show opened in early April, the Shure UHF-R system  has performed flawlessly. "We've had no problems," says Gareth Owen  confidently, and Bill Addison strikes a similarly nonchalant note to  conclude.

Bill Addison, Technical Director of Orbital Sound 

Once I'd done the frequency planning, and sorted the licensing with  Ofcom, it just seemed much like any other radio system for the West End.  42nd Street uses twice as many staff as you would have for a 40-channel  system, twice as many spares, twice as many aerials... everything is  literally doubled up, so other than the fact that we needed a lot more  frequencies, I didn't really see it as a huge deal.

For more information visit

www.42ndstreetmusical.co.uk

www.garethowensound.com

www.orbitalsound.com