Richelle Thompson's Page

During the tech of one of our last shows, a guest designer and I were discussing the computer playback system ASF owns and bemoaning that my budget doesn't have enough leeway to upgrade or replace it, since in the way of programming the software is out of date.

One of my operators (who is only a few years my junior) popped off that at least we were computerized and not having to deal with CD or MiniDisc. This led to me to my own tirade about when I was an engineer and my…

I write this blog on a break during a 10 out of 12. Originally I'd thought I'd write a post about the differences between designing for a published work, versus designing for a new work. But instead I'm finding the challanges of period music more on my mind.

My current project at ASF is a sound design for a "The Flag Maker of Market Street," a new play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder. The play is set in Montgomery Alabama in 1860 in the months leading up to the Civil War.…

No matter how much time you've invested in setting up your wireless mic systems - planning layout, tuning frequencies, tweaking gain structure, EQing actors, never mind making your system sound good - it's all for not if you loose a mic mid performance due to a sweat out.

As mentioned in an earlier chapter, the two areas most susceptible to sweat are at the connection of the mic transmitter (or belt pack) and the lavaliere element, and the head of the lavaliere element that…

Instead of carrying on to the next installment on the care and feeding of wireless mics, (which I'll get back to, I promise) I'm going to enter an interlude blog about remounting productions.

In the last few years, I've done several remounts in different circumstances. Each experience has presented a unique challenge for me - either as a supervisor or as the designer - in some cases my own design, in others that of other artists.

The first (and perhaps easiest as it was…