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Comment by Richelle Thompson on April 5, 2011 at 1:15pm

Thanks Steve and Rich...
I did in fact end up in apartment buzzer land. I had an apartment buzzer on hand and picked up a second one (and transformer) at a local hardware store. Some switches and a spool of zip cable later, I'm in business. A former coworker suggested the remote switch to compensate for the midi length restriction - but the other issue is that I need 2 buzzers... so would need two remote triggers for SFX and two speaker rigs - I'm maxed on channels at the moment as this is the 3rd show in a 3 show rep... This is, however, what I'm looking at to run for the SM's request of a SM controlled back up!
Rich - I looked at the Radio Shack option(s), but wanted a constant power supply, and couldn't readily find an AC transformer with a low enough amperage rating... I wasn't comfortable banking on batteries, even though in theory there should be enough juice for several shows...
Thanks again!
Cheers,
R

Comment by Rich Dionne on April 5, 2011 at 6:53am

Richelle, why not try piezo buzzers? This one (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062395, $4.00 at RadioShack) generates a 75dB buzz at 1 foot. (and can likely be removed from the casing, and put inside any prop you like). It only requires 6v and about 20 mA of current--something you can supply easily with a battery from an electronics store. Wire in a simple button in series, and you've got yourself a working, on stage, buzzer. I know it's analog, but it's simple and should work, if the buzzer is loud enough and has the right tone for your needs. (A quick look at the McMaster-Carr catalog reveals a handful of other options.)

Also, I was the designer on the Amadeus Steve mentions below, and he's correct: the rig he put together for me worked great, and I've been preaching it's value everywhere I work! Keep the MIDI run short and use simple contact closure (a switch as Steve describes), or use a USB remote to trigger your playback software.

Comment by Steven L. Beckel on April 4, 2011 at 5:36am

Richelle - While MIDI can only be driven 50' or so, the relay side of the foot switch controller can realistically be driven much further. I've had great success wiring a switch to an XLR and using the theater's own mic patching system to connect to the controller up in the booth. Then the MIDI length is very short. Also, you could use a USB switch and USB CAT5 Extender. I just used a setup like that on a production of Amadeus where I needed an actor to trigger piano samples on the SFX machine. I used an XKeys setup with a number of buttons to trigger different samples, but you don't have to get that fancy. Lastly, have you ever tried finding a vintage apartment buzzer? I have a few that I found at old hardware stores in the doorbell section, but you can also find them online. I love the sound of them, and you can hide them just about anywhere, but they sometimes aren't loud enough for big houses. And if you have to mic them, it's just easier to play a sound. Hope this helps.

Comment by Richelle Thompson on March 31, 2011 at 7:25am

Stew - thanks for this! I often dismiss or neglect midi for a variety of reasons - on top of which there's the distance issue - our playback is FOH, so getting signal from deck is a hassle at best - but that doesn't mean I couldn't use a dedicated rig on deck. Also - going wireless would alleviate the run. Great food for thought!

Cheers!

Richelle

Comment by Stew Ives on March 30, 2011 at 5:31pm

I think that using a MIDI Solutions Footswitch Controller attached to a button might be the best way to remotely send to a midi message to QLab/SFX for playback to the respective speakers or buzzer boxes. If the desk buzzer has to be wireless you could try this or a product like M-Audio's MidAir attached to the midi solutions footswitch controller.