Audio Engineering Society
Chicago
Meeting Review, January 27, 2009
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1/27/09
Meeting Highlights John Hatchel
presented �Theater Sound with Blue Man Group� to approximately 60 members of the Chicago AES
chapter. With a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the John has
engineered sound for the Blue Man Group and other industrial performances
around the country for the past 8
years. The The current theater setup includes a
Meyer sound system and a new Digidesign mixing console. The digital board allows the
sound engineer to automatically cross-fade to different
mixes as the show progresses from scene to scene. The Blue Man Group and Digidesign worked together to tweak the programming. So
far it has cut down on mistakes and gives the
engineer more time to adjust the mix. Each member of the Blue Man Group now wears custom Westone in-ear monitors on stage and receives their own
mix. John then talked about the infamous
Blue Man Group instruments including the PVC xylophone. About 70 microphone
channels are used in the show with Audio-Technica
451�s and 441�s being used on the PVC
instruments. When asked about any disaster stories, John recounted an
incident where the sound board
power supply failed just before a show. With minimal delay the sound
engineers were able to run the
show using someone�s personal Mackie mixing board and a CD player. John then emphasized that
they have backups in house now. The meeting ended with a tour around Briar Street
Theater. Those in attendance were given a chance to play some of the
instruments and get a look
behind stage and the front of house. More than a few of us walked away with a blue paint on our
hands and shoes. The Chicago AES chapter would like to thank John for a very interesting tour and presentation.
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