A Sound and Video Production Company
TL;DR: Ditch paper scripts/prompt books for computer copies. Never lose or forget your script again, and guess what – it’s BACKLIT! The Story: I design in a lot of different theatres, often with overlapping schedules. This is a common designer dilemma. There was one time I had six shows opening within a six week window! …
Continue reading “Digital play scripts/prompt books are here!”
TL;DR: How to write cue numbers with a system that lets you skip around, know where you are in your cue sheet, and be compatible with other departments…by working in blocks of ten. The Story: Some seasons are completely insane for me. It’s a common theme for designers – you’ve got maybe one too many …
Continue reading “Cue numbering, and playing well with others”
This month, we are going to post around the theme of cues and scripts – numbering systems, digital scripts/prompt books, Applescripts for Qlab that will turn the pages of those scripts, and more. Here are the topics we will be looking at: Cue numbering, and playing well with others Digital play scripts/prompt books are here! …
Continue reading “September is Cue and Script Month on the Rocktzar blog!”
TL;DR: If you’re using Spotify for house music, here is how to control it using Qlab. Especially helpful for random little shows & presentations. The Story: Spotify has become a dominant player in how we discover and consume music. With almost 150 million active users and almost 20% of Americans using it every month, it’s …
Continue reading “Using Qlab to control Spotify and house music”
As our blog here on Rocktzar.com grows, we are happy to announce that we will start organizing our content into monthly themes, as appropriate. We don’t foresee every month being thematic, but as we get more content we will try to organize it to make sharing – and learning – more convenient, and help the flow …
Continue reading “July was Live Mixing Month! New blog themes are coming”
TL;DR: A look into DCAs and VCAs – seemingly strange and esoteric acronyms – how they can help you mix, and how they differ from groups. The Story: As audio mixers got bigger, it made sense to have the controls for outputs, submixes, and other master knobs and faders in the center of the desk. …
Continue reading “Audio Acronyms: DCA, VCA, Groups, and why the nuances matter”
TL;DR: Qlab is not just a tool for theatre. And it isn’t just for playing back media cues! The Story: I have been the North American sound engineer for Pain of Salvation (https://painofsalvation.com) for a few tours. I could go on at length how awesome that job is. One of of the issues we deal with …
Continue reading “Rock & Roll tours with Qlab (and help from Evernote)”
TL;DR: Use Qlab to control every application on your Mac, so you can focus on your show. Also, ToneGenerator is great for soundcheck and room tuning. The Story: By now, you know that I am a big fan of using Qlab for everything. Part of that is the unified interface with the shows I work …
Continue reading “Let Qlab run other applications with Applescript (with ToneGenerator as example)”
TL;DR: Sync your computer with the rest of your team when you receive a Google Drive share. The Story: As I will cover elsewhere, Google Drive is king of all of the sync services out there – plenty of space for free, everyone has a Google account, and the Apps for word processing, spreadsheets, etc …
Continue reading “Google Drive and syncing your show with Backup and Sync software”
TL;DR: Cover your assets by working with versions The Story: I talk a lot about Qlab on this blog, but today’s installment applies to working in any application. I’ve always been pretty organized, even before I started using computers. (You know, before entering college in 1994…) Keeping things straight is critical to knowing where you …
