As mentioned by the head sound engineer for the Nashville production of The Tempest, two different types of mics were used for the actors in The Tempest. The first style of mic used attaches temporarily onto an actors ear and extends a mic towards their mouth. This mic would be connected to a wireless transmitter that would send a signal back to the sound board so that the actor’s voice could then be amplified through the speakers set up at ONEC1TY. This style of microphone was the most optimal because it provides a very direct and clear sound. Unfortunately, these mics can be quite expensive and become more problematic as the number of units is increased. As you introduce more and more of these wireless mics, it can become difficult to manage all of the discrete wireless frequencies. Due to these factors, not all actors in the Nashville production of The Tempest could be given over the ear mics.

To solve the issue created from the limited amount of over the ear mics, the sound engineer for The Tempest placed several boundary mics across the front of the stage. A boundary mic is a very flat and discrete mic that can be placed on a surface and is used to amplify any one who stands behind it. Several boundary mics were placed across the front of the stage at ONEC1TY and greatly improved the amplification of actors who did not have an over the ear mic. If these mics had not been implemented, there would have been a large noticeable difference between actors with mics and actors without mics which would have become distracting throughout the performance.

Many of the stylistic music choices made for the production of The Tempest were not made by the sound engineer. The sound engineer explained how he focused primarily on technical aspects and left the stylistic and creative decisions for the composer and director of the show. The sound engineer did describe how he worked with the composer to add effects, primarily reverb, to bits of audio the composer desired to sound more reverberant. Reverb is an effect that when placed on a sound creates many random reflections of the sound. These reflections created by using a reverb effect can make a sound seem as though it was recorded in a large room. Reverb is a common effect placed on sounds to help them sound more “wet,” the opposite of this would be a “dry” sound which would be a sound with no processing or effects placed on it. Below is an example of each of these types of signal.