Yamaha Consoles Cast for SAMMY by SDs Shivers and Patridge

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BUENA PARK, Calif.⎯The internationally-acclaimed, Tony® Award-winning Old Globe in San Diego, California is one of the most renowned regional theatres in the country and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 70 years. The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 plays and musicals on its three stages, and has become a gathering place for leading theatre artists from around the world. Currently hosting the hit play SAMMY based upon the life of legendary crooner, Sammy Davis, Jr., the production's sound was designed by John Shivers and David Patridge.

Masque Sound (East Rutherford, New Jersey) provided elements of the sound system for Shivers and Patridge. “It's always a pleasure to work with clients as skilled and as organized as John and David,” states Masque Sound's, Scott Kalata. “They are especially capable of designing well thought out systems that are extremely reliable and sonically pristine. They're both right up there with the best SDs in the business.”

The theatre's Yamaha PM5D digital audio console was the center of the sound system. “We know the PM5D to be a quality digital mixing platform that presents a good combination of feature set versus economics. For shows on the scale of most regional theatres in the U.S., the PM5D offers a solution that has a reasonable footprint, is reliable, and extremely operator friendly. On SAMMY, we took advantage of the ability to cascade the inputs from a Yamaha MY16-AT card to buss the sound effects system into the PA. Sound effects for SAMMY were programmed using QLab V2 that we used as a master cue list to recall scenes in the PM5D. QLab's audio was routed over optical from an RME Fireface 800 to the PM5D's card slot, cascaded to the busses and, in turn, routed to various speakers.”

Patridge says that a Yamaha DM1000 digital console was paired with two AD8HR external preamp units to serve as a sub-mix for both drums and percussion as the sound design for SAMMY easily exceeded the inputs available on the PM5D. “We like the higher quality microphone preamps available via the AD8HR and the ability to pair them with Yamaha's product line of digital consoles using MY slots and serial control of preamp functionality is very convenient.”

Front of house mixing duties are handled by Old Globe engineer Erik Carstensen, the second project he has mixed for Shivers and Patridge. “Erik combines a good deal of industry experience as a sound engineer with a calm and good-natured demeanor⎯an excellent combination for a venue that could easily produce 15 different works in a season,” Patridge says.

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“The selected channel programming and routing on the Yamaha PM5D is intuitive and flexible,” adds Carstensen. “I find that changing and storing EQ and dynamics settings, for example, is achieved quickly⎯vital in the production process where audio usually doesn't get a lot of time to get it right. On top of that, using the PM5D in combination with our DME64 has been very reliable, show after show.”

With a cast of sixteen of Broadway's best singers and dancers, the world premiere musical, written by two-time Academy Award® and Grammy Award®-winner Leslie Bricusse, depicts Sammy's days as a child working in vaudeville through his time with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra as a member of the Rat Pack. Featuring the unmistakable classics that helped to make Sammy an icon like “What Kind of Fool Am I,” SAMMY details the struggles and triumphs of a man who was adored by millions.

For more information on SAMMY, visit http://www.oldglobe.org.

For more information on Masque Sound, visit http://www.masquesound.com.

For more information on the Yamaha products used for the production of SAMMY, visit www.yamahaca.com.

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About Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc.:

Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems, Inc. (YCAS) provides a full line of integrated professional audio products offering complete systems solutions for the broadcast, sound reinforcement/installed sound, touring, commercial recording, and post production markets. With the purchase of NEXO loudspeakers by Yamaha Corporation Japan, the company remains the official U.S. and Canadian distributor for all NEXO models. YCAS offers comprehensive in-house and field product training for its customers, a dedicated dealer network, and 24/7 technical support.