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ALLISON BUCHER

Submission for USITT Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award

The Giver

Director: Marti Gobel

Scenic Design: Michaela Lochen

Costume Design: Lauren Roark

Lighting Design: Mitch Wilson

Sound Design: Allison Bucher

Projection Design: Ken Martin

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The Giver - Full Design Collage
00:00 / 03:49

The Giver by Eric Coble, based on the novel by Lois Lowry, explores a dystopian society which is completely devoid of color, desire and choice in an effort to bring peace to the Community’s inhabitants. Hormones are blocked at puberty, music and color have been erased entirely, and all decisions are made by the Committee of Elders.

 

The sound design for this production had to reflect these qualities, creating a sense of peacefulness that, with careful manipulation, could begin to feel more eerie and ominous. I was inspired by singing bowls and meditative soundscapes- long, drawn out ambient tones which are meant to calm the listener. I could layer these tonal sounds in ways that were harmonious and calming or with dissonance, causing a sense of unease.

 

The scenic and costume designs for this production were rooted in utility. The scenic design is reminiscent of brutalist architecture, with harsh edges and strong lines and simple shapes. The costume design is likewise utilitarian, sturdy fabric cut in ways that would reduce waste, each age group and job with a unifying silhouette that further reinforces the social order and lack of individualism. While the sound design needs to also serve an emotional purpose to the audience, I wanted it to have a diegetic sense of utility as well. I found that the bell-like quality of the singing bowls and tonal drones could additionally serve a more utilitarian purpose in my design- calling to order, signaling the passage of time, or preceding a community wide announcement. ​

 

When Jonas becomes the Receiver of Memory, he begins to discover all of the things that his society has left behind in exchange for a "peaceful" life of sameness. In contrast to the ambient tones of the Sameness, I wanted the moments of Jonas receiving the memories to feel magical and present. I created a motif of wind and chimes that could signify the transference of memory between Jonas and the Giver. This would bridge the gap between the ambient, tonal world of Sameness and the memory that Jonas was experiencing for the first time. 

 

  Because Jonas does not officially hear music until the end of the play, many of the sounds for abstract concepts (such as sunshine, snow, or pain) portrayed in the memories include music, although in a very simplistic way- basic chords and simple melodies. This builds up to the moments in which Jonas finally does hear music, which are much more musically complex.

One of my goals with the sound design of this production was to create an immersive world. I made use of multiple sets of surround speakers to place and move specific sounds around the house using PanLab. I also delayed all of my speakers to a point far upstage so that I could use reverb in the house in a way that would feel as if the sound was washing over the audience from the stage.

Recording session for community announcements 

The Giver - War
00:00 / 00:41
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PanLab was used to create immersive and dimensional soundscapes throughout the play, such as the one above, portraying Jonas recieving the memory of war. 

The Giver- Beginning sequence
00:00 / 01:48
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The beginning of this play featured a devised section wherein the Community is showcased in their daily lives, interrupted by a plane flying overhead. I created custom paths in PanLab for the sound of the jet to follow, panning from the back of the house to the farthest upstage point and back again. 

Men on Boats

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Director: Ashlee Latimer

Scenic Design: Sophie Smrcka 

Costume Design: Kaelyn Marie

Lighting Design: Kaylin Gess

Projections Design: Lucas Swinehart

Sound Design: Allison Bucher

Men on Boats - Full Design Collage
00:00 / 01:50

​​Men on Boats is a story of discovery, adventure, and duty portrayed through a gender-bent ensemble comedy. This play touches on how we interact with our environment, the value of legacy, and the importance of how and by whom history is told. It recounts the mapping expedition of John Wesley Powell and his crew who are tasked with mapping the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. As they continue on their journey, they encounter many difficulties including a lack of preparation, the dangers of the water itself, and philosophical questions about what it means to have a legacy and to have one’s story told.  

 

Through my design, I hoped to capture the jubilant spirit of adventure that is the driving force of this play while also exploring the idea of how we interact with the natural world and more importantly, how it interacts with us. This is portrayed through dynamic beds of ambient nature sounds which can be either comforting or unnerving depending on the context. The river itself is a constant throughout the play, and has its own personality. It can be a source of sustenance, or a place of danger and death. It is present in some way throughout the entirety of the play, until the final moments when the team, having lost a few members along the way, finally reaches their destination. In their reflection of where they are and the journey that brought them there, we find the first moments of pure silence in the whole play. 

 

I chose to represent some of the more fun, comedic, and adventure-filled elements of the play through music that is upbeat and has a playful and forward-moving nature to it. While this is a play based on historical people and events, it has many anachronisms that make it more relatable to a modern audience. I used music that is reminiscent of folk music and its acoustic instrumentation, which alludes to the time period and the western frontier while also speaking to the jovial and grassroots tone of the journey.

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Opening moments of the play, a contemplative moment before the team embarks on their journey, plunging into nature and the adventure ahead. 

Below is this sequence as portrayed in the Qlab file (left).

Men on Boats Opening
00:00 / 01:08

During one portion of their journey down the Colorado River's rapids, some of the members of the crew are thrown overboard. This was staged for both comedic and dramatic effect with overdrawn slow motion movements, which I replicated by slowing down the underscoring and then speeding it back up again.

Below is this sequence as portrayed in the Qlab file (right).

Men on Boats Rapids
00:00 / 02:12
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Music used in this production was licensed from StoryBlocks

Knoxville

Associate Designer and Mixer

Director and Choreographer – Josh Rhodes
Music Supervisor – Caleb Hoyer
Music Director – Ming Aldrich-Gan
Scenic & Costume Designer – Robert Perdziola
Lighting Designer – Kenton Yeager
Sound Designer – Joe Payne
Associate Sound Designer and Mixer – Allison Bucher

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Knoxville is based on James Agee’s Pulitzer Prize winning A Death in the Family. The musical follows the Author, representative of Agee, who in writing this novel, reflects on his childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee and the days leading up to and following the death of his father, which will forever have questions surrounding it. With this reflection comes the natural messiness of family, tangle of responsibility, resentment, love, and hope. 

 

This production of Knoxville was a sort of “second try” produced by the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. While this was not the world premiere of this musical, some of the original creative team, and the writers, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty returned and made some significant changes throughout the process. Because of this, I was able to work with composer Stephen Flahrety and the rest of the sound and music team to hone in on a perfect mix for the show. 

 

As the associate sound designer and mixer on this production I generated all paperwork, console programming, and microphone tracking. I used TheatreMix to track and adjust DCA assignments throughout the production. This show consisted of 15 actors with wireless microphones, a seven-piece onstage band, and four actors who played ten instruments throughout the musical. Our wireless microphones consisted of Shure ULXD and Sennheiser microphones. Some of the actor's instruments, such as guitars, banjos, and mandolins were fitted with wireless microphones or pickups, while others, such as violins and accordions were picked up with the actor’s own body microphone, channeled and EQed separately. 

I used TheatreMix (shown above and below)  to program my DCAs, making it easy to make adjustments during tech.

Fun Home

Director: Jessica Holt

Scenic Design: Sophie Smrcka 

Costume Design: Kyle Shellinger

Lighting Design: Jordan Vera

Sound Design: Allison Bucher

Fun Home follows the emotional journey of Alison Bechedel, as she reflects on her childhood and relationship with her late father. As she recounts her memories, she draws comparisons between herself and her father, in an attempt to better understand him. Through the sound design of this production, I wanted to find a sense of presentness, as if Alison is reliving these past moments rather than simply remembering them.

This production of Fun Home was produced in a three-quarter thrust by a local storefront theatre, which had been renovated from an old ice factory. As the sound designer for this production, I also acted as the mixer and did all sound system set up and console programming. We had a live seven piece band, which had ambient reinforcement. Since the space was fairly small and due to the nature of the musical, I was aiming for a naturalistic sound overall, this was used primarily for actor monitoring. 

I also managed a rental package that consisted of 12 wireless sennheiser microphones, receivers, and elements, and two EAW speakers. This was used in conjunction with the two D&B V10 speakers which make up the theatre’s main PA system, and DAS Action-M5124 monitors which were placed as needed. I also placed a small speaker in a gutted piano to emulate the actors playing it in certain scenes.

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Raincoat of Love Final
00:00 / 00:51

During one scene, Small Alison watches a show similar to The Partridge Family.  Shortly after, Bobby Jeremy, a fictional singer comes alive in Alison's imagination, singing Raincoat of Love, as she blocks out the sounds of her parents arguing. I recorded our Small Alison and Bobby Jeremy saying the lines in the show, and the adult cast singing Raincoat of Love to play back as the TV show, all edited to sound squashed and tinny coming through a 70s tube television. 

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