Orbital Sound has announced the CSC tRemote app, bringing remote trigger-list viewing and control capability for the CSC Show Control & Audio Playback System to the iPad.
Developed by CTR Electronics, and distributed exclusively by Orbital Sound, the CSC system provides sound effects and show-control management on theatrical, musical and live-event productions worldwide.
Available in three versions – Full, LE and Free – and all sharing the same core features, CSC operates on Windows XP/Vista/7 and on Macs using Bootcamp. Now released as v3.2, CSC combines rapid set-up with sequential cue-list methodology, offering instant hot-scene access to individual cues, and automated WAV file playback. An integral waveform display editor enables the fine-tuning of individual sounds without additional software, while sequenced cues can be displayed and edited using a timeline, or in a conventional cue list, with the CSC tRemote app able to monitor and control a trigger list.
CSC’s multiple triggering options include Midi, serial ports and remote control boxes, while a Routing Mixer enables Image Groups to be recalled and edited on the fly, and is proving especially useful for sound designs employing surround systems and multiple outputs. CSC supports up to 32 output busses, as well as the ability to control video and projection systems, while also offering networking, dual-machine operation, and the running of multiple click tracks.
Available as a free download for iOS devices from Apple’s App Store, the CSC tRemote iPad app is making its debut on the current UK tour of the musical Starlight Express, where it is an integral part of one of the most elaborate CSC deployments to date.
The CSC tRemote app is providing the production’s Deputy Stage Manager (DSM) with a wireless remote viewing and triggering facility, to monitor and control the 100+ sound effects being handled by the CSC system. With an iPad located at the prompt desk, running the new app, the DSM is able to see the scrolling trigger list and, during rehearsals, can pick the show up from a different position if required. Two sets of CSC racks are being used on the tour – one front of house, and the other in the orchestra pit – with each configured as a dual-redundant system, and providing 16 and 24 track outputs respectively.
Dan Samson, associate sound designer and production sound engineer on Starlight Express, outlines the part being played by the tRemote app: ‘The cues stored on the front of house system are controlled by Jack Chandler, the show’s DSM, using the new iPad app. Jack has full command of the Voice of Control, the small child in the storyline who is playing with his train set. Although the audience never sees him, the Voice of Control is a very important character, and has to say his lines exactly on cue for the illusion to work. For this tour, the emphasis of the show has shifted to DSM control, and Jack is effectively “mission control” in this context, with the tRemote app giving him much more flexibility than the usual four-button control panel. Having back-stage visibility and control of the trigger list has many applications, and is a real step forward. As well as managing over one hundred Voice of Control cues, the front of house CSC racks are also controlling the surround-sound effects – which feed into the surround and proscenium speaker systems – as well as a number of incidental cues. All the CSC racks are networked, with appropriate elements of each synchronised together, to form an immensely adaptable and powerful system. We have had unrivalled support from Orbital, during the planning stages and throughout the tour, and from the developers CTR Electronics. Orbital’s Richard Carter has given us a lot of assistance with configuring the CSC racks, and helped to implement every idea we came up with.’
The orchestra-pit CSC system is feeding click-tracks into the headphones of the nine musicians in the live band, and controlling the replay of other music segments, with the MD having start-stop buttons to trigger the cues. Crucially, this system also utilises one of CSC’s multiple WAV players to deliver SMPTE time code, which triggers the replay of the 3D video material for the show’s all-important roller-skating race sequences.
As one of the most powerful and flexible event and sound effects handling options available, CSC integrates all aspects of live sound and event control. It features on productions worldwide that range from prestigious West End musicals and numerous pantomimes, to dramas including The Woman in Black and The Mousetrap and major tours such as Starlight Express.
More: www.orbitalsound.com
