Repeating its US success in London’s West End, Mean Girls opened in June 2024 at the Savoy Theatre with Tina Fey’s seminal script, in which The Plastics – Regina, Gretchen, and Karen – rule North Shore High and burn anyone who gets in their way. Getting that experience across to the audience is being helped by the inclusion of a Fourier Audio transform.engine as the host for the show’s audio-processing plug-ins.
Associate sound designer Simon Fox says the addition of the transform.engine has helped the show’s workflow considerably, with his preferred processing plug-ins, including the LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven reverb and Soundtheory Gullfoss EQ, able to be connected latency-free via Dante to the show’s DiGiCo Quantum3T FOH console.
‘It’s definitely making connectivity on the show much, much easier,’ he says, having also worked on shows including Disney’s Aladdin and Aida, Tina! and Monty Python Live (Mostly) at London’s O2 in 2014.
Autograph, Mean Girls’ systems supplier, suggested the Fourier Audio transform.engine when availability of a particular reverb that the show’s sound designer had included in the design was no longer available: ‘We had to look for other options and we saw that the transform.engine would support TC Electronic reverbs, so that’s what we went for,’ he explains. ‘We’ve had it as part of the kit from the beginning and I’ve found it to be very useful ever since on the show.’
The transform.engine had used the original software but has since been updated, including the addition of Cuelists – although Fox says he hasn’t had the chance yet to implement those. Eeven the most basic functions of the transform.engine, however, are being regarded as game-changers on complex productions like West End shows. Fox says he’s able to apply the appropriate plug-ins via the transform.engine as inserts for the band channels, giving him an added layer of precise control over their processing.
‘It’s a single source going into the console, so it reduces complexity while also eliminating latency,’ he says. ‘It’s an extension of an outboard rack but with much more flexibility. It’s been a good choice for me.’
More: www.autograph.co.uk
