Emily Hutton
Audio Files
Below are some examples of effects and tracks I recorded, edited and mastered.
Chicago
Chicago was a completely different style of musical from anything I have ever mixed before. It featured a 15 piece orchestra on stage in a bandstand-like cinfiguration and 24 wireless mics on the actors. This has always been one of my favorite shows so I was excited to be the FOH Mix Engineer and also the Assistant Sound Designer. The designer, James Dunlap, accomplished a lot of really cool effects by sourcing vocals to where the actor was standing. I had to move the actor's voice around with them as they physically moved around the space.
The K of D by Laura Schellhardt Armbrust
The K of D is my first professional credit as a Sound Designer. It is written to be a one woman show where the actress plays 15 different characters. The show required around 100 sound effects ranging from voice recordings of the actress, outdoor ambient lake noises, dogs barking and doors slamming. The director wanted the actress to be conjuring all of the sound effects so nearly every sound effect was a visual cue based on the actress' haunting hand movements. The sound effects below were all recorded and edited by me.
Nursery Rhyme
Screen Door Slamming
Sliding Glass Door Closing
I Got One! Dialogue
Peter Pan
Peter Pan was the first mainstage musical I got the opportunity to mix at WSU. It featured a 20 piece orchestra in a pit configuration and nearly 30 wireless mics on the actors. This show will always have a special place in my heart for several reasons but the biggest reason is because it was the first show my little brothers were able to come see that I was a part of. It was an unforgettable and magical experience that we all got to share together.
Fences
One of the sound effects needed is a baseball game playing over the radio. The play takes place in 1950’s Pittsburgh. The directors for Wright State’s production put together a timeline for the show that gave me a date. I did research on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster in 1953 and found their schedule for their 1953 season. Then, I researched 1950 baseball game radio recordings and found a full recording. I listened to the last five minutes of the game, and then I replaced the teams, players, locations and scores with the information for the game I needed to replicate.
The Cherry Orchard
In Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, there are many different sound effects required. I enjoyed the opportunity to create my own sound effects for this production. All of the effects heard here were recorded, edited and mastered by me.
The infamous "string breaking" was probably the most challenging to create because there is no real description given in the script. The characters describe what they are hearing. Taking what they say and making it all make sense in the context of the scene made it the most challenging effect. Later the effect is heard again (String Breaking 2) but it is much bigger and darker, almost like the other shoe has finally dropped.
String Breaking 1
Falling Down Stairs
Door Locking
String Breaking 2
Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party
This was a really great musical to mix. We had ten body mics on performers as well as a live band in the space that was mic-ed. The biggest challenge about mixing this show was the space itself because we were in a black box space designed with audience on either side of the acting area and it was at an angle so I was essentially mixing from the far corner of the room.