Sound Playback

Sound playback refers to the process of routing audio (such as music, sound effects, or cues) from a playback device (typically a laptop or CD player) to the sound system during a show or rehearsal.

Audio routing & DAC's

Playback can be sent to a sound desk through a few ways:

• USB audio interface: Connect your laptop to the desk via a USB cable and set your laptop's audio output to use the USB interface. On the desk, select the appropriate USB input channel. This method provides a fully digital connection which should give you higher quality playback with the smallest amount of hassle. The sound desk will then use its digital-to-analoge converter (DAC) to turn this digital signal into voltages that can be sent over cables. Note that higher-end desks have USB audio interfaces, but our analogue desks often do not.
• Dante over Ethernet: If the sound desk has a Dante card audio can be transmitted digitally over ethernet using Dante. In the studio, this has the advantage of allowing playback from anywhere in the venue, as all the patch panels have ethernet ports, so you can fix levels while sitting in the audience during a soundcheck. This is done by starting dante virtual soundcard and setting the patching on dante controller. The desks DAC then converts this to voltage in the same way as before.
• 3.5mm Jack: If your desk has neither a USB interface nor a Dante card, a reliable fallback is routing audio through your laptops 3.5mm Jack. We have 3.5mm to 2-XLR cables which will provide a stereo input to the desk. However, this method uses the laptop’s built in DAC to convert the signal to voltage straight away (in order to travel along the 3.5mm cable), this DAC will be lower quality than the one used in sound desks.

QLab

Playback is often done using QLab running on the Tech Crew Macbook. Tech Crew own a QLab 4 audio license.

Sound Effects (SFX) & Music

Sound effects are often used in shows to make the show more realistic or create an atmosphere. They may also be linked or interacted with by the cast, such as phone or doorbell sound effects.

Generally, any music should be downloaded locally in advance and played from the Tech Crew Macbook using QLab, along with any other SFX. For example, using spotify or youtube to play sound may be slightly less reliable (if the network drops out or you get ads etc). Whilst it is possible to use Spotify for music playback, this is technically against the Spotify Terms of Use which only allows personal, non-commercial use. Spotify offer a service called Soundtrack Your Brand which can be used commercially - the university has a few old iPhones with licenses for this service, which can be requested when working with them on larger projects (such as the Christmas Lights Switch-on).

Free SFX and Music Libraries

Some free libraries of sound effects and music include:

• Sonniss Game Audio Bundle (Tracklist) (Previous Years) (Individual 2020 Directory) - Soniss provide a collection of sound libraries, several of which are released for free each year for the Game Developers Conference. Can be used for any purpose (including commercial use) without attribution.
• BBC Sound Effects Library - although this cannot technically be used commercially and may require attribution.
• YouTube Audio Library - requires free YouTube account. May require attribution. Includes both SFX and music.
• Cymatics.fm - free music samples and presets.
• Bigsoundbank.com - free and in the public domain.