Quotes - Sound Design & Technology
"But EQ'ing the crap out of a speaker because the venue has problems is not necessarily going to make it sound better. It will make it sound different, but not necessarily better." -- Jonathan Deans
[1]
"Well, the impact is really hard to exaggerate. I mean, once something like this happens, your whole mindset changes, and you can't even really go back and compare. Particularly when it's happened over several generations." -- Bill Gates
[2]
"People always fear change. People feared electricity when it was invented, didn't they? People feared coal, they feared gas-powered engines. There will always be ignorance, and ignorance leads to fear. But with time, people will come to accept their silicon masters...The PC industry is the fastest-moving industry on earth." -- Bill Gates
"That’s why we live in such exciting times. Digital technology allows ideas, knowledge, information and entertainment to be created at lower costs than ever before and to be replicated at near zero cost. Add that to the internet, which allows communication and distribution at near zero costs, and the opportunities to break the link between time and money and to invest energy into producing useful goods and services that can be reproduced many times over becomes huge.” -- Nick Pagan
[3]
Quotes - People & Politics
"Egos in the theatre are the lifeblood of the best creative work; ego that has a basis in talent is treated with enormous respect." -- John Senczuk
"Sound design is 5% skill, 5% equipment and 90% politics." -- Tony Meola (Wicked, Lion King, Les Misérables)
[4]
"Nothing is as valuable as knowing how to handle a situation or people. Second to that, I like a sense of humour. Third, a sense of perspective." -- Jim van Bergen (Cats, Blue Man Group) Sound and Music for the Theatre.
"Keeping clients happy is the name of the game in my world. Sometimes, a client’s priorities may shift and it doesn’t really matter how good you make it sound for their event. Their perception of our value may have more to do with how we handle any special challenges thrown our way. Audio skills can be completely overwritten by diplomatic skills" -- Steven Midkiff (February 2005 Live Sound International 67)
"People skills keep you working in this business, bizarrely, sonic skills run a slow second." -- Rick O'Neil (October 2002 Audio Technology: Issue 23 pp121)
Quotes - Tony Awards Acceptance speeches (from the Inaugural Tony award for Sound Design 2008)
Scott Lehrer
Best Sound Design of a Musical
South Pacific
"Wow, in front of Radio City Music Hall, amazing. I’m used to being back on the other side of it. There have already been two designers from South Pacific up here and they said a lot of the same things that I had written down to say about how wonderful it is to work at Lincoln Center Theater, just what a great experience it is there with the staff and the crew at that theatre. Putting on a show there is a wonder. And also, Don [Holder] brought up personal things and he brought up the fact that his dad was a World War II vet, and my father, who also pasted away a few years ago, I would loved to have had him come see this show, South Pacific, and sit next to Don’s dad. That would have been quite an experience.
Getting this first sound Tony is really a huge honor for me, and I think we really have to thank the other designers who have basically been the pioneers in this art. People like Abe Jacob, Jack Mann, Martin Levan, Otts Munderloh, and many others. They really paved the way of us over the last 40 years. And all of us would like to thank the American Theatre Wing for bringing us on board this year. I just want to specially thank two guys who I consider my co-designers, my associate, Leon Rothenberg; and our mixer, Mark Salzberg. You’re both such generous and talented guys. And Mark, your artistry behind the console is equal to that of any great musician who’s playing in the pit.
And, lastly--I don’t hear any music yet—I’ve got to thank both Bart and Michael for doing that incredible reveal of the orchestra, because I think a big part of why I’m standing up here is the way they set up the sound for this show. How could it not be any greater than that for a sound designer? And the great Rodgers & Hammerstein music, sung with such beauty every night by the cast.
Anyway, thank you very much. This is a huge honor. Thank you."
Mic Pool
Best Sound Design of a Play
The 39 Steps
"Thank you all so much. This is such a great privilege. This is only my second show on Broadway and I’m just so pleased to win this for a show that has delighted audiences throughout the world, and that we’ve been able to make such a special show in New York with our fantastic cast and production team. My staff, associate designer Drew Levy, operator Dan Wogner, and in my opinion the best production stage manager anywhere, Nevin Hedley. It is also with some humility that I accept this award because obviously this award has not been created because of the work of any of the award nominees this year. It’s the continued excellence of the sound design community on Broadway over the last 20 years that’s really achieved this.
When I was a student in the ‘70s, I was particularly inspired when the American cast of A Chorus Line came to Drury Lane where I was working as a program seller, and the work of Abe Jacob on that particularly inspired me and set me on the path, which has led here, really. Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Shawn. I’m really pleased that you could be with me here tonight for this. Thank you all very much."
