Manteo, N.C.— Through wind and rain, stage fights, environmental acoustics and more, Point Source Audio mics have weathered all the challenges in The Lost Colony, the outdoor theatre production located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The audio team, confident in their PSA investment since 2013, recently added the new patent-pending CO2 Confidence Collectiondual-element headset mic to their collection of 24 active on set mics.

“We were excited to see a product that made the application of the dual elements simpler by combining those wire runs and keeping things as tidy as possible. That mic has been a great benefit to the production,” says Sound Designer/composer Michael Rasbury. “The [lead] character is most likely to have a mic issue due to the activity required by this role; stage combat; perspiration.”

Since 1937, The Lost Colony has been telling the story of the first English colonies in North America and their mysterious disappearance. Over the past few years, the audio systems have been overhauled, upgraded and redesigned, including the ever-important microphones.

Robust equipment to withstand elements including water—in the form of rain and perspiration— as well as wind and heat is invaluable for theatre, but especially for outdoor theatre. The associate producer Lance Culpepper explains: “To provide our audience the experience that they’re expecting, we really have to put a lot of our resources into ensuring that the audio equipment can sustain itself through all of these dynamic changes. That’s one of the reasons why microphones are so important to us. Prior to the Point Source mics, we saw a much shorter lifespan with the previous microphones and we had to send them out for servicing more frequently. We don’t see those problems with the Point Source mics.”

“I am beyond pleased with the addition of Point Source microphones to our production,” states A1 Joseph Reynolds. “The waterproof elements are paramount to an outdoor period drama, where the perspiration of the talent could compromise mic functionality. I especially enjoy the dual behind the ear headsets. It helps to have consistent placement and keeps the mic off the talent’s face.”

Placement is an important consideration as noted by Rasbury. “From a design perspective, the low profile of these microphones is key for getting the mic near the voice without detracting from the 16th-century costume design. Our show is also very physical in nature. We have a large company and large-scale fight choreography. Given the way these mics attach to both ears, they stay on the actor and in the correct place throughout the show.”

The other feature of the PSA mics that the team wants to highlight is that “the frequency response of these elements is excellent (20Hz to 20kHz),” says Rasbury. “Our show also includes gunshots, explosions, and loud actor responses; these do not distort at high SPL.” Reynolds adds, “The frequency response is tailored nicely to the full range of human speech and I don’t have to slice up every channel with a parametric scalpel.”

The CO2 Confidence Collection has two waterproof and frequency-matched elements, each measuring a tiny 3mm. Both elements offer built-in redundancy and integrate PSA’s first-to-market features including IP 57 waterproof rating and the “unbreakable” headset boom. Point Source Audio mics are engineered for durability and to endure challenging mic applications.

Culpepper appreciates the support from Point Source Audio. “They’ve been great to work with,” he says. “The communication has been excellent as well as customer service-wise. Knowing that we’re not just another account number with them means a lot to our organization.”

The audio team at The Lost Colony includes sound designer Michael Rasbury, A1 Joe Reynolds, and A2 Josiah Rodgers. Microphones supplied by Wake Forest, NC-based Provision Audio Video Solutions.

For more information about Point Source Audio and its products, visit www.point-sourceaudio.com.

AboutThe Lost Colony

First staged in 1937, The Lost Colony is the nation’s premier and longest-running outdoor symphonic drama. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paul Green and produced by the Roanoke Island Historical Association, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit, The Lost Colony’s 2019 season runs May 31-Aug. 23, 2019 at Roanoke Island’s Waterside Theatre, located within the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on the Outer Banks. For information, go to www.thelostcolony.org

About Point Source Audio

Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones—a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, California. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

Washington, D.C.. — Point Source Audio’s CO2 Confidence headsets played a large primary—and a critical secondary—role for double mic’ing at the 2019 AIPAC Policy Conference held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC. Over 18,000 people attended the three-day conference and included members of Congress, students, and synagogue delegations. The guest speaker roster was massive (the AIPAC website lists over 400) and the audio needs were equally large with 120 channels of wireless mics being used. And, as typical, the expectations for fail safe reliability and sonic excellence with microphones were high.

AIPAC live interviews got “backup” from 40 redundancy headsets

To that end, audio supplier, Maryland Sound Industries (MSI) provided their client, Viva Creative, 40 of Point Source Audio’s CO2 Confidence headset mics for use with the Shure and Sennheiser RF systems that were utilized for the event. Given the amount of RF which, in addition to microphones, included IEMs, broadcast and security channels, the chance of being “stepped” on was very real and made frequency coordination and backup or redundancy options vital.

Robert Jones is the account manager for MSI and first tried the PSA mics at a demo and was impressed both with the sonic capability and the fact that he now had two identical microphones in one package. “In the past we’ve used two transmitters with a headset and with a lavalier mic as backup. If we lost a particular frequency, which can happen in an event this large, and needed to switch transmitters during the speech, the sound difference between the lav and headset is audible. With the Point Source Audio mics, the sound never changes and, on those occasions, where we do need to switch to the backup transmitter, the audience doesn’t notice. There is a sonic consistency we like.”

Jones also noted the increased speed and ease of mic’ing the talent with the PSA mics saying, “Once this thing gets rolling, it’s a constant process of removing the mic as the speaker leaves the stage, putting one on for the new speaker, and on and on. Anything that helps our techs with that process is much appreciated.”

Yvonne Ho, VP of sales & marketing at Point Source Audio, appreciates and understands the challenges of large-scale productions such as AIPAC and commented, “Beyond the audio quality aspect, our goal is to assist our customers in solving problems. If the tech crew can double mic speakers in half the time and ensure the live mic is fail-safe, then we are making real progress.”

The patent-pending CO2 Confidence Collection, a new class of wireless microphones, all have dual elements, each measuring a tiny 3mm that offers built-in redundancy. The CO2 mics also integrate two of the company’s important first-to-market features in miniature microphones: IP 57 waterproof rating, and the “unbreakable” headset boom bendable to 360° to bolster durability.

Point Source Audio will be showcasing the CO2 Confidence microphones for audio professionals at the upcoming InfoComm in Orlando, June 12 – 14, booth 5443. To learn more about Point Source Audio products, please visit www.point-sourceaudio.com

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About Maryland Sound
Founded in 1967 as a touring sound company, Maryland Sound has been an industry leader for over 40 years. While still maintaining a presence in the touring industry with artists such as Slash, Yanni, Seal, and other international artists, the company is now known as a leader in broadcast, sporting, and corporate events such as the Dew Action Sports Tour, multiple Presidential Inauguration Swearing In Ceremonies, as well as Inaugural Balls and, for 28 years, New Year’s Eve in Times Square. www.marylandsound.com

About Point Source Audio
Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones — a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, California. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

NEWBURY, ENGLAND—As the curtain rose on a recent production of the National Theatre Live’s performance of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” Snell Advanced Media was backstage helping provide the first HDR production. SAM’s Kahuna production switcher, outfitted with the latest version of the FormatFusion technology, helped bring HDR capabilities to all inputs and outputs and was deployed in Telegenic’s OB truck for the two-part live broadcast.

The Kahuna with FormatFusion4 technology provided the production team with both SDR and HDR capabilities, as well as use rec.709 and rec.2020 simultaneously. The entire production was delivered through the UHD switcher. The National Theatre had used SAM’s Kahuna switcher in the past, but this was the first time it was used for UHD/HDR purposes, per one of the broadcast’s technical producers.

The “Angels in America” broadcast, which starred Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane, Russell Tovey, Denise Gough and James McArdle, was shown live in more than 2,500 cinemas in 60 countries. The two-part production was shown in theaters on July 20 and July 27.