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Video: David Byrne & More Talk HERE LIES LOVE's Immersive Sound Design
May 17, 2024
L-Acoustics has released a video piece about the pioneering audio - L-ISA immersive sound - used in Here Lies Love on Broadway, featuring interviews with David Byrne (concept, music andamp; lyrics), sound designers Cody Spencer and M.L. Dogg, and scenic designer David Korins. Watch here!
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0:00
Just say here lies love
0:04
An immersive disco karaoke musical. My name's David Byrne. Recently I wrote a theatrical show, a musical
0:16
that is now opening on Broadway. Here lies love
0:26
Hi, my name's Cody Spencer. So I am Mutt, also known as ML Dog
0:30
As co-designers for Here Lies Love, Mutt and I both kind of have our own roles
0:34
I take care of more the system and dealing with the actual tuning and the sound of the system
0:38
where Mutt is taking care of the content. My name is David Korns and I am the set designer of Here Lies Love
0:43
Our director likes to talk about this show as a Trojan horse. We present like we're in this kind of club-like environment
0:49
in that people want to come and dance and sing and marvel at the technology
0:53
and be immersed inside of the storytelling. About a third of the audience is on the dance floor
0:57
We've turned the theater into basically a dance club and the actors are moving around on these platforms
1:04
Sometimes we're crossing into a runway that goes down the middle of the dance floor
1:09
But then what comes out of that Trojan horse is this extraordinarily poignant tale
1:16
about the fragility of democracy and the story of a people who had to deal with the rise and fall of this dictatorship
1:26
It's made even more particularly important because it's an all-Filipino cast for the first time in Broadway history telling this story
1:34
There's times when you dance and there's times when you're watching some dramatic thing taking place
1:41
So that's kind of what the show is. For the system design of Here Lies Love
1:46
I kind of always knew that I knew I wanted to use Aliza, I knew I wanted to use Elle Acoustics
1:51
I started talking to PRG North America, who I knew had the resources to make this show happen
1:57
to give us this show that is 100% audience-facing Elle Acoustics, which is kind of unheard of in the Broadway market
2:03
to have 100% of any manufacturer. We first did the show at least 10 years ago
2:08
at the Public Theater in downtown New York. It was the same, basically the same show
2:14
much smaller scale, much, much smaller audience. The focus of the audience
2:19
instead of just being on the floor or the pit, we now have a full mezzanine
2:24
We actually have 6 different zones that we are controlling with 2 Aliza processors
2:31
We have a floor Aliza processor doing a 360 sound, so sound can go all around
2:36
and then we have what we call the frontal system, which is more of the voices are in the front
2:41
with surrounds and stuff all around, where Aliza came in really handy here
2:45
is to up in the mezzanine to give the people the experience of sound going around them
2:49
and not just in front of them, because most theatrical experiences, sound is in front of you
2:53
There's a number of points in the show where the actors, the singers
2:58
are in different positions during the same song. Imelda is on a platform
3:06
and Marcos is in kind of a hospital bed, and he sings and she responds
3:12
You can watch the audience, and they'll hear the sound from behind
3:16
and then they know that's the performer I need to pay attention to. It really gives the ability to focus attention
3:21
And they do, and it's a big relief that the system can do that
3:26
They're the more subtle moments that we use Aliza to be able to help the audience feel encompassed by the sound
3:33
There's quite a few places where the actors are actually moving as they sing. Aliza
3:41
Who's holding aces and Who's got a full band Who's got a secret and
3:49
The first time I experienced the Aliza technology was when Cody said, come over to the theater
3:55
we have playback, we can play back some of the tracks and you can hear it through the system
4:00
And it sounded pretty incredible. My first experience with Aliza was a little bit different than most people's experience with Aliza
4:07
I was in Paradise Love in 2013. I flew to Marquee Missy and went into a dark basement
4:13
and there was this little box, this computer that looked like it was in pieces in the middle of the room
4:18
with a whole bunch of Karas around. And it was the first iteration of Aliza
4:23
and very unique that I got to see it in that form, and now it's part of the show on Broadway
4:29
You know, the fact that you're watching this immersive show that's a disco, that whether you're standing on the floor
4:35
or the sound is all around you, or you're sitting up in the mezzanine, you're really feeling like you're encompassed and you're part of the show
4:41
as opposed to, there's a proscenium here, and I'm watching the show that's down there
4:45
You look around, you're like, how did they do this? Just to be standing on that dance floor
4:50
and just hear the voices come at you, whether they're localized, whether they're encompassing
4:55
however it is, and just the sound come at you, it's just amazing. I've had nights where I've teared up a little bit
5:01
just listening to be like, I couldn't have done this without the support for this technology
5:06
and the amount of time that we spent to do this is just, you know, it's well worth it in the end
5:12
and it's just amazing that we were able to get here with this
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