Lots of edgy stuff happens on a daily basis at the Penn & Teller Theater in the Las Vegas Rio Hotel. To make sure things don't go absolutely haywire, the sound crew relies heavily upon its wireless communications system.
"Even though we have only two cast members, one of whom (Teller) never speaks, we engage 20 mic/receiver sets over three band splits," says Wayne Willard, FOH engineer/A-1 for the comedic magicians' long-running show.
"Penn Jillette is double-mic'd with one transmitter in a low band split and one transmitter in a high band split. Penn plays a double mic'd upright bass and Teller plays a set of vibes outfitted with a wireless transmitter." The show also uses five handheld wireless mics for audience interaction and a handheld mic for the pianist Mike Jones.
Late last year, Willard took the first steps toward a major upgrade for the comedic magicians' wireless system. "Our original gear had pretty much reached the end of its shelf-life," Willard says. "I was very concerned about the RF mysteries posed by the White Spaces debacle, particularly because the free spectrum in Vegas is extremely limited."
Willard had previously worked with PWS' Las Vegas-based associate, Stephen Copeman, on a large project at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. So Willard gave Copeman a call.
Coincidence?
It just so happened – call it an almost-paranormal coincidence, if you must – that PWS was busy developing a new filtered receiver/multi-coupler.
The PWS product development team, including Brooks Schroeder, project manager, Dave Shoman, director of manufactured products, and John Garrido, RF special projects designer, needed a venue very much like the Penn & Teller Theater to beta-test the new DB-16 filtered receiver/multi-coupler.
PWS incorporated their DB-16 into the equipment package that included eight Shure UR4D receivers, 16 UR2 hand held transmitters with SM58 Capsules, 14 Shure UR1 wireless bodypack transmitters, two Shure UR1M Lemos and 18 VT-500 TA4F miniature Lavalier mics.
The Theater
With 1,500 seats, including mezzanine and balcony, the Penn & Teller Theatre has been drawing sell-out crowds to the Las Vegas Rio since 2002. And while they have a repertoire of stunts that are perennial attractions, they are constantly shaking things up to keep the show fresh. This also insures that the FOH crew keeps on its toes.
"We were immediately impressed with the PWS DB-16," says Willard, who also serves as a projects coordinator for the MGM Grand's Entertainment Projects department. "It's made a huge difference in the security of our transmissions. The internal filters protect us from undesirable signals from other sources within our spectrum. We've experienced no frequency interruption and zero intermods by other sources even when we had the political conventions next door. The box worked and continues to work flawlessly since day one. We feel totally protected."
One Minor Change
"We were pretty much delighted with the field reports," says PWS' Schroeder. "The DB-16 performed flawlessly and needed virtually no fine tuning on the operational side." In fact, the only major change inspired by the P&T install was ergonomic rather than electronic.
"Both Wayne and Stephen reported that they found it unwieldy to unplug the unit when they had to pack it up for road shows," Schroeder says. "We originally positioned the IEC power input on the (left) side of the box. We thought this innovative position would make it easier to reach.
"Unfortunately, the consensus of opinion was that it belonged in the traditional position on the back of the box. We made the adjustment and added a lock button to make sure it wouldn't accidentally unplug. An easy fix," he concludes. "Now – abracadabra – everyone is happy."
