Sounds of the Jungle
We recently sat down with DJ Edwards, Charleston Stage’s Audio Engineer and Sound Designer for A Christmas Story, asking him about the steps he takes in designing sound for particular scenes in this production. DJ responded, “To capture the ‘lost in the jungle’ feel for one of the Ralphie dream sequences in A Christmas Story, Director Julian Wiles asked me to create jungle noises that would introduce the sounds of exotic animals which might scare Ralphie and his friends in this particular scene. So, I designed an ambience which was announced with the sounds of a tiger’s roar, an elephant’s trumpet and growl and the call of a loon. As the animal noises fade out, the audience hears jungle birds and insects that play throughout the rest of the scene.”
“All of these cues are executed by Logan Teder, one of the TheatreWings apprentices in my sound class,” say Edwards. “Logan has used all of his knowledge from the past few months to be my right-hand-man, running the sound cues and fixing any problematic microphones throughout the show. I’m working behind the sound board during each performance of A Christmas Story, so having someone like Logan there to help is crucial. The TheatreWings program is as beneficial to me as it is to our high school apprentices.”
To experience DJ’s sound design firsthand, you can still catch a performance of A Christmas Story running this Thursday through Dec. 20th at the Dock! Click here to purchase tickets.