THE PRODUCERS - typewriter and ratchet FX

[Shapi]

We are currently doing a production of THE PRODUCERS. I am looking for any reference on the typewriter and ratchet sound effects for the number 'I Wanna Be A Producer". They say there is a click track that I must create, but I can't find any reference for it on the soundtrack album, so I don't know the rhythm I need to reproduce. Can anyone help?

[Justice Bigler]

Have you tried looking at the music score? I'm sure it's indicated, probably in the percussion section what rhythm it's supposed to be.

I guess I'm assuming also that you can read music?


-Justice C. Bigler
sound technician
Tulsa Performing Arts Center

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 3:55 PM, Shapi <SShap...@aol.com> wrote:

We are currently doing a production of THE PRODUCERS. I am looking for any reference on the typewriter and ratchet sound effects for the number 'I Wanna Be A Producer". They say there is a click track that I must create, but I can't find any reference for it on the soundtrack album, so I don't know the rhythm I need to reproduce. Can anyone help?

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[John B. Sibley]

It's in the percussion score. It was done on B'way and the subsequent tours using a typewriter and a ratchet.

Sent from my mobile device

[Sud...@aol.com]

We used party favors. Mounted them to fake adding machines. The kind that make noise when you spin them.

[Derek Dumais]

My next show is The Producers, so I'm interested in what others have done.  Sounds like it might be the first time I'll mic a typewriter in the pit!

[Douglas Levine]

Derek...I'm doing the Producers right now...we recorded a ratchet and old adding machine on top of a click track I'm activating from the podium. My sound designer is Steve Shapiro, who's on this list serve. d

On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 5:01 AM, Derek Dumais <derek...@gmail.com> wrote:

My next show is The Producers, so I'm interested in what others have done.  Sounds like it might be the first time I'll mic a typewriter in the pit!

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[Bill Thompson]

What Douglas said... using typewriter samples, or even reinforcing a real typewriter might not sound 'real' enough.

Sometimes you have to really exaggerate a sound to get the effect across - I haven't designed "The Producers", but I have had to provide the sound of a typewriter in the past, and I ended up using a combination of sounds, I know I used ratchets, and believe it or not, struck slates, and some other stuff I don't remember. In my case it was a droning sound that had to be turned on and off, and it had to sound like 1, 2, 3, or 4 people typing. As it turned out, you could tell one typewriter, and you could tell more than one typewriter, but you couldn't really tell how many more than one, which surprised me a little.

We had about two dozen looped samples, each was about 30 seconds in length. I am sure, now, that I could have gotten away with fewer samples, but not shorter samples. It was very obvious, to me, when the shorter samples looped. 30 seconds seemed to be about right to prevent folks from picking up on that.

I wanted to play them from a sampler (Ensoniq EPS), but it wasn't up to the task, so this was my first time using a computer (Commodore Amiga 3000) for playback. It worked, but I was a nervous wreck! These days I'm becoming more comfortable with using a computer (started using SFX this season.) Various attempts at some kind of hot-standby pair have proven troublesome, so now I just keep a pair of CD players loaded in case something goes wrong.

[Thomas Vecchione]

On Mon, Oct 15, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Bill Thompson <wstho...@gmail.com> wrote:

 As it turned out, you could tell one typewriter, and you could tell more than one typewriter, but you couldn't really tell how many more than one, which surprised me a little.

There is a great article by Walter Murch available online called Clear Density, Dense Clarity, that goes into this phenomenon fairly extensively along with a few other ways we can cheat as sound designers.  Well worth the read if you haven't.

        Thomas Vecchione

[Shapi]

What we ended up doing was a click track. My MD made a click, to which we recorded an old adding machine (hitting all the keys) and a percussion ratchet. I augmented them with some canned sound effects. Worked well.

[Derek Dumais]

I have another question about a sound from this show.  In the Broadway version, during Springtime for Hitler, there is a Mel Brooks voice over saying "Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi party!".  It doesn't seem to be with any of the materials we got from MTI or with the OrchExtra program we're using to augment our 8 piece orchestra.  The director and MD seem to want this gag as opposed to just having one of the ensemble members delivering the line.  Anyone else who has done this recently, did you get this file or use it, or just go with the ensemble person?  Someone suggested just lifting it from the cast recording, but there's a bit of music over the first two two words, so I'm not sure it would sound good.  And we're not trying to get away with doing something without paying for it either.

[Shapi]

We just had the ensemble do it. I do have the VO. I'll send it to you off list. Let me know if there's any other Q's you need.

[Richard B. Ingraham]

Sent off list for obvious reasons…

 

But when I did this show, I just lifted it from the film.  The original film, not the film of the musical.  It had the least amount of music under it.  And I was able to tweak it a bit to minimize the music as much as possible.  When played in context of the show, no one noticed a bit of background music tail and no one knew except myself and the music director.  He triggered it via a MIDI note from a small controller keyboard which fired off the cue in SFX.  Which is also how we did most of the effects that show, with things like the explosion, gunfire, etc….  pretty much everything in Springtime for Hitler was fired off that way.

 

In our mind, not having Mel Brook’s actual voice would have been stupid and any real fan of his would cry foul.  Worth the risk of getting your hand slapped in my opinion.

 

Good luck,

 

Richard

 

--

[John Leonard]

Oooh, no it wasn't. But I won't tell Warner Brothers.

John

[Andrew Hamlin]

I'm sure Mel Brooks is not reading this list...

Andrew

On 14/11/2012 12:08 PM, Richard B. Ingraham wrote:
>
> Sent off list for obvious reasons�

>
> But when I did this show, I just lifted it from the film. The original
> film, not the film of the musical. It had the least amount of music
> under it. And I was able to tweak it a bit to minimize the music as
> much as possible. When played in context of the show, no one noticed a
> bit of background music tail and no one knew except myself and the
> music director. He triggered it via a MIDI note from a small
> controller keyboard which fired off the cue in SFX. Which is also how
> we did most of the effects that show, with things like the explosion,

> gunfire, etc�. pretty much everything in Springtime for Hitler was
> fired off that way.
>
> In our mind, not having Mel Brook�s actual voice would have been

[GMail]

I feel like lifting it from the movie is "cheating" not only are you stealing someone else's work but IMO there are more exciting an challenging ways to achieve this effect without using someone else's work. 

JD

Audio Department Head

Drury Lane Theatre

IATSE Local 2

On Nov 14, 2012, at 11:12 AM, Andrew Hamlin <and...@hamlin.ca> wrote:

I'm sure Mel Brooks is not reading this list...

Andrew

On 14/11/2012 12:08 PM, Richard B. Ingraham wrote:

Sent off list for obvious reasons…

But when I did this show, I just lifted it from the film. The original film, not the film of the musical. It had the least amount of music under it. And I was able to tweak it a bit to minimize the music as much as possible. When played in context of the show, no one noticed a bit of background music tail and no one knew except myself and the music director. He triggered it via a MIDI note from a small controller keyboard which fired off the cue in SFX. Which is also how we did most of the effects that show, with things like the explosion, gunfire, etc…. pretty much everything in Springtime for Hitler was fired off that way.

In our mind, not having Mel Brook’s actual voice would have been stupid and any real fan of his would cry foul. Worth the risk of getting your hand slapped in my opinion.

Good luck,

Richard

[Richard B. Ingraham]

Whopps!  Oh well…

 

Too late now…  shows long closed. 

 

Anyway, try explaining your point of view to a director that “wants it” and won’t take “bad idea” for an answer someday….  If you can win those arguments, well you’re better than me then…  and you can label me however you like, don’t really care…

 

Richard

 

From: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com [mailto:theatre-s...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of GMail
Sent: November 14, 2012 12:24 PM
To: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com
Cc: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [theatre-sound-list] THE PRODUCERS - typewriter and ratchet FX

 

I feel like lifting it from the movie is "cheating" not only are you stealing someone else's work but IMO there are more exciting an challenging ways to achieve this effect without using someone else's work. 

[John Leonard]

I'm also pretty sure that Mel Brooks wouldn't mind...

John

[Chip]

Well, Mel and I were hanging the other day and he just happened to
mention that...

Chip 1

On 11/14/2012 12:22 PM, John Leonard wrote:
> I'm also pretty sure that Mel Brooks wouldn't mind...

[Sud...@aol.com]

We did it with rachet type noise makers attached to fake adding machines

 

In a message dated 11/14/2012 12:50:43 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, rbing...@sbcglobal.net writes:

Whopps!  Oh well…

 

Too late now…  shows long closed. 

 

Anyway, try explaining your point of view to a director that “wants it” and won’t take “bad idea” for an answer someday….  If you can win those arguments, well you’re better than me then…  and you can label me however you like, don’t really care…

 

Richard

 

From: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com [mailto:theatre-s...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of GMail
Sent: November 14, 2012 12:24 PM
To: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com
Cc: theatre-s...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [theatre-sound-list] THE PRODUCERS - typewriter and ratchet FX

 

I feel like lifting it from the movie is "cheating" not only are you stealing someone else's work but IMO there are more exciting an challenging ways to achieve this effect without using someone else's work. 

JD

 

Audio Department Head

Drury Lane Theatre

IATSE Local 2

 

On Nov 14, 2012, at 11:12 AM, Andrew Hamlin <and...@hamlin.ca> wrote:

I'm sure Mel Brooks is not reading this list...