BWW Blog: Cheyenne Dalton - Adrenaline

If you're a theatre major, chances are all your classes are in the same building, and all the work you do is in the theater. We're oftentimes "stuck" here - spending the breaks of our days in the green room or design studios, doing homework, reading, designing. When I get the chance to work or do something outside of my confined space, I take it.

On Wednesday, I ran sound for a live political debate on campus (something I had never done before), which was also broadcasted online and on our TV station (something I definitely had no experience doing). It may sound odd when I say that going into this gig knowing half of what I should was incredibly exciting. I used to be terrified of the idea of not knowing what was happening, not knowing what I was getting myself into, and not knowing how to solve problems if they arise. But to fear these things means to fear learning, and when I think of these situations this way, I no longer fear not knowing.

My call time was at 6:00. I walked into the auditorium at 5:56. Not only did I walk in, but I think I sprinted in. I was excited to see what I was getting into. So I ran in (or something) and saw people darting around - load in started around 4:45, and they were still getting things set up. I jumped in, and fell in love.

The things I learn about sound when I'm stressed out, under pressure, or in a time constraint are the things I remember the most. I don't remember the one time I spent two hours exploring the contents of the sound board, but I remember the time that I had to learn a new-to-me sound board in twenty minutes before a debate. I don't remember the exact time that I was taught how gain and volume relate when mixing, but I do remember how it sounded when someone wasn't speaking directly into the microphone and I was out of head room and the gain was up, and feedback came streaming through the speakers.

The motto of this blog post is that I love the stress of learning things quickly. There's just something about the adrenaline of the same load-in and load-out day.

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