More Controversy

...Of a different kind this time. Now and again I write a review that not everyone agrees with. They vent their disgruntlement to me (or to the paper/magazine I'm writing to) and subsequently feel better, or feel foolish, depending on how their venting is received by the attentive citizens of Charleston.

John Thompson, a sound technician at the College of Charleston, fired off an email to me rather than the City Paper's letters page. Now he's probably glad he didn't go that route.

He wrote:

I am John Thompson, sound designer for the College of Charleston's production of King Lear. I should say that my BA is in Political Science, my experience has been as a musician, and that this was my first attempt at creating sound to complement a performance.

As a novice who is nonetheless very interested in the field, I am seeking constructive criticism, and would like to request you to elaborate on your review of my sound design. The operative phrases were "scratchy and creepy" and "well-intended" but too "inconsistent" to be "genuinely evocative".

I am not asking for you to tell me it's OK, I would like to understand more clearly how the sound could be more consistent. More consistent with the mood of the play? Did the sound seem tacked on and not integral to the show? Was the quality itself inconsistent, ie, some helped the play along and some distracted from the action? or is it simply that more time could have been spent giving attention to individual scenes as opposed to using sound in a more general way?

Again, I think your review was fair, and I don't think you "hate college students", I just want to get better at sound design because I may want to do this more professionally in the future.

I would appreciate any help you could give me, as you are someone outside the sphere of the production and thus presumably more objective.

Thank you very much, John Thompson

John actually sounds considerate and level-headed, doesn't he? A shame, then, that I didn't write the review - it was written by my fellow freelancer, Jennifer Corley.