Since La Fabuleuse first began more than three decades ago , the production has continually grown , becoming grander in its ambition and more technologically advanced in order to keep audiences engaged and coming back year after year . The last significant upgrade , Lachance says , was in 2017 with the introduction of video projection across the 35-metre-wide set .
“ The video completely changed the experience by transporting the viewer to an immersive setting that reproduces the history of the Saguenay over 150 years ,” he notes .
He explains that the soundtrack , both the music and the dialogue , was completely rerecorded ahead of the 2022 production . In part this was done because the actor died who provided the voice of the spirit that narrates the story . It ’ s important to note that there are no microphones on stage , so all vocals in the show , whether spoken or sung , are recorded . But by recording all the vocal tracks for the show , the sound design possibilities are expanded .
“ With the sound recordings dating back more than 30 years , it was impossible to match the sound experience with the visuals of this show . By respecting the texts of the author , Ghislain Bouchard , and the music of Dominic Laprise , we have completely redone the soundtrack of the show . With these new 196 tracks , the possibility of an immersive sound diffusion was made possible ,” Lachance adds .
Prior to this year , audio wise , La Fabuleuse
was done using a basic 5.1 setup with left-centre-right speaker arrays , plus two in the rear , and mixed with the surround panner on the Midas PRO6 console ( which is still being used ). Playback was just 24 channels .
For 2022 , that all changed thanks to the possibility of adding an immersive mixing engine and a new diffusion system .
“ In 2019 , the entire production team headed by Jimmy Doucet , the new show director , wondered what could bring La Fabuleuse to another level to celebrate its 35 th anniversary . The complete renewal of the soundtrack and how it was diffused seemed obvious . From then on , a monumental work of analysis , meeting , collaboration , research , and then recordings , editing in the studio and in the venue , assembly , calibration , and programming was put in place throughout these three years to achieve the result we know today ,” attests Production Director Marie-Eve Rivard . “ Throughout this colossal process , the involvement of the original music composer , Mr . Dominic Laprise , as well as his son , Mathieu Laprise , who takes care of the recording studio , made it possible to preserve the soul of the original show and its creator , Ghislain Bouchard . This project would not have been possible without the professional and personal involvement of Serge Lachance , who led this renewal and redesign to its realization . We obviously can ’ t forget the show producer , Diffusion Saguenay , who has taken the gamble of financing this great venture ”.
With the decision to create a more immersive sound environment , and a new sound design in place , Lachance ultimately leaned heavily on speakers and subs from German manufacturer CODA Audio .
“ For several reasons I chose the manufacturer CODA Audio for the APS point-source three-way cabinets . With the CODA engineers , the configurations chosen for the theatre were five sets of four APS cabinets for the wavefront , five SCV-F bass enclosures suspended behind each set , 18 HOPS8s from CODA to cover the rear and side of the bleachers , a dozen CODA G-Series point-source speakers for the rear and side coverage of the floor , six HOPS5s for the front stage proximity speakers , and four infra SCP Series subwoofers from CODA for the extra bass . Also , 14 LINUS14s from CODA with Dante input cards are used to amplify the 65 loudspeakers ,” Lachance explains .
For the vocal , music , and sound effects , there are 200 + tracks in Logic on Mac Mini M1s . Lachance continues : “ I use Klark Teknik bridges for the Dante versus AES-50 of the Midas PRO6 console ; two SPAT Revolution immersive processors ( for redundancy ) on Mac Studio for the sound environment and for the WFS ( wave field synthesis ) reproduction ; QLab is the show control solution for MIDI and OSC commands ; a TC [ Electronics Mastering ] 6000 in AES on six channels for artistic reverb and voice effects ; and an AuviTran AVBx7 as an AB matrix for the Dante and a CM Labs Sixty-Four [ patchbay ] for the monitor and LTC routing .
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