Audio for Radio/TV Broadcast - Sports Environment

[andrewh]

Question:

How do engineers get audio from the microphones around a sports stadium to their board/pres/etc, to "the truck," to the on-air signal?

Is there a website that I can go read up on? I'd like to put myself in a position to maybe do that one day.

[Tim Halligan]

Can o'wormies.

Lots of mix-minus mixes required...depending on what needs to be iso'ed for replay later...and who needs to hear what now...

Compression is your friend here...more on the groups than individual channels, but this can change depending on the sport...

Best advice...make friends with someone who works for a tv station/ OB company and tag along and learn. Every sport has different requirements as far as the rig is concerned. The same sport on different networks has different requirements...

Very definitely NOT one size fits all...


Cheers,
Tim

[boomed]

Most major arenas/stadiums are wired with an xlr panel in the truck tunnel. These are incredibly long runs of cable. For example, it is a six hundred and fifty foot run from the truck to mid field at Texas Stadium. There are existing lines that go to the comentator's booth. These are your primary channels. Their headsets are powered through a "cough box" which brings them to line level. This is probably around a 950 foot run. Crowd mics are typically MKH 60s and offer enough level that preamps are not normally used at the mic. Football games with crowds at 90-100db is a good mask for line noise.

Once all your channels are there and levels are set most of the show is auto pilot. Football games will run around 40-48 channels including tape machines and effects. I have worked football, basketball, soccer and wrestling if you have any other questions.

[andrewh]

There is one thing that I have noticed watching sports on television while growing up. It seems that if I were to watch a nationally televised Baseball game on ESPN, or FOX for example, there is a lot of on-the-fly muting and un-muting happening that is very obvious to the listener. Example: A guy sliding into second base, or an outfielder crashing into a wall is just as loud as the crowd, and I can literally hear the mute/unmute happening. Is there a reason that that in the back of my mind it seems like this happens less on other networks, such as individual team's stations? In those instances, are they just working with less microphones, less channels, and less manpower sitting at the board pulling faders?

Originally Posted by boomed

Football games will run around 40-48 channels including tape machines and effects.

What effects are you using at a sporting event other than compression, if any?

[andrewh]

Another thing that I have wondered about is, how are the signals on the playing-field shared by different stations?

For example:

Team A is playing against Team B.

Broadcasting audio to the masses we have:

Team A TV station
Team A radio station
Team B TV station
Team B radio station
Team B radio station (spanish)

If these different groups are sharing the audio from a microphone pointed at first base for example, or a microphone pointed below the hoop to get the player's sneakers squeaking on the parquet floor, where in the stadium does this signal get split so that each group has access to the signal. Is there a particular name for the place where the audio is split?

If one station has the need for more microphones than another, how is it determined what area of the gigantic snake they are coming through. What is the labelling process/format when there are so many possible inputs coming from so many different sources and going to so many different destinations?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to field my questions.

Andrew

[boomed]

That's alot of questions.

I don't know about baseball and where the mic placement is. I know that there are usually long shotguns (MKH70) on top of the dugouts pointed at home plate, as well as, first and third bases. Not sure how they are doing the wall, but it could be a triggered effect. 360 Systems Instant Replays have become very popular for these type of effects and I hear them often in golf. When you see a player hitting from the middle of the fairway check to see if the sound is in sync. Many of the fairway shots and balls hitting the greens are samples.

By effects I am not talking about outboard type stuff. I am refering to sound effects played on the 360 machine or the CG (Elvis)audio outputs. When you hear the little swooshes when stats come up or name keys those come from the CG unit. Crowd mics are also called effects. It's just a broad term to describe noise that is not someone talking. You also have feeds from all the playback and slo-mo decks.

For basketball the mic setup is pretty simple. On each basket there is a top and bottom mic. These are called swoosh and squeek. The swoosh is a lav placed though a hole in the backboard under the net. This is why the net sound has become so loud and misused in my opinion. The squeek is a short shotgun mounted to the frame of the backboard pointing at the free throw line. Another short shotgun is placed under the tables mid court. Add six to eight crowd mics and this is your effects setup. You still have three commentators headsets, two boom ops to get into the huddles and an interview mic or two, but thats about it.

Radio is responsable for it's own feed. You can see the radio guys lined up at the sidelines for basketball and football games. The reason you hear the action is because they are right there on top of it.

There are nornally two trucks; home and away. The home truck has the most responsability and shares some feeds with the away truck. For the most part, except for the officials mic everyone is on their own. Sports is a huge undertaking and a very high stress on at that. The directors are not patient people and quick to explode when problems arise. This quick temper comes from years of high stress. This is why I do my best to avoid sports. It is a small number of audio guys that can handle the stress, but if you really want to tackle it I would suggest you contact the truck companies and find out who their A1 is. Try to get in as an A2 or A3. You will learn a great deal about the industry and not have the stress of the A1 position. A2s can work up the ladder but generally enjoy the position they are in.

[joaquin]

Thank you Boomed for the lesson!! ................MORE!!

[audioez]

ugh, I just got back from yankee stadium, I set up all things audio for tv broadcast. what do you want to know???

[andrewh]

Originally Posted by audioez

ugh, I just got back from yankee stadium, I set up all things audio for tv broadcast. what do you want to know???

How long before gametime do you show up to begin setup? What aspects of the signal chain are permanent fixtures? Alternately, what aspects of the signal chain do you have to setup for each game?

How many microphones were on the field today, and where were they placed? What mics were used for what application?

What were your responsibilities once everything was checked to be working properly and the game had started?

During the broadcast, to what medium and format is the audio recorded? Who has access to the audio, and how quickly? (eg: The people that make the quick little 10 second "highlight reels" that run at a commercial break, how do they grab those sound effects in a timely manner that allows them to have the said clip ready in time for the next commercial break?)

Thanks so much for lending your experience to me...I'm very interested in this topic.

Andrew

[andrewh]

Boomed, thank you very much for your thoughtful response.

Originally Posted by boomed

Not sure how they are doing the wall, but it could be a triggered effect. 360 Systems Instant Replays have become very popular for these type of effects and I hear them often in golf. When you see a player hitting from the middle of the fairway check to see if the sound is in sync. Many of the fairway shots and balls hitting the greens are samples.

Are these samples being triggered manually by someone observing the game as opposed to actually placing triggers on objects? I assume so, but just thought I would ask.

Originally Posted by boomed

By effects I am not talking about outboard type stuff. I am refering to sound effects played on the 360 machine or the CG (Elvis)audio outputs. When you hear the little swooshes when stats come up or name keys those come from the CG unit. Crowd mics are also called effects. It's just a broad term to describe noise that is not someone talking. You also have feeds from all the playback and slo-mo decks.

Ah, that makes much more sense now. You can tell that I am a music guy when it comes to engineering/mixing. As I'm about to finish school, it's time to "find a real job." And hey, I grew up obsessed with the game of Baseball in pretty much every way. As I got older I became obsessed with the art of recording. It has recently dawned on me that there is a possibility to bridge these two loves of mine. We'll see what happens.

Originally Posted by boomed

Add six to eight crowd mics and this is your effects setup.

Are crowd mics that are suspended high above inside an arena, for example, usually left in place for extended periods of time, or are they placed and taken down for each and every game?

Originally Posted by boomed

It is a small number of audio guys that can handle the stress, but if you really want to tackle it I would suggest you contact the truck companies and find out who their A1 is. Try to get in as an A2 or A3. You will learn a great deal about the industry and not have the stress of the A1 position. A2s can work up the ladder but generally enjoy the position they are in.

What are the roles of the A1, A2, and A3 respectively?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help educate me.

Andrew

[audioez]

Q How long before gametime do you show up to begin setup?
A Yesterdays call time was 930AM for a 705PM game of the TOR v NYY

Q What aspects of the signal chain are permanent fixtures?

A the cableing that runs throughout the house.

Q Alternately, what aspects of the signal chain do you have to setup for each game?

A As the A2 I'll intereface the "truck" with the house. Then all the gear that's inside the stadium needs to be set up as well, ie mics, intercoms and stuff...

Q How many microphones were on the field today, and where were they placed?
A this is from memory. There's two parabs on the backstop, BAT CRACK and PICK MICS at 1st and 3rd, BullPen mics, and crowd mics up by the announce booth. Not to mentioned all the stick mics set up around the stadium.

Q What were your responsibilities once everything was checked to be working properly and the game had started?
A Make sure it all works while on AIR

Q During the broadcast, to what medium and format is the audio recorded?
A Well the game is recorded to various hard drives as well as being transmitted to some central station somewhere.

Q Who has access to the audio, and how quickly?
A All the tape machines, which are really hard drives all record audio as well.

[Remoteness]

Very strong! Great thread...

I love this forum -- Thanks for covering my back.

When I get busy I try my best to find the time to read the posts but I don't always have enough time to post. Thank goodness I have you folks!

You're doing a smashing job -- keep up the good posts folks!