In Broadcast - August 2016 - 66


66

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 6 - Issue 8 | August 2016

InAudio

Microphones In Action
As the world's broadcasters make tracks for Rio and the Olympic Games, Contributing Editor
Jim Evans rounds up some of the recent activity in the world of microphones...

W

hatever
technologies
are
developed to enhance the
quality of broadcast audio the
microphone remains the key factor at
the sharp end of the audio chain. And the
established specialist manufacturers
continue to develop ever more efficient
technologies - both wired and wireless
to enable broadcasters to deliver the
best possible audio.
In 1936, the Berlin Olympics became
the first-ever televised sporting event
in history. All around Berlin, thousands
of residents watched the Games on 25
big screens inside specially designed
'television halls'. Much has happened
since - on and off the track. Eighty
years on, the Rio Games are set to
witness yet more record breaking feats
of athleticism, broadcast with the most
sophisticated technologies available.
And, as ever, the humble microphone
will be the key to the audio quality of
the many hours of global broadcast.
Game On
NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC
Sports Group, has selected AudioTechnica to provide microphones,
broadcast headsets and monitor
headphones for its production of the
Games.
Audio-Technica products will capture
and monitor the audio aspects of the
Games, from the detailed sounds of
the competition itself, to the related
crowd noise, expert analysis and
athlete interviews. Audio-Technica's
BP4027 and BP4029 Stereo Shotgun
Microphones will be mounted on
cameras to closely follow the action;
AT4050ST Large-Diaphragm Stereo

Microphones and BP4025 X/Y Stereo
Microphones will capture ambience
from the Games' various venues to
create a realistic surround bed for
the broadcast; BPHS1 Broadcast
Stereo Headsets will be worn by
announcers in audio-over-IP venues
to provide considerable separation
between their voices and the ambient
sound; BP4001 Handheld Cardioid
Dynamic Microphones will be used for
interviews; and ATH-M50x Professional
Monitor Headphones will be used in
edit suites.
"NBC has relied on Audio-Technica to
help us capture the real sounds of the
Olympic Games and the atmosphere
surrounding those events," said Karl
Malone, Director, Sound Design, NBC
Sports & Olympics. "Audio-Technica
consistently helps NBC fulfil that goal
and we look forward to doing the same
with them this year."
Show Time
In the world of sport and
entertainment, the Super Bowl and its
half-time show always attract record
viewing figures and is a top showcase
for the latest broadcast technology.
This year's Super Bowl 50, marking a
half-century of America's singularly
most important sporting event, was no
exception and featured performances
from Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and Lady
Gaga - all performing on Sennheiser
wireless microphone systems.
Setting the stage for the Super
Bowl's
memorable
'golden
anniversary', Lady Gaga delivered a
soulful, classy rendition of The StarSpangled Banner during the pre-game

Doha-based Al Jazeera has utilised Sennheiser wireless microphones and in-ear
monitoring systems at its studios in Qatar

Super Bowl: Beyoncé, with her customised
gold Sennheiser SKM 9000 handheld
transmitter and MD 9235 dynamic
microphone capsule, performs next to
Bruno Mars with his SKM 5200 handheld
transmitter with MD 5235 capsule
(Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images Sport)

segment, crooning into a Sennheiser
SKM 5200 handheld transmitter
coupled with an MD 5235 dynamic
microphone capsule. Accompanied
by just a solo piano, her performance
was marked by her incredible dynamic
range and subtle use of cadence -
captivating the emotions of millions of
viewers around the world in clear and
pristine audio.
"The MD 5235 capsule works with
her voice really well and I don't have
to get in the way of what she's doing,"
says Jim Corbin, Monitoring Engineer
for Lady Gaga. "One of the things I
love most about this capsule is that it
picks up dynamics really well, both in
the lower and higher registers. This is
also true with proximity - if she is up
close on the mic or farther away, it
sounds very similar and I don't have to
change settings. In terms of reliability,
I wouldn't want to use another wireless
product for an event like this."
Following an ultra-physical, first
half match-up between the Denver
Broncos and the Carolina Panthers,
the halftime show featured headliner
Coldplay, who was soon joined onstage
by veteran stadium performers
Bruno Mars and Beyoncé. Mars' set
began with Uptown Funk - featuring
collaborator Mark Ronson on the decks
and a troupe of dexterous dancers
adding an impressive dimension of

Location sound mixer and audio
consultant Noel Dannemiller, the owner
of Lock 18 in Akron, Ohio, uses AudioTechnica's System 10 Camera-Mount
Digital Wireless to capture sound

visual energy aside a captivating vocal
performance by Mars - who sang
through a custom Sennheiser headmic
solution.
RF Engineer James Stoffo says
that Super Bowl 50 was "probably
the most difficult RF environment of
any of the 17 Super Bowls I've ever
done." He attributes this to both
the proximity to Silicon Valley, the
proliferation of white-space devices
and an increasingly congested UHF
spectrum. "Sennheiser equipment has
always been the most meticulously
engineered wireless microphones on
the market, so having a quality product
out there for an event like this calms
my nerves," he says. "Since it is a
digital system, the signal is much more
tolerant to interference - this is not
the case with other wireless systems,
which will typically pick up background
RF noise on overcast days. The Digital
9000 is a solid piece of machinery and
an example of where we have faith in
the quality of Sennheiser products."
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/condenser-microphone-wireless-handheld-transmitter-studio-live-performance-skm-9000 http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wls_systems/b8c9b60d06ff6943/ http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/broadcast-microphones-headset
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