...

Audio:SoundControl
The previous chapler dealt most ly with sound pickup-the types of microphones and
their uses. This chapter explores the equipment and the techniques of controlling sound
and sound recording in television studio and field production. Section 10.1, Sound
ControlsandRecordingforStudio andFieldOperations,identifiesthemajorequipment
and production t echniques for mixing and recording sound in the studiO and the field.
Section 10.2, Postproduct ion and Sound Aest hetics, familiarizes you with basic informa
tion on analog and di gital audio postproductiOn equipment and their primary
il! SO hi ghlights the prinCipalaestheticfactorsofsound.
You should realize thataudio production is a highly spe<ialized field in its own right
and that that this chapter is limited to t he major equi pment. the basic production tech-
niques, and some fundamental aesthetic considerations. Even if you don', intend to be-
comE' a sound desi gner, you need to know what good audio i s all about. Whatever you
do, the mosl important prerequisite to successful audio for television is, and wil l always
be, it good pair of ears. ErlD'AUOIO> Audio introduction
218
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10.1

SoundControlsand
RecordingforStudio
and FieldOperations
Whenwatchingatel evisionprogram,we arege nerallynot
awareof sOIUldasaseparalemedium.Somehowitw-emsto
belongtCl thepictures,and webecomeawareoftheaudio
portiononlywhen iti!i unexpectedlyinterrupted. BUI in
yourown videotapes, you probablynOlice rhat there arc
alwayssomemi nor OTevenmajoraudioproblemsthat tend
todrawaHentlonawayfromyourIx>autifulshots.Alt hough
audio isoften treat ed youquicklyrealizethatthe
soundportionis, indeed,acrilicalproductionelementthat
requirl'syourfull attention.
.... PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT FOR STUDIO AUDIO
Theal/dioconsole, theporchooy,ondanaloganddll)iro/rope-
bmedondropeituovdio-recOfdmg
.... AUDIO CONTROL IN THE STUDIO
ThecwdrQ(onIlO'bootharn1OOStCaudiOoperation
... PROOU(JION[QUIPMENT AND
BASIC OPERATION FOR FIELD AUDID
KeepirtgSOllnG$ orn1theaudiomilrer
... AUDIO CONTROL IN THE fiEtO
UsmgtheautomaticgainconllolmENGandEFP, andEFPmilring
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT FOR STUDIO AUDIO
The major components ofaudio equipment are (I)the
audi oconsole,(2) Ihl'palchbay,and(3)ana log;mddigita l
tape-based and tapeJessaudi o- recordings}'stems.
220
AUDIO CONSOLE
Regardless ofindi vidual designs-analog or digitJ.I- JIl
audioconsoles,oraudiocontrolboards,art'buill toperform
majorfunctions:
Input: to preamplifyandcontrol the vulume
ofthevariousincomingsignals
Mix:10 combineJndbalance twoormore
incomingsi gnals
QI/(I/itycomrof:tomanipulal ethesound
charaClerist ics
Gutpllt:to roule thecombinedsignals toa
spedficoutpul
MQI/iror:to listen to thesoundsIx-for.... or,IStheir
sigll als a reaclually recordedorbroadcast. sn:10.1
Input Studioconroles have multipleinpuls toJccepl a
varietyofsound!;ources. Evensmalt studioconsolesmay
havesi:..1eenOfmoreinputs.Although thatmallyinputsare
rarelyus...>d intheaveragein-houseproductionorbroadC<lSI
day, they must nevert hdess be available for the program
you mayhave10 do thenext day.
Each input modUl e requires that you select either
the mic or the lilfr input. Mic-/evc/ illpwsare for sound
sourcesthat need to beprea mplifi ed before they;I resent
to the input controls. All microphones needsuch
prcamplincal ionandarethereforeroutedtothemicinput.
LlIle-leyeiiUPIIIS, suchasCOpl ayers, DVDplayi' rs,orOAT
recorders,have astrongenoughsi gnal \0bero uted to the

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,0.' AUDIO CONSOLE
Eachmodul eofthisaudioconsolecontains avolume control
fader). variousqualityconllcts.and switches.
It routeseveral mi xes10 va nousdest in(lli ons.
St"crion 10. 1 Sound Conuo/s ond Recording for Studio and Field Operations
line input wit hout preamplification. All incoming audio
signills must reach li ne-level strength they can be
further "djusted or mi ,;ed at the audi o console.
Because not all input levels of mic rophones or line
signals are tne same, run the ri sk of becoming overanl-
plified. To preveOl lhi s nom<xcurring, you call manipul ate
the signah individuall y with the trim control, whi ch adj usts
the input strengtll of the mi crophone signals so that they
won't become di storted during fu rthe r amplification.
Regardl ess of input, the audi o signals are then routed
to the volume control, a variery of quali ry controls, switches
(mute or sol o) that silence all the other inputs when ),ou
want to li slen 10 a spedfic ont>, and assignment switches
th:1I route the Sigll lil to certain parts of the audio console
and to signal o utputs. SEE 10.2
Vol ume control AJI sounds fluctuat e in I'o/wne (l oud -
ness). Some sounds arE' relat ivel y weak. so you have to
increase their volume to make them perceptibl e. Other
sounds cOlOe in so loud t hat they overload the audi o syslenl
and become dis tort ed or they outweigh the weaker Clues so
much that there is no longer proper balance be!:WE'e n the
two. Thevolume control rltat helps you adjust the incoming
sound signals to their proper levels is usually call ed a pOI
(sho rt for pOlc/\/iomerer ) or a [ader (also caUed Dr/CII/Wler
or gai ll cOlltrol) .
To increase the vo lume, (uro the knob clockwise or
push the fJ der up, away from yOll. To decrease the volume,
t urn the knob or pull the fader dOl"Il,

toward you. SlE 10. J


Mix The audio console lets you combi ne, or mix, the
signals rrom variousinputs,sucn as two lavaliere mics, t he
background Illusic, and the sound erfect of a pho ne ring.
The mix blls combines these various audio signals with
the specific volume that you assi g\\ . \Vithout the mixing
capabili ty of the board, you could conlrol only one input
at a time. Til e completed mi x is then fed to the li ne-out.
A mix bus is like a riverbed that recei ves the water
(signals) from sevE' ral diffcre m streams (inputs). These
strea ms (various sound signals) converge (mi.:'\ed sound
and fi nally flow downstream along the- ri verbed
(m ix bus) to their dest ination (recorder).
Consoles and parts ! signals , cootrol 1HY it
Quality control All audio consoles have various con -
trols that let you shape the character of a sound (see fi gure
10.2). Among t he most import ant are equali Lation, filters,
and reverberati on (reverb) controls.

Equalires
(qu.llity rontrols)
Auxiliary
ou tputs
(hNdphones. tI(.)
S%monilOf
10.2 AUOIO CONSOLE MOOULE
The major controls on this modul e are the slide fader
volume conlrol. equati1:els, aSSignment swilChes, the mute
switch (silences this Inputl. the pan pot (moves the sound
horizontally flOm one steleo speaker to the next), and
various other quali ty controls.
I
221
222 Chap reT 10
10.3 SLIDE FADERS
Pushing the fader up increases the volume; pulling it down
decreases the volume.
The process of controlling the audio signal byempha-
sizing cerla;n frequencies and de-emphasizing or elimi nat -
ing olhers is called equalization. 11 ca n be accompli shed
manuall y or automatically through an eqllalizer, \/hich
works li ke the tone control on your home stereo r(,ceiver.
It can boost Or reduce: selected frequencies and thereby
inlll1en ce Ihe character of the round. For exa mple, you
ca n make a sound m OTt' brillia nt by boosting the high
frequencies or more .solid by boOSTing the lows, or you
can eliminate a low-frequency hum or a hish.frequency
hiss. Filters eliminate autolJlatically all frequencies above
or below a certain point. The reverb controls can add an
increasing amount of reverberation to each or the !.elecled
inputs.
Amo ns the additi o ll al quality controls on large
consoles are thaI al low you to accommodate
tht relati ve strengths of incoming sound signals or that
prevent input overloads, and othl;'rs that let ),ou "pan" the
stereo sound to a particular spot between the two stereo
speakers.
Output The mixed and quality-processed signal is
thcn routed to the output, called the line-ora. To ensure
that the mixed stay wi thin the acceptable volume
li mi ts, they are regulat ed by final volume controls--the
master polS- and metered br volume indicators, the most
common of which is the volume ullit (VU) /IIeler. As the
volul11(' varies, the needle of the VU meter osci.\lates back
and forth along a calibrated scale. SEE 10.4
ff the volume is 50 low that the needle barelr moves
from the extreme left , you are riding the gain (or volume)
...-
AUDIO: 50UND CONTROL
10.4 ANALOG VU METER
The VU meter indicates the relative loudness of a The
upper figures ,anging from -20 to -tl are the volume unitS
(decibels). ThE' lower rePlesent a pelCffllagE' scale.
ranging hom 0 to 100 percent am-
plification). Overmodulation (too much amplificat iOn)
Indicated by the fed line on the right (0 to +3 VU).
" in the mud." If t he needle oscillates around the middl e of
Ihe scale and peaks at, or occ.asionaUy over, the red li ne on
the right, you are riding the gain correctly. If the needle
swings almost exclusively in the red on Ihe right side of the
scale, and evert occasionaUy hit s the ri ght edge of the meter,
the volume is 100 high-you are the n('edle ,"
"spilli ngo\'cr." or "riding in the red."
Much lik" the volume indic;]\or amplifier of a hOllle
st(' reo system, the VU meter in some audio consoles (on-
of light-emirri ng diodes (LEOs), wh ich show up as thin,
colored light columns that fluct uate up and dowrt a SC<llc.
Wh(' n you ride Ihegain too hi gh, rhecolumn shoots up on
Ihe scale dnd changes color. Ul l 0.S
Some audio consoles have an additional peak program
meier (PPM), which measures loudness peaks. A PPM
reach more qui ckly to the volume peaks than does the
needle of the VU meter and dearly shows when you are
over modulating (riding the gain tOO high).
Output channels We often classify audio consoles by the
number of output channds. Older television consoles had
st'veral input channels but only one output ( hanoI!! because
television sound was monophoni c. Today, howevcr, c,'cn
SlllaU ld evision consoles have at least hvo outpul chan-
nels to handle slereophonic sound or w fee<\ two pie<es of
equipment (such as headphones and il videotape recorder l
sinlultaneously with two independent signals. With high-
definition television (HDTV), the so und requirements
(l Isa change. Very much like motion pictures, large-screen
TV displays will require surrol/lld SOli lid, which involves
r
Section 10.1 Sound Contrail and Recording fOf Studio and Field Operotions
10. 5 LEO VU MmR
The LED (Iight-eminif'lg diode) VU mdicate ovcrmodula-
tion by lighting up in a different color (usually red).
multiple discrete output chanllels a nd" Yariet y of spe:t k-
ers that are strategicall y placed in front and in I><lCk of the
di splay scree n figure 10.22) . This increasing demand
for high-qualiry audio nas led to grealer use of multi chan-
nel (output ) consoles in the audio cont rol booth and es-
pecially in thl' audi o pmduction room ( which is e-xplored
in St'ction 10. 2),
To identify hON marry inpuls and o utput s a speci ne
console has. they are labt-Ied wi th lhe number of input and
outpur channels, such as an 8 x I or a 31 x 4 console. This
means that the small S x I console has eight inputs and
one out put; the larger 32 x 4 console has thi rty- two inputs
and four output s. Wit b a single o utput channel, the 8 x I
board o bviously is monophoni c.
Most larger television audi o consoles have eight Or
morc Olil put channels (with eight master pots and eight
VU meters), each ofwhi ch can carry a discret e sound signal
or mi.\:. Tht, 'Hh'a lltage of multipl e output s is that yOll Cilll
feed the indi vidual signals onlO a multitrack audiol ape
recorder for postproducti on mixing.
If, (or exampl e, there are twent y-fo ur inputs but onl y
two outp uts, you need to mix the various input signals
down 10 (1"0, which you ca ll then feed to the left il nd right
channels of a stereo recorder. Bul if you Ivant to keep the
various sounds to t:Xl'rcise more control in the fi-
nal postproduct ion mix, or if you "" ant to ft't'd sepafitte sur-
round-sound speil.k.crs, YOll need more OUtputs. Ewn wh(>n
coveting a straighl fonvard rock concert , for example, )'ou
lIIay have to provide one mix for the musicians, another for
ti ll' audi ence, one for the videot ape recorder (VTR), dnd
yel another for the multit rack audiotape recorder (ATR ).
Yo u will be surpri sed by ho\v yo u run out of avaibble
inputs and o utput s even on a bi g console.
In-line consoles SOl11e of the more elaborate consoles,
called ill -li tle consolc5. have input /output . or 110,
ules, \,rhi ch means that ('ach input has iB own output. tf,
for there arc twent y- rour inputs and each one
receiws a diLTerent sound signal, you could send each
of them directly 10 the separale tracks of a twenty-four-
t rack recorder without feeding them through .lny of the
mh busi.'s, That Iva)' YOll use the console to control the
volume of each input , but the consol e does not function
as a mi xi ng or quality-control device. In faCl , the sound is
sent to the lape r{'corder in liS raw slate, The mixing and
qualil y control of the vari ous sounds are all done in the
postproduction and mixdown sessions, The lIO circuit s
leI you try o ul a nd lislen In all sorts of mixes and sound
manipulations wit hout ilffecting the ori gi nal sent
to t he recorder.
Phantom power Don' t ler Ihe name scare you: As
ment ioned before, the "phantom" in phantom power is
Ill ore like "virtual." All it means is th,lt the audio console
or some Ol her sourct', rat her than a battery, supplies rhe
prcatn plifrc3tion po .....er to some condenser mics.
Monitor and cue AU have a monit or syslem,
which lets you hear the n nal sound mi.x or a1l0lvs you to
li $\o.'n to and adj ust the mi x before switching il to the line-
OUI . A separate audition or ( ue return system lets you he;tr
d particulM sound source without rOlltlll B it to the mix
This system is c:spe.: iall y important when }'OU want to cue a
digital audiotape ( DAT) or a cassette or you 1'>'3nt to check
the sounds of a compact di sc ( CD ) or a di git al
disc ( DVD) track while on the ,I ir with Ihe reSI of
Ihe sound sources .
(ompuh!r-auisted consoles Almost all newer con-
soles conta in a comput er through ""hien you .:an pre'sel,
store, recall , and aClivate many of the audio cont rol func-
tions. For exa mple, you can try out a ]) <l rticul ar mix \vit!J
223
224 Ch apte r 10
$pc.:itic cquaii1Jlion,andreverberation for
eachof Inl'individual \Iall in thecomputer's
nu'mory.trysomethingelse, and rhl'/1 recaillheoriginal
\"lth thepressofdhulton.
Digital c.onsoles ThCSt'collsoblook liketheir:malog
ctlusir\s(''(cep' Ihallhcvhal'"(lntraliudcontrolsthat trig-
ger"Mi()us roundcontrol androuting functiomfor (,Jeh
inputmodule.TheJ>C <Ire' notunlikethedelt.;g;!tioll
contmbofd\ idl'O$wi\cher(seefigure1!.4).' nlC
rn,lIlhi)rouringarchitCllurckCt"p!> theeomore:- relatively
small and\\'orbble.
PATCHBAY
Thtprimaryfuncljonofthe pw{iJba),. orpdlCh pan<'l, is
connectingandroutingaudio 10 andfrOIn various
pieces ofequipment. You can this by using
acluJ,1 wircsthaIeSlablish specific,:ollnections,or\\,ith a
computt'rthaI rearranges the and themac-
cordingto\uurinstru.:tions.\\'hatcvcrmedlOdyou use, thc
principleofpatching thcS<lIllC. Hercweusewires,c.111ed
patell Cort15, TO explJin,I patchingproccdure.
Assumethatyou \\';111110have1'1'0microphones,are-
Ill otefeed frum tieldreporter,.mdaCDopwltingduring
a l;Jv Iand 2JreIhenewSCJSlers'lavalieres.The
remotefeedlOmesfrom thefield reporterwithalivestory.
TheCDcontainstheo p.... ning,lI1dclOSingthemeIllusicfor
thenel,'scas\.
Just as Ihe individual lighting instrumellls cau bt
patched into any ofthedimmers,arl\'oneoftheseaudio
sources bepatchedto individualvolulllccon trols(pOlS
orfaders) inanydesiredorder.Supposeyouwanttooper-
ate the I'olume controlsin thefollowingorder, from left
to right: CD, l;]vJliere 1, lavaliere 2, remotefeed. You can
easilypatch inputstotheaudiocOI1:;ole inthatorder.
Ifyou '....ant Ihe 1I1pUtS ill adifferent order. you need not
unplugtheequipment;all you do is pull the patchcords
andrepatch theinputsin Ihe differentorder. SEE 10.6
Wired patchbay A11 ....'iredpatchpanelscontainrowsof
holes,called)(Icks.whichrepresentthevariousoutputsand
inputs. The upper ro'l'.'S ofjacksare normally theoutputs
(\,hich carry th... signals from mics,CDs, and so forth) .
Thero\,'Sofjackslmll1ediatelybelol" th... outputjacksare
theinputjach,whichMeconnectedtothe",udioconsol... .
The(OnnectiOIl bctl\'cen output and input is made with
thepatchcord.
Toaccomplishaproperpatch,youmustplugthepalch
cord from oneofthe upperoutput iacks in to oneofthe
lo\\erinput SEE 10.1 Patchingoutputtooutput(up-
AUDIO: SOUND CONTROL
,

,
lilY1
Remote
""
"

Fadtr4
''''' ,
((onlrooCD) ((OOlro/s remote)
Fader2 Fadtr3
((ootro!,1av 1) ((ontrols 2)
10.6 PATCHING
patchingshowsth(ll thesignaloutPUIS(audiosources)
oftwO microphones.11 remotefeed.(lndaCO aregrouped111
the following orderoffader inputs:CD. lavaliete I.lavaliere 2,
remotefeed.
per-rowjack10anotherupper- rowjack) orinput to inp ut
(lower-rowjackto lower-row jack) will give you no/hing
but headaches.
To reduce the numb",! of pa tch cords, c<.' rt ain fTe-
quentlyusedconnectionsbct"'cenoutpu ts(.1 sveci 1icmic,
DATmachi ne,orCD) andinputs(specificvol umecontrols
to chern) are directlywi red,or norma/ed, toone
another. This means that the output and the input of a
circuit art'connected wit holtl a patchcord. By insertinga
patchcordintooneofthejJcksof anor maledcircuit ,you
break, ratherIhanesL.1b!ish,theconnection.
Although patchinghelps make therout ingofan au-
diosignal morene:dble,itcan,ll socause someproblems.
P;lIchingtakestime:palchcordsand jacksgelwor noutaf-
terfrequent usc,whichcancauseahUIllor,tilint ermillenl
andIllanypatchcordscrisscrossingeachother
arc confusing,md look more like spaghcui thanorderl y
Sec/ion 10.1 Sound Con/roil and Recording f or Studio ond Field Opera tions
10.7 PATCHBAY WITH PATCHES
All palchbay5 connect the signal outputs (mi n. CDs, 10
spe<ific input modules of the audio console. The pdt chlng is
accompli shed by connecti ng the audio outputs (top row) to
the inputs {bottom row} wi th patch cords.
connections, making indi vidual patches difficult to tracc.
Al so, when pat ching with a corresponding fader st iU set al
a high volume, fht pop caused by pl ugging or
unplugging the patch cord can bl ow even thc moSI robust
speaker. Once again, although physical connections are
impor tant because you can see which signal goes where,
the compute r can perform many of the routine palching
functions mo re efficiendr-
.,
"
Computer patching In computer patching, the sound
signals from tilt' various sources, such as mics, d irect boxes,
CDs, DVDs. or videotapes, arc routed to the patch panel
programmer, which assigns Illultiple signals to specific
fader modu)(' s of the audio console for further process-
ing. To route lavaliere 1 to pot 2, and the CD to pot I, for
example, you don't need any physical pat ches; you si mply
enter the rou ting informa.t ion iota the computer ( pa.tch
panel progra.mmer), which tells the elect ronic pat(h panel
to connect the inputs to the desired faders on the consol e,
show t he information on the display screen, and 5tOte your
patching commands on a disk for future U$t'. Patching is
now as eas)' as pJsling words with a word processor.
AUDIO- RECORDING SYSTEMS
The sound of routine televisi on productions is usuall y
recorded simult aneously with the on one of the
audio tracks o( the videotape recorder. There arc occasions,
hOI"el'<: r, when you need !O back up your sound recording
with a separate audio recording, or record the audio on a
separate systcm for high -end posl product iOIl _ Fven if you
don't imend to becollle ::a n audio expert , you n.::{'{1 to know
what systems are available to you.
in general, audio-nxording can record audio
signal s in analog or digital form_ As explained in chapter
2, allalog means that the signal fluctuates exactly /ike the
original st imulus; digital means that the sil!,nal is t ran.slated
into many di gi ts (on/off Almost all audio
recordi ng in professi onal te[('vision is done digitally. As
wit h vi deo, digital audio recordings excel not only in sound
quality but also in mainta ining that qual it}' in e.>: tensi w
post producti on <.' dit ing. lkcause di gi tal systems all ow you
to see a vi sua l d ispl ay of the recorded sounds, tht,y make
editing much more precise than 'I' itn the an,llog methods_
But don't dismiss analog audio just yet. Many older cam-
corders and VHS rt'corders arc Slit! analog, and t here art'
ex tensive analog sound archi\'es that willlllost likely remain
analog even in the di git:ll age. Youmay still ha\le a cot!e(".lion
of IIllalog equipment that most likel y includes an analog
cassett e machine . SOli\<.' audi o pmists have ({'turned to
analog sound systems bt-cause, accordi ng to them, analog
recordi ngs have a warmer sound than digital ones.
ANALOG RECORDING SYSTEM.S
All anal og recording systems are ta pe-based. Here \" (:
briefly louch on the rwo analog audio that are st ill
in u:;e: the open- reel audiotape rewrder and the aud iocas-
selle recorder_ The operational features of analog ATRs
havc becn inheri ted by the digital r('corders .
Open-reel audiotape recorder The open-reel, for-
Illcrl)' calJed red- to-reel, maliQ rtlpe n:cQrdcr is generally
u$('d for muhi tr:lck recording or for pl ayi ng back longer
pieces of audio material. For example, the background
music and the sound effects, such as t raffi c noise, arc
gencrally premixed (prere<:orded) on audiotape and then
pl arcd back and mixed il gain \\,ith the dialogue during an
actual prodtICtion. The r\TR is iliso uscd to record material
for archival pur poses. Alt hough a great variety of ATRs are
used in television production, they aU operate on (ommon
prindp!c.s and with simil ar controls.
All prol{:ssional ATRs. analog and digital , have, in ad-
dition to t he s..... itch for the various n,.'cordi.ng speeds, fi l'l?
control buttons t haI regulate the tape mOlion: (I) play,
which the tape at the designated recording speed;
(2) fast-forward, which advanccs the ta pe at high speed;
(3) SlOp, wh ich brakes thl' reels to a stop; (4) rewind.....hich
rewinds the {:I real high speed; and (5) record, whi ch aCl i-
vates both the erase and the record heads. Sf.( 10.1 },'Iany
225
226 Chapter 10 AUDIO: SOUND CONTROL
10.8 OPEN-REEl ANAl()(;
AU DIOTAPE RECORDER
Thi s open-reel AlR can record
up t o eight separate audio
tracks on a Yo-inch audiotape
and can locate cenaln cue
Supply rrel
potrllS aut oma ti cally. It ( i) n
interfcl(e with the $M PTE
l ime code for audio/ video
synchlOniz3t ion. All of the
controls-incl uding the
standard operat ional controls VlJ IIH' tef'\ ........
of ploy, fasr-forword. 5fop,
rE'Wmct and record-are on
a panel that ( an be used
from a remote location.

Remote Iranspon controls
tape Tl;X"orders aha have a w e control, which enables )'OU
to hear the sound on a tape even \\lh(' n run ning al faS I-
forward or rewi nd speeds.
The tape moves frorn a supply rce/ to il Inkeup ree/Oller
at [<'ast three heads: the erase head, the record hfad, and
the playhack head. SU. 10 .t This head assembly arrange -
111('01 is stJ lldard for aU analog t<lpe recorders. \\'1\CI1 thc
ATR is being used for recordin g, the erase hetld d C.lfS the
portions of the tape Ihat receive Ihe recordi ng (tracks) of
all audio mat erial that mi ght have been left on the tape
(rom a previous recording; Ihe record head the n puts the
fa$(' hedd
Record !lead PloJ)'ba(t beoJd
10.9 ANALOG AUDIOTAPE HEAD ASSEMBLY
The head "s5('mbly of "n an<llog (('el-Io-reel ATR consist> of an
erase he.Jd, a record head, and " playback hedd.
T/ansport control) Stationdry llead assembly
new :.Iud io material on the When tht' tape is played
back, the pl ayback head reproduces the audio materi:]l
previously recorded. The er.1se and record heads are not
activated during playback.
Some audio production rooms in large stat ions have
mult itrack recorde-[s tMt use- wider formats Ihdn the stan-
dard lfI- inch (such as 'fl- , 1-, or 2-inch) to a.:commodate
the ll1ultiple (up 10 twenty-four) tracks. High-qual it yfour-
track nlil chines use OT I-inch tape. The 2-1nch tape is
used for sixteen or more analog tracks.
Audiocassette recorder Professional casjette syslems
;HC similar to the one )'011 have al home or cafry around
except thai they have mOTe-sophisti ca too el('(troni es to
reduce noise and more-durable tape transports that all ow
fastcr and smoother fa st-for ward and rewind speeds.
A!> you know from experi ence, cassettes aTe easy to
store alld handle and can play up to 120 minutes of audio
m'lt erial. Despit e the narrow tape, cassettes produce good
sound, especia ll y if Ihey arc the newer, mel:l ]-partide-
(oated varid ),. De:'>pite the digi tal reVOlution, IImli og cas-
settes are still popular in television production. If you want
supe-rior audio quality from casselles, however, you should
use a DAT recorder.
,
r
Sec t ion 10. 1 Sound Conlro/s and Recordi ng fo r Studi o andField Opero t ions
227
10.10 ANALOG
ANDOATCASSETTES
TheOATcassent! is consider-
ablysmallerthan the f{'9ul ar
analogaudioc.lsseue.
O'!'T (alSEtte Analog
Digital reco rdingisdone wilh eithertape-based sys-
temsoravarietyofrapelessdevices.
TAPE- BASED DIGITAL
RECORDING SYSTEMS
The tape- based systems include videotape used by the
stand-alone or camcorder and DAT recorders.
Somepostproductionroomshavelargerdigitalmul titrad.
recordersIhat USE' S- VHSor Hi8 videotape,bu\ themore
Oexi blc andefficient harddi skrecordershave madethese
moe/ldar digilll/II/uititrack (MD.>.,.f) recorders and digi tal
laperecording sysfems(DTRSs) all butobsolete.
Vid.otape recorders Mostdigilalaudiorecordingfor
videoisdon{'simultaneouslyh' iththevideoononeorboth
tracksoftil" videotape(secfigur\! 12. 6). Some prosumer
andprofessionalcamcordersletyouchoosebetweenhigh-
quality {In-bit; and a somewha t lower-quality ( 12-bit l
reco rdingmode.
OAT recorders Digital audiotape (DAT) recorders
can use open-reeltapeorcasse ttes.The digitalopen-reel
machineslookandoperatemuchlike theanalogopen-reel
recorders- theyhaveasupplyanda takeup reel- butIhe
head3sscmblyis morelike thatofaVTR. Its recordingand
playback heads rot <1 t(' at high speed while the audi otape
passesby them.Becausetherecordingandplaybackhe<1ds
rotate, thesemachi nesa realsocall ed R-DAT recorders.
No rmall)" a DAT recorder refersto a digital cassette
recorder.Thesemachinesoperate morelikevideocassette
recordersthanaudiocassettcrecorders. Aswi th open-recl
DAT recorders,theheadsofthecassett erecordersrolat eal
hi ghSI'Cl-d. BCC,IUseoftherotalinghe3ds,the<:3sselt eScan
ue smallerthan butattheirslowestspeed
theystillI,;:cordupto (ourhoursofhigh-quaLil yaudio.As
VJ ithvidoot:IIX" however,tll (' slower tap" speedsproduce
lower-qualit yrecordings. SEE 10.10
Bes; cli: s recordingsound withthe customarydi gital ,
virtually noi se -free hi gh fidelity, high-fnd DAT recorders
includethefoll olvingfeaturesthaIareespeciallyimport ant
for video production:
High-speedsearch and extremelyaccuratecueing
Verbalslating(identifyingasce neorlake) th rough a
built-in microphone
Timecoderecordingsimuh<lneouslywilh rheaudio
material ,for cueing3ndfor matchingsoundand
picturesin postproduct ion
Displaylhatshowsthetime remaini ngon thetape
Synchroni "l:l tion,ifdesired,oCit sinternallimecode
withanexternal timecode(suchasIhe- onesupplied
byortothecameras)
Recording3nddi splayofThecurrent dal eand time
SEE 10.11
10. 11 PORTABLE OAT RECORDER
Thisport abteOAT recOldelcan IKOI"d up 10twohoursona
singlebanclYchalge.tl hasonebalanced input(two
XLRjaCks)andfour unbalancedinputs(RCAphonojacks).
liS excellentfrequencyresponseletsyoumakehigh-fidelity
recordi ngsofspeecha ....dmusic: .
228 Chapler '0
But these wonder machines arc not problem-frec.
The high-specd rotary h('ads aft': subject to weaf and (('ar,
especiall y jf110t properl y 1n.1inlaincd, and t he recorders
are semitive to moisture. OATcasseUcs cannot have H. ny
fla.....s, or the recording will be equally Ilawlxl. Finally, DAT
recorders are qui ll.' e.xpensi\"e. is why tapdess record-
ers art' becoming morc popular.
TAPELES5 RECORDING SYSTEMS
High-C:lpaciIY, rugged hard drives coupled wilh efficient
compression systems such as MP3 makt.' disk-based systems
the prime audi o-recordi ng medium in tel evision produc-
tion. The more popular srstems include: (1) t he digital carl
system. (2) mini disks and flash memory devices, (3) hard
drives wilh removable or fi xed disks, and (4) optical disc
-,>}'slems wi lh ;l variety of CD and DVD formalS.
Digital cart system The digital recorder/players thaI
constirute a digi tal cart system usc regular hi gh-capacit y
(emovable computer disks, such as t he l SD-megabyte Zip
disks. for r<xording and playba.ck, or read/ writ e opt ical
discs Of mini discs. These digital systems oper<1tE' very much
like a home CDpl ayer. You ca n select ,I panicu1ar cut and
st<lrt rhe audio u <lck insl<lnlly. YOll ca n al so int erface the
digital car t '\1t h ,I deskt op computer that lets you assemble
a pl ayl ist, \\l1 ich wiJI aut omati cally cuc and stan various
audio segment s. SEE 10. 12
Mini discs andflashmemory devices The mill; disc
( MO) isa s.mall (about 2lh- inch) read-only or read/ wri te
optical disc that can store more t han an hour of high-
quali!}' digi tal stereo audi o. Its small size, large storage
VU for 2411ach
AUDIO: SOUND CONTROL
10.12 DIGITAL CART RECOROER/PLAYER
This digital(ilf!syst emusesitremovilblehign-dt'nsitycom-
puterdiskandallowsrilndomandinstilntcueing and playback
viii remotecontrol.
capacity, and easy cueing make it a useful playback dcl'ice
for prod uction.
The flash memory device, or flil sil drive, is a small
memory stick. vcry much likc tlte am'you might be using
in your digital still camera or prosumer camcorder. IIhas
no moving parts butcan store I gig<lbytc of information.
This means t hat the flash dei ...e can hold approxirnattlyone
plugs right into the USB port
on YOUT computer.
Hard drives There are large capaci ty systems built
specificaUy for audi o production and postproduction
that slOre audio in formation just like )'ou would Oll your
computer hard drive. nl l O.1] Despite its diminutive size,
Display window
Ha/d diU:b.ly1 OperatiolYl (ootrol$ Hard dhk bay 1
10.13 DIGITAL MUlTITRACKRECORDER/PLAYER
Thisdigitillrecorder( ilnrecord t went y fourtrilcksont wohign-cilpacityharddri ves. Bothhilrd disks " 0me<;l abyteseach) are
removableilndCiln be swappedfrom bay to bily.
Section 10.1 Sound COM rols and Recording for S/udio and Field Oper at ions
Ihe ubi qui lOus Apllle iPud has a 20-gigabyte hard dri ve
that y\I U can .::ormoct to your computer via USB cable or
FireWire (IEEE 1394) for slOring audi o files and other
dat a. You can then transfer t hese fil es to a digit al editing
system. SElf 10. 14 Some have bui lt-in hard drives; others
have removable disks that ca n be exchanged from one
recorder/player to another.
CD and DVO The professional compact (CD) and
digital versatile disc (DVD) players are often used in tele-
vision (and radi o) stations for playing back commerdall y
produced music a nd Olher cl udi o mat eria!' The rewritable
CDs and DVDs are used for multiple recordi ng and play-
back. There are several different CD and DVD format s
on the market, aUof whi ch perform similar product ion
functions: the storage and playhack of a variet y of audio
materia!. 1 SEE 10.15
Protessional CD and DVD players allow random access
of a sp(cific t rack; let you enter, st ore, and acti vate various
play sequences; and display, among other things, the menu
of the pl ayli st, ....,hat Ihe di sc is pl aying, and how much of
tile' seglll enltime is remaining.
Al though CDs and DVDs ca n theoretically withstand
an unl imit ed amount of playbacks without delerioriltion,
Ihey are nevertheless quit e vulne rable. Iryou scratch the
shiny side or even the labe! side, the disc won' t play past the
!oCfatcb. And jfIhere are fingcrprinrs on the disc, the laser
may try to read the fingerprinrs instead of the imprinted
digits. When handling CDs and DVDs, try to keep your
hands off the surface and always pHI down the disc on its
!.abel side--nol it s shiny si de.
AUDIO CONTROL IN THE STUDIO
RecaU from chapt er I that most audi o booths are SRparate
I from the program control se( lion yet in dose prox.imity to
I
I. S1dllier R. Allen, Awlio ill Mrdia, 71h (d. (lldmonl. Calif,: Tholl1son
WJJs .. u rth, 2.00:;)' PI'. 122-29.
iPod
(!llru
>
SettIngs
>

Sidetight
10.14 APPLE IPOO OIGITAL MUSIC PLAYER
tiny playE'r can store a great amount of musi c and other
data on it s 20megabytE' hald drive.
it. Some provide visual access to the studio or, at least, to
the program control room. 'Nhen walking into the audio
booth, you W'iU probably be surpri sed by the variety and the
complexit y of audio equipment. especiall y because we are
generally unaware of the audio aSpe<t of tE' levision unless
something goes wrong.
AUDIO CONTROL BOOTH
The audio control booth houses the audio, or mix-jng. con-
sole; anil!og and digital recording ,md playback equipment.
10.15
PROFESSIONAL(0PLAYER
Professional CO and OVO
players a!lowinstant random
access to various lfacks. The
play sequence can be storE'd
and on playback.
229
230 Chapler 10
10. 16 AUDIO
Window10video(ootIDIroom
CONTROL BOOTH
The iludiocontrol
boothcontainsaY(lrietyof
audIO controlequipment.
t ilecontrolCOfUOIe
withcomputerdisplay,p3tch-
bay,COandOVDplayers,
OAT
Int ercom systems,anda
videoline monitor.
Audio(onsole
such as recorders,a((,"el-to-reel analogATR, OAT
recorders,an MDplayer,CDand/orDVDmachines;aJld,
largely for nostalgic reasons, a turntable. There is also a
physicalpatchbaydespitethepresenceofcomputerpatch-
ing,andoneormoredesklop(ompUlersfulfillingvarious
functions. You will also find cue and program speakers,
iOlerwmsystems,aclock,anda linemonitor.Oneaudio
engineer(oraudiooperatororaudi o technician)operates
Iheaudioconl rolsduringashow. SEE 10.16
BASIC AUDIO OPERATION
Learning w operate all this equipment takes lime and
practice. Fortunately, in mOSt studio rour
audi o tasksconsist mostl yofmakingsure chat the voices
ofthenewsanchorsorpalleiguestshaveacceptablevolume
levels andare relativel y free o(e.xtraneousnoise.1nd thai
thesoundappeah"'jththepictures\"I'hwvideorecordings
areplayed.Mostli kel yyou""jllnolbeaskcd toda intricat e
sound manipulationsduringcomplexrecordingsessions-
Jlleast notright away. Consequently, the(ocushereis on
thebasic audi o control factors: (I) audio system calibra-
tl on,(2) volumecontrol,and (3)lillestudiomixing.
Audio system calibration Berore doing anyseri ous
volume adjustment or mixi ng, you need to make sure
that the audio console and the VTR or any other device
on which rou are recordingtheaudio "hear"in Ihe same
way,that is ,thattheVTRinputvolume (recording level )
AUDIO; SOUND CONTROL
....-- (amputer of func:tiom
Studiotdlkbad:.
matchestheconsoleoutput(line-outsignal).Thisprocess
is audiosystem orsimpl ym/ibrotio".To
calibratea istomakeall theVVmeters(usuallyof
theaudi oconsoleandtherecordvrR)respondin the
way10aspecificJudiosignal- theCOlllrO/lOne. (Notethat
audio calibration has nothing to do with the zoom lens
calibration, you adj ust the room lens .so that it
infocus duringtheenlirezoom range. )
Here arethe basic ste:ps ofaudiocalibration:
I. With aUfadersontheconsoleormuerturnedall the
waydOl"tl ,aCli vatethecontrollone,which iseithe rd
continuous loneor an intermittentbe:ep. Most pro-
fessional<ludio consolesand mixershave: SUdl a tone
generatorbuilt -in.
2. Bringupthemaster(line-out)laderalltheconsoleor
mixerto the0 VU mark.
3. Bringupthefaderforthecontroltoneuntilthemaster
(line-out ) VU meterreads0 VU. While bringingup
the (ader, you shouldhear the.soulld becoming pro-
gressiw:!ylouderuntil ithasreached the0VU level.
4. Now turn up the incoming volume control on the
VTR unti litsVU metrralso reads0VU.Whenboth
themasterVU met eroftheconsoleormi xer and the
VU meteroftheVTR read thesame0 VU level, the
system hasbeen calibrated.
Section 10. 1 Sound Controls and Recording for Studi o and Field Operations
/
/

/ ,
/
egO
I

I

. _.
III


Vll! input (rl'Jf1:1lew1):0 VU
consolt line-OtJI: 0VU
10.17 AUDIO SYSTEM (AlIBRATION
An audio system is cahbrated when all VU mete rs respond in Ihe same way 10 a sped"( audio si9nal. Here the lineout of the audio
mixer is cali brated wi th the input (reco rd level) of the VTR. 80th VU met ers show the sa me value.
From this point on Lh roughoul the recording. the VTR
opt'rator should not touch the audio input level, even if the
VU meter indicates low volume levels. 1t is up to you-the
console operator- to mainlain proper audio levels.
Because the VTR is now receiving exactly what )'OU
.loClld from the console or mixer, you can confidently engage
in some ser ious volume conlrol. SEE 10. 17
Consolesand calibrat ion
Volume control Once the s)'stelll i.<.calibrated, you can
pay anention to the finer POilllSoC adjusting IJl e vol ume
of the incom ing sound sources.
Taking B Itve1 Except when lit eraUy running aCter a story
on an ENG assignment, before starting Ihe videotape
recording you should always lake a level-that is, adjust
the in put level so that I he talent's speech falls more or less
wi thi n th l:' tol erable volume range (no I ridiog in the mud
and nol bending the needle) . Ask the talent to talk long
enough for you to see where the luwer and upper lim its of
the speech volume are, then place the fader between
f:',o.o extremes. An experienced performer will stay wirhin
lhis volume range even in subsequent takes.
Unfort llnately, when asked to give a level, maS( per-
forrn('rs consider it an intrusion on their concentration
and simply count rapidl y 10 three or four; then, wben they
are on the their voices rise to the occasion- and also
in volume. Always be prepared for this sudden volume
increase. Experienced performers give a fe w of their open-
ing remarks in about as loud a voi ce as the)' will use when
on the air.
.... Vhen overmodul atingspeech (riding Ihe gain consis-
tentipl 100 high a level) , you end up not with a reconling
that is sli ghtl y too loud but with di storted sound. Although
it is relati vely easy to boost sound [hat was rec.orded at a
slightly lower-than-normallcvel {even al the risk of am-
plifying some of the noise with the low-level sounds}, it is
very difficult and often impossible to fix overmodulated,
dislorted sound in postproduction. Digital sound is espe-
cially susceptible to overmodulation.
Live studio mixing Live mixillgmeans thaI you combine
and balance sounds while the product ion is in prosreS$.
Studio mixing may range from the relatively simple' task of
ridi ng gai n for the newscaster's lavaliere mic Of balancing
the voices oC several panel members during a discussion,
to Ihe more complicated job or switching among various
audio sources during a newscast or recording a rock band
or even a dramatic scene for an interactive multimedia
program on how to recognize potenti al shoplifters.
231
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232 Chap rer 10
As with the setupofmi cs for a complexproduction,
t her.:- is no lormula fOf howan optimal mix is achi e\'ed.
When ridinggain for thesingle mieoflhe n{'IVSancnor,
simplykeep hi s orh('r !evel within [he acceptable audio
range and watch that the anchor is dea rl )' heard. When
controlli ngtheaudioofthepanel di scussion, ridinggain
iseasiestjfe"ery memberwearsalaval iere.Once' helevels
are set, you have tiHle to do exceptbri ng down thefader
somewhat ifaileofthe members gelSexcit ed and start s
talking much louder than normal, or bring it up when
somebodydriftsoffmumbling.
Whenusingdeskmies,Ihemostimportantaudiojob
is beforetheshowevenstarts-t hemkset up.Remember
10 pl ace the rnics al least t hree times as f<l( apart as the
distance ofany mi c 10 the panel member (as described
in chaptcr 9) toeliminate possiblemultiple-microphone
interfe rence.ANerlakingpreliminarylevel s,adj ustthernics
(or optimalpositionsand tapethemdowlI .Take anot her
levd ,adjustIhefadersforall mics,andhopethat rhepanel
members'kickingli ndbangingonthetablewill bekeptto
a mUl\mwn.
The mulltsource newscast is more chaUengi ng. For
example,youmayneedtos\vjtchquickl yfrom theanchor's
introduction10SOT (sQrma 011 lafJ), andfromtheretothe
co-anchor, to the guest in Londo n (remote source), back.
to th..co-anchor,toanotherVTR, backto theanchor,toa
commercial,andsoforth. You will fi ndthatlabelingeach
audio inputwi ll greatl>,facjlitateyou raudiocontrol:sim-
pl yputastripofmask.mgtapebelo\\'thefadersand ma rk
themwi thagreasepeJldl.Asforvolumeconl rol.rouhave
to watch the remotesourcesandtheSOTsegmentsmore
than Ihe mics of fhe anchors and weathercaster (whose
voicelevels you have set beforethenewscast).
Themi.xingfortherockbandordramati ..: sceneforthe
multimedia project can bequitecompl icated and is best
lefttoanaudio Again,thein.itia!chokeofIlli csand
theirproperplac<.'mentarefllorechallengingthantnemix-
ing itself.You mayalsohaveto patch thel11ics for various
audio feeds,suchas foJdback, audiencefe ed,
orvideotapefeed.Amix-milJUsfeed isa typeoffoldback
in \"hich youst'nd intothcstudioacompl etcmixl usual!y
thebandor orchestra) minusthesoundgenerated in Ihe
st udio (suchas si nger'svoice). Rega rdlessoftheCOIl! -
plexityofthesetup.therearesomebasicsleps10 follow:
I. Labeleach input.
2, Ca libratethe.lUdiosystem.
3. Check the mic s individuall y byhaving an assistant
lightl ysc ratch thesurface ofeach mic. This \"ill
AUDIO: SOUND CONTROL
identify the speci fi c micwhost input you are tr ying
to loca te. H:I1inSsomeone talk in the vicinit yofthe
mkis not as accurat e-you may well think you are
testingone mic whil e aCluaiJ}' receivi ngsound from
another.
4. Jf foldback is required, check the foldba ck levels in
the studio,
S. Do a brief test recording and listen to the play-
back mix.
6. Adjustfhenecessa ryqualit)'controlsuntilthesinger 's
voicesoundslhewayyou!ikeittosound.Check\'I i(11
t he band's manager or producer, who llsually likes
to listen to the rehearsa,Iin t he audi o coulrol boot h,
beforedecidj ngonthe nnal recordingsetup.
7. Tt ytorecord majorsoundsources(voiceandinstru-
ment s, dialogue and soundeffects, guitar. bass, and
keyboard)onsep.lratc- tracks.Suchseparation makes
postproduction mix.ing mucheasier than ifyou mi.'\
everythingli ve on asi nglet(acie
8. An ti cipate the director's cues. For example, be pre -
paredtoopen(activate)aspecificperson'smicsothll t
youC,lIl reaCi immediatelytolhedirector'scue.
9. Do not pJ nil:andloseyourtemperifyou hearsome
accidental noise, such as a door slammingor some-
thingbeingdropped.Althoughsuchnoisemaysound
toyoulikeirreparabledamageatthetime,mostview-
erswi Unote\'tnbeah'areo[it. Don' ttalu: thi.s friendly
advice as an invitation to sloppysound control bUI
rather as an appeal to common sense. If, however,
youafedoinga rel:ordingmeantforpostproduction,
alen thedirectorofsuch inddentsand lethimorher
decidewhether todoaretake.
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT AND
BASIC OPERATION FOR FIELD AUDIO
ENth... As wirh aU audio, the beli ef the sound pickup, rhe
EEJV' easierthesoundconlrolduringtheproductionorin
postproduction. (Refer to chapler9 for Informa tion and
adVice on whatmi cs to useoutdoorsand how to achieve
optimalsound undervariousfield conditions. )
Unless you are engaged in a big remote (see cbapter
20),lht: audioequipmentin thefieldis muchlesse1.1borale
than ttsstudi ocounterparts.Thtsisll otbecauseyoudon' t
need to produce optimal audio in Ihe neld but s.i mpl y
inENGtheaudio requirtmenaare usuall ymore
r
Sec ri on 10. J Sound Contr ols and Recording fo r Studio and Fi eld Operat ions
modest. Similarly, in EFP most of the quality co nt rol is
done in postproduction in the studio. But don't be tooled
into thinking that field audio is somehow easier than studi o
audi o. On the contrary-sound pi ckup and recording in
the field are actually more difficult. In the field you have
to worr), about wind noise, b<lrking dogs, traffi c sounds,
airplanes overhead, chattering o nl ookers, or rooms that
produce the dreaded inside-a-barrel sounds.
KEEPING SOUNDS SEPARATE
The key to good field audio is keeping the primary sounds
as separate from the environmencal sounds as possi ble.
For example, you usuall y wa lll 10 record the report er's
mie input on one audio rrack and the camera mi c's input
of primaril y ambient sounds 0 11 the second audio track.
There will nevert heless be circumstances io which you
need to mix and balance several sound sources in the fi eld.
For exa mple, if you have to covt'J an interv iew o( sever,,1
people in somebody's living room, you should balance
their voices right then and there. This is ""here the field
mixer comes Ill.
AUDIO MIXER
A.n audio mixer differs from a console in thai il normall y
serves only the illPUt (volume control) "nd the mixing
(combining two or more signals) functions. SEE 10.18
MOSt portable mixers have onl y three or four input
channels and one or two outputs. Even then the small
mixers require that }'OU d istinguish between low- level and
high-l evel input sources. A switch above or below each
sound input must be set either to mic {or low-level inputs,
10.18 PORTABLE MIXER
This portable mixer has thrl:'e Inputs two OutpUIS. The
volume controls au:! knobs. Such bi9 knobs and switches
are especially convenient in the field, wherl:' digital menus
often hard to see and actNdtc.
as all microphones. or to lint. for high-level sources,
such as the output of a CD player. B('CaU5C most of the
time you will use the field mixer for mL'cing microphones,
doublt'-cht'ck that the input switch is set to nJic. If yo u are
not sure whether a p<ltticuJar piece of audio equipment
produces a mic-level or a line-level signal. do a brief test
recording. Don't rely on the VU meter when playing back
the recording-you should act ually li sten to it wi th
headphones. The VU meter might show the recording to
be in the acceptable volume range, but it will not reflect
sound distortions.
Even though some digital mixers have more input s as
well ...omequalitycont fOls. elaborate mixing in the fi el d
is not unless you' re doing a live telecast.
AUDIO (ONTROlIN THE FiElD
ENlh... You usually do not need a mixer when doing ENG.
EEJJ""" You can plug the external mi c into one of the cam-
corder audio inputs and plug the camenl shotgun ll1ic into
the other audio input.
USING THE AGe IN ENG AND EFP
Be especially conscious of the ove rmodulation problem
during ENG or HP. When you arc on fin ENG assigll -
ment aud cannot watch the VU meter on the camcorder.
switch on the aUlomatiegain contra/CAGe), which boosts
low S<.l unds and reduces hi gh,volume sounds so that th ey
conform to the acceptable volume fange. The AGe does
not discriminate between wanted and unwanted sounds.
however; it fai thfull y boosts the sound of the !ruck
and the coughi ng crcwmember and even !he noi se of the
pauses when field report er is chinking of something
clever to say, But whenc\'er possible. and especially when
in noisy surrou ndings. switch orf the AGe. take a Ic\d,
anJ tr y 10 watch Ihe audio levels. When usi ng OAT, turn
down lhe pOI (volume cOnl rol) a bit hom IVhcre you had
it while til king a level. This way you can b.: preuy Sllre not
to over modulate OJlCC you are on tht a i l.
EFP MIXING
In EFP mixing there ;1((: always assignments (m whi ch you
have 10 control morc audio sources than the twO micro-
phones. Even a simple assignment sHch as covering the
opening of the local elementary school's ne\\' gym will most
likely require that you mix at least three microphones: the
field reporter's mic, the lectern mic [or the speeches. and
a mi e to pick up the school choir. If rou fun Ollt nf mic
inputs on the mixer. you can always cover the choir with
the camera mic.
233
234 Chap t er 10
Despi( (' thenumberofmics.(ht: moongitselfis fai rl y
simple.Once you have set the level for each input, you
probablyneed toridegainonlyforthereporter's micdur-
intervi ewsand for lhevariousspeakersat thelectern.
You rna)' also wan! 10 bringup (increa:>e thegain of) the
choirmicdur ingthep(:' rformancc. Although in anemer-
gencyyoucould tr y10pickupmostofthesesoundswith
thecameramicor bypointingashotgun micat thevari ous
areas, Ih('muhiple-micsetupandtheportablemixerafford
youbenefcontrol.
Here are a fe w basic gui dclim-s for livE' ENG/EFP
nllxillg:
Even if youhaveonlyafe winputs, labeleachonewit h
whatitcontrols.suchasfield reponer'smie,audiencemic,
andso forth.You would be surprised at howquickl yyou
forgel whose mic corrt'sponds to whi ch pot. III case you
have to turnovertheaudiocont rolto,;omoone else,heo r
she can take Qv\? r\.,' ilhoutlong
Ifyou wo rk wit h aseparate VTR,calibrate theaudio
output ofthe camera ,,, jlh Ihe audi o input ofthe VTR,
Ifyo udoacompli catedmi xinthefidd,prolectyou r-
selfbyfeeding ilnotonl yto thecamcorder an d theVTR
butal sotoa5eparateaudiOre.:onlcrfo rprobablecemix.i ng
i npostproduct ion.
Ifyo nfeed t nemixerline-o ut tothecamco rderand a
backupaudiorecorder,you cal ibratealloflheequip-
men\.
Do uble-checkaU input sfrom wirelessmi esystems--
t heyhave a tendencyto malfunction just before t heSIOlct
oraneven\.
Ifrecording fo r post])roduct ion, tryto put disti ned )'
different sound sources o n separat e audio t racks of tht
videot ape,suchasthereporter'sandguests'voi cesono ne
tt ack a. nd the speaker's lectern mic and lhe choir on Ui e
o ther.That way it wi ll be easier d uring postproduct ion
sweet ening (gettingridofunwantednoisesandimproving
thesoundquali ty) tobalancethe repo rter'svoic(> with the
other
AUDIO: SOUND CONTROL
It is todocomplic<ltcdandsubt lemixing
in postproduct ion rather t han live in the fidd. Thisdoes
no tmean thatyo ushoul d forgoIiJt t' ringout as much un-
....'anted soundas possibled uri ngtheon- loca tion pickup,
assuming thatt he mixer has S(Hnl' basic qualit ycont rols
availabl e. Ifitdoesn't,do n' twor ry.I(an)' swccten ingisto
bedonl',doit inpostprod ucti on.RememherthatUi emo re
at tention you pay to goodsound pickupin thefi eld, the
less timeyOll needinpostproducc iun. '4
_
The majorproduction equipmentforstudi oaudio includes
theaudioconsole,thepatchbay,analogand tape-
basedrecordingsystems(VTR. ATA, andOAT),andlape!ess
recordi ngsystems can,mini discand flash memory
devices,harddriveswithremovableor disks, andopt i-
caldiscsystems, suchas andOVOs).
Audi oconsolesperform five milj or(uncti ons: inpul- sele<t.
preamplify,andcontroll hevolumeo (thevariousincoming
signals; andbal ancetwoor moreincoming
signal s: qualit ycontrol- manipulatethesoundcharac-
teristics;out put-routethecombinedsignaltoaspeci fic
OUlpu\;andmonitor- Ioutetheoutpul01SPffiticsounds
toaspeakerorheadphones sothattheycanbe heard,
Theil udiocontrolareaofatelevisionstudioindudesthe
audiocontrolboot h,whi chIsusedfor the
controlofdail ybroadcasts.It theaudioconsole.
thep.ltchbay, recordingandplaybacksystems,
hi gh-quality avideomoni lor, andatleastone
computerthatCMriestheessenti alin-houseinfor mation,
ThebasicaudiooperatiOnindude-s.: theaveliosyst emcali-
bration, which vu inIhesystemmusl
respondin thesamewaytoaspecil'kaudiosignal !control
IOIle);volumeconllol;andlivestudIO
livesl udio mixing usuall yinvolvescombiningil ndbal anc
ingsoundswhi letheproductionIsinprogress.
InEFPthekeytogoodfi eld audioiskeepi ngthevarious
soundsourcesreasona blyseparatesothattheycan be
propelly mixedinpostproduction,
Theaut omaticgaincontrol(AGe )is aconvenientmeans
ofkeepingt hevolumewithinaccept ablelimits. butinits
automaticamplificationilwill ootdistinguishbetween
import ant soundsand unwantedsounds.