Simple TV operations questions

[firewire]

I’m moving from live talk radio to live tv sound.

I will be running the mixer and I haven’t been in a tv studio before.

The set up is generally a

presenter an up to four guests like a political talk show.

Apologies for some very simple questions,

 

1)    
Do you just leave all the
mics open in case someone jumps in or just tend to leave the presenter mic and
guest that is talking and leave the other mics a little down and push up with
they go to jump in.

            Are noise gates ever used?

2)If guests change between ad
breaks are guests given different lav mics or are they swapped and what’s the
best way for knowing who has which mic?

3)Besides mics ie lav, boom
etc does any other sound go through the mix desk for example sound from vt
inserts?

4)I
have seen a good few sites where it shows where to place a lav mic but I cant
seem to find anywhere where it shows how to wire the cable in the

clothing back to the transmitter for men and women and how to attach the
transmitter??

5)If a show had a band perform
and the band played the back track and the vocal was live. What format is this
played off and who plays it.     Or how is this normally done?

[Jeff Wexler]

"I will be running the mixer and I haven’t been in a tv studio before."

 

Not trying to sound too harsh, but I think maybe you shouldn't be doing the job that you describe. Even if you get impeccable and detailed answers to all of your questions above, the fact that the questions are asked and you have never done a live broadcast TV show, kind of boggles the mind. Personally, I would never attempt this, unless it was a student project or a web show or something. Is there an engineering staff that will be working with you on the broadcast? Is there a broadcast spec sheet regarding levels, routing, all those things that you also might have a lot of questions?

 

The best advice I could give is to try and quickly go and sit in and observe someone else doing the job you are about to do, and pray that you are a very fast learner.

[John Blankenship]

Is there a budgetary reason they're not hiring a professional for this job?

My best advice is to make contact with a London sound professional who is experienced in TV mixing and see if he or she will share some of their time and expertise.

I suggest, at a minimum, a case or two of Guinness to show your appreciation.

Don't be surprised if you're met with less than enthusiasm. No offense meant, but most of us have worked many years in order to acquire suitable professional skills and the idea that someone thinks they can just waltz in and do an adequate job by learning a few quick tricks is a bit repugnant.

Good luck.

[Philip Perkins]

I’m moving from live talk radio to live tv sound.

I will be running the mixer and I haven’t been in a tv studio before.

The set up is generally a

presenter an up to four guests like a political talk show.

Apologies for some very simple questions,

 

1)    

Do you just leave all the

mics open in case someone jumps in or just tend to leave the presenter mic and

guest that is talking and leave the other mics a little down and push up with

they go to jump in.

            Are noise gates ever used?

2)If guests change between ad

breaks are guests given different lav mics or are they swapped and what’s the

best way for knowing who has which mic?

3)Besides mics ie lav, boom

etc does any other sound go through the mix desk for example sound from vt

inserts?

4)I

have seen a good few sites where it shows where to place a lav mic but I cant

seem to find anywhere where it shows how to wire the cable in the

clothing back to the transmitter for men and women and how to attach the

transmitter??

5)If a show had a band perform

and the band played the back track and the vocal was live. What format is this

played off and who plays it.     Or how is this normally done?

 

--Noise gates really suck for this kind of thing.  The real answer is automixers like the Dugan.  Otherwise your radio experience will help you with the mix--same deal, watch the talent and anticipate.

 

--Number everything and wring out the whole chain before the talent arrives.  Get the stage manager to help you scratch test the mics before the talent arrives. If you can assign mics to positions on the stage, so your right to left logic works on your faders.  

 

--Other sound--that's up to the procedures already established at your studio--ask them

 

--Make your wiring neat, use a little tape to secure the line but don't make a big rig of it because you'll be changing then out pretty fast.  Don't leave slack hanging but don't make the cable so tight the talent strains it when they move--pretty obvious

 

--Again, you studio will have a protocol for this, you have to ask how they are set up to do this.

 

Talk shows are just talk radio with pictures and lav mics--you'll be fine

 

philp

[Jay Rose]

Minority report:

 

I'm going to assume the producers hired you for this job, rather than scouting somebody more experienced, for a reason. And that somehow you've got to get through it without egg on your face. So bring your best game and be prepared to sweat.

 

In most studios, leaving all the lavs up all the time will give horrible echo and combing. Keeping them down in a free-form discussion will mean you miss something. One answer is an automixer, which could be a good idea. Another is iso feeds from each mic to a multitrack, and fix it in post. If you have to do it manually and live, keep a finger on each fader and an eye on the pix monitors (individual cameras, not just the program monitor). Leave the inactive channels fairly low though not off, watch the participants for cues they're about to speak, and try to catch their fader before they open their mouths...

 

Miking the guests is your department. Try to keep the channels constant for each chair position. If there are breaks between segments you can label the mixer.

 

SOT inserts, formatted, or anything else like that are up to the producer. Depends whether they're doing a full show "live on tape", or  just interview segments to be assembled later. If it is a full show, you're mixing it. And it better be good.

 

Rigging a lav? Lots of material on that. (I can recommend an excellent book...)   If the guests are seated the whole time, consider wired rather than wireless. Less to go wrong.

 

Live vocal with pre-recorded band? Now you're getting into music mixing. Be prepared to do some processing on the vocal mic. And playing some politics with the band or vocalist's reps. 

 

---

 

This is a handful, which is why so many people will say you shouldn't attempt it at all. By all means, seek out experts who you can watch work and query directly. And don't forget, we were all newbies once.

[studiomprd]

" I will be running the mixer and I haven’t been in a tv studio before."

what I find scary is that you consider these simple questions!

Edited February 13, 2013 by studiomprd

[ccsnd]

in broadcast you become more of a audio "manager" than an audio mixer".  At any one time you could be handling several (or many) mix minus feeds, building mixes, and hitting all your cues for the show (assuming it's scripted).

 

It's a lot to handle and can be pretty overwhelming the first time.

 

The automixer will be your friend.

 

Do you know what console they will be using?

[studiomprd]

" and hitting all your cues for the show (assuming it's scripted). "

and hitting all the cues on the fly if it is not scripted!

[Jeremy Katz]

1) I usually leave them all open. It is just too hard to read cues of guests you may not be familiar with, and you definitely don't want to clip the beginning of their sentences. I haven't had the experience someone else mentioned of having echo or combing when leaving multiple lavs up. Have good placement and gain structure and you will be fine. 

 

2) For shows with a lot of guests I always have a mic list printed out well beforehand and passed out to the stage manager and crew so everyone knows who is on which mics and IFBs. It depends on how many mics sets you have at the studio, but to make it easier, if there are enough, put everyone on separate mics so you can label the board before the show and not worry about swapping. If you don't have enough mics you will have to determine the best plan for you and your stage manager. Its best to give at least one block of programming to swap mics and not leave just a commercial break. 

 

3) It depends on the producer, but most likely yes. You can have VTRs, cart machines, CD players, DATs, remote feeds, Chyron FX, and FX off the switcher. You will make your moves based on your director's calls.

 

4) As for lav placement, it is much easier since you most likely not have to hide them. If they are wearing a tie, clip it there so that it doesn't matter which way there head is turned when they are speaking. If not, clip it to the lapel on the side that their face will be facing most of the time to avoid drop outs. As for the cable, if they are wearing a suit jacket just throw the transmitter in the inside pocket and have them button it. If not it goes under the shirt.

 

5) This is up to you. Do it however you think is best based on your studio's gear. 

 

I think you will be fine. It will definitely be baptism by fire. I have done both radio and TV, and they aren't that different. Main difference is in radio there is no director which in some ways is harder. Good luck!

[Hartley]

With all due respect you might want to consider an internship or at the most an A2 position. You don't want your first time out to be a disaster and the questions you ask indicate that it may be just that. If you are alone on this job the volume of responsibilities might be too much. An unfamiliar desk at a large facility could be a deal breaker for starters. Good luck if you do the gig but don't ruin the production just to get the job.

[studiomprd]

awaiting reports on this grand plan...

[Marc Wielage]

Whoa... tough crowd. 

 

I'd advise Mr. (or Ms.) Firewire to consider using an Automixer, as Phil advised above. In addition to the Dugan mixer (which is tops in its field), Shure has units that are also very good and relatively inexpensive, and there are also recorders like the Sound Devices 788t that come with Automixing functions built-in. (A handful of standalone mixers like the Yamaha 01V/01X) have slots for a Dugan automixer option. If I'm confronted with a live on-stage roundtable, I generally leave two main mics up all the time, and then turn the Automixer on for everybody else. You still have to chase levels depending on the nature of their dialogue. 

 

Keeping track of the mics is part of the job. I know of people who've done it through color-coding systems or just numbering them, but I usually try to let the on-stage positions follow the faders on my console: guy on the left has a fader to the left, lady on the far right has the fader on the far right, etc. And of course I label every fader with the person's name. Ideally, you'd also record iso tracks for each microphone, assuming the project has the benefit of a dedicated sound edit/mix after the fact. At the worst, it's nice to see visible meters that correspond to whoever's talking, plus have accurate loudspeakers (or headphones) giving you the ability to judge the relative balance of the mix. If it's a live show, adding compression and/or limiting is generally an important final step on the feed, particularly with guests that suddenly yell or shout.

 

If a live band performs and only the vocal is really live, then you'll have to work out a way to play the track via a separate device (perhaps a laptop), then send feeds of the instrumental + vocal mix to the singer so they can hear themselves and make adjustments when necessary. Rehearsals are highly recommended. 

 

Note that none of what you're asking about is simple or easy. Stuff like this is very challenging, particularly with the fast pace and unpredictability of live TV.

[Richard Nault]

Whoa... tough crowd. 

 

 I usually try to let the on-stage positions follow the faders on my console: guy on the left has a fader to the left, lady on the far right has the fader on the far right, etc. And of course I label every fader with the person's name. 

 

+1 for fader position.  

 

And a trick I learned from a mentor back in the day for panel-type stuff, keep your eye on the people who are not speaking - that gives you a heads up when others are about to interject.

 

Rich

[firewire]

Thanks for all the help.

When I operate a live talk radio show I can have up to 7 mics.

control isdn feeds, telephone calls, time and play the ad breaks, play cd’s and occasionally even mic up a small music session.

I didn’t think the jump to mixing on a tv sound desk would be as big an issue, As the scenario I suggested was 5 lav mics on a talk show.
 

I asked some basic questions so I wouldnt make some obvious rookie mistakes on the first week.

 

I didnt mean to make light of the job and I understand If I was doing a complicated show I would be completely lost, but the way I think of it is I have the ears I just have to speed learn the procedures.

[Marc Wielage]

Having done radio and TV mixing, my feeling is that TV mixing is harder, mainly because the studios are bigger and the noise factors are more problematic. I also tend to wind up having to deal with wireless microphone problems more in TV, but if the people are confined to a chair and you have the luxury of phantom-powered hardwired connections, then at least that problem is minimized.

 

The other issue in radio is that the microphones are typically on gooseneck arms and can be positioned very easily for optimum dialogue, without regard to clothing noise or popping. Not so with TV. 

 

The other issue of having all the mics up at one time, with a 7X increase in background sound, is a major challenge. I'm reminded of the major TV competition shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent, which struggle with audience noise, room reflections, and HVAC problems (sometimes minimized with tools like iZotope's ANR box). If it were as easy as you say, then you gotta wonder why live shows like this often sound so wonky. I've heard some really, really awful-sounding interview shows even on American network shows with big budgets and huge audiences.

[John Blankenship]

...

If it were as easy as you say, then you gotta wonder why live shows like this often sound so wonky. I've heard some really, really awful-sounding interview shows even on American network shows with big budgets and huge audiences.

Maybe it's because the mixers from these shows didn't come here for a speed lesson prior to reporting to work.

[Marc Wielage]

Could be! What's funny to me is when one of these shows sounds absolutely horrific one week, and then the following week, it sounds stellar. I get the strong feeling somebody heard it, heads rolled in the days that followed, and then they nailed down all the problems on the next show. 

 

Live TV is very, very hard, especially on a modest budget. And on the bigger-budget shows (like the Oscars coming up this weekend), the pressure is absolutely monumental. I'm reminded of football games I worked on as a kid, where I was so terrified running a camera on a national broadcast, the camera shook a little bit in time with my heartbeat...