#ccitv

I’m now at a stage where I’m confident in working with multiple channels in live studio productions, but I thought to myself- how can I improve in this role still?

So I was looking my trusty Mackie 1604 VLZ3 mixer and I noticed I hadn’t used the EQ settings before, so I decided to experiment a little because I wanted to get the best out of their voices in today’s Eye On Portsmouth show. I did during the rehearsals rather than live because otherwise their voices would have been all over the place. We had a range of guests who had some really different voices. Today’s female presenter had a high pitched voice, but one of our guests had a much lower tone to his voice- it was incredibly low and quite bass-y so this gave me a chance to really experiment and even these out a little so it just sounded that bit better on broadcast.

So let’s break down EQ- it means equalization. It is essentially a filter, which can cut or boost different parts of sound within a system or show set up- in my case it’s the Mackie sound desk that allows me to do so. It adds that little bit of production value to a television show and it’s really worth knowing.

As mentioned, our female presenter had a high voice, so I cut this a little and added a low-pass filter to it, eliminating that squeak-like sound. Another guest had a low voice, it had quite a rumble, so I added some high pass filtering to his voice.

The problem with EQing is that you can only add so much filtering before it becomes completely overdone. Too much high-pass reveals a tinny sound, which feels really compressed, overproduced and doesn’t sound natural for the environment. Too much low-pass and you might as well be listening to a rumbling heartbeat- balance is the key!

Above: Here’s my set-up for today’s EyeOn Portsmouth. Lots of EQ twiddling but we eventually got there. 

A great experience today, I’ve enjoyed adding some real production value to the sound on a show!

Roles: AutoCue Operator and Sound Assistant

So now all student shows have beencompleted for the year, we still have space to fill for our regular Fridaynoon slot, as we still go live on the Portsmouth Big Screen, around theUniversity and online. Wanting to carry on gaining skills, I offered my services as an AutoCue operator and a Sound Assistant for a staff led Eye On Portsmouth. Although a relatively simple task, I’d never been an AutoCue operator before throughout my career in television to date. I was quite nervous as I was more used to being the one reading an AutoCue rather than the one in control of it.

We use a system called QStart to house the AutoCue script in the Eldon Broadcast hub. It’s really easy to set up as long as your file extensions are right (.docx .doc etc). All I needed to do was to make sure the latest script was on the system, import it and make sure the text was colored in white rather than black so the presenters could see it on the cameras.

Above: Although easy to forget (and I almost did!), I needed to make sure the AutoCue screen on the cameras was turned on via the little silver button- so small but so essential!

Operating the system was a little difficult at first because I wasn’t used to the sensitivity of the AutoCue dial, which controls the speed of the words shown on the camera. I accidently went too fast on it for the presenters, but after some practice I got used to operating it. I enjoyed the challenges of keeping in time with the presenters’ reading pace and when to start the autocue up again after interviews and VTs.

Once I got used to the operation of the AutoCue, I doubled up as a Sound Assistant. I did this because there were lots of guests on the show who were coming in and out, so the Sound Operator had his work cut out “unmicing” the finished guests “micing up” the new guests. This was done during the VTs so I stepped in to make sure the sound levels were appropriate because the Sound Operator had to vacate the sound desk.

Having become more confident in studio sound operation throughout the course of the year,this was a role I was keen to take on. I was aware that this was the last showof the academic year and the group were planning to make this a memorable one.I expected a challenge and this was the case, as multiple channels of sound were used in the live broadcast- more than I had used previously. I felt this was a good thing though as it meant I would improve my sound knowledge, whilst also gaining the skill of working under extreme pressure.

As stated, this was the last show we were to produce as a collective on the CCI Channel for the Television Broadcast unit. Team Red’s final show was Eye On Portsmouth . To give some background, Eye On Portsmouth is very much a community based show. It looks to broadcast a host of really interesting events going on in Portsmouth through live interviews and features. On a personal note, this was a hugely enjoyable show to work on as I met so many great people doing great things for the community and it was great to be given the opportunity to get their stories out on CCITV.

Developing the show in its early stages was a creative cauldron. Lots of ideas were being mixed together and early minutes threw up a host of ideas. These meetings were well lead by the Producer and I contributed ideas. These early ideas included ones, which did not come to fruition for the final show. One of these ideas included a feature piece with Los Dave, an artist based in Southsea. However, after trying methods of contacting him, it was not possible to set a filming date. 

As a result, I suggested to the Producer a man called Ian Hendy. He’s a World Champion Natural Bodybuilder who also lectures in Marine Biology here at the University of Portsmouth. This was an idea thrown our way by the University’s press office for another unit called “TV Transmission”- a news programme for the University of Portsmouth. However, it was agreed in an earlier production meeting that it would be better to shoot this as a magazine-style feature as it didn’t fit into a news based show. To shoot this piece, the Producer organised a shoot with Ian in his lecturing quarters at the University. Here, he was interviewed about his lecturing, being a marine biologist and how he balances this with owning a gym in Southsea and regular training.

For the shoot I worked as the sound operator, using the Sony UTX-B2 transmitter microphone. I used the microphone because it was a small, portable device, which could plug directly into the Sony PMW-EX3 camera, a camera I’ve used throughout the year. As a precaution, I also made sure I had a second channel of sound being recorded in case the microphone breaks, meaning that I helped to make sure a reshoot wasn’t necessary. I chose a boom microphone to record the additional sound going into the second channel. During the shoot there were problems faced, as an automatic fan could not be turned off, which threatened the sound quality from the shoot but I resolved this issue by making sure the room wasn’t overcrowded, which meant the fan wouldn’t turn on. Upon reflection, I feel it may have been worth doing a location assessment beforehand so this problem could have been avoided.

Rehearsals

The bulk of my work as the Sound Operator for the show came during the rehearsals and on the day of the show. I used a total of 8 channels of sound for the broadcast through the The Mackie 1604 VLZ3 soundboard in the studio. Channels 1-4 consisted of the Sony UTX-B2 wireless tie microphones. Channels 5 & 6 were the Sennheiser eW100G3 handheld microphones, channel 7 was a beyerdynamic MCE86 ii, Channel 8 an AKG perception 150 and I reserved channel 9 as a spare channel should technical problems arise. Below explains how I used these microphones- there was a lot of choice, and narrowing it down took a while!

Channels 1-4- Sony UTX-B2 wireless tie microphones.

Above: The wireless receivers for the Sony UTX-B2 microphones connected to the soundboard. These receivers are operated by rechargeable AA batteries and plugged into the back of the Mackie soundboard via a 3-pin male XLR end. In addition, the transmitters were also operated by 2x rechargeable AA batteries. I decided to give these microphones to the guests and presenters because these gave a direct pick-up of their voices. I felt that these would be the best because if I used a handheld microphone I risked picking up excess noise.

Channels 5-6- Sennheiser EQ 100 G3 handheld microphones.

Above: Setting up the handheld microphones. Each microphone uses an EM100 True Diversity Receiver to receive the sound. The receivers each have 2 antennai for wireless range extension and I plugged these in because it would guarantee signal strength. The receivers use mains electricity for power, but they were also plugged in via a 3-pin XLR to the soundboard. The handheld microphones, like wireless tie microphones are powered via 2x rechargeable AA batteries. I chose these because I wanted to be able to pick up sound during the dogs feature of the show. One of these handheld microphones would also later double-up as a vocal microphone for the musical performance at the end of the show because they have a close-range pick-up and are used during musical performances on a variety of television shows.

Channel 7- Beyerdynamic MCE86 ii shotgun microphone.

Above: Setting up Beyerdynamic MCE86 ii. This is a shotgun microphone suitable for picking up sound from the audience in a question/answer situation, which was a feature the group planned and the Producer organised. Again, this plugged straight into the soundboard via the XLR ports at the back of the soundboard. In order for this microphone to be used efficiently, the Producer Dom Hall asked me to recruit a boom microphone operator for this part of the show, as this meant I could concentrate on operating the channels on the soundboard. I used this microphone because I didn’t know which audience members were going to be asking questions at that point in the show.

Channel 8- the AKG perception 150 microphone.

Above: the AKG Perception 150 microphone. This is a microphone I had not used previously, but after researching into it, I decided that this would be a good quality microphone to use for musical performances because of its pick-up range and its suitability for instrument recording. During the rehearsal, our musician Euan, who was playing out the show, was sound checked with the aforementioned Sennheiser microphone and the Perception 150 their quality and levels. I sound checked Euan because I needed to make sure I was prepared for the upcoming live show. Again, this microphone used a 3-pin XLR cable to plug into the Mackie sound desk, and power came via AA batteries. I was really impressed with the clarity and clearness of the sound it was able to record.

Above: the Shure SM58 vocal microphone.

Due to the amount of microphones I had and the amount of guests planned for the show, it was important to have a reliable contingency microphone should any technical difficulties or breakages happen during the show. Alternatively, I had this as an option for a vocal microphone for the live performance. This is a dynamic microphone which has in-built pop filters, which again improved the quality of sound.

Day of Broadcast:

The day of broadcast contained successes and technical difficulties, but it was one of arguably the most technologically impressive achievements at CCITV this year. I had high hopes heading into the show and the atmosphere was good amongst the crew when we arrived at 9am to prepare for the live broadcast at noon. We felt ready for our final broadcast of the Television Broadcasting unit.

Before long, I was wired up into the sound desk and discussions took place about achieving the best sound quality in particular areas of the show. As a sound operator, capturing the sound of audience participation was high on my agenda, and I spoke to the Director about picking up audience sounds such as clapping and questioning and we both agreed this was a key sector of the show. This was a success, and I instructed the boom operator I recruited to direct the microphone to the audience when the Director requested. I also made sure I used long XLR cable as it was important to make sure there was enough pull to reach audience members if they were far away.

I faced some technical problems during the broadcast, whereby the reliability of the handheld microphone (Sennheiser EM100’s) was questionable. When the microphones were live, there was an odd tapping sound coming from one of them, meaning that I needed to address the situation promptly.

One of the difficulties faced, was that the talent was not in the habit of keeping these microphones close enough within the pick-up range during interviews, so their voices weren’t picked up. I could not work out whether the tapping sound was coming from a presenter, so as a precaution I made sure the sound levels on both tie microphones were loud enough in case one of the handhelds stopped working.

Aside from this, the show was largely a success- it was entertaining and had some cool features, making it a good way to end the year. I’m confident in working with sound, and I look forward to developing my skills in using equipment. My knowledge of sound has enabled me to work closely with Directors and production crew and has enabled me to become a crucial part in building better studio shows. I’m now planning to develop my knowledge of EQ levels and sound panning when working on the remaining shows in the year.

Here's the link for the show!