As the unsung heroes of live media production, intercoms provide the vital link to ensuring a smooth running production. With the move to cloud and IP, today's intercom systems provide more flexibility, scalability and reliability than ever before. And as sports fans ask for more immersive experiences, wireless mics are becoming ever more ubiquitous on the playing field. In our latest guide, we examine the latest trends, gear and people involved in connecting media production and providing an increasing array of audio options.

Download the guide here.

I have never been comfortable talking into a microphone. I first noticed how awkward and funny I sounded when I was in the fourth grade in Madison, Ala., and was learning about girls, chit-chat and telephone etiquette over a rural telephone party line. Not only was the telephone in the kitchen, where I believed everyone on earth including my father was listening; but also the neighbors could listen in because there were three or four houses on the same telephone line as ours. Net result? A paranoid introduction to sound at 10 years old.

Later in my professional life, one of the first things I learned about a television set, announce booth or sports field of play was that there are microphones everywhere and some of those microphones may be open—and often they were. There are boom microphones, field microphones, headset microphones, even a “snoop” microphone, so the accountant could listen in and hear if we were working. Needless to say, there were no private conversations on a television set or in an OB van with so many headsets with open microphones lying around everywhere.

MOUTHY COMMENTATORS

In August, a story about a Cincinnati sports commentary made headlines because the announcer made an insensitive remark, which was accidentally streamed out live to listeners. The announcer awkwardly apologized, but ultimately left the announce booth. As in the “The Wizard of Oz,” the microphone had become the insular shield that precluded direct contact between the adoring peasants and the wizard—but ultimately, the bubble burst.

Mouthy commentators getting caught is nothing new. Early in my career, the live sports networks began using C-band satellite frequencies for transmission between the remote sites and network master control, (transmission was continuous from the location even when the network went to commercial break). Broadcast folklore has stories of drunk and misbehaving fans caught on camera accompanied by imaginative commentary being transmitted through cyberspace over satellite dishes. Not only was this unscripted broadcast picked up by master control, it was also heard by many shocked sports fans and snoops from the FCC. This content would not have met FCC censorship rules.

After phone calls to politicians, the FCC and numerous complaints to network management, live television engineers devised an audio-to-air bypass called a “bird-beater,” which took the announcers out of the audio transmission path and put their voices in the headsets of the director and producer who could strategize about the live production off-air.

At the time, the broadcast industry was flying high with little oversight by too many people with too many Emmys and big egos. But in the mid-1980s, the fiefdom came crashing down when freelance operators and technicians replaced loyal and spoiled network employees. Before Disney owned ESPN and ABC, colorful commentators, foul-mouthed directors and producers were common.

As freelancers, we even had a phrase for these types of people, “The Untouchables.” It always seemed (as it does sometimes today) that these folks were immune to the fallout from an open microphone. The untouchables were rampant in the late ’70s and ’80s until someone pushed the button—the record button.

In the early ’80s, I began working with a belligerent producer who, over the PLs (the communications systems), was extremely mouthy to freelancers. After a few years of listening to the B.S., I began to record the intercoms. First it was for a laugh and a cry and usually was recorded with nothing more than a Sony mini cassette recorder capturing an open microphone.

But after the producer called a college intern an unacceptable word, I went to upper management to complain on behalf of the crew. Of course the producer did not remember things exactly as I did, but the tape was damning evidence. However, the tape (recording) not only did significant damage to the producer’s career, but to my career as well. Essentially, the network had to do something and dismissed the producer from live television production for a year or so, but I was flat-out blacklisted.

NOT SACRED ANYMORE

The television intercom communication system is a closed private network and was often considered sacred and immune from any implications of harassment, but an open microphone and a recording has been the demise of not only a few commentators, but also television directors and producers and politicians long before Watergate and Nixon. I would think that if you are going to put on a headset and talk over a microphone, it is obvious that there is a good chance that a wide range of people with different sensitivities could be listening in.

Forget sensitivities, what about conspiracies? Consider this, if I make a recording of actual conversations or comments and alter the content and context of the recordings for fun or possibly for other nefarious reasons, it opens Pandora’s box. Even with my primitive sampling technology in the ’80s, I was able to edit words and phrases enough to construct a conversation, completely out of context, between a producer who was not on site yet and a gullible sports commentator who was on headsets.

A lot of the behavior I witnessed seemed to occur simply because people could get away with it, including my sampler escapade with the sports announcer, although I got an earful from the late, great Fred Rheinstein when he found out about my little prank. I still have Fred’s voice loaded up on my vintage Akai S900 Sampler and chuckle every time I play one of his witty comments. 

It is not necessarily illegal to record someone without their permission and I imagine most seasoned broadcast technicians can remember an incident where two or three people did not remember things the same way. But what about the morality of the recording? When there is little to no accountability the results are predictable. Remember the recording of a presidential candidate boasting about grabbing a person’s private parts? Beware, there may be an open microphone somewhere and someone may be listening and recording you!

Dennis Baxter has spent over 35 years in live broadcasting contributing to hundreds of live events including sound design for nine Olympic Games. He has earned multiple Emmy Awards and is the author of “A Practical Guide to Television Sound Engineering.” He is currently working on another book about immersive sound practices and production. He can be reached at dbaxter@dennisbaxtersound.com.

Petaluma, Calif.— Point Source Audio (PSA), manufacturer of specialty sub-miniature body-worn style microphones, has launched Mic Finder, an interactive web-based tool designed to help sound teams—from TV to theatre—pinpoint specific mic elements and mic styles to suit applications from corporate presenters to rock n’ roll musicals to violin mic’ing.

Expanding beyond traditional lavalier and headset style microphones, recent advances in the company’s approach to body-worn mics include the patent-pending Confidence™Collection microphones highlighting built-in redundancy, and the EMBRACE™Collection of concealable microphones that are twice patented. The company emphasizes that these additions present a world of fresh possibilities when sound teams are challenged with unique requisites—from facial hair to drop hoop earrings—when fitting mics on actors or speakers.

The Mic Finder web tool is accessible online via desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. The tool presents a series of questions to narrow microphone choice and shares successful experiences from real-world examples that best match the users’ needs.

“What we’ve learned in working closely with our customers is that no two mic’ing situations are the same; the smallest variable can make one mic selection perfect in one situation, and a disaster in another,” said Yvonne Ho, sales and marketing VP for Point Source Audio.

Users looking for the right microphone simply select the relevant application with various considerations from Mic Finder’s menu settings. Product recommendations are then presented along with customer use cases including:

• Mics that hide
• Mics that survive heavy water/sweat
• Mics for fast-moving musical theatre
• Mics for preaching
• Mics that fight feedback
• Mics that shape and bend
• Mics that accept custom color
• Mics for bearded performers
• Mics that backup themselves

Besides finding the right microphone performance features, sound teams must also battle variables such as costuming, concealment, venue size, loudspeaker placement, vocal projection, and more. Ho explained with examples: “We get questions routinely on how to head mic an actor with no hair, or one who sweats heavily, or sometimes both at the same time.”

The novice sound person can learn about mic choice with consideration for speaking or singing, whereas those new to Point Source Audio mics can discover unconventional mic’ing possibilities including how EMBRACE microphones can be used for violinists or boom headsets for flutists doubling on several instruments in one performance.

The company expects to continue expanding the tool with new products and technology solutions alongside noteworthy applications in real-world environments. To access Mic Finder, visit www.point-sourceaudio.com/mic-finder

About Point Source Audio

Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones—a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, Calif. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

Petaluma, CA ­– Point Source Audio (PSA), will be displaying their patent-pending CO2 Confidence Collection, a new class of built-in redundant microphones, at this year’s Infocomm trade show being held June 12-14 in Orlando, FL.

The CO2 Confidence Collection all have dual elements, each measuring a tiny 3mm, that offer built-in redundancy and comes in three styles: headset, lavalier, and in Point Source Audio’s patented EMBRACE™ embodiment. The CO2 dual elements maintain two of the company’s signature features: IP 57 waterproof rating (rated against water, sweat and makeup), and the “unbreakable” headset boom bendable up to 360° to bolster durability.

The CO2 Confidence Collection, released in February 2019, has been gaining market acceptance as a convenient mic redundancy solution in their core theatre market as well as house of worship and corporate audio markets. Forty of PSA’s CO2 headsets were recently utilized for double mic’ing at the 2019 American Israeli Policy Conference (AIPAC) held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, in early March.

The CO2 headset microphones were also used at the recent USITT 2019 Stage Expo for the keynote speech and other high profile events. Jeff Polunas, Special Events Sound Coordinator for the USITT Sound Commission, incorporated the CO2 Confidence mics into his audio rigs saying, “I think they are top of the line products and anyone that would be using them would be happy to have them in their production.”

Attendees can see the full line of specialty miniature, body-worn style microphones and the patented EMBRACE™ earmounted lavalier, as well as in-ear audio headsets at the Infocomm booth 5443. For more information about Point Source Audio’s various audio solutions, visit www.point-sourceaudio.com.

About Point Source Audio
Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones — a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, California. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

LAS VEGAS—Sennheiser is taking its MK 4 recording mic digital, announcing its new digital version at this year’s NAB Show. Featuring Apogee A/D conversion and mic preamp technology, the MK 4 digital can connect directly to iOS devices and either Mac or PC computers.

The MK 4 digital is an addition to the iOS/USB product line that Apogee has been developing with Sennheiser. The mic is delivered with a USB cable and a Lightning iOS cable for connecting to an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch; it also comes with a microphone clamp and pouch. Sennheiser says that the MK 4 digital is compatible with programs like Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere, Pro Tools and Ableton Live, as well as iOS recording apps.

German-based audio company Sennheiser says that it will launch the MK 4 digital mic in the summer.