
Pete Bailey is a highly experienced location sound recordist, whose significant list of credits includes Hollyoaks, Being Liverpool, The One Show, Captain America, ITV's Good Morning Britain and the Oscar nominated The Voorman Problem.
In this interview, he describes his influences and work in the industry, and also offers some advice for aspiring sound professionals.
Pete Bailey Production Sound Mixer
Web site
Tell us a bit about yourself. My name is Pete Bailey, but on location people always shout, Pete on sound'.
I live in Warrington, between Manchester and Liverpool, and I attended the School Of Sound Recording (SSR) where I learned audio engineering and techniques. I originally wanted to get into music production, but as I was coming to the end of my course I was asked by a local filmmaker if I could record sound on a short film. I felt completely out of my depth, but the same audio principles applied so I said yes and loved every minute of it I never looked back.
I got a loan, bought some kit, and spent my first twelve months doing a mix of post-production and location sound on around 80 productions. I always struggled to network with other soundies , so I spent my time researching techniques and equipment. I then decided to do the BBC location sound course, where all of my self-learning was thankfully confirmed.
Since then, I've worked on a bunch of commercials, dramas, features and documentaries such as, Hollyoaks', Don't Tell The Bride', Lorraine', Daybreak', Being Liverpool', The One Show', Captain America' and CBBC Dramas. I also recorded the sound on the Oscar-nominated Voorman'.
I currently work as a location sound mixer on Good Morning Britain for ITV, and have been doing so for the last 6 years.
Sitting in my friend's room at the age of 14 listening to the loudest bedroom stereo on the planet, I knew that I had to get involved in sound.
How did you get into the industry? Sitting in my friend's room at the age of 14 listening to the loudest bedroom stereo on the planet, I knew that I had to get involved in sound.
I was a bedroom DJ who then became a nightclub promoter and a club DJ, and thought by the age of 21 that it would be a good idea to study sound engineering and start producing my own music. So, I quit night club promoting and DJing for a while to study.
During the time on the course I did at the SSR, I managed to build a basic studio in my house and recorded bands in my spare time for a bit of cash to put towards more kit. During my course, we touched on post-production sound and I was captivated; I couldn't believe there was a job out there, doing sound effects for films. It was an instant decision for me. I found a guy in my college who was already working on an actual film, and asked if I could help him with sound design. I kind of took over the project! Nevertheless, the director loved the work I did and asked me to work on his next film. I was in!
What is a typical day like on assignment? Well I've been working on Good Morning Britain' (a morning news program) for 6 years now, which means getting up very early. Typically, it's a 2am to 3am start. We are on location for 5am, ready for the program to go live at 6am.
News is an ever-changing production. I always have to be prepared for whatever the story is, never knowing if we are going to be outdoors or indoors. It could be floods, extreme weather, sports, politics, court cases or it could be something nicer, like the world's biggest mince pie (true story; and no, I didn't get a bite, although I did ask). So, working on the fly is an everyday event and sometimes a little sketchy.
For example: we were supposed to do a Live OB from Moss Side this morning (you know where this is going) and the second we set the camera up, just 5 feet away, a group of lads ran off with it. Needless to say, we didn't broadcast. I hadn't got my sound kit out of the car; but poor Geoff the cameraman is kicking himself.
I work in a small crew consisting of just me, Geoff the cameraman and Katy, our correspondent. We used to have our own satellite engineer with a sat truck, but now we have our very own that both me and Geoff operate and set-up each morning.
We all meet on location with the satellite truck at 5am and discuss how we're going to shoot that morning. During set-up, I hand out radio comms to the crew so we can hear the directors/producers in London, and we also do a vision and sound test with the technical director there.
Nowadays, being in a different location every day in ever changing conditions, the one thing that takes the most punishment is my Rycote. Wind, rain, or snow, it takes it all and holds its ground.' Pete Bailey
My biggest technical challenge as a location soundie happened early in my career when I worked on a film entirely based on Mount Snowdon in sub-zero temperatures.
What challenges do you face? My biggest technical challenge as a location soundie happened early in my career when I worked on a film entirely based on Mount Snowdon in sub-zero temperatures. Not only was it bitterly cold, but we had such strong winds that the shoot was almost cancelled. You can imagine the battle I had with the wind on my mics
I was using a second-hand Rycote windshield system that was given to me by a previous production. I'd had it for years, and it was already beaten up pretty badly when I got it. The previous owner had obviously held it too close to some lighting as most of the hair was singed.
To combat the wind, I used a Rycote Softie on my mic and then put that inside my beaten-up Rycote system. I lost some of the higher frequencies, but I had almost zero wind noise. I later got an e-mail from post-production sound (which never happens!), praising me on capturing such good
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
05/08/2026
Thomson's Climate Crisis Toolkit for Media in Tanzania is being included in a new virtual library designed to ensure accurate and engaging storytelling arou...
05/08/2026
RSNs, teams, leagues, and streamers explore the present and future of local spor...
05/08/2026
As sports-production workflows generate larger volumes of unstructured data and ...
05/08/2026
Three aspiring broadcasters will contribute on-camera and inside the production ...
05/08/2026
Adam Meeks attends the premiere of his film Union County, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Sundance Institut...
05/08/2026
Major discounts, updates & remakes of early VST plug-ins
Steinberg are currently celebrating two significant anniversaries, with this week marking the 30th ...
05/08/2026
Flagship monitor range gains wireless remote control
KRK's flagship studio monitor range has just been upgraded, with three new fifth-generation models ...
05/08/2026
Rohde & Schwarz launches next phase of Airways New Zealand Air Traffic Control s...
05/08/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents the R&S MP007, a man-portable tactical direction findin...
05/08/2026
Advertisers invested $53.6 million in the retirement sector in the last 12 month...
05/08/2026
Nielsen CMI and Ad Intel data reveals who's visiting IKEA, where else they s...
05/08/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare deduplicated campaign reach across computer, mobile, connected TV and linear TV across all measurable CTV publishers in...
05/08/2026
Stranger Things' Leads All Streaming Titles with 23.3 Billion Minutes in Fir...
05/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/08/2026
QuickLink, the leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest integration solutions, announces the appointment of Kane Peterson to its Nort...
05/08/2026
XR research reveals marketers believe they have control over production costs, yet budget overruns, campaign delays and creative cutbacks remain commonplace
Se...
05/08/2026
Game On Live Studio Uses Blackmagic Design to Stream Tropical 7s
Brie Clayton August 4, 2026
0 Comments
Every match of world's largest youth rugby...
05/08/2026
Chris Fitzgerald to Head TDC's Experiential Growth
Brie Clayton August 4, 2026
0 Comments
Technical Direction Company promotes Chris Fitzgerald to...
05/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/08/2026
Profuz Digital is set to launch a powerful upgrade to its Profuz LAPIS digital media management platform at IBC this year at Stand 8.A88. France Galop, Canal+ F...
05/08/2026
KRK, a Gibson brand and leader in professional studio monitoring for nearly four decades, launches its new V Series Five Studio Monitors, the latest evolution o...
05/08/2026
Network expansion, continued customer growth and stable financial performance characterized Magyar Telekoms business results for the first half and second quart...
05/08/2026
Wednesday 5 August 2026
The Sky Foundation launches new bursary programme to su...
05/08/2026
Charlie Sheen Launches Mostly Sheenius in Partnership with Red Seat Ventures After Decades as One of the World's Most Recognizable and Interviewed Celebr...
04/08/2026
Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry, and Major L...
04/08/2026
LAFC co-managing owner will succeed Don Garber on Jan. 1, 2027, as league prepar...
04/08/2026
In 2022, when the PGA TOUR was breaking ground on its new, state-of-the-art broa...
04/08/2026
Provided by POVORA, the new camera angle offers a dealer's-eye view of the c...
04/08/2026
Spiideo will provide the camera setup, with NEP handling broadcast integration and off-site video operations...
04/08/2026
Production team streamed more than 750 youth rugby matches using ATEM switchers,...
04/08/2026
Agreement gives KTC early access to NDI's Advanced SDK for integration across commercial displays, digital signage, and interactive panels...
04/08/2026
Twelve projects across four categories recognize collaborative work in productio...
04/08/2026
Multi-year agreement will introduce SkeleTRACK, semi-automated offside, automate...
04/08/2026
Three mc 56 consoles, dual A__UHD Core engines, RAVENNA networking, and HOME management supported live sound, monitoring, and international broadcast production...
04/08/2026
New contribution products support ultra-low-latency video transport across fixed, remote, and mobile production environments...
04/08/2026
Company will showcase updates across PRIME, Chyron LIVE, Paint, virtual production, newsroom workflows, and venue control...
04/08/2026
Exhibit will feature SilverBack, VersaBrix, VersaFrame, VF-9100, and FiberSaver-10G platforms...
04/08/2026
Platform updates target cloud-based production, high-density ST 2110 monitoring,...
04/08/2026
Live Media Group will take control of Gravity Media's U.S. mobile-unit fleet...
04/08/2026
Amp-modelling rigs get major upgrade
HeadRush have recently released a major firmware update that brings some powerful new features to their Prime, Core and...
04/08/2026
Generate a choir from a single voice track
Following years of development, Am I Audio have just officially launched their debut plug-in. Created in collabor...
04/08/2026
Official EMT-endorsed reverbs now available to all
Two more of Universal Audio's renowned UAD plug-ins have just gained new native versions that can be ...
04/08/2026
SBS helps Australians understand why every Census counts
Media releases
As Australia prepares for the 2026 Census on Tuesday 11 August, SBS is helping ensur...
04/08/2026
Canada invests in the future of HF communications with Rohde & Schwarz solutions After selection by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) as the p...
04/08/2026
Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender
Brie Clayton August 4, 2026
0 Comments
Popular 3D Asset Library Launches Alpha Plugins for Maya, Godot, and Rhino
Blend...