The Other Team' at the MLB All-Star Game Smooths the Sound Mixers Carpenter and Qua aim to put the viewer in the game By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 - 9:49 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Over the past 20 years, the audio for Fox Sports' broadcasts of the MLB All-Star Games has been tuned tighter than a tenor guitar, and, every year, longtime broadcast-audio teammates A1 Joe Carpenter and effects submixer Bob Qua brainstorm to find new ways to tweak it further.
We'll just come up with ideas and trade them back and forth like writing them on cocktail napkins, quips Qua.
The pair is just back from doing the audio for MLB's first games in London, where circumstances constrained them to produce a fairly conventional audio show in an unconventional location.
There was a lot of foul-ball territory on both sides [of the bases], he explains, and we weren't able to put mics in the outfield. It was tough trying to cover those areas from 100 ft. away just with [shotgun] microphones.
One of the three parabolic microphones focused around home plate during the game
At last night's All-Star Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland, they were able to stretch out and refine some of what they'd been doing to make this special game more so. According to Qua, they brought the in-ground outfield mics used in past games into the infield, creating a dense mic plot of at least 14 transducers around the bases and across the infield apron, right up the edge of the grass.
In the past, he says, we'd been finding problems with the strength of the RF signals from the outfield mics, because the signal was being absorbed by the grass. This game, MLB was really gracious about letting us put more mics near the bases.
Plenty of Pickups
The pitcher's mound offered an opportunity, too: a triangle of lavaliers embedded in the ground around the rubber created a small L-C-R array, which fit nicely into the broadcast's 5.1-surround format. The rear surrounds were filled out with a number of Audio-Technica AT4050 and 4025 stereo microphones aimed at the stands, along with a pair of Sennheiser 416 shotguns aimed left and right from the booth, where Qua did the mixing on a Calrec Brio console. (Carpenter used a Calrec Apollo, and pre/postgame audio mixer Jason Blood was on a Calrec Artemis, making for a Calrec triple play at the game.)
Home base was covered by three parabolic mics - two aimed at the plate and one aimed back at the pitcher to catch the pitch-back glove sounds - and four more along the foul lines by the dugouts.
They also picked up banter around the plate but could be turned off if discussions, such as disputes about calls, grew heated beyond what the seven-second delay could handle. We want to get in close, but we're not snooping, says Qua.
Several players wore lavs during the game, engaging in dialogs with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and color commentator John Smoltz, a relatively new source of sound for ballgames and one that fans are responding to. (At least one pitcher promised to tip them off to the next pitch at least once just before the windup.) Skycam carried a microphone.
Qua and Carpenter are marking two decades as a team, and the ability to know each other's moves without having to signal them means that the soundscape they create is virtually seamless.
My effects are all mono, and Joe is great about pulling back the surround crowd sounds to really isolate the key ones at critical moments, says Qua. We've developed a way of working over the years that make it all feel and sound really natural. We want to make it sound like you're in the game, not just at the game.
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...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
18/08/2026
SMT will provide race technology for FOX Sports' coverage of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on August 23, when the NTT INDYCAR SERIES races ...
18/08/2026
The live, YouTube-native roundtables combine fan voices, credentialed reporters,...
18/08/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/08/2026
The industry legend sounds off on replacing the Heat's iconic Medusa score...
18/08/2026
William F. Rasmussen, the sports fan-turned broadcaster and entrepreneur whose out-of-the-box idea of a 24-hour cable sports network, ESPN, changed forever the ...
18/08/2026
DAZN Group has completed its acquisition of ViewLift, a provider of streaming and digital solutions for sports content owners. The acquisition was first announc...
18/08/2026
The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has added SI TV, Sports Illustrated's 24/7 streaming channel, as a broadcast partner for the remain...
18/08/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC), originally scheduled for November 2026 in Riyadh, will be postponed to Novemb...
18/08/2026
Diversified has announced a new Global Managed Services Practice, consolidating the company's managed services capabilities into one organization. Rob Mello...
18/08/2026
Appear has completed a proof of concept with Thoroughbred Racing Productions (TRP), demonstrating multi-camera remote live production over bonded 5G cellular an...
The Other Team' at the MLB All-Star Game Smooths the Sound Mixers Carpenter and Qua aim to put the viewer in the game By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
