Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

SONOFANS USES DPA MICS TO CREATE STADIUM CROWD SOUNDS DURING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS BROADCASTS

07/04/2021

Company Owner Fred Vogler Relies on a Combo of New and Existing Sound Files Recorded with DPA's 4091 Omni Condenser and 4560 Binaural Mics and MMA-A Interface.

As with many things over the past year, the world of sports saw significant disruption to its regular routine. From halted or delayed seasons to little or no live audiences at the arenas, sporting events around the world had to operate differently. With no ambient sounds to enhance the broadcasts, television networks also had to find alternative ways to replicate the at-home viewers' experience. In response, Fred Vogler launched Sonofans, an immersive sports crowd performance system. The sound library was created using recordings captured with DPA Microphones' 4091 Omni Condenser Mic, 4560 Binaural Mic and MMA-A Digital Audio Interface.

Touted as a performance-based enhancement tool for empty stadiums or those with limited attendance restrictions, Sonofans provides live, dynamic crowd response with a library of reactions that have been mined and curated over the past 15 years. Included among these are sounds recorded during college football games using DPA's 4091 Small-Diaphragm Omni Condenser Microphone with Rycote windscreens, which Vogler installed atop mic stands elevated 15 feet above the ground.

Back in 2006, I was providing scrimmage and practice field noise for USC Football players, using crowd sounds that I had gathered during regular games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, explains Vogler. The coach at that time, Pete Carroll, liked what I was doing so much that he gave me field access to all the games they played that year. This included other stadiums in the Pac12, as well as at the Rose Bowl. I recorded all the crowd noise from each of those games using four DPA 4091 microphones placed around the stadiums.

Though Vogler says that experience was incredible in and of itself, he never imaged that those files would prove vital in the future. Over the past year, Vogler has utilized the sounds from the USC games to provide crowd enhancement for professional and collegiate baseball, soccer, boxing, football, basketball and bowling on one of the country's top sports networks.

I went back to those files and started to collate and mine sounds that I thought we could use for other sports, especially baseball, which became the foundation for launching Sonofans, adds Vogler. We created this enhanced crowd sound starting with the different levels of energy from those quad recordings back in 2006/2007. We had everything from a light crowd to a very excited crowd. Along the way, there are also a lot of reactions, cheers or disappointed boos. Fortunately, despite the age of the recordings, I had really high-quality sounds to work from for this project because I used DPA microphones.

While he used the USC soundbites as the basis for Sonofans, Vogler still had to find a way to capture and create sounds that differed from sport to sport. Boxing and bowling don't sound the same as football, baseball or basketball, so I needed to record additional audio, he says. To accomplish that, I went into smaller crowds like those visiting a park or a big box store and then used the audio as a basis for enhanced sounds.

John Root, regional sales manager, DPA, first introduced Vogler to the 4560 Binaural Microphone and MMA-A Digital Audio Interface. The low profile of the binaural headset mic enabled me to be in a small group or gathering of people and capture more genuine speech patterns and distinct sounds, says Vogler. I was able to interject those recordings into boxing and bowling matches, which have smaller, more individualized crowd voices compared to large stadiums. The mic, in combination with that mic pre, worked incredibly well.

In addition to utilizing the binaural recordings for the more intimate sports events, Vogler also blended the sounds into the arena-style games, like football and baseball. It works great for creating the authenticity and realism of a crowd, he explains.

Though much of the initial Sonofans files were based off Vogler's recordings, he also found himself weeding through the network's past broadcasts to cull chants specific to each stadium or team. The network has somebody who operates a trigger pad with reactions the cheers, claps, boos, etc. and then a mixer adds the bed of crowd sounds, like the chants, he explains. Interestingly, only the people at home are able to hear these sounds. While the players on the field have some audio piped in, they don't get the same experience as the broadcast viewers. It would be great to take that binaural microphone into a stadium to create an immersive experience for the coaches, players and managers that could also be blended into the live broadcast.

A recording engineer, mixer and sound designer, Vogler has worked on some of the industry's leading commercial recordings, including the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. As a longtime user of DPA microphones, Vogler says he continues to be impressed by the solutions they develop. I've been using their products for 25 years or so, and they've put out some really clever stuff over that time, he concludes. They're discreet and camera-friendly, but also get a good sound from everything.
LINK: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/news/sonofans-uses-dpa-mics-to-create-s...
See more stories from dpa

Most recent headlines

04/08/2024

Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

28/04/2024

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...

24/04/2024

NEP Belgium Taps manifold CLOUD in Virtual OB Setup for Live Sports

FRANKFURT, Germany Software solutions provider manifold technologies has announced that its manifold CLOUD was selected by NEP Belgium to provide a signal proce...

24/04/2024

Integral Ad Science Achieves MRC Accreditation

NEW YORK Integral Ad Science has announced that it has earned Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for its sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration f...

24/04/2024

Plex Launches NFL Channel

LOS GATOS, Calif. Streaming media company Plex has announced a partnership with the National Football League that will add the NFL Channel, the NFLs 24/7 free l...

24/04/2024

NAB Extends Contract for President & CEO Curtis LeGeyt

WASHINGTON, D.C. NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt has agreed to a contract extension that will keep him at the helm of NAB through 2029, according to NAB Joi...

24/04/2024

GlobalM, scoopa Form Strategic Partnership To Enable Speedy Content Distribution

GENEVA, Switzerland Software-defined video network (SDVN) platform specialist GlobalM and broadcast-quality content distribution expert scoopa have formed a str...

24/04/2024

Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound for Cannes Film Festival 2024

24 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound...

24/04/2024

Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1

Berklee Online to Hold 2024 Berklee Onsite Music Conference May 31-June 1 The in-person conference is open to Berklee Online students and the music community ...

24/04/2024

Kargo Gives Buyers More Detail on CTV Campaigns

Kargo said it has launched a new product that gives advertisers more details about the connected TV campaigns they are buying....

24/04/2024

MundoNow Connect Launches To Help Brands Target Hispanics on CTV

Mundo Hispano Digital said it has launched MundoNow Connect, which is designed to use first-party audience data to help advertisers reach Latino connected-TV vi...

24/04/2024

Brittney Griner Sits With Robin Roberts for 20/20' Special

Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who spent 10 months in a Russian prison, sits with Robin Roberts for a primetime special on ABC Wednesday, May 1. The 20/20 speci...

24/04/2024

DirecTV Adds Content From Cineverse, Scripps

To give its subscribers more content to pick from, DirecTV Stream is making deals to carry streaming channels from Cineverse and additional digital multicast ch...

24/04/2024

Jenny Padura Named Anchor at Univision's WLTV Miami

Jenny Padura has been promoted to co-anchor on the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WLTV Miami, known as Univision 23. She starts April 25 and will anchor with Ambros...

24/04/2024

Paris Schutz Joins WFLD Chicago as Political Reporter

Paris Schutz has joined WFLD Chicago, known as Fox 32, as a political reporter. He starts April 29 and will handle all political coverage for the station, repor...

24/04/2024

Plex Adds NFL Channel Ahead of Draft Coverage

Plex has made a deal with the National Football League that will let users watch the NFL Channel, the league's free ad-supported streaming television (FAST)...

24/04/2024

Schwarzenegger, Stallone Discuss Rivalry on TMZ Presents'

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone sit for a chat when TMZ Presents: Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons debuts on Fox Tuesday, April 23. The pair di...

24/04/2024

Lionsgate Signs Long-Term Deal With TV Production Head Gary Goodman

Lionsgate Television said it signed a new multiyear employment agreement with executive VP, worldwide production, Gary Goodman....

24/04/2024

Miguelangel Lopez Upped to Regional VP of News at Telemundo Florida Trio

Miguelangel Lopez, WTMO Orlando (Florida) VP of news, has been named regional VP of news and content for WTMO, WRMD Tampa and WWDT Fort Myers, effective immedia...

23/04/2024

Tackling lies online: the answer may be all in the mind

Psychology can play an important role in helping us understand what audiences respond to (Dr Jon Roozenbeek, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab) For newsroom...

23/04/2024

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: LONDON 2024 REVEALS FULL PROGRAMME LINE-UP BURSTING WITH BOLD CINEMATIC VOICES FOR 11TH EDITION

IN ADDITION TO FICTION AND DOCUMENTARY FEATURES, THE SELECTION INCLUDES: PRO...

23/04/2024

Spotify Reports First Quarter 2024 Earnings

Today, we announced our first quarter 2024 earnings. In a solid start to the year, Spotify reported Monthly Active Users grew 19% Y/Y to 615 million. Subscri...

23/04/2024

Spotify rapporterar intkter fr frsta kvartalet i 2024

Idag publicerar Spotify sina finansiella resultat f r f rsta kvartalet 2024. ret har inletts stabilt: M natliga aktiva anv ndare kade med 19 % j mf rt med f...

23/04/2024

Discover Your K-Pop Persona With Spotify's New Interactive Experience

In the last decade, as K-Pop cemented its status as a global phenomenon, Spotify has helped fans around the world keep their fingers on the pulse at every step ...

23/04/2024

Social entrepreneur Hedayat Osyan wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition

Social entrepreneur Hedayat Osyan wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition 23 April, 2024 Media releases The prestigious award is now in its third yea...

23/04/2024

IBC Now Accepting Nominations for 2024 Innovation Awards

LONDON IBC is now accepting nominations for its IBC2024 Innovation Awards, which honor achievements in technological innovation and social impact media & entert...

23/04/2024

NAB Backs Broadcast VOICES Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. In response to the introduction of the Broadcast VOICES Act that seeks to encourage more diversity in the ownership of TV and radio stations, t...

23/04/2024

Hemisphere Media Group Launches WAPA+ on the Roku Channel

MIAMI, Fla. As part of a push to expand its FAST channel and streaming operations, Hemisphere Media Group has launched its free ad supported television (FAST) c...

23/04/2024

DirecTV Launches New Streaming Channels from Cineverse and Scripps Networks

LOS ANGELES DirecTV is adding seven new channels to its rapidly expanding streaming lineup through new licensing agreements with Cineverse Corp. and Scripps Net...

23/04/2024

Creative UK launches manifesto calling for more investment in creative R&D; revised approach to trade and exports

Entitled Our Creative Future, the manifesto calls for radical new action' t...

23/04/2024

Audiotonix secures landmark' investment

The company has secured investment from private equity firm PAI Partners, which also holds a stake in outside broadcasting company EMG By Jenny Priestley Pub...

23/04/2024

James Cameron backs Marlow Film Studios proposal

Cameron also said he recognised Marlow as a potential UK and European base for his new company, LIGHTSTORM 3D By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 23, 2024 ...

23/04/2024

IBC launches 2024 Innovation Awards with new categories

The five categories cover Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact and Environment & Sustainability By Matthew Corrigan Publ...

23/04/2024

Pascal Fratellia leaves Olympics role at EBU

He played a central role in securing key broadcast rights, including the FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022 By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 23, 2024 He pla...

23/04/2024

IBC Launches 2024 Innovation Awards with Nominations Now...

IBC is preparing to honour the highest achievements in technological innovation and social impact with the launch of its prestigious IBC2024 Innovation Awards, ...

23/04/2024

Bolin Technology Integrates NDI Across Product Portfolio

BREA, Calif. Bolin Technology is integrating Network Device Interface (NDI) across its product line, bringing support for the latest NDI technologies to its PTZ...

23/04/2024

Aaron LaBerge Joins PENN Entertainment at CTO

WYOMISSING, Pa. PENN Entertainment has announced that longtime Disney and ESPN executive Aaron LaBerge has been named chief technology officer effective July 1,...

23/04/2024

Nexstar Disputes FCC $1.2M Fine, Order to Sell WPIX

In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a respo...

23/04/2024

Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving

Sony has announced new details about how the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is using Sony's Ci Media Cloud platform to streamline its workflows and spe...

23/04/2024

NiTRos M-CUBE Studio Levels Up Esports Productions with A...

Esports' rapid rise to popularity can be attributed to many factors, from technological advancements that have enhanced the quality of modern gaming experie...

23/04/2024

OpenDrives New Software-Defined Platform Atlas Wins 2024...

OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, has been selected as a winner in the 2024 N...

23/04/2024

Vipe by BCNEXXT Takes Home 2024 NAB Show Product of the Y...

BCNEXXT is pleased to announce that Vpe has won the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the Asset Management, Automation and Playout category. The offici...

23/04/2024

Gravity Media Australia to Deliver Broadcast Technology a...

Gravity Media, a world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, today outlined the broadcast technology and television pr...

23/04/2024

Industry veteran Peter Brennan to lead Scality operations...

Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Peter Brennan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Scality...

23/04/2024

Blackmagic Design Announces New ATEM Constellation 4K Swi...

Blackmagic Design today announced ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K switchers, two new Ultra HD models of the ATEM Constellation famil...

23/04/2024

Blackmagic Design Announces New Blackmagic Videohub 120x1...

Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 12G, the newest model in the Videohub 12G router family. The massive Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 1...

23/04/2024

Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagi...

Blackmagic Design today announced new lower prices for Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and 12G models. Customers can save US$200 on all models. These lower prices ma...

23/04/2024

Adder Wins Best of Show TV Tech Award at NAB 2024

Adder Technology continues to shine brightly, with its groundbreaking product, the ADDERLink INFINITY 3000 (ALIF3000), once again taking center stage. Hot on t...