Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Mixing Clever: Salsa Sound Embraces the Power of AI in MIXaiR 2.0

22/09/2021

Mixing clever: Salsa Sound embraces the power of AI in MIXaiR 2.0 By Michael Burns

Monday, September 20, 2021 - 10:41

Print This Story

Salsa Sound co-founder and CEO, Rob Oldfield

Regular readers of SVG Europe will be well aware of how innovative technology companies working in sports broadcasting can be, but MIXaiR from Salsa Sound looks likely to set a new bar for live audio and the craft of sound mixing.

When the pandemic caused football games to be played in silent stadiums Salsa Sound came to the rescue of broadcasters with its vCrowd real time virtual crowd atmosphere system, which rightly won plaudits. However, MIXaiR is based on technology that the company has been working on for several years, through academia, R&D, beta versions and a soft launch of the system a year ago.

Our company was founded in 2017, but prior to that we were part of the University of Salford, where we were working on a lot of innovative audio techniques, says co-founder and CEO, Rob Oldfield. In particular we were looking at how to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to recognise sound events and then create the best possible mix, not based on tracking but just based on what is actually [captured by] those microphones.

Fast forward to the future, next month in fact, and the new version of MIXaiR, an AI-driven system that automatically creates and enhances audio mixes for live broadcast, is set to be released.

MIXaiR 2.0 is jam packed with new features and a much more intuitive, easy to use interface, says Oldfield. The idea for v2.0 is you put all your microphones feeds in and then MIXaiR creates different submixes. So you might have a crowd, a commentary, or a pitch mix or aux in, and MIXaiR will automatically balance the levels between them, apply some processing, then create the best possible mix out of it without any human interaction, other than setting it up in the first place.

Hard tackle

According to Oldfield, the hardest mix, by a country mile, is the pitch mix. Historically, it's such a dynamic process by engineers and difficult to replicate, he explains. To make sure you've always got the nearest microphone active in the mix at any one point, requires constant attention and raising and lowering of faders. It's a really clever balancing act.

Rather like the players whose kicks it tracks, MIXaiR's AI has gone through an extensive training regime. Using machine learning technology, Salsa Sound has been training MIXaiR with many hours of content, microphone recordings and mixes across leagues.

People don't realise how hard it is to mix really well. That's why we've gone through pains to get an AI solution that takes the strain from some of the really difficult grunt work of mixing

We know what makes a great mix, says Oldfield. The AI is constantly analysing all of the sounds it is hearing. We tell it what to make of these sound events and it learns what's a kick, what's a whistle, what's a ball bounce, so that when it sees or hears sound in the wild, it can make an intelligent decision based on it.

Oldfield says MIXaiR delivers an even pitch mix, without any slightly awkward transitions and unbalanced crowd noise.

Our approach is to have the AI listen to those live microphone feeds, and when it hears a sound that's interesting like a kick, whistle, ball bounce or hitting the crossbar, you name it it will automatically add that microphone feed into the mix. It tracks the game around, always choosing the microphone that's closest to the action, and [performs] a seamless transition between them.

People don't realise how hard it is to mix really well, he adds. That's why we've gone through pains to get an AI solution that takes the strain from some of the really difficult grunt work of mixing. It can enable these guys to explore creative avenues and to create more innovative content. When you're not completely locked into your screen trying to create the best mix, you can actually lean in to MIXaiR a little bit more, let that create the stems and then you can have a bit of cognitive space to craft a mix, rather than chasing a mix.

Salsa Sound's MIXaiR GUI

The commentary and crowd noise are dynamically processed to provide mix components. These sub mixes are basically ingredients that you can throw into the output mixes, explains Oldfield. Then it's just a drag and drop process. You can create whatever output mixes you want, as many as you want, in different formats. You can have international sound, a French mix, a German mix, a Spanish mix, or whatever, and within that you can have different flavours: the stereo mix, the 5.1 mix, the mono mix. The only limitation is the number of channels that you've got available on your output board. You can also apply VST plug-ins to add your own compression or EQ or effects to the submixes, so it becomes a creative tool, allowing you to craft your mixes.

Importantly, [all mixes] are loudness normalised, he adds. If you're streaming on YouTube, or your own video on demand platform, or when it is for broadcast, they all have different loudness requirements. So within MIXaiR, you just decide which requirement you want, click on it and it will ensure that the mix adheres to those standards, so you don't end up with a fine from the regulator for making too much noise, or making not enough noise.

MIXaiR users also have an option to enhance the pitch mix with pre-recorded sounds. When somebody whacks the ball in the middle of the park, the [sound supervisor] can't even hear it because it's a long way away from the microphones, says Oldfield. However the AI can pick up a kick in the middle of the pitch. The algorithm can detect a kick, go to a bank of pre-recorded kicks and pick out the most appropriate one, and then
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/mixing-clever-salsa-sound-emb...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

08/09/2026

Comcast Technology Solutions Signs Multi-Year VOD Distribution Agreement with A+E Global Media

Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...

08/09/2026

Spectra Logic Introduces Media Insight for Faster Discovery, Preview, and Retrieval of Archived Media

Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...

08/09/2026

Rogers and Quebecor Announce 12-Year French-Language NHL Sublicensing Deal

Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies to Demonstrate Automated Broadcast Workflows

Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Boland Communications Makes European Debut of 4K55HDR7SNB

Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions Announce Collaboration for Live Video Delivery

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Haivision Joins IBC Accelerator Programme on 5G Network Control for Live Production

Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...

08/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Cuts Prices on PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: AI-Media to Showcase Multilingual AI Captioning and Translation Platform

AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Deploy SGAI Solution for Belgian Broadcaster RTBF

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Grass Valley to Demonstrate Story-Centric Newsroom Workflows

Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...

08/09/2026

M2A Media and Ateme Partner to Scale Live Sports Video Delivery

M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Ikegami to Introduce New UNICAM XE Cameras and Viewfinders

Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...

08/09/2026

Caretta Research Shares Top Trends to Watch at IBC 2026

Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...

08/09/2026

SENSHI and DAZN Announce Global Broadcast Partnership

SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...

08/09/2026

ESPN, ESPN2 Begin 4K HDR Rollout in the U.S. with New IP-Based Distribution Pipeline

New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...

08/09/2026

Sauceware Audio release Scorch 2

Built for rap producers, by rap producers Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...

08/09/2026

Warm Audio unveil the Jude preamps

Classic Sound Techniques design revived Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...

08/09/2026

XILS Lab introduce MemoryTone

Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...

08/09/2026

The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026

The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026 8 September, 2026 Media releases 1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date Best...

08/09/2026

IBC2026: Haivision Integrates Chyron LIVE into its Workflow

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Mo-Sys completes reorganisation strengthens management te...

Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...

08/09/2026

Aicox and TAG Video Systems power monitoring and multivie...

New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...

08/09/2026

Asharq migrates extended channel line-up to Pebble playou...

Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform. Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...

08/09/2026

Techex Extends its Lead in Software Defined Live Video at...

Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...

08/09/2026

Grass Valley Advances Story-Centric Media Workflows for U...

Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...

08/09/2026

BCNEXXT Showcases Latest Vipe Innovations at IBC2026 Rais...

BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Power First Active Dep...

Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm unveils major enhancements to its Suite 7 envi...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...

08/09/2026

Big Blue Marble Collaborates with TDF as Technology Partn...

Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...

08/09/2026

nxtedition takes agentic AI from newswire to gallery at I...

Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...

08/09/2026

Ceeblue and Layercake Expand Strategic Integration to Lau...

Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...

08/09/2026

Brainstorm launches Engram a dedicated asset management t...

Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026 - The new Synamedia - solving the business of vi...

A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...

08/09/2026

Accedo Selected by PlayOn Sports to Enhance NFHS Network...

Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...

08/09/2026

AP brings new connectivity and workflow tech to global ne...

LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...

08/09/2026

Mediagenix Personalization Curates Sports Content Around...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...

08/09/2026

Appear X5 to enable flyaway contribution for DP World Tou...

Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...

08/09/2026

Zixi and Kiloview Partner to Deliver Broadcast-Grade IP V...

Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...

08/09/2026

Quortex and NetActuate announce global agreement

Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning Quortex today announce...

08/09/2026

Orlando Magic, Gray Media Ink Full-Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/09/2026

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnership

Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...

08/09/2026

Jnger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026

J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026 Search Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...

08/09/2026

Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers

Tuesday 8 September 2026 Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...

08/09/2026

Trailer released for The Wargame, launching on Sky from 21 September

Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026 Trailer releas...

08/09/2026

Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset Platform

Wuppertal September 8, 2026 Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...