
Doreen Greaton discovers how shotgun microphones and in-ear monitors helped Formula Es sound team make sure everything was crystal clear
By Contributor
Published: September 24, 2020
Doreen Greaton discovers how shotgun microphones and in-ear monitors helped Formula E's sound team make sure everything was crystal clear
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> Doreen Greaton discovers how shotgun microphones and in-ear monitors helped Formula E's sound team make sure everything was crystal clear
https://www.tvbeurope.com/audio/boom-how-formula-e-used-shotgun-mics-to-maintain-social-distancing title=Share via Email class=share-email>
As live sports return to TV screens, the industry is making a massive effort to ensure people stay safe and protected from Covid-19. Many new protocols have been introduced that extend right across the board, covering everyone from talent and presenters to behind the scenes crews and technicians. Working in bubbles is the new norm, with crews often isolating for days before the start of a project just to ensure everyone is virus-free.
From the viewers' point of view, there have also been changes. The lack of fans and crowd noise at sports venues, for example, has taken a bit of getting used to, and some programmes look quite different with pundits sitting far apart in studios or only participating through video links. But for the most part audiences have been very accommodating because everyone understands the constraints imposed by this strange new world.
One change many viewers have noticed is the prevalence of the boom microphone, which are now visible in places where they were never allowed before. In pre-Covid times getting a boom in shot was a major blooper, but these days safety dictates that they are much better suited to certain situations and therefore compromises have to be made.
The sound recordists responsible for delivering this year's ABB FIA Formula E coverage are among those who have embraced boom mics, particularly for behind the scenes interviews.
Like so many sports, Formula E faced challenges because the Covid-19 pandemic threatened to scupper its 2019/2020 season. Normally Formula E's fully electric, single seater cars race around major city centres, but because of the high population density in these locations the usual format was deemed unsafe. After months of deliberation a novel solution was found - namely to complete the season by holding six races over nine days, behind closed doors, at Berlin's iconic Templehoff airport. Live TV coverage was provided by host broadcasters Aurora Media Worldwide and North One TV, known as Formula E TV, who supply the world feed to channels such as the BBC, Eurosport and Mediaset.
Formula E TV's sound supervisor Paul Halstead heads a dedicated crew of sound engineers, many with extensive live broadcast experience. Paul, who has been involved in Formula E since its first season six years ago, says: We work as a team but we have very distinct roles. My colleague Scott Morton looks after ENG crews and is involved with the live presentation element, while I handle mic allocation around the track and mixing the international feed, along with any additional race support presentation.
For the Berlin races, Scott and Paul had to contend with the German government's social distancing rules, which meant making changes to how the audio was captured. Handheld microphones shared between interviewers and drivers were obviously out, so they switched to boom microphones and used Bubblebee Industries' Spacer Bubble to get the right balance between wind protection and audio transparency.
Switching to boom mics was a major safety protocol and we used them for more than 80 per cent of our ENG and live presentation audio, Scott Morton explains. In this new landscape, presenters can't get close enough to the drivers to share a handheld mic, and our sound engineers are not allowed to touch the talent so we can't easily fit lavaliers. Our solution was to give presenters their own stick mic and couple them with a sound engineer who would use a boom mic to capture the interviewee's responses.
Morton adds that the three piece Spacer Bubble windshield system proved a real winner during the event because it could be adapted to suit the weather and ambient noise levels.
Unlike other systems that are full on fur or nothing, Spacer Bubble's modular nature allowed us to get variations in the shielding and adapt more quickly to changing weather conditions, he says. We used them with various R de and Sennheiser shotgun microphones and got excellent results. As so much of the audio for the Berlin event was captured on boom mics, we didn't worry about them being in shot during interviews because there was very little we could do about it.
Since its inception, Formula E broadcasters have had various audio challenges to overcome - not least the fact that electric cars don't sound anything like a Formula 1 sports car, something that viewers initially found disconcerting.
For the first two seasons, our sound department was under the microscope because we couldn't make the races sound like Formula 1, Halstead says. People often asked why we didn't add pre-recorded sounds but that wasn't the solution because you can't lie to the public. The cars sound how they sound and it is up to us to capture that as realistically as possible. Fans have now got used to it and accept that Formula E simply sounds different.
Another challenge - at least in a normal season - are the race venues. Because Formula E is held on public roads, the sound crew has to leave it until the 11th hour to position microphones to capture the sound of the cars.
On a public road you can't leave anything in place before the race or it may
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
16/06/2026
Thomson's highly regarded expert-led online learning courses are now easier to access on the go via our new App.
Available now on Google Play Store, the J...
16/06/2026
Neumann.Berlin has released firmware version 2.0 for the MT 48 audio interface, adding plugin compatibility, expanded Dante networking options, broadcast encode...
16/06/2026
TVNewsCheck has announced that nominations are now open for its 2027 Women in Technology Awards, to be presented at NAB Show 2027 on Tuesday, April 6 in the Med...
16/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced Avalon, a 1RU IP intercom platform for broadcast, live events, and production environments. Designed for IP-only workflows, Avalon suppo...
16/06/2026
SNS has published a guide to remote video editing workflows using its EVO shared storage platform and companion tools, covering use cases ranging from home edit...
16/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, have deployed five Grass Valley LD...
16/06/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced the launch of the Official IPMX Training Series, a free online program covering the design, configurati...
16/06/2026
Swerve TV has announced distribution agreements with Fubo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV,...
16/06/2026
ATP and TikTok have announced an expansion of their global content partnership, extending the ATP's TikTok hub powered by TikTok GamePlan to cover all nine ...
16/06/2026
Network's LA facility serves as the heart of a sprawling operation built to ...
16/06/2026
At Pico, the network's media-management team is supporting a flood of HBS fe...
16/06/2026
The NHL will no longer air on CBC after the pulic broadcasters and national rights-holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement.
After a successfu...
16/06/2026
As live sports broadcasters continue to seek new ways to make complex action mor...
16/06/2026
Built with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in mind, these small but mighty IP-based tran...
16/06/2026
Boasts individual synths for each band
UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each operate...
16/06/2026
New intelligent auto-fader plug-in unveiled
PSPaudioware's latest release offers automatic level adjustment and provides more detailed control than many...
16/06/2026
New performance-focused library announced
Crystal Pads is the latest addition to The Crow Hill Company's ever-growing product range, and according to th...
16/06/2026
Developed in partnership with Sequential
In recent years, GForce Software have branched into official emulations of classic hardware synths, delivering a ha...
16/06/2026
Designed specifically for live performance monitoring
beyerdynamic's latest announcement sees the company introduce an affordable in-ear monitoring syst...
16/06/2026
Official emulation celebrates iconic synth's 40th anniversary
Cherry Audio have just introduced Ensoniq ESQ-1, an official recreation of the 1986 polyph...
16/06/2026
Australians place growing trust in SBS News
16 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has been recognised as one of Australia's most trusted news providers, ran...
16/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz achieves highest number of GCF validated 3GPP NR NTN test cases ...
16/06/2026
Bydgoszcz to Become a Local Centre of Excellence for Advanced Rail Technologies....
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
87 Percent of Creators Who Use Creative AI Say It Is Growing Their Business and ...
16/06/2026
Historic Zhuque-3 Reusable Rocket Test Mission Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton June 16, 2026
0 Comments
Apple Immersive Video puts view...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Rise WIB, the award-winning advocacy group championing gender diversity and career progression across the broadcast and media technology industry, today announc...
16/06/2026
Limecraft today announced the availability of Limecraft 2026.4, the fourth of eight planned platform releases this year. The update introduces Team-Based Access...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/06/2026
Free Program Supports IPMX Education from Foundational Concepts Through System and Network Design
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced t...
16/06/2026
Share your views on Screen Australia and the future of the industry 15 June 2026
Your feedback matters.
Following the instrumental insights provided in 2025,...
16/06/2026
Techtel Supports T-Motion RCCP-2A Controller Upgrade for Major Australian Broadc...
16/06/2026
Tuesday 16 June 2026
Record audiences tune in for opening weekend of ICC Women&...
16/06/2026
Every breakthrough AI model starts the same way: with a training run. The infrastructure running those training jobs shapes everything: how fast teams can itera...
15/06/2026
One of the more exciting internal video production divisions within a college at...
15/06/2026
The deal valued at $22 Billion is expected to close in the first half of 2027...
15/06/2026
Golf Channel and the Arnold Palmer Cup have announced a partnership to livestream the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup on Golf Channel Mobile and GolfChannel.com. The tou...
15/06/2026
TikTok and Panini have announced a partnership to bring a digital collectible ca...
15/06/2026
Cosm and Monster Energy have announced the debut of the first full-dome immersiv...
15/06/2026
Real American Freestyle (RAF) and Fox Nation have announced an exclusive streaming agreement for three RAF international events, beginning with RAF Georgia on J...
15/06/2026
FanConnect has announced a partnership with Extreme Networks integrating FanConn...
15/06/2026
Ten Emerging Filmmakers Ages 18 to 25 Will Start Fellowship Year at Ignite Lab from June 14-19
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 15, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institut...
15/06/2026
Innovative three-band soft synth introduced
UVI's latest synth takes an interesting approach to synthesis, offering a trio of synth engines that each op...
15/06/2026
Applications now open for 2026
The Oram Awards have returned for 2026 to celebrate the unusual, unique and unfiltered creative worlds of women and gender-di...