Craft Profile: Lance Gordon
15/01/2020
A: As a freelance audio engineer and co-owner of Soundcheck Technologies, I have worked with some of the biggest rock bands and largest sporting events in the world. I have done just about everything from the Superbowl to NBA Finals, Winter Olympics and even the Ping Pong World Championships. I won an Emmy for the 2010 Winter Olympics and have been nominated multiple times for mixing other sporting events. It's a crazy industry and I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in it for more than three decades.
Q: Tell us about some of the recent projects you have been involved in.
A: Today, my primary focus is in the sports television world, mostly doing broadcast audio for combat-style sporting events. My most prominent productions include MMA and Bellator MMA tournaments for the Paramount Network, as well as WCW and WWE wrestling and ESPN's live boxing events. I have also had the opportunity to mix many of the Winter Olympics events for NBC, and I've mixed sports for all the major networks - ABC, CBS and FOX. Recently, a friend of mine in the industry asked me to assist with productions at EA Sports' new arena and studio, which led to my involvement with the Madden World Championship tournament. At Soundcheck Technologies, we also produce events such as the Alamo Bowl luncheons, galas and press conferences, as well as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Awards banquet.
Q: How did you get into the industry?
A: My interest in the industry began back in the in seventh grade when I was acting with my local theatre; I was always looking at ways to improve the lights and production value. I started working behind the scenes and doing mostly lighting, set building, designing lighting rigs and providing audio assistance. This led to me working with some local bands and I ended up in Hollywood with a permanent gig. While in Hollywood, in the late 80s and early 90s, I worked at all the big rock clubs, such as the Troubadour, Roxy and Whiskey, with some of the top bands of that time - M tley Cr e, Poison and Guns N' Roses.
I was mostly a lighting guy up until about 1990 and then I graduated' to gospel television production. After moving back to Texas, I started a lighting company with a friend of mine and we worked on all the big festivals, with artists like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson, to name a few. I began to tire of the lighting gigs because we were always the first-in and last-out, so I started a transition into audio. I was fortunate to have my then-business partner Earl McCoy by my side as it helped ease that move. His father-in-law was Doug Sahm of the Texas Tornadoes. Their tour needed a monitor engineer, so Earl recommended me for the job. He showed me the ropes and threw me into the gig, and I've been doing audio ever since.
Q: What led you from music and gospel to the world of combat sports?
Eventually, Earl and I dissolved our partnership and I took a position with Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, where I was really able to hone my audio skills. I ended up going out on the road with TV evangelist TD Jakes, doing stadium and arena tours that included massive choirs and bands - all broadcast live. In 1999, the San Antonio Spurs were in the NBA Finals and the broadcasters found themselves shorthanded for the visiting team's mix. Somehow, word got out that I was a local who could mix audio and, next thing I knew, I had the gig. Similarly, when Bellator MMA director, Rick Beczynski- who has been very instrumental to my career - found out that I was available during an event, he asked me to mix. He offered me a permanent role with Bellator, and I've been with them for about 10 years now. It's become my favourite sport.
Q: Describe your typical workflow.
A: I don't really use much outboard gear other than maybe some fader stuff to get rid of PA noise; I never really have. In combat sports, it's not always pretty or perfect because it's hard to incorporate outboard gear. You're in and out so quickly that you don't have a lot of time to integrate these things. On the Calrec consoles, especially for Bellator, I use the auto mixer, compression, EQ, dynamics, gates, delay and GPI; I pretty much use all the features. The Bellator desk has 24 subgroups, eight main outs and 100 multi-tracks, and I've put them all to good use.
We use such a large board for Bellator because of all the miking that we incorporate. For instance, I have a specialty mic array set up above the cage, with five Sennheiser 60-Series mics, which allows me to hear the fighters speaking to one another. I also built eight mic setups that bolt to the catwalk around the ring - these make it possible to hear all the action of them grappling around the edges or while they're on the ground. We're also trying to pick up the live crowd reaction, without it being too overwhelming to the sounds of the fight. Honestly, though, a mic is just a mic; it's not magic. So, we have to try to EQ it in a way that we're removing the rumble of the PA and still capturing the audience screaming, the punches from within the ring, one fan reacting interestingly or the referee screaming he's out, he's out, while also not destroying the mix.
Q: How does an eSports workflow compare to traditional sports?
A: I pretty much approach eSports the same way as any other sports production - level consistency and maintaining input and output levels. For one of the more recent tournaments, we did a countdown or roll call where we went into the studio with the other players and asked some silly questions. Then we faded into the tease and the open, ultimately ending at the announce desk, just like a typical sports broadcast. I added music and we ran it like a
More from Calrec
25/03/2024
NEP Australia expands IP and remote production with Calrec Argo
NEP Australia expands its IP and remote production capabilities with first install of Calrec Argo consoles NEP Australia, a division of NEP Group and a prominen...
25/03/2024
NAB 2024 Preview | Why attend NAB 24?
NAB 2024 Preview | April 14 -17 | Booth C6307 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2024 NAB ...
11/12/2023
How I won a Sports Emmy Award for supporting FOX Sports
The show must go on: How I won a Sports Emmy Award for Calrec's work supporting FOX Sports' presentation of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 By Elliot Rober...
16/11/2023
Calrec's Argo Wins 2023 NAB Show Product of the Year Award
Calrec's Argo Wins 2023 NAB Show Product of the Year Award Calrec has won the 2023 NAB Show Product of the Year Award for its configurable Argo audio contr...
27/10/2023
An Insightful Look into the World of Calrec
An Insightful Look into the World of Calrec By Will Wayman Before going to Calrec I was excited and looking forward to the many experiences I would be able to...
08/10/2023
Calrec finds new zeal and expertise with Protel
Calrec finds new zeal and expertise with Protel...
08/10/2023
Group One partners with AVL Group in Puerto Rico
Group One extends its relationship with Puerto Rico's AVL Group Calrec distribution partner Group One has teamed up with supply and service specialists AVL ...
08/10/2023
Group One invest in IP with new Calrec technical support hires
Expanding on its already robust technical support team and further investing in IP, Group One, professional audio and lighting distributor of Audiotonix brands ...
08/10/2023
IP specialist Tim Casey joins Group One
Group One expands its Support team with IP specialist Tim Casey Group One has hired Tim Casey to join its growing team of Calrec Customer Support Technicians in...
08/10/2023
EMG UK chooses Calrec for ROC
EMG UK flexes with Calrec for its Stratford Remote Operations Centre Expanding on its 30-year relationship with Calrec to satisfy its complex audio needs, OB an...
08/10/2023
IBC 2023: 6 reasons to join Calrec at IBC
IBC 2023 Preview | 15 18 September | Hall 8, Booth D60 | RAI, Amsterdam We're looking forward to meeting up with friends, customers and partners at the I...
08/10/2023
Calrec launches into the German market via a new partnership with Cerberus
IBC 2023 sees Calrec announce its launching into German market for the first time via a new partnership with Cerberus Media Solutions At IBC 2023, Calrec, a lea...
07/10/2023
EMG Stratford ROC
EMG UK flexes with Calrec for its Stratford Remote Operations Centre Expanding on its 30-year relationship with Calrec to satisfy its complex audio needs, OB an...
07/10/2023
NEP goes remote with ImPulse
NEP flexes its remote capabilities with Calrec's IP ImPulse engine NEP Group, the leading media technology partner for content creators around the globe, is...
07/10/2023
INA TV kick off world cup with Calrec
Greece-based INA TV used Calrec's Summa console and Hydra2 networking technology to satisfy the complex UEFA technical specifications to broadcast European ...
07/10/2023
Calrec partners with AV Worx to expand its presence in South Africa
Calrec partners with AV Worx to expand its presence in South Africa Calrec, a leading designer and supplier of broadcast audio mixing consoles and equipment, a...
05/10/2023
NAB New York 2023 Preview
NAB New York 2023 Preview |October 25 -26 | Level 3, Booth 217 | Javits Center, New York We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at...
04/10/2023
Inside Broadcast Hungary's 4K Outside Broadcast Truck
Inside Broadcast Hungary's 4k Outside Broadcast Truck Last month at IBC, KitPlus sat down with Calrec's International Sales Manager, Michael Reddick to ...
03/08/2023
Join our quest
We have big news! Calrec has always been on a quest to solve tomorrow's audio challenges, and we have some big news to share on the Calrec booth in Hall 8, ...
03/08/2023
NAB 2023 Preview
NAB 2023 Preview | April 16 -19 | Booth C6107 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2023 NAB ...
01/06/2023
Inside SuperSport's New 4K Outside Broadcast Truck
Inside SuperSport's New 4K Outside Broadcast Truck Take a look inside one of the most advanced outside broadcast (OB) trucks in the world! SuperSport's...
28/04/2023
Join Calrec at MPTS 2023
Join Calrec at MPTS 2023 | May 10-11 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
27/03/2023
Calrec Wins Media & Entertainment Best in Market 2022 Awards
Calrec Wins Media & Entertainment: Best in Market 2022 Awards for Argo We are delighted to have been selected as one of the winners in this year's Media & ...
15/03/2023
The Super Bowl by Shawn Peacock
The Super Bowl by Shawn Peacock Shawn Peacock, Broadcast Audio Engineer A1 for over 20 years, encompassing college football, X Games, tennis and motorsports inc...
21/02/2023
Calrec makes switching to ST2110 more affordable with ImPulse1
Calrec makes switching to ST2110 more affordable with ImPulse1 IP engine Following on from its new Argo audio mixing control platform launched at IBC 2022, Cal...
23/12/2022
The Audio Checklist by Freelance A1 Andrew Stoakley
The Audio Checklist by Freelance A1, Andrew Stoakley Over the course of interviewing, recording and editing my podcast series, Idle Hands: Conversations with T...
03/10/2022
Audiotonix Gets Even More Creative with Slate Digital Acquisition
About Audiotonix Audiotonix is a global market leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of professional audio mixing consoles and ancillary products...
02/09/2022
IBC 2022: 10 reasons to join Calrec at IBC
IBC 2022: 10 reasons to join us at IBC We're back! It's been three years since we've been to IBC 2022, and we can't wait to get back into it w...
15/07/2022
A Statement from Calrec
Statement from Calrec July 2022 Recently we have received many comments via social media that mistakenly claim Calrec are in some way supporting Russian state...
14/07/2022
NAB 2022 Preview
We're excited to be back at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on 23-27th April. Here is a sneak preview of what we will be unveiling!...
08/07/2022
Sounding out the future
Sounding out the future I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future. Ralph Abernathy By Madison O'Reilly...
30/05/2022
ABEX 2022
One of our International Sales Managers recently attended the ABEX 2022 Morava Montreux 2022, an international electronic media and television conference in M...
01/04/2022
Star Acadmie TVA
Jean-S bastien Roy, Sound Engineer at Headroom Productions talks to Calrec about his work on Star Acad mie on TVA in Montreal, Canada. As a Sound Engineer and ...
31/03/2022
Craft Interview: Myles Carlyle, Audio Engineer
Canada-based Myles Carlyle was exposed to the world of broadcast audio at a young age. As an audio engineer, he mixes a variety of live sports and worked at the...
17/03/2022
Audio in 2021: The future is now
Audio in 2021: The future is now By Dave Letson, VP of Sales, Calrec 2020 was a year of necessity; of using technology in ways it had been designed for and so...
16/03/2022
Calrec IP Primer
IP Primer Welcome to Calrec's eight-part primer on AoIP! The IP Primer builds up your knowledge of IP and will enable you to create reliable AoIP networks...
09/03/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Network Design
Calrec IP Primer Part 8: Network Design Welcome to the final chapter in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the last 7 weeks, we have released an I...
03/03/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Network Switches
Calrec IP Primer Part 7: Network Switches Welcome to the seventh in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the last 6 weeks, we have released an IP ch...
23/02/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Quality of Service QoS
Calrec IP Primer Part 6: Quality of Service (QoS) Welcome to the sixth in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next three weeks, we will be rele...
16/02/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Latency and Jitter
Calrec IP Primer Part 5: Latency/Jitter Welcome to the fifth in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next four weeks, we will be releasing an I...
10/02/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Bandwidth
Calrec IP Primer Part 4: Bandwidth Welcome to the fourth in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next five weeks, we will be releasing an IP cha...
02/02/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Precision Time Protocol PTP
Calrec IP Primer Part 3: PTP Welcome to the third in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next six weeks, we will be releasing an IP chapter eve...
26/01/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Multicast
Calrec IP Primer Part 2: Multicast Welcome to the second in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next seven weeks, we will be releasing an IP ch...
19/01/2022
Calrec IP Primer: Introduction
Calrec IP Primer Part 1: Introduction Welcome to the first in an eight-part series of articles on AoIP! Over the next eight weeks, we will be releasing an IP ...
06/01/2022
Calrec's IP solution selected for state-of-the-art Sportsnet Studios
Calrec's IP solution selected for state-of-the-art Sportsnet Studios Two Calrec Artemis consoles with AoIP ImPulse cores and Gateway technology lie at the h...
16/12/2021
Ross Production Services choose Calrec for all live and esports output
Ross Production Services (RPS) recently purchased its fifth 96-channel Calrec Brio audio console to standardize on Calrec technology. The new Brio is installed ...
26/11/2021
IBC 2021 Cancelled: Calrec's 7 Key Focuses
IBC 2021 Cancelled: Although we can't meet in person, we can still have a chat Get in touch for a catch-up, or book a remote demo with Calrec's broadca...
24/11/2021
IBC 2021: 7 magnificent reasons to speak to Calrec
Not travelling to IBC 2021? We can still have a chat. Get in touch, or book a remote demo with Calrec's broadcast specialists, to get up close and personal...
23/11/2021
7 magnificent reasons to speak to Calrec
Not travelling to IBC 2021? We can still have a chat. Get in touch, or book a remote demo with Calrec's broadcast specialists, to get up close and personal...