Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Music City Is Set To Make Some Real Noise With IndyCar Street Race

03/08/2023

Music City Is Set To Make Some Real Noise With IndyCar Street Race Big Machine Music City Grand Prix roars into Nashville with lots of mics and music By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Thursday, August 3, 2023 - 10:54 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Eighty laps, 168 winding street miles, and more music than you can shake a guitar at. That's the third edition of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (Sunday, Aug. 6, NBC Sports) in Nashville, where both IndyCar and the city are looking to what's becoming an annual event to burnish both brands.

The temporary 2.17-mile street circuit takes 26 NTT IndyCar Series racers by the Tennessee Titans' Nissan Stadium, through 11 twisty turns, and over the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge above the Cumberland River (the first motorsports course of its kind in the world to cross a major body of water), and into downtown Nashville. All done to a soundtrack that will feature Florida-Georgia Line's Brian Kelley, Chris Janson, M tley Cr e's Vince Neil, Gavin Degraw, and other special guests.

Upshift, Downshift, Crowds, Roar If negotiating those turns are tricky, so is capturing the race's signature sounds. That's the job of A1 Mike Pope, aided by submixer Rob Sweeney. Some of the music might sneak into the broadcast here and there, but most of it will be that characteristic effects mix of upshift, downshift, crowds, and roar.

Street courses are obviously always a little more difficult, mainly in terms of access, explains Pope, who has mixed IndyCar races for 13 years. Of course, on this course here in Nashville, we've got some experience. This is our third year here.

Getting the audio signals around the sprawling downtown campus involves an infrastructure of eight Calrec Hydra network boxes daisy-chained into the Artemis submix console aboard the B unit of IMS Productions' three-trailer production rig (which also handles robos and graphics), buttressed by a parallel Dante network in spots.

The cameras on the truck still have two audio analog inputs, but they also have network connections, Pope explains. Those network connections are what we use for Dante boxes, which also can be configured for intercom. We've done that in the past, but, for this race, we're also using the Dante to bring microphone signals back, primarily for the upshifts or downshifts and maybe a roar - whatever is needed to get the signal back to the submix console.

With more than 50 microphones deployed in total, he can call on Audio-Technica BP4027 long stereo shotgun mics on hard cameras and shorter BP4029 mics for crowd capture and other applications. Sennheiser 416 super-cardioid shotguns have become indispensable for up/downshift sounds and for use on robo cams. A Shure VP88 rounds out the main four-pack of the various transducers that Pope and Sweeney use to cover the vast majority of the race.

All of those are workhorse mics, Pope says.

The camera audio inputs have become a valuable resource for racing effects capture, with improved pre-amps that can collect the full-range audio needed for motorsports. And, because the track is dedicated to IndyCar, the console gain and trim structures are already tuned for the sport.

A lot of the show is already dialed in for us, notes Pope, who mixes it on a Calrec Apollo desk.

Radio, Comms Are Complicated A pair of Calrec Brio consoles are used to mix the audio for the big-screen video around the track, some of which will make its way into the broadcast sound via direct feeds to the main mix desk. According to Pope, the radio mix, mixed by Pat Sellers, is perhaps the most complicated part of the event's audio due to the unpredictability of sources and is on a scant 1.5-second profanity delay.

You're a cat on a wire out there with the radios, he says of the occasionally salty audio nuggets that come across the RF infrastructure provided by BSI. But they're critical because, whenever audio leads the narrative, it's usually because of what's coming through the radios.

The show's comms are conventional but also complicated, built around an RTS ADAM platform with nearly 600 ports spanning seven trailers. It's a fairly standard configuration but made notable by its scale, says Pope.

Not all of them are active, he points out, but they're there. I would say we would have at least 12-16 external panels that we use. In general, it's structured mostly the same, but the comms load can change from a street course or an oval or a road course.

The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix has become somewhat notorious for its crashes - the track varies in width from 37 ft. to 80 ft. - and that takes a toll on the audio infrastructure, from the loss of the occasional microphone to destruction of some of the fiber cabling.

Sometimes a car can hit the concrete barriers and move it, and it can cut fiber, says Pope. We've had it happen.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/08/03/music-city-is-set-to-make-some-...
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 ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

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

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

31/03/2026

MeyerPro Delivers LED Production for Microsoft Ignite 2025

MeyerPro delivered the LED production for the Microsoft Ignite 2025 keynote at Chase Center in San Francisco, using more than 2,700 ROE Visual panels across mul...

31/03/2026

MC-IF Expands Membership to Include Smaller Technology Companies to Drive VVC Adoption

The Media Coding Industry Forum (MC-IF) is expanding membership outreach in 2026...

31/03/2026

ViewLift and MyOutdoorTV Launch Conversational AI Search

ViewLift and MyOutdoorTV (MOTV) have announced the launch of ViewLift Conversational AI Search on the MyOutdoorTV platform. The feature enables natural language...

31/03/2026

Atlanta Braves and Gray Media to Simulcast 25 Regular Season Games on Over-the-Air Television

The Atlanta Braves and Gray Media have announced a multi-year agreement to simul...

31/03/2026

Gravity Media to Deliver Broadcast Coverage of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival

Gravity Media has delivered broadcast services for TAB Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill Gardens on March 21 and will now cover The Star Championships at Royal Ran...

31/03/2026

Mileto Tecnologia Selects Synamedia Go for OTT Expansion

Synamedia has announced that Mileto Tecnologia, a Brazilian pay-TV operator, has selected the Synamedia Go platform for its OTT expansion. Mileto is also deploy...

31/03/2026

NAB 2026: KMH Integration to Present AV Casting Philosophy

KMH Integration will attend NAB Show in Las Vegas with a focus on what the company calls AV Casting - an approach built on the idea that professional AV and bro...

31/03/2026

Prime Video to Air First and Second Rounds of 2026 Masters Tournament

Prime Video will carry live coverage of the first and second rounds of the 2026 Masters Tournament, beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, A...

31/03/2026

NHL, ESPN, TNT Sports and Sportsnet Launch Joint Marketing Campaign for 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The NHL and its U.S. and Canadian broadcast partners have announced a collaborat...

31/03/2026

Daktronics to Install New Video Display and Show Control System at Wake Forest's Allegacy Stadium

Daktronics has partnered with Wake Forest to manufacture and install a new end z...

31/03/2026

NFL Announces Las Vegas to Host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029

The National Football League has announced that Las Vegas will host Super Bowl LXIII in 2029 at Allegiant Stadium. The announcement was made at the NFL Annual M...

31/03/2026

NFL Partners with TMRW Sports to Launch Professional Flag Football League

The NFL has announced a partnership with TMRW Sports to develop and operate a professional flag football league for women and men. The league will launch with i...

31/03/2026

Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton Deploy Sennheiser Spectera at Las Vegas Residencies

Sennheiser's Spectera wideband bidirectional wireless system was used by bot...

31/03/2026

Sports Studio Forms Advisory Board for Free Live Sports Platform

Sports Studio Inc., the company behind Free Live Sports, has announced the formation of an Advisory Board with five media and technology executives. Each of o...

31/03/2026

PSSI Deploys Appear X Platform for Mobile Fleet and Teleport Upgrade

PSSI and Appear have announced a new phase in their collaboration, with PSSI deploying Appear's X Platform to upgrade its mobile fleet and PSSI Internationa...

31/03/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Flowstate AI's Sahiah Shah on Transforming Video Content with Intelligent AI Agents

As sports media organization continue to seek out new ways to streamline their p...

31/03/2026

NWSL Scales Up Production Ops to Match League's Exponential Growth

With two new expansion teams and viewership/attendance on the rise, the league's production/broadcast arm and its partner NEP Connected Solutions are busier...

31/03/2026

Spotify Introduces New Formats, Tools, and Research to Help Brands Become Part of the Fan Experience

Spotify has evolved from a streaming platform to an interactive, multiformat eco...

31/03/2026

Make Noise Music introduce the GTE

Lastest New Universal Synthesizer System module announced Make Noise Music have recently announced the launch of the latest addition to their New Universal ...

31/03/2026

Two notes unveil the Captor X+

True Stereo DynIR Engine, Virtual Load Shaper & more Two notes Audio Engineering's Captor X reactive load box and cabinet simulator has built up a solid...

31/03/2026

Welcome Young Entertainment Professionals Class of 2026

By Kiera Williams Every year, a new group of emerging media and entertainment professionals steps into the HPA community - curious, talented, and ready to grow...

31/03/2026

L3Harris Sets Date for First Quarter 2026 Earnings Release

MELBOURNE, Fla., March 31, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its first quarter 2026 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, A...

31/03/2026

Millions of Miles from Home: How Perseverance Stays Connected

Photo courtesy of NASA. An illustration shows NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars....

31/03/2026

L3Harris and Comtech Introduce First-of-Its-Kind Tactical SATCOM Modem

L3Harris Technologies and Comtech Telecommunications Corp. have collaborated to introduce the next evolution in resilient multi-orbit capability for today's...

31/03/2026

Nielsen data shows NZ retail brands are changing strategies to win over outdoor enthusiasts

Rebel Sport leads ad investment as brands compete for a large, active and qualit...

31/03/2026

Spectrum TV App to Launch on Amazon Fire TV Devices

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/03/2026

CueScript to Showcase Innovations at NAB that Add Mobilit...

CueScript, a leading international developer of professional teleprompting solutions, is enhancing its platform with three innovations that elevate flexibility,...

31/03/2026

GALSNGEAR Returns to the 2026 NAB Show with Expanded Meet...

#GALSNGEAR will host a series of meetups, panel discussions, and networking events during the 2026 NAB Show, taking place April 18 22 in Las Vegas. The organi...

31/03/2026

Imagine Introduces AI Assisted Scheduling at 2026 NAB Sho...

At the 2026 NAB Show (April 19-22, Las Vegas Convention Center, Booth #N1328), Imagine Communications is introducing AI assisted scheduling capabilities within ...

31/03/2026

PSSI boosts live sports flexibility and security with the...

High-density upgrade for mobile fleet and PSSI International Teleport gives PSSI more flexibility for premium live event coverage PSSI and Appear today announc...

31/03/2026

Solid State Logic Enhances Virtualized System T Platform to Deliver Scalable Cloud and On-Prem Production for NAB 2026

Solid State Logic Enhances Virtualized System T Platform to Deliver Scalable Clo...

31/03/2026

OWC to Showcase Storage, Workflow Acceleration, and Reliability Solutions for Creatives and Post-Production Professionals at NAB 2026

OWC to Showcase Storage, Workflow Acceleration, and Reliability Solutions for Cr...

31/03/2026

PSSI Taps Appear X for Live Coverage of FIFA World Cup

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/03/2026

OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business...

OpenDrives, a leader in software-defined video and rich media storage management solutions, will demonstrate several new innovations at the 2026 NAB Show in Apr...

31/03/2026

SDVI to Showcase Platform Enhancements New Technology Int...

At the 2026 NAB Show, SDVI will demonstrate how its Rally media supply chain management platform continues to give media operations teams the tools they need to...

31/03/2026

Boland Communications Introduces QD4K315HDR10 QD-OLED Ser...

Boland Communications today announced that at the 2026 NAB Show, it will introduce its new QD4K315HDR10, a 31.5-inch QD-OLED monitor delivering exceptional colo...

31/03/2026

NUGEN Audio CEO Dr Paul Tapper to Lead Presentation About...

Dr. Paul Tapper, CEO of NUGEN Audio, will lead an essential industry discussion at the 2026 NAB Show, examining whether dialog intelligibility is poised to beco...

31/03/2026

BCNEXXT at NAB 2026 - Turning Industry Pressure into Oppo...

BCNEXXT will use NAB 2026 to focus on how broadcasters can turn today's operational and market pressures into opportunity. Meeting with customers in the IAB...

31/03/2026

Mediagenix Showcases Semantic Intelligence Powered Title...

Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, will showcase its latest innovations at th...

31/03/2026

DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP C...

DHD announces that AI-based audio noise reduction is now available as a powerful new option for its XD3 IP Core. Developed in cooperation with ai-coustics, audi...

31/03/2026

PTZOptics to showcase intelligent video and camera contro...

PTZOptics will showcase its vision for intelligent video and advanced camera automation at NAB Show 2026 (#N1902). Through immersive demonstrations and technolo...

31/03/2026

Experience Commerce Wins Social Media Mandate for ICONIQA...

Experience Commerce, a leading full-service digital marketing agency and part of the Cheil SWA Group, has secured the social media mandate for ICONIQA Hotels & ...

31/03/2026

Fabric to Showcase Cloud-Native Origin Platform and Next-...

Fabric, the entertainment industry's leader in data and operations solutions, will showcase a major expansion of its media technology platform at NAB 2026, ...

31/03/2026

Boland Communications Introduces New QD-OLED Series Monitors

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/03/2026

Carr Warns NFL Over Streaming Rights, Consumer Costs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...