
Live From MLB at Field of Dreams: The Game May Look Old, But It Sounds New By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, August 11, 2022 - 12:44 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
MLB Field of Dreams game is back in Dyersville, IA, tonight, with the Chicago Cubs facing the Cincinnati Reds in what has become the most-watched regular-season national-broadcast game in the past quarter century. The 8,000-seat pop-up stadium built last year is ready to go, with the Calrec Hydra, Dante networking, and fiber infrastructure put in place for last year's event.
Ballplayers wear period uniforms and enter the stadium from a cornfield at the edge of center-right field, evoking the movie that inspired the MLB event. In fact, windows were included in the design of the right-field wall to reveal the 159 acres of cornfields beyond the ballpark and provide views of the movie set.
The Sound of Corn The audio for the game will be very much 21st century; you just won't be able to see how it's done. For A1 Joe Carpenter, the challenge is to collect the baseball's usual sound elements but keep the process invisible to viewers. That means, for instance, doing without the parabolic collectors that would normally be seen in the outfield. However, there will be two parabs behind home plate and several lavalier mics embedded around the plate and the pitcher's mound to pick up bat cracks and other effects. And there will be a wired cornfield mic, an Audio-Technica AT4050, past the outfield fence.
For the MLB at Field of Dreams game, Fox Sports' audio team aims to capture even the whispers of the corn in the wind.
Carpenter will manage those microphones, as well as the Q5X PlayerMics worn by the Reds' six-time All-Star first baseman Joey Votto and the Cubs' 2022 All-Star outfielder Ian Happ. Offering viewers a look inside the game, the players will converse with Fox Sports announcers Joe Davis and John Smoltz during the game.
Meanwhile, submixer Joel Groeblinghoff will be looking for some very specific sounds, including catching the whisper of corn stalks moving in the wind and as the ballplayers dramatically enter the field. The challenge, he says, is finding ways to pick those nuanced sounds up without compromising the aesthetic conceit of the event.
We'll be able to put between seven and maybe eight RF lavs on the outfield fence, a couple of parabs in left and right foul territory, says Groeblinghoff, who will be working on a Calrec Brio console in a trailer separate from Game Creek Encore's units, one of which will house Carpenter. Closer in, I'll also have a couple of dugout microphones and RF lavs in the bases.
A Quiet Place
Although the number of effects microphones is smaller than for typical event-type matches, such as All-Star or postseason games, their collective power is perhaps greater because it's a much quieter environment, with a much smaller crowd. It's quiet enough, says Carpenter, to pick up some of the vintage sounds of this game, such as the creak of the ladder used by the scorekeeper to update the manual scoreboard and the clank of the rusty metal numbers as they are hung inning after inning.
This is really more like a minor-league game in terms of sound but with way more microphones, says Groeblinghoff. You can hear and pick up a lot more of what's going on. Last year, I was hearing plenty of complete conversations on first and second base from those microphones because it was so quiet. You're not fighting the PA system here. The noise floor is way down on this game; it literally changes the gain structure [of the console].
Says Carpenter, This game is all about being respectful of its environment, of where it's being played.
He adds that the production will integrate clips from the movie and some experimental AR elements, such as having the late Harry Caray lead the crowd in singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. There'll be a lot to hear, but they don't want to see anything in the outfield but the corn.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
15/09/2026
OWC Announces Acquisition of OpenDrives, Expanding Software-Defined Video and Ri...
15/09/2026
Podcast The Vertical Buzz Shot with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
Brie Clayton September 14, 2026
0 Comments
Production team builds premium p...
15/09/2026
Grass Valley Launches AVORA at IBC2026
Brie Clayton September 14, 2026
0 Comments
New standalone solution gives production teams everything they need ...
15/09/2026
Brandon Woody Joins Berklee Student Ensemble for Signature Series Concert The acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and bandleader will lead a Berklee student ensemb...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/09/2026
Applications open for Future Leaders Delegation to BitSummit 2027 15 September 2026
Applications are open for Screen Australia's annual Future Leaders Dele...
14/09/2026
Lil Baby's Dead Fresh kicks off ESPN's Week 1 Monday Night Football, ...
14/09/2026
With Super Bowl LXI waiting in Los Angeles, ESPN will use the regular season to ...
14/09/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
14/09/2026
Three new models introduced
Sony have just announced the launch of three new pairs of headphones that span their premium, mid-range and entry-level line-ups...
14/09/2026
New flagship Thunderbolt units aimed at pro studios
Audient's latest announcement sees the company introduce three new high-end audio interfaces designe...
14/09/2026
Cobalt Digital IBC Stand 8.F90 // Journalists: Click to visit Cobalt
Highlights...
14/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/09/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, has announced that Australia's largest media company, Nine Entertainment (Nine), has deployed Bit...
14/09/2026
Creativepool Annual 2026 Winners Announced
Brie Clayton September 13, 2026
0 Comments
The creative industry's Most' awards celebrates another...
14/09/2026
Monday 14 September 2026
Award-winning network Sky Mobile to Offer iPhone Duo, ...
14/09/2026
Apple's latest software updates introduce Siri AI, a more intelligent, knowl...
14/09/2026
WTA Awards Tier 4 to Agility Beyond Space Subic Bay and Cikarang sites...
14/09/2026
As local models become more capable, AI agents can handle more work directly on a PC while keeping sensitive information on the device.
Portable Computer is a ...
14/09/2026
RT in association with the BBC today released first look image from the second series of The Walsh Sisters, inspired by the novels of international best-sellin...
13/09/2026
Offers eight audio and CV outputs via USB
Elektron's latest launch offers a convenient way for users to integrate hardware instruments, effects and mixe...
13/09/2026
Pixel Academy Announces Autumn Courses
Brie Clayton September 13, 2026
0 Comments
The ACT Entertainment tvONE and Green Hippo Pixel Academy has releas...
13/09/2026
2Vision Powers Dawid Podsiad o's Obrotowy Tour with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton September 13, 2026
0 Comments
Touring multicamera workflow buil...
13/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/09/2026
Luxembourg, September 13, 2026 - SES today announced the successful launch of its eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth O3b mPOWER satellites, further expanding its ...
13/09/2026
Sunday 13 September 2026
Sky releases trailer for Crystal Lake, an A24 produced...
12/09/2026
J. Alphonse Nicholson, Danielle Brooks, Walter Thompson-Hernandez, and Bodhi Dell attend the premiere of If I Go Will They Miss Me at the Library Center Theat...
12/09/2026
Latest Obsolete Devices pedal announced
Great Eastern FX Co. have just launched the latest pedal in their Obsolete Devices series, a range of effects pedals...
12/09/2026
September 11, 2026
BUDAPEST & SEATTLE, 10 September 2026 - Qumulo and Colorfron...
12/09/2026
Calrec expands its IP ecosystem with new Type RT console and Apex M6 Modular I/O Platform at IBC 2026 Type RT is the centrepiece of Calrec's news at IBC 202...
12/09/2026
At IBC 2026, Calrec has unveiled Type RT, a new 6, 12 and 18-motorised fader console range that condenses everything a broadcast audio desk needs into a compact...
12/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/09/2026
WUPPERTAL, Germany Sept. 11, 2026 From July 6 to Aug. 23, 2026, Paris hosted the Esports World Cup (EWC), a seven-week live production spanning eight stages...
12/09/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Mediacom has purchased and deployed Easy5G , Riedel's Private 5G solution, for live broadcast coverage of La Vuel...
12/09/2026
AMP VISUAL TV is continuing the evolution of its production infrastructure with further investments in Riedel technology across its OB fleet and fixed productio...
12/09/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Touring Video, a premier entertainment mobile production service company, continues to expand its production workflow...
12/09/2026
Atomos (7.B19) today announced new third-party accessories for Sumo PRO-19 and Shinobi 7 II, developed by SHAPE and SmallRig to give production teams more ways ...