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 ...
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...
01/06/2026
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...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
Live From MLB at Field of Dreams: The Game May Look Old, But It Sounds New By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
