Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NHL Returns: Hockey Audio Balances Sticks And Crowds'

31/07/2020

NHL Returns: Hockey Audio Balances Sticks And Crowds' Broadcasts will feature a combination of real and enhanced' audio By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Friday, July 31, 2020 - 10:36 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Every sport is finding its own way back on the air, and, when the NHL returns this weekend for the start of its abbreviated-but-rapid-fire 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers series - 16 teams playing best-of-five series to determine the eight teams to advance to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs - it'll be with the classic sound elements of blades, sticks, and pucks on ice.

Games will originate from just two venues: the Toronto Maple Leafs' Scotiabank Arena, where NEP's ND6 truck is the nexus of hockey on NBC, and the Edmonton Oilers' Rogers Place arena, where Dome Productions mobile production units are managing the games for Rogers SportsNet. Both locations are contracted by NHL through NBC - as are their respective A1s Tim Dunn and Patrick Castonguay - to do the world feed, from which NBC Sports will take the stems.

NBC Sports will backhaul its elements to NBC Sports' Stamford, CT, studios. The Stamford submix of all the elements - including venue, remote, and home-based announcers - is done by Rick Bernier, with Mike DiCrescenzo mixing the intermission studio segments, and is distributed via a world-feed model, similar to how the network handles its Olympics broadcasts.

A Special Category of Mixer The sonic signature for hockey's pandemic era is evolving. This season will feature what is emerging as a new category of audio submixer for television sports: the A1 tasked with mixing enhanced sound - a euphemism for the artificial crowd and effects noises that some consider necessitated by venue seats kept empty by the COVID-19 outbreak. These new specialists are mixing audio elements, often assembled by videogame developers from actual games played in teams' own venues, into a menu of crowd reactions to sprinkle throughout the games. The goal is to re-create the sound of a full stadium or arena from the Before Times, when coronaviruses were phenomena that happened elsewhere or in thriller novels.

NBC Sports will produce crowd audio with two Ableton Live audio-software systems on Apple laptops filled with sounds recorded in NHL arenas for EA Sports videogames.

It's a very specialized position, notes Karl Malone, audio and audio systems engineering designer, NBC Sports and Olympics. It takes someone who really knows the sport and the teams and the way their fans react. Especially for NHL, they have to be able to follow a very fast game and know its nuances.

He says that describes Matt Coppedge, who has mixed hockey and other broadcast sports as an A1 for NBC Sports. For this series, he will work a pair of Ableton Live audio-software systems (one main, one backup) on Apple laptops that hold several gigabytes of sound effects from the EA Sports libraries, recorded in all the NHL arenas for videogames, such as EA's NHL 20. The inventory includes two separate crowd-sound beds and an array of reaction sounds, such as oohs and boos, as well as team-specific cheers and chants.

As a hockey player and fan, I can't think of a cooler gig than mixing live crowd ambience for the 2020 NHL Playoffs, says Coppedge, noting that both NBC and NHL production teams have dropped in to offer suggestions to guide the crowd mix. Re-creating a live sports crowd for any sport is a big challenge. That challenge is magnified when you try to replicate passionate fans for one of the fastest sports in the world.

He is mixing through Ableton's Push 2 control surface, which assembles the various audio elements into a menu, with certain elements hot-keyed for quick access. His counterpart in Edmonton, Jeff Kozak, is using the same EA Sports system and audio elements.

Using the Push 2 allowed for a very natural workflow and quick access to every sample in the session, Coppedge says. After a few level and key adjustments within Ableton, the project is ready for the puck to drop.

Working with a front-row view of the action from the media gondola at Scotiabank Arena lets him follow the action and react to the game much like a regular NHL crowd would.

After a few periods, he explains, creating the natural ebb and flow of a live crowd began to feel very comfortable. The only thing missing was a hot dog and the kiss cam!

Malone says that, although there had been talk of wiring several players per game for sound, as is done routinely during regular-season play, the league had decided against it for the COVID-shortened season. That may be just as well. The Ross AirCleaner profanity-elimination delay device being used this year smoothly diffuses the sounds of profanities, instead of covering them jarring bleeps. It was getting a workout, with the broadcast feed experiencing as many as 50 garbles per game and the clean feed without announcers getting as many as 90.

NBC Will Ease Into Use of Fake Crowd Sound The faux crowd audio is an experiment for now, being evaluated during the preseason games. How and how much it will be applied on-air will be determined by the league as play progresses. When it is, it will be mixed with the audio from the network's announcers and the effects microphones surrounding the rink, including as many as a dozen Crown PCC160 boundary microphones that Malone says are the best at capturing the key analog effects of hockey: blades, sticks, and pucks on the ice.

None of that will be pumped through the venue PA system, as some other sports are doing. Instead, the NHL venue PA systems will carry music, as well as the goal and period-end horns and buzzers. The network broadcast will come with actual field-of-play effects and announcers' commentary, and any enhanced sound that may eventually be added.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/07/31/nhl-returns-hockey-audio-balanc...
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 ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

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

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

05/06/2026

Berklee Study Reveals Video Has Become Essential to Music Careers

Berklee Study Reveals Video Has Become Essential to Music Careers Survey findings show social platforms have become the primary source of music for video cont...

04/06/2026

Sony's New PTZ Cameras Deliver 4K 60p; New STARVIS Sensor Meets Low-Light Demands

Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...

04/06/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Alex Albert, Texas A&M University

This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...

04/06/2026

USGA Brings AI Recaps, 3D Range Tracking, and Predictive Shot Tracing to U.S. Womens Open

For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...

04/06/2026

Panasonic PT-RQ45 Projectors Power Lille Video Mapping Festival Opera House Installation

Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...

04/06/2026

Bitmovin and Akamai Support NRJ Groups Deployment of Akamai Adaptive Media Player 2

Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...

04/06/2026

Telestream to Exhibit at InfoComm 2026 with Live Production and Media Workflow Demonstrations

Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...

04/06/2026

Sony Announces RIALTO 65 Image Sensor Block for VENICE 2, Targeting 2027 Release

Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...

04/06/2026

KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America to Exhibit 4K and Remote Production Solutions at InfoComm 2026

KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...

04/06/2026

Bell Media to Carry All 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 Matches Across TSN, RDS, and Streaming Platforms

Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...

04/06/2026

MASV Case Study: How MASV Reduced Miami HEAT's Road Game Video Transfer Times by 85%

The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...

04/06/2026

MASV Outlines Seven-Step Sports Analytics Workflow, Highlights File Transfer as Key Bottleneck

MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...

04/06/2026

NESN Appoints Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering

NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...

04/06/2026

Sports Broadcaster, Executive, and Author David J. Halberstam Dies

David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer. Over his l...

04/06/2026

Grass Valleys Ben Dolinky on Offering Teachable Technology to College Students Across the Country

Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...

04/06/2026

Prime Video Caps First NBA Season With Sports Emmy Win, Carries In-House Production Into WNBA Campaign

California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...

04/06/2026

TikTok and Sundance Collab Launch Micro-Series Storytelling Program

New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...

04/06/2026

Celemony announce Tonalic ARA support for Cubase & Nuendo

Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...

04/06/2026

GearExpo UK: Microphone Update

Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...

04/06/2026

Positive Grid launch Reactor amp range

Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...

04/06/2026

Is Your Job Making You Work this June?

Is Your Job Making You Work this June? 4 June, 2026 Media releases SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...

04/06/2026

Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content

Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content 4 June, 2026 Media releases SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...

04/06/2026

TiVo: TV Viewing Hits Post-Pandemic Peak

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

Bitmovin and Akamai Support NRJ Group to Deploy Next Gene...

Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...

04/06/2026

American Underground Opens at American Tobacco Campus, Completing a 16-Year Full-Circle Story

American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...

04/06/2026

Nielsen: Thunder Rolls as NBA's Most-Watched Team

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

AI Drives Lenovo's 2026 FIFA World Cup Broadcast Plans

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

ATSC Conference Looks Beyond Traditional TV for 3.0 Success

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

ATSC Awards Highest Technical Honor to Julia Kenyon

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

Lumine Group to Acquire Synamedias Video Network Business

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

BFOA Launches 5th Annual Giving Day

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

Hemisphere Media Group Brings WAPA+ Fast Channel to Prime Video

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

APTS to Hold June 4 'Protect My Public Media Day'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/06/2026

NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI

NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI Brie Clayton June 3, 2026 0 Comments RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...

04/06/2026

Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade

Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade Brie Clayton June 3, 2026 0 Comments Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...

04/06/2026

Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients

Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients Brie Clayton June 3, 2026 0 Comments Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...

04/06/2026

St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume

St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...

04/06/2026

Seoul Purpose: How NVIDIA and South Korea Are Building the Future of AI

Home to cutting-edge sovereign AI infrastructure and robotics innovators, as well as one of the world's most passionate gaming communities, South Korea is o...

04/06/2026

'All the Truth in My Lies' Coming to Netflix on August 28

Back to All News All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28 Entertainment 04 June 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard Download the imag...

04/06/2026

Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at the Enders TMT Leaders Live 2026 Conference

Back to All News Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...

04/06/2026

Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition' Game, Exclusively on Netflix Games June 11

Back to All News Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...

04/06/2026

Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn

Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News LinkedIn Corporate Communications Share LinkedIn Facebook ...

04/06/2026

Culture and family at the centre of new RT travel series

BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...

04/06/2026

Forecast: Fun Ahead - 18 Games Join in June to Stream on GeForce NOW

June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming. GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...

03/06/2026

SES Launches Multi-Orbit Satellite Inflight Connectivity on Viva Airlines

SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...

03/06/2026

CFP, ESPN, and TNT Sports Announce 2026-27 College Football Playoff Broadcast Schedule

The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...