Sound guy: NEP's Neville Hooper on innovating and developing audio wherever possible By Paul Mac
Monday, May 17, 2021 - 15:13
Print This Story
Neville Hooper is deputy head of sound at NEP, one of the biggest jobs in broadcast audio. He must ensure top quality delivery of primetime sports for a variety of high-profile network clients with equally high-profile broadcast rights.
Hooper is an active member of SVG Europe and can be spotted getting stuck in at most of our audio events. Moreover, right from his teenage years, Hooper has always been a sound guy.
Bands to broadcasting
Graduating from Solent University having made an early start in bands and touring after finishing school, Hooper says: I did have a choice. One of the bands I was in could have had a bit of success, but I knew it wouldn't have been for long. I also had a look at studying popular music and recording at university, but in the end I took a last minute opportunity to join a new broadcast course. It was one of those happy accidents; I've had a long and happy career.
There was a defining moment during his studies, when Hooper got a chance to ride along on a couple of jobs with a BBC OB unit out of Kendal Avenue. That confirmed it for me. I thought this is what I'd like to do'.
After his studies, Hooper got a job with Global in the UK, which was created from the OB properties of Yorkshire, Anglia, and Thames Television, and subsequently merged with Visions in 2000.
At its heart, great audio engineering is creative and it's nice to see young people coming through from a variety of different fields
He had several roles at Visions, but possibly the biggest thus far came when Visions won the Premier League contract with Sky in 2001, prompting the build of a new truck and the refurbishment of another. Hooper became the main guarantee engineer on that project.
Since then, he has specialised in football coverage, including the Premier League for Sky, and as host broadcaster on a number of Champions League finals.
He notes: I was the lead audio engineer on the Wembley Champions League finals in 2011 and 2013 for Sky and for ITV. I also did host broadcast at the 2006 world cup. We covered the Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund stadiums there.
High pressure situation
Being the host broadcaster for any event is a high-pressure situation, but for Hooper and for NEP, it is an opportunity to push standards further. We like to set the benchmark high, he says. We go to a lot of events where there are other host broadcasters, and we know what we like and what we don't. At Wembley in 2011 our aim was to make ours the best host broadcast we'd ever seen. So, for example, we had spoken idents on every audio source and picture idents on every video source; that was in the days with MADI and so on. Of course, now with things like the JoeCo devices, that's relatively straight forward. Hopefully, we set the standard for future events; we do try and go the extra mile to deliver the best service we can.
When we went from discreet audio routers to embedded routers, that was massive change and cut the amount of cable we needed by half. The next big step is losing the router completely
NEP has a set of carefully crafted core values that guide its services, which Hooper says is part of what makes the NEP worldwide offering so attractive. The same level of service can be expected wherever you go to any of around 100 offices and bases in 21 countries and counting. We see ourselves giving the top end offering, he says. To innovate and develop wherever possible, and practical.
These days, Hooper has less time on the road and delegates more events, collaborating with other senior engineers at NEP. There's myself, Stuart Cruice, and Rob Jackson, says Hooper. Stuart is delivering the Olympics for Discovery, so he will be off to Japan for nine weeks at the beginning of June. We're deploying four trucks to the Euros, and for that I've handed over responsibility to one of the guarantee engineers on that; he's one of our rising stars and has done a brilliant job.
Fostering new talent
Again, NEP puts effort into giving new talent responsibility and the opportunity to grow. According to Hooper, that is one of the things that keeps the craft alive in the face of so much technological upheaval.
At its heart, great audio engineering is creative and it's nice to see young people coming through from a variety of different fields. People who have grown up with the new generation of technologies are coming through and are extremely comfortable with it; but in the end, a microphone is still a microphone and it's still analogue. You cannot forget about first principles. If a mic's buzzing, you need to be able to deal with it.
Interestingly, of all the emerging technologies and recent advances, Hooper sees networking as possibly the most significant shift in recent times, and in particular the move to SMPTE 2110 and NEP's move to using the Dante audio networking protocol.
Everything is moving to a network-based environment. We had a dabble in Dante, and found it to be virtually bomb-proof, so we stuck with it and invested in more and more Dante kit. That paid dividends when it came to post lockdown football, for example. All the commentary on the Premier League for Sky has been done with Dante for a couple of seasons now, and it's worked very well.
It's interesting; I had a discussion recently about how we can move things forward, and I think there are limitations that even now we still accept that we don't have to live with anymore thanks to networking. A broadcast ends up being one big network with everything just sat on it and everyone taking and giving what they need to. That's the Nirvana. When we went from discreet audio routers to embedded rou
Sound Guy: NEP's Neville Hooper on Innovating and Developing Audio Wherever Possible
10/06/2021
| LINK: | https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/sound-guy-neps-neville-hooper... |
| See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
14/06/2021
How Representation Can Positively Impact Your Business (and the World)
If you're on social media, watch the news, or haven't been under a rock for the past year then you're no stranger to the calls for equality and repr...
14/06/2021
Signs of Better Days Ahead: GroupM Increases Ad Forecast
NEW YORK-In a notable sign that the media business and the overall economy is quickly recovering from last-year's pandemic-induced recession, the Business I...
14/06/2021
Premion Expands Partnership with IHS Markit into Auto Market
NEW YORK-Premion has expanded its partnership with IHS Markit with an offering focusing on the auto market that uses data from Polk Automotive Solutions to make...
14/06/2021
FEMA and FCC Plan August 11 Nationwide Emergency Alert Test
WASHINGTON-FEMA and the FCC have announced that they will do a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) that will...
14/06/2021
KJLA-TV Outfits Production Studios With Hitachi 4K Studio Cameras
LOS ANGELES-KJLA-TV, the home here of the American Spanish-language TV network Azteca America, has purchased four Hitachi Kokusai Electric America SK-UHD4000 ca...
14/06/2021
P&G to Get 'Corporate Leadership Award' from NAB Leadership Foundation
WASHINGTON, D.C.-The NAB Leadership Foundation has announced that the 2021 Corporate Leadership Award will be given to Procter & Gamble (P&G) during the Celebra...
14/06/2021
Cinedigm Finalizes Acquisition of FoundationTV, Forms Cinedigm India
LOS ANGELES-Cinedigm has announced that it finalized the acquisition of FoundationTV and has created a new Indian-based division Cinedigm India....
14/06/2021
TRIBECA AND EPIC GAMES COLLABORATE TO BRING UNREAL ENGINE TO INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS
TRIBECA AND EPIC GAMES COLLABORATE TO BRING UNREAL ENGINE TO INDEPENDENT FILMMAK...
14/06/2021
SVG SportsTech On Demand: Quantum5X's Paul Johnson on Preparing New Tools for On-Player Sound
SVG SportsTech On Demand: Quantum5X's Paul Johnson on Preparing New Tools fo...
14/06/2021
SVG SportsTech On Demand: Never.no's Scott Davies on Using Bee-On in the Cloud to Drive Digital Fan Engagement
SVG SportsTech On Demand: Never.no's Scott Davies on Using Bee-On in the Clo...
14/06/2021
Plazamedia Produces All Euro 2020 Matches for Deutsche Telekom's MagentaTV
Plazamedia to produce all Euro 2020 matches for Deutsche Telekom's MagentaTV By Jo Ruddock Thursday, June 10, 2021 - 09:20 Print This Story Plazamedia...
14/06/2021
UEFA Picks Sunset+Vine Staff for Key Production Roles in the Box for Euro 2020
UEFA picks Sunset Vine staff for key production roles in the box for Euro 2020 By Heather McLean, Editor Tuesday, June 8, 2021 - 15:11 Print This Story Su...
14/06/2021
Remote Production to the Fore as ZDF Readies for Its Coverage of Euro 2020
Remote production to the fore as ZDF readies for its coverage of Euro 2020 By SVG Staff Friday, June 11, 2021 - 09:45 Print This Story Picture copyright: ...
14/06/2021
UEFA Euro 2020 Comes to BBC Sport Screens Live From dock10 With New Virtual Set
UEFA Euro 2020 set to come to BBC Sport screens live from dock10 with new virtual set By Heather McLean, Editor Thursday, June 10, 2021 - 18:11 Print This ...
14/06/2021
BBC Sport on the Preparations for Euro 2020 With a New Look VR Studio and a Logistical Headache
BBC Sport on the preparations for Euro 2020 with a new look VR studio and a logi...
14/06/2021
EURO 2020: ESPN Infuses Geography Into Tech-Heavy Bristol-based Studio Sets
EURO 2020: ESPN Infuses Geography Into Tech-Heavy Bristol-based Studio Sets After COVID scuttled plans for onsite studio presence, ESPN makes most of space at h...
14/06/2021
EURO 2020: At Netherlands-based IBC, ESPN Remains Nimble at Ever-Changing Tournament
EURO 2020: At Netherlands-based IBC, ESPN Remains Nimble at Ever-Changing Tourna...
14/06/2021
Carl Chery and Sydney Lopes Discuss Spotify's Home for Women in Hip-Hop
Hip-hop's new golden age is here, and it's being led by women. There's arguably more female rap stars now than ever before in hip-hop history, and t...
14/06/2021
Ask the Expert' Live Q&A Masterclass with Roman Dudek & Adrin Gonzlez
Published On: June 11th, 2021 -- -- -- -- width=1920 height=1080 class=wp-image-0 lazyload data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/uploads/MVR_QA_...
14/06/2021
Mistika VR adds integration for the new Kandao Obsidian Pro and PTGui 12
Published On: June 14th, 2021 -- -- -- -- width=1920 height=1080 class=wp-image-0 lazyload data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/uploads/10.3_de...
14/06/2021
EBU/ RT Young People's film Joseph Wants to Walk' wins Best Documentary at the Nenagh Children's Film Festival
EBU/ RT Young People's film Joseph Wants to Walk' won best documentary...
14/06/2021
Rohde & Schwarz continues excellent collaboration with Italian Coast Guard
Rohde & Schwarz continues excellent collaboration with Italian Coast Guard Rohde & Schwarz equips Italian Coast Guard's new patrol boat with external comm...
14/06/2021
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates its test solutions that enable mobile connectivity, today and beyond, at MWC21 in Barcelona
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates its test solutions that enable mobile connectivity,...
14/06/2021
Trash to Cash: Recyclers Tap Startup with World's Largest Recycling Network to Freshen Up Business Prospects
Matanya Horowitz smelled a problem in 2014. Fresh out of CalTech with a Ph.D., ...
14/06/2021
Nokia and Ooredoo Oman begin 4G and 5G fixed wireless access deployment
Nokia and Ooredoo Oman begin 4G and 5G fixed wireless access deployment Press Release Nokia and Ooredoo Oman begin 4G and 5G fixed wireless access deploymen...
14/06/2021
Nokia Deepfield global analysis shows most DDoS attacks originate from fewer than 50 hosting companies
Nokia Deepfield global analysis shows most DDoS attacks originate from fewer tha...
14/06/2021
Edvin Endre, Ulf Stenberg, Gizem Erdogan, Joel Ltzow and Christian Hillborg to Star in Netflix Drama about Spotify
Back to All News Edvin Endre, Ulf Stenberg, Gizem Erdogan, Joel L tzow and Chri...
14/06/2021
Netflix ISP Speed Index for May 2021
Back to All News Netflix ISP Speed Index for May 2021 Innovation 14 June 2021 Global The Philippines posted two major increases in May on the Netflix ISP S...
14/06/2021
Netflix Acquires Global Rights To Canadian Sci-fi Sequel Code 8: Part II
Back to All News Netflix Acquires Global Rights To Canadian Sci-fi Sequel Code 8: Part II Business 14 June 2021 GlobalCanadaUnited States Netflix has acq...
14/06/2021
Strengthening the Foundation of Quality Storytelling in Africa
Back to All News Strengthening the Foundation of Quality Storytelling in AfricaPlay Video Play Video Social Impact 14 June 2021 GlobalNigeriaKenyaSouth Afr...
14/06/2021
Pushing the Boundaries of What's Possible in Adult Animation
Back to All News Pushing the Boundaries of What's Possible in Adult Animation Mike Moon Head of Adult Animation Entertainment 14 June 2021 GlobalFran...
14/06/2021
Lyra Health Completes $200M Funding Round to Transform Mental Health Care Globally
Burlingame, CA June 14, 2021 Lyra Health, the leading provider of comprehens...
14/06/2021
ITVbe and ITV Hub commissions Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries
ITVbe and ITV Hub commissions Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries ITVBe has commissioned a spin off to its hugely successful The Mummy Diaries franchise, as Bill...
14/06/2021
Grass Valley s Kaleido-IP Video Multiviewer Helps TV 2 Norway Amplify its IP Capability
MONTREAL, June 10, 2021 - Grass Valley announces that Norways biggest commercial...
14/06/2021
UKIO 2021 to Debut Collaboration Between Fujifilm and the NHS on the FDR Xair System's First European Real-World Community Trial
UKIO 2021 to Debut Collaboration Between Fujifilm and the NHS on the FDR Xair Sy...
14/06/2021
FUJIFILM Europe GmbH statement on June 2021 ransomware attack on FUJIFILM Corporation
FUJIFILM Europe GmbH statement on June 2021 ransomware attack on FUJIFILM Corpor...
14/06/2021
The new blueprint for wide format
The new blueprint for wide format Fujifilm announces a new strategy for its Acuity range of wide format printers June 9, 2021 Print Fujifilm today announ...
14/06/2021
Fujifilm announces new Acuity Ultra R2 superwide format printer
Fujifilm announces new Acuity Ultra R2 superwide format printer The successor to Fujifilm Acuity Ultra is part of the company's strategy to create the ne...
14/06/2021
Fujifilm announces new Acuity Prime flatbed printer
Fujifilm announces new Acuity Prime flatbed printer This new flatbed is part of Fujifilm's strategy to create the new blueprint' for wide format by r...
14/06/2021
Progress Appoints Dr. Shirley Knowles as First Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer
PDF Version <...
14/06/2021
Australia's Leading Employment Marketplace Seek, Leverages Brightcove to Better Connect Job Seekers and Organizations
All Press ReleasesShare All Press Releases Australias Leading Employment Mar...
14/06/2021
Algonaut update Atlas
AI drum sample manager overhauled Two years ago, we reported on a new drum-sample manager called Atlas, from New Zealand-based software company Algonaut. Ra...
14/06/2021
June 14, 2021
Scripps Research collaborates with The Rockefeller Foundation on digital COVID-19 surveillance, pandemic preparedness A grant from the New York-based foundation...
14/06/2021
Dave Grohl's What Drives Us Shot With URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Dave Grohl's What Drives Us Shot With URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and Pocket Cinem...
14/06/2021
Cheddar News selects Blackbird for efficient, flexible and sustainable cloud native video production
Cheddar News selects Blackbird for efficient, flexible and sustainable cloud nat...
14/06/2021
Searchlight, Invesco launch Mediapro takeover bid
Companies are offering a further investment of 150 million in order to take control By Jenny Priestley Published: June 14, 2021 Companies are offering a fu...
14/06/2021
Thales appoints Roger Daix Vice President, Northern & Central Europe
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales appoints Roger Daix as Vice President for the newly established Northern & Central Europe organisation Roger Daix will b...
14/06/2021
Thales Alenia Space will provide the Optical Inter Satellite Links for Telesat's Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit 298-satellite constellation
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn The chosen Optel-C product builds on more than 2...
14/06/2021
PLAZAMEDIA Selects Ross Video's PIERO for UEFA EURO 2020TM Graphics Analysis
Ottawa, Canada, June 14th 2021 - Deutsche Telekom's MagentaTV will broadcast all fifty-one matches of the UEFA EURO 2020 tournament live to its audience in...
