SVG Sit-Down: 7 Point Audio President Jeff Ball on the Evolving Role of the Sports DJ
23/01/2023
Monday, January 23, 2023 - 1:54 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The sports DJ is the audible - and loudly so - but mostly invisible cheerleader, the ultimate partisan but supposedly there for team fan and foe alike. The role has a history: it grew out of the venerable and still very viable venue organist, wielder of the Mighty Wurlitzers in stadiums and arenas for the past 80-plus years, since the first one was installed in Wrigley Field in 1941.
The sports DJ came along in the 1970s and '80s, an outgrowth of disco (which was not always welcome in ballparks) but also reflective of the growing presence and influence of Black athletes and culture in major-league sports. They have become a fixture at most sports venues, striving to fill the bowl with stings and chants while keeping the music as far as possible from broadcast's crowd microphones, lest it precipitate a copyright infringement.
Just weeks before perhaps the ultimate intersection of entertainment and sports, the Super Bowl Halftime Show, SVG sat down with Jeff Ball, president, 7 Point Audio, a developer of digital tools for the sports DJ, to discuss what that role has become and where it's headed.
7 Point Audio's Jeff Ball: We're going to continue to see that position evolve. It's not going to be just audio.
DJs in sports have more of a history than many might realize.
In the early days, they'd have folding tables with color-coded cassettes [of] recorded sounds and effects for use during the game. As the moment came up, they'd reach for the right-color cassette for the sound it needed, like a broken-glass sound for a foul ball coming down. Then they would rewind it real quick and eject it, put it back on the desk, and watch for the next sound moment. The reaction time they needed for that, using cassettes, is mind-boggling. But that's how it developed: watching the game and creating interaction with it for the fans.
Is the role of the sports DJ to be a cheerleader?
I see the role of DJ as being to use music to create that emotional and visceral response that we have to music, to get us further engaged. If we see that our team is doing well, we typically want to cheer, but that's multiplied when we put music and sound to it. When we give the game a soundtrack, that gets more people engaged, more people out of [their] seats. And the more the fans are engaged, the more the players react to that energy on the field.
Are DJs and live music beginning to share this space more?
I think I'd have to agree with that. DJs have been around for many years, but they sit in the booth, out of sight of the spectators. What we have seen in the last 10 years is more teams putting more DJs into a place where they can be seen, so that the DJs themselves become the live music. They become interactive, because now not only do fans hear the music but they see the DJ creating it. They see the DJ dancing and vibing with that music that they're generating. And the fans react to that.
DJ EJ, aka Erik Jorgenson, is the team DJ for the Dallas Cowboys.
Also, there are often multiple DJs: one to focus on music like a traditional DJ and one to work and follow the game and maybe do more things like mash-ups to follow the action on the field.
Are some DJ positions becoming more identified with specific teams?
Yes, including my business partner, Erik Jorgenson, aka DJ EJ, who is the team DJ for the Dallas Cowboys. We're also seeing pregame DJs out in the plaza, trying to get people pumped and engaged before they even get inside. You're going from one DJ's sound to another. Another DJ position is the walk-up music DJ for baseball. That's now happening throughout baseball, even in Little League.
Another one that's becoming more popular is a DJ in hockey, who plays a unique piece of music when goals are scored. That's a challenging one because hockey is a lot faster than any other sport. In some cases, some NHL teams, including the Washington Capitals, are pairing the DJ with a spotter, to confirm the goal and who made it, to get a quicker reaction time.
What does the future hold for the sports DJ?
We're going to continue to see that position evolve. We want to see more of what we can do and what tools we can provide to allow them to be creative. It's not going to be just audio; we're developing tools to tie into the [venue] DMX lighting and video infrastructure. That will give them some control over those [production] elements.
We're planning on integrating Ross [Video's] RossTalk protocol [which allows control of the switcher from an external device]. That will have implications for baseball, which tends to do fireworks shows after the game using DMX, too. There's a lot more to the DJ than just music when it comes to sports.
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/01/23/svg-sit-down-7-point-audio-pres... |
See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
19/04/2024
Comcast Launches NOW
PHILADELPHIA As government subsidies for broadband services come to an end, Comcast has launched NOW, a new product portfolio of lower-cost Internet, mobile and...
19/04/2024
DirecTV Stream Adds CW Affiliates
DirecTV Stream has added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San ...
19/04/2024
MediaCo Acquires Estrella Media's Content and Digital Operations
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES MediaCo Holding Inc. has announced that it has acquired all of Estrella Media's network, content, digital, and commercial operations....
19/04/2024
Adobe Launches New Adobe Express Mobile App with Firefly AI
SAN JOSE, Calif. Adobe has announced that the all-new Adobe Express mobile app is available to all users, bringing features powered by Adobe Firefly generative ...
19/04/2024
Netflix Adds 9.3M Subs in Q1
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix reported another blockbuster quarter by adding 9.33 million new subscribers in Q1, 2024 as global paid memberships hit 269.6 million, ...
19/04/2024
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI Hillary Lewis April 18, 2024 0 Comments The Entertainment Industry: How did we get here ...
19/04/2024
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal Andy Ford April 18, 2024 0 Comments Here's a way to do a quick blur reveal for your text layer. Start by...
19/04/2024
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver Colin Smith April 18, 2024 0 Comments This tutorial shows the new wireless transmitter rece...
19/04/2024
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua Simon Ubsdell April 18, 2024 0 Comments The answer to the very frequently-asked question: what is the pro...
19/04/2024
B+C,' Next TV' Announce Winners of Best of Show Awards at NAB Show
B+C and Next TV have announced the winners of Best of Show Awards for the 2024 NAB Show. The awards were judged by a panel of industry experts at the convention...
19/04/2024
Cate Blanchett Narrates Nature Series on Netflix
Cate Blanchett narrates the Netflix series Our Living World, which premieres April 17. The four-part series looks at the extraordinary creatures around the glob...
19/04/2024
For All Mankind' Spinoff Is in the Works at Apple TV Plus
Apple TV Plus has a spinoff of For All Mankind in the works. It is called Star City and details the cosmonauts, engineers and intelligence officers working behi...
19/04/2024
Jacquie Walker, Longtime Buffalo Anchor, Stepping Down From Desk
Jacquie Walker, longtime anchor at WIVB Buffalo, will step down from the anchor desk. She has spent over 40 years at WIVB and her last day as an anchor is May 2...
19/04/2024
Bob Hearts Abishola' To Make Syndicated Debut This Fall
Bob Hearts Abishola will premiere in broadcast syndication this fall on such station groups as Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair, Hearst Television, Tegna, E.W. Scr...
19/04/2024
Live With Kelly and Mark' Celebrates One-Year Anniversary
Live With Kelly and Mark remains TV's top entertainment talk show as Kelly Ripa and her co-host and husband Mark Consuelo celebrate their one-year anniversa...
19/04/2024
Sean McLaughlin Named VP of News at Graham Media Group
Sean McLaughlin has been named VP of news for Graham Media Group. He had been senior VP of local news at E.W. Scripps. He will will be responsible for developi...
19/04/2024
Netflix Shares First Peek at Long-Awaited One Hundred Years of Solitude'
Netflix has shared the first trailer from One Hundred Years of Solitude, a series based on the esteemed novel by Gabriel Garc a M rquez. The streamer is on boar...
18/04/2024
First Look: Tom Durant Pritchard joins the cast of crime drama Miss Scarlet for its fifth series
Tom Durant Pritchard as Alexander Blake Thursday 18 April 2024 Tom Durant Prit...
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength 18 April, 2024 Media releases The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
L3Harris to Expand and Modernize Solid Rocket Motor Manufacturing in Virginia
ORANGE COUNTY, Va., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies [NYSE:LHX] has entered into an agreement with Orange County, Virginia, to fund the expansion and mode...
18/04/2024
Achieving Air Dominance by Advancing Imaging & Designating EO/IR Capabilities
L3Harris Sky Warden multi-mission aircraft, equipped with the WESCAM MX-15 and WESCAM MX-20 EO/IR sensor systems, was selected for USSOCOMs Armed Overwatch prog...
18/04/2024
US Space Force Extends Partnership with L3Harris to Enhance Space Domain Awareness
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has received ...
18/04/2024
2024 NAB Show Attendance Topped 61,000
LAS VEGAS The National Association of Broadcasters is reporting that more than 61,000 people attended the 2024 NAB Show, where artificial intelligence and the c...
18/04/2024
How today's storage and memory decisions underpin future creativity
Ann Keefe, Regional Director - UK and Ireland at Kingston Technology, explains how storage and memory decisions made now are underpinning creativity in the futu...
18/04/2024
Krisha Marcano Announced as Dean of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Krisha Marcano Announced as Dean of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee The theater educator, choreographer, and performer will join Boston Conservator...
18/04/2024
Escape Studios obtains UKVI licence to support international students
The newly acquired UKVI licence enables Escape Studios to recruit and retain international students By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 18, 2024 The newl...
18/04/2024
NAB 2024 popular among first time visitors
Attendees from more than 163 countries were present, including 34 delegation buying groups from around the world By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 18, 202...
18/04/2024
Dyn Media and NEP Germany pioneer new frontier in remote...
In August 2023, Dyn Media launched as a new broadcaster in European sports, aimed at giving sports beyond football the exposure and viewership they deserve. The...
18/04/2024
Hitomi partners with ES Broadcast Hire for US rentals
Hitomi Broadcast, market leader in audio/video alignment and latency tools based in the UK, has signed a partnership deal with global broadcast rental specialis...
18/04/2024
Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative Savage River Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
18/04/2024
Vislink's DragonFly V - The Company's Smallest-Ever Transmitter Debuted at NAB 2024
Vislink's DragonFly V - The Company's Smallest-Ever Transmitter Debuted ...
18/04/2024
MediaSilo to Offer Camera to Cloud with Atomos
MediaSilo to Offer Camera to Cloud with Atomos Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments Integration between MediaSilo and Atomos Cloud Studio unlocking ...
18/04/2024
MultiDyne Updates its SilverBULLET Series to Serve More Fiber-Optic Links
MultiDyne Updates its SilverBULLET Series to Serve More Fiber-Optic Links Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions intro...
18/04/2024
Cinedeck Partners with Paramount to Revolutionize Content Delivery Process
Cinedeck Partners with Paramount to Revolutionize Content Delivery Process Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments Cinedeck, a pioneer in integrated de...
18/04/2024
Unreal for video adding rocks and foliage
Unreal for video adding rocks and foliage Graham Quince April 17, 2024 0 Comments Welcome to my series on learning Unreal Engine for After Effects u...
18/04/2024
Best Budget Beginner-Friendly 4k Drone
Best Budget Beginner-Friendly 4k Drone Sean Alami April 17, 2024 0 Comments Potensic Atom 4k 3 axis Gimbal Drone, ideal drone for beginners. Some con...
18/04/2024
Race or Just Have Fun at Rocky Mount Mills for a Good Cause, Not Your Run of the Mill 5K
Rocky Mount Mills will be overflowing with runners, families and friends, all fo...
18/04/2024
Berklee's Yoon-Ji Lee Receives Guggenheim Fellowship
Berklee's Yoon-Ji Lee Receives Guggenheim Fellowship Lee, an assistant professor of composition, creates music based on unconventional and nonlinear struc...
18/04/2024
Ben Sherwood, Former ABC President, Named CEO at The Daily Beast
Ben Sherwood, former president of Disney ABC Television Group, has been named CEO and publisher at The Daily Beast. Joanna Coles, former chief content officer a...
18/04/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa puts his plan to eliminate Khwezi in motion
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa puts his plan to eliminate Khwezi in motionDon't miss Thursday, 18 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Skeem ...
18/04/2024
Wide Open: NVIDIA Accelerates Inference on Meta Llama 3
NVIDIA today announced optimizations across all its platforms to accelerate Meta Llama 3, the latest generation of the large language model (LLM). The open mod...
18/04/2024
Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
18/04/2024
Netflix Follows Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in New Series
Back to All News Netflix Follows Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in New SeriesPlay Video Play Video Entertainment 18 April 2024 GlobalUnited States Link copie...
18/04/2024
Chinese-Language Revenge Thriller Series The Resurrected' Marks International Film Stars Shu Qi and Sinje Lee's Debut on Netflix
Back to All News Chinese-Language Revenge Thriller Series The Resurrected'...
18/04/2024
'The Witcher' Season 4 Begins Production in the UK and Netflix Announces Fifth and Final Season
Back to All News The Witcher Season 4 Begins Production in the UK and Netflix A...
18/04/2024
2024-04-18
Apple has reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55 percent since 2015, the company shared today in its 2024 Environmental Progress Report. T...