
NHL All-Star 2023: For ESPN's Audio Team, the Event Is a Sports-Sound Lab The game and the Skills Competition offer an opportunity to try out new tricks By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Friday, February 3, 2023 - 10:51 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
While the stick jockeys show their stuff during the Skills Competition tonight, prior to tomorrow's NHL All-Star Game, ESPN's audio team will be showing off some new techniques at the FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, FL.
ESPN's Dan Bernstein: It's its own kind of X Games, trying to mike up individual elements, like multiple mics in each goal for different kinds of shooting options. It's a test bed for new ideas.
Wireless lavaliere microphones placed in the cones the players navigate for the skating competition will pick up the unique sound that blades make in a tight turn, and shotgun mics on robocams will catch sonic nuances from a distance. Another idea under consideration: for the Accuracy contest, a pair of shotgun microphones in a golf-tee-box-style configuration to capture more of the explosive impact of the shots.
The Skills Competition on Friday affords us the opportunity to try some different things, a kind of Petri dish for different ideas we're trying out, says ESPN Lead A1 for Hockey Dan Buddha Bernstein, working on his second NHL All-Star event. It's a little bit more of a free-for-all compared to the actual game on Saturday. It's its own kind of X Games or even a gymnastics event, trying to mike up individual elements that people might hit, like multiple mics in each goal for different kinds of shooting options. It's a test bed for new ideas.
Hockey Is Noisy The effort takes place in an increasingly noisy environment. Bernstein notes that hockey is one of a number of sports that have been cranking up the broadcast audio, incorporating both the game's nat-sound FX and the environmental sound from music performances, as well as the PA system and other event sources.
During the Skills events, it can become almost like an NBA or WNBA game, where the PA is actively part of the show while the event is going on, he says. Those sources will be dialed back for the game itself, he adds, although they'll still be present at points, such as breaks, and are now part of what makes All-Star Games more event-like than regular-season matches.
The challenge, Bernstein notes, is finding microphones with enough gain to pick up the sounds but won't be overwhelmed by the PA system. We also have to find ways to put the microphone as close as possible to the source.
Many of the sound beds for the Skills events and the game come through the PCC boundary microphones that ring the rink, as they do for regular-season games. He says the robocam-mounted shotguns have been a particular success for those games and will be a major factor in the All-Star Game.
Noise in the Net A hallmark of hockey is the noise in the net, and there'll be plenty of that, given the multiple nets between the Skills events and the game. Bernstein says the team will be experimenting with variations on the three-microphone configuration used for regular-season games. The mics create a left-front, right-front, and synthesized-stereo center that establishes an audible sense of movement within the goal for viewers.
It sounds enormous, as though you were actually in the goal, he says. The live action around the crease is evident. It's skates and pucks, but you're also hearing the goalies directing the action. It's pretty spectacular.
The Skills segments also present an opportunity to place microphones on as many as four hand-held cameras that will be leaning in for shots.
But the big get for hockey audio is the miked-up player. As many as 16 will be wired for sound, thanks to the NHL's event format, in which four All-Star teams, representing the league's four divisions, compete in a single-elimination tournament.
We'd get access to maybe three or four players even in a Stanley Cup game, notes Bernstein, but here we have much more opportunity to mike the players. We've been establishing a sense of trust with the league and the teams to be able get more of that audio. We'll see at game time if we can even use some of that live during the All-Star Game. It's the sound that gets the personality of the players and the energy of the game across best.
Bernstein will be working from the audio compartment of Game Creek 79 producion truck, with submixer Ben Majchrzak mixing from Game Creek Spirit.
A dozen extra wireless microphones will be available during the weekend - tools and toys at hand for when engineering inspiration strikes, Bernstein says. In addition to the growing trust of the league, the audio team has a champion in ESPN VP, Production, Mike McQuade, who has been pushing us to amp up use of our nat-sound and player microphones.
All those additional microphones in South Florida's dense RF environment means that some will have to share frequencies. Lead RF tech Abi Sehga will be on hand to juggle them, turning them on and off as needed to conserve spectrum.
The NHL All-Star Game is all about hockey, of course, but its location this year in South Florida is a reminder that pitchers and catchers will be reporting to MLB training camps within a few weeks. Both Bernstein and Majchrzak mix ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, so the comparison Buddha makes isn't out of place.
We're developing a rhythm for the [hockey-stick] shots and the hits in the net that are kind of like how we set up the sound of the [pitcher's] delivery from microphones around the mound to the catcher's mitt at home plate, he explains. There's that first point of impact followed by the second; they're each distinct but part of the same picture.
Most recent headlines
02/07/2023
Our robust, comparable data provides trusted insights and gives media owners, buyers and planners the power to trade confidently.
ABC members and data subscrib...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
02/07/2023
We'll be releasing The next set of ABC audited consumer media data covering the period January to December 2022 on Tuesday 21st February at noon.
When rele...
01/05/2023
Our Chief Executive Simon Redlich was recently invited by Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) to share his views on what 2023 might hold. Read what Simon and other...
24/03/2023
Chelsea Christensen (right) greets a Festival volunteer at the Park City building that houses official merchandise for the Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Jut...
24/03/2023
Each year when we publish Spotify's Equity and Impact Report, we have the opportunity to reflect on our efforts toward creating a more equitable and sustain...
24/03/2023
No Brasil, o ver o aquele per odo para aproveitar o calor e as altas temperaturas, mas n o s isso. De dezembro a mar o, a poca para celebrar grandes feria...
24/03/2023
Mark March 30 on your calendars. That's when RapCaviar Presents arrives on H...
24/03/2023
NAB 2023: Actus Digital Unveils OTT StreamWatch and v9.0 Enhancements to Intelli...
24/03/2023
Aircraft tractors or tugs help planes back up and away from gates. Learn how pushback training simulators can assist in training tug operators more effectively....
24/03/2023
Pro Tools 2023.3 screenshot...
24/03/2023
On Wednesday, March 29, TV Tech will be holding its Spring TV Tech Summit, a series of keynote conversations, panel discussions and case studies covering the la...
24/03/2023
THAMES DITTON, England Imagine Communications has announced that it recently helped one of Europe's largest media companies, the Antenna Group, quickly move...
24/03/2023
LAS VEGAS Miller Tripods will be showing its new SkyX 8 fluid head at the 2023 NAB Show on Booth C4221. Designed for outdoor broadcast and studio productions, t...
24/03/2023
ROCHESTER, N.Y. Four broadcast television stations serving the Rochester television market have begun offering NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0 broadcast signals....
24/03/2023
Lawo announced the creation of a CTO Office as part of a larger customer-centric strategy of providing innovative and markable solutions for a rapidly changin...
24/03/2023
The company has established the new CTO Office to drive innovation and deliver on its strategic goals
By TVBEurope Staff
Published: March 24, 2023
The co...
24/03/2023
Kindai University Employs ATEM Switcher Workflow for its Esports Facility
Brie Clayton March 23, 2023
0 Comments
Kindai University, one of the largest ...
24/03/2023
Justify Lighting The Secret of professional Color Grading Colour Theory in D...
24/03/2023
MwareTV offers a one-stop Managed IPTV Service at NAB
Brie Clayton March 23, 2023
0 Comments
MwareTV, a leading cloud-based multi-tenant platform provi...
24/03/2023
Adobe Creative Cloud tools power top films at SXSW 2023
Meagan Keane March 23, 2023
0 Comments
The 2023 South by Southwest Festival just wrapped, and A...
24/03/2023
Corp's Na'Tasia Robinson helps represent Capitol Broadcasting at a Career Fair at St. Augustine's University near downtown Raleigh on Wednesday, Mar...
24/03/2023
SVG On Demand: Madison Square Garden's Matt Coy on the Power of On-Ice/On-Co...
24/03/2023
ESPN Streamlines Operations in Covering NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament For the first time, there are just two Regional Sites for the Sweet Sixteen and E...
24/03/2023
Published On: March 23rd, 2023
data-orig-src=https://www.sgo.es/wp-content/upl...
24/03/2023
Back to All News
Christina Milian To Star In And Executive Produce Holiday Rom-...
24/03/2023
Tonight on 7de Laan: Ivy and Augusta help Aggie prepare for a dateDon't miss out on what's happening on tonight's episode of 7de Laan and Catch the ...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Gomora: Teddy apologizes to the Molefe family about his mom's beh...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Muvhango: Susan gets death threatsDon't miss out on the latest drama in Muvhango! Muvhango episodes airs on SABC2 from Mondays to Fridays at 21h0...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Uzalo: Sibonelo's money boat is plunged with holes too big for hi...
24/03/2023
Tonight on The River: Nomafu is free of SiphiweWatch tonight's episode of The River and catch the latest episode every weekday at 20:00 on 1 Magic, don'...
24/03/2023
You can mic piano, drums, guitar, voice, and other acoustic sources but you can't mic a synth, unless you put it through a PA or guitar amp, and then mic th...
24/03/2023
G&D North America Inc. brings revolutionary KVM highlights to Las Vegas posted: 24/03/2023
With a cutting edge and interoperable portfolio, the manufacturer...
24/03/2023
African Proverb of the day: 24 March 2023A proverb reflects and reveals a community's culture that provides a glimpse into its value systems, beliefs, and a...
24/03/2023
Queen Charlotte': Netflix releases trailer for Bridgerton' prequelNetflix and Shondaland films dropped the trailer for Bridgerton' prequel Queen ...
24/03/2023
Mr Gay World 2023 will celebrate love in the Mother CityMr Gay World returns to Cape Town, for a celebration of love and LGBTQIA Pride with two exciting new ev...
24/03/2023
Poem of the day: She Doesn't Know I Love HerA poem a day keeps the soul awake! For the most soulful, authentically African poetry on the internet, check out...
24/03/2023
E.tv's latest telenovela Nikiwe' replaces Durban Gen'E.tv's medical drama Durban Gen' will get replaced by Parental Advisory's latest...
24/03/2023
Isibaya' stars Linda Mtoba and Thandeka Qwabe join Isifiso'Actors Linda Mtoba and Thandeka Qwabe, who are famously known for their roles in Isibaya...
24/03/2023
World condemns Uganda's anti-LGBTIQ billHuman rights organisations and governments around the globe have condemned Uganda's draconian anti-LGBTIQ bill...
24/03/2023
From Caster Semenya to Lia Thomas: FIVE sportspeople who changed the gender rule...
24/03/2023
Streaming TODAY: New streaming releases on 24 March 2023Looking for something to watch tonight? Check out all the new streaming releases from all your favourite...
24/03/2023
Swarm: Donald Glover's new show is a dark meditation on fan cultureSwarm, a new show from Janine Nabers and Donald Glover, exposes the very real dangers of ...
24/03/2023
The Queer Superhero sings their love letter to the queer communityAward winning film writer, radio and TV presenter MonD The Queer Superhero gears up for the re...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Gqeberha: Anathi has no idea of Nozuko's deadly plansDon't miss tonight's episode of Gqeberha: The Empire, and watch the latest episode o...
24/03/2023
Gloria Bosman: A personal reflection on the loss of a SA jazz greatThrough her limitless spirit, Gloria teaches us that the relationship between us and music is...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Generations: Abby starts to panic as the walls start closing inKeen to know what's happening on the latest episode of Generations: The Legacy?. G...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Imbewu: Nokuzola and Zithulele take Sibongile to the hospital when he...
24/03/2023
Tonight on House of Zwide: Molefe finds himself in trouble with the lawDon't miss out on what's happening on tonight's episode of House of Zwide and...
24/03/2023
Tonight on Scandal: A mother finally opens her arms to welcome her prodigal daug...