For the past two decades, freelance A1 Mixer Andrew Stoakley has worked on many of the major sports and entertainment shows produced in Canada. With assignments ranging from MLB baseball to NHL hockey and curling (among others), Stoakley has come to rely on the flexibility and features of Calrec consoles to capture the various dynamics of each sport.
Sporting events have highs and lows that change by the second and, as a mixer, you need to be flexible, says Stoakley. The user interface and software of Calrec consoles allow me to do my job to the best of my abilities. Whether working on the Artemis, Apollo or the original Alpha, which I still love, Calrec's consoles give me instant access to basically all our monitoring. With Calrec, I'm not searching through menus all the auxes, direct outs, multi-tracks, EQs and dynamics are right there.
For Stoakley, this flexibility translates across the board regardless of which sport he's mixing. With curling, there are 28 player RF microphones and another 20 effects mics buried in the sheets of ice, he continues. So, that's 48 faders that I need to access, on top of the 14 talent mics, six camera mics and four stereo crowd mics that I use. If I have to go looking for mics on the console, I'll miss the opportunity to get that moment on-air. The new software on the Apollo goes way above and beyond, but it doesn't matter which Calrec console I'm using when I sit down to an Artemis, Apollo or Alpha, I feel very comfortable.
As a freelancer for Dome Productions, one of Stoakley's main roles is mixing Toronto Blue Jays' baseball games and NHL hockey games. Although you want to capture the announcer's commentary regardless of the application, mixing has specific requirements that are unique to each sport, he says. Viewers tune in to hear announcers discuss the sport, so I need to ensure they are clear and present in the mix. That's why I like baseball there is so much dynamic range, and I love that. I want to hear the quiet, it makes for a much more interesting mix. In contrast, hockey is aggressive, so I try to capture every skate blade or puck shot. Regardless of the sport, Calrec consoles always help me mix a better broadcast.
Another reason Stoakley chooses Calrec consoles for his sports mixing is the design of the console itself. The ergonomics of the console are really well laid out, he adds. With Calrec, I can manipulate six faders with one hand as opposed to three with a competitor's console; that's a massive difference. I don't end up having hand fatigue when I'm mixing nine to 10 straight hours of curling. As I like to say in sports, the first pitch doesn't wait for us. We've got only X' amount of time to get the show up and running and make sure everybody is happy before that first pitch happens. If something goes wrong and you have to scramble for answers, it can get really stressful very quickly, and the Calrec consoles do everything possible to alleviate that stress.
In addition to the great sound and interface of the Calrec consoles, Stoakley also finds the company's customer service to be top-notch. The Calrec support team is really awesome, he says. If we ever have any questions, they are always available.
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...
02/06/2026
blueCORE standalone processors headline solutions designed to simplify the trans...
02/06/2026
If you've kept up with this article series, you know by now where to start w...
02/06/2026
With new DSP configurations and flexible licensing options, Calrec is removing the barriers to virtualised audio, giving broadcasters the freedom to scale produ...
02/06/2026
The TV agency was one of the earliest adopters of Nielsen's local television...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Grass Valley today announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP to transform its newsroom produc...
02/06/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, announces its new Model 385 Mic/Intercom Beltpack. The Mode...
02/06/2026
The Riedel Group today announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 2...
02/06/2026
More signals, higher quality, and outstanding ingest and streaming flexibility deliver professional results in a small, all-in-one footprint...
02/06/2026
farmerswife will be featured on the Modena Media & Entertainment stand at this year's Mediatech Africa 2026, giving visitors an opportunity to explore the l...
02/06/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17 19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/06/2026
Trust has become a commercial issue With global advertising spend forecast to exceed US$1 trillion this year*, the commercial consequences of weak governance co...
02/06/2026
June sees Ireland's cultural calendar in full bloom, as RT Supporting the Arts showcases a vibrant and wide-ranging programme spanning music, theatre, visu...
02/06/2026
After The Traitors Ireland launched in 2025, Irish audiences proved to have a taste for the global hit reality show. This Bank Holiday Monday fans can indulge e...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Luxembourg, June 1, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, launched fast and reliable multi-orbit satelli...
01/06/2026
Agentic AI is getting physical.
At COMPUTEX on Tuesday, NVIDIA announced NVIDIA JetPack 7.2 and NVIDIA NemoClaw support on NVIDIA Jetson.
JetPack 7.2 brings a...
01/06/2026
Financial institutions have spent years building AI: fraud models, credit models...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
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...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
For the past two decades, freelance A1 Mixer Andrew Stoakley has worked on many of the major sports and entertainment shows produced in Canada. With assignments ranging from MLB baseball to NHL hockey and curling (among others), Stoakley has come to rely on the flexibility and features of Calrec consoles to capture the various dynamics of each sport.
