NBA Music Promo Goes Really, Really Old School The spot features a mic that harks back to the previous century By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 1:30 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The NBA is going old school this season, at least when it comes to the league's on-air promo campaign. The new NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC promo spot seems conventional enough: it raps it up with a slick track written and performed by Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin, Hamilton) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect, The Mindy Project), both members of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme. The anthem celebrates the launch of NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC, which debuts with the season kickoff on Jan. 20.
However, the convergence of an urban-music esthetic and slicker pop production is gilded with the use, on the track and in the video, of a microphone that looks as if it could have fallen off the stage at the Grand Ole Opry - in 1937.
Ear Trumpet Labs' Myrtle microphone adds an Americana esthetic to the NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC spot.
Ear Trumpet Labs' vintage-styled and wryly titled Myrtle large-diaphragm condenser microphone adds an Americana esthetic that serves to make the NBA, which has emphasized LFE-heavy urban-music styles in recent years, feel more musically inclusive. The microphone's spring-suspended retro styling is actually functional: the mic element is isolated from mechanical vibrations, the design serving the same purpose it served in the rough-and-tumble early days of radio broadcasting. It features transformerless-FET, fully balanced electronics but combines those with a craft-construction approach using hand-wired electronic components, such as film capacitors and precision resistors, and hand-tested and matched transistors.
Myrtle Gets A-Round
Myrtle didn't come to the spot based on any anthropo-cultural exigencies, however; instead, it satisfied an esthetic vision focused on circles.
That vision began with a shape - round - so everything thematically had to have circles in the frame, explains William Tzouris, the audio engineer on the spot, which was recorded at Brooklyn Studios in Long Island City, NY. That included the microphones, because they were going to be visible in the shot.
In fact, both Iglehart and Ambudkar are shown singing in the spot, each on his own Myrtle (attached to a microphone stand with clips from a Shure SM58). According to Tzouris, they ran through nine versions of the spot sequentially, changing only their wardrobe and each week's team names in the lyrics as they shot the entire season's worth of promos in one session.
Tzouris, who spent a decade at NFL Films and has worked on content from 10 Super Bowls and as many NBA Finals, says he was happy to find a microphone that fit the director's esthetic vision but adds that he didn't initially have high expectations for the Myrtle sonically. He was pleasantly surprised when the microphone was able to handle the session with virtually no processing.
It sounds great, he explains, and it's naturally pop-resistant more than 8 in. out and has great rear and side rejection, making it a good choice for the duet. We had a boom [microphone] overhead, but it turned out that we didn't need it. What you hear on the spot is what we heard in the control room.
The promo for NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC continues the urban-genre fabric of the musical themes of the NBA in this century, but it also broadens it both aurally and visually. And, at a time when even hip-hop is showing up on vinyl, having in the picture a microphone that looks like it just called a Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey fight is about as retro as you can get.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
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...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/01/2026
Top L-R: The Liars, Jazz Infernal, Living with a Visionary
Second Row L-R: Paper Trail, The Baddest Speechwriter of All, Crisis Actor
Third Row: The Boys and ...
28/01/2026
Music discovery should feel intuitive and personal. That's why we're continuing to give you more control, so you can ask for what you want, shape what y...
28/01/2026
Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify's Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify for Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion t...
28/01/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in partnership with the Oudtshoorn Municipality, invites aspiring and emerging filmmakers to apply for the Sediba...
28/01/2026
As demand for more complex live sports coverage grows, Balkan broadcast specialist MVP has upgraded its flagship HD1 progressive OB truck with the installation ...
28/01/2026
Airlines, cruise and tour operators double down on ad spend as Australians' prioritise travel
Sydney January 28, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows a...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Marshall Electronics launches the CV420-27X, its next-generation ultra-high-definition (UHD) IP camera, at ISE 2026 (Stand 4N900). Engineered for modern IP-base...
28/01/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Television Mobiles Ltd. (TVM), one of Europe's leading independent outside broadcast providers, has carried out a major refu...
28/01/2026
AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities
FOR-A is bringing remarkable new technologies to FOMEX, the Future of Media Exhibition (ex...
28/01/2026
Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company Media Tailor have once again joined forces to deliver a state...
28/01/2026
Pebble has appointed Paul Nagle-Smith as vice president for customer fulfilment, strengthening its senior leadership focus on customer delivery and operational ...
28/01/2026
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset has announced that leading Mexican broadcaster, TV Azteca is using Veset Nimbus on AWS as a disaster recovery (DR) playo...
28/01/2026
Ensuring it can keep pace with a rapidly evolving live sports market, Balkan broadcast facility provider MVP Most Valuable Production has upgraded its flags...
28/01/2026
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud solutions provider that powers and protects life online, and Yospace, the leader in dynamic ad insertion tec...
28/01/2026
The renowned Reykjavik City Theatre (RCT) recently underwent a major intercom system upgrade using Clear-Com solutions. This milestone project utilizes Clear-C...
28/01/2026
Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...
28/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...
28/01/2026
28 Jan 2026
VEON Notes Kyivstar Group Publication of Selected Full Year 2025 Fi...
28/01/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host 2026 edition of its online event Demystifying EMC Rohde & Schwarz invites the global EMC community to join a crucial discussion on pre...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
The Wait Is Over: Teaser Trailer Drops for Jo Nesbo's Dete...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces a Fictional Miniseries Inspired by the Marta del Castillo Case
Entertainment
28 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to ...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Santiago Mitres New Film Starring Ver nica L...
28/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Teaser Trailer for Berlin and the Lady wit...
28/01/2026
Stadtwerke Wolfhagen Modernize Customer Management with AEP.energysuite from Arv...
27/01/2026
Click for Japanese version
Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...
27/01/2026
L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...
27/01/2026
Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...
27/01/2026
With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...
27/01/2026
January 14, 2026
We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...
27/01/2026
January 22, 2026
First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...
27/01/2026
January 23, 2026
First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...
27/01/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...
27/01/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...
27/01/2026
The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...
NBA Music Promo Goes Really, Really Old School The spot features a mic that harks back to the previous century By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
