The crews of CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada (HNIC), which presents telecasts of NHL games in Canada, use Holophone’s H2-PRO surround microphone to capture high-quality audio.
The microphone has been used to cover several Toronto Maple Leaf home games at the Air Canada Centre. According to audio mixer Kathryn Von Bezold, “I want the viewer to experience the sudden rise of the crowds from the sides and behind while still focusing on the game in front. The H2-PRO has helped me with that because the mic captures sound similar to the way our ears and head process it, so it’s as close to what’s happening as possible. For me, the whole thing with surround is that everyone has been focusing on transmission and mixing, but surround is also something that goes back to the beginning—how are you recording the sound? With the H2-PRO, you are actually starting with surround.”
For games at the Air Canada Centre, the H2-PRO is typically set up at the center of the stadium in a 5.1 format, down near the ice, and is paired with the tight-follow camera (pictured).
“The H2-PRO actually saves you time because previously you had to set up more mics to attain the same sound produced by the H2-PRO — that means more time,” Von Bezold explains. “Because you’ve got one surround mic, you saved a whole pile of time, which is pretty critical when you have to do a show setup the same day.
“You have to think of people that listen in Lt-Rt, as well as those that listen in surround,” Von Bezold continues. “The sound captured by the H2-PRO is easy to transfer to Lt-Rt.”
For more information, visit www.holophone.com and www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey.
