[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 30 2004, 12:37 PM\']IIRC I was pleased to find out that Randy and I use the same Sony's, and if those are Rich's personal preference, I'd like to know more about what they are.[/quote]
Always happy to answer a question, Chris.
First, kudos to Dirk at "Price". Dirk replaced the previous audio mixer, another person named Chris, late in 2003 after some difficulties/disagreements about the audio mix being fed to the stage. Dirk came to the show with new enthusiasm and an awesome attitude. For my money that whole audio department at "Price" is the best of all the LA production facilities and is staffed by the best in the business. Early on Dirk set out to improve some crosstalk/"bleed" affecting the PL (the "intercom" between the booth and folks on the floor) and some hum/noise in the line carrying the program audio back to the announce headphones.
His fix was awesome, but required some new equipment including a new headphone amplifier that had to be strapped to the side of the old podium - there was simply no more room inside the old podium. Dirk suggested a replacement for the podium and asked me to work with him to be certain that a new podium would be "user friendly" to the announcer. We looked at other similar custom designs done at the CBS shop, including one for a producer's podium at the Killborn show.
With the new podium Dirk got the added space he needed for the engineering upgrades. We re-evaluated everything about the old podium to keep the best of the previous design and add some ergonomic upgrades. Some improvements are as simple as making the podium wider to hold the additional page of copy for the prize descriptions and showcase scripts that continue onto a second page. Some improvements are more complex involving the angle of the copy stand to minimize glare, and the position of the various controls the announcer may need to adjust while reading... headphone level, PL level, etc.
We incorporated the "hot spot" speaker that had been on a stand adjacent to the podium for sound reinforcement; it's now mounted in the podium between the announcer's legs. We moved the small press-to-talk mic for speaking to the booth to make it more handy, and repositioned where the mic goose neck is connected to the podium to try to keep it out of the line of sight while reading. We also decided that the whole face of the podium needed to be covered with clear plexiglass; it will help to stop the daily loss of pencils that found their way in the space around the perimeter of the monitor, give a flat surface for the pages of copy, and make it easiest to keep clean. When that podium spends a few days stored with the sets when the studio is used by other shows it comes back pretty dusty. And hey, there's gotta be a better place to rest a cup of water - in my mind, Dirk and I never really resolved that water issue!
To my mind, the hardest part of the whole job was trying to figure out a way to incorporate some of the original podium from 1972. Rod had made an extra effort to be certain that a lot of Johnny remained on the set throughout his tenure. Sadly, that never happened with the design of this new podium.
Chris.... the headphones and all the equipment is CBS'. There were 3 existing options presented to me when I came on board in May of '03: Rod's IFB, the Sennheiser "open air" yellow headphones that Rod used during rehearsals, or the Sony "studio monitor" black headphones. As apparently Rich also did, I chose the Sony phones. The sound quality is far better than the other 2 options, and for those of us with "disc jockey ear" who like the volume up high, the Sennheisers are bad news because they are prone to feedback because of the open design.
Again, kudos to Dirk who came up with the idea for the new podium and spent months planning, sketching and selling the idea. I really enjoyed working with him on the project.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
