It is September 17, 2024, Prince’s Day, and our king is about to read the speech from the throne. As a freelancer, I work for a national radio station that day.
My client would like to broadcast the speech from the throne in its entirety and live. Media that want to do so can request a temporary connection from the national connection center (located at the media park in Hilversum) over which the sound will be delivered. It is then up to the customer to do what is desirable with it. For example, use quotes or, in this case, broadcast the entire speech from the throne live on their own channel.
My client also requested an audio connection for the speech.
Now, our head of state has multiple microphones (backup!) in front of him at that moment, but microphones are also set up in the room and even outside. Multiple sound mixes are made from those microphone signals on site, depending on the wishes of the customers.
The first half.
Audio comes in. Willem-Alexander speaks. But I hear more. At some point I hear traffic noises and children and an elderly man speaking. It is clear to me that we are receiving an unwanted audio mix over the ordered ‘line’.
I report the problem to my client in two sentences. They do not hesitate for a moment and pick up the phone to report it to the connection centre.
The second half.
The connection centre calls back. They have found another audio mix and can offer it. In consultation, a second connection is quickly set up. The audio of this one appears to be synchronized with the first connection. The broadcast can therefore be transferred to this new audio mix without any effort. The unwanted sounds in the live broadcast are gone.
This made me happy.
The first half of the throne speech was also, fortunately and despite the extra sounds, understandable. I am convinced that most of my other clients would have been satisfied with it. Not at this place. Here they realized that the extra sounds can be experienced as distracting or disruptive, took my comments seriously and acted accordingly.
In recent years I have noticed a trend at various broadcasters: budgets for audio and audio technology are being cut back, which means that an audio technician is sometimes no longer present. Intelligibility and pleasant sound (that can be processed in the brain without unnecessary effort) are under pressure.
It is wonderful to be able to work in an environment that sets the bar high. With staff and performers with the same ambitions. A professional environment in which an audio technician and his comments are taken seriously. That motivates me enormously.
And dear clients: in a time when staff is scarce, that is most important!
photo: Door Amos Ben Gershom / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150278153