Mixing sports in a musical way.

This summer when the Red Sox came to town I spoke to their traveling A1( I think his name was Paul?) about mixing hockey.

In the winter he mixed the Bruins back in Boston.  He spoke of not having the ice sounds as loud as possible for the entire telecast. He made the analogy to music: If a drummer is playing busy fills the entire song (keith moon excluded) when he does a particularly tasty tom roll you don't notice it as much as if he holds a steady beat the whole song then does a flashy high-hat fill going into the chorus. It's the change that attracts your attention.

One thing I enjoy in music is dynamics; the natural rise and fall of the emotion of a song. Sporting events have this swing of emotions as well--- It is a little different than music in that the overall levels can't have dramatic swings of volume, but in a good mix an individual puck 'ping' off of the crossbar in hockey can stand out like a sweet bass lick.

As in a song, the sounds of the game or 'FX' have to add to the story of the event. When watching a movie if the explosions are too loud and you can't hear the carefully written dialogue then your enjoyment of the film is decreased.

One thing I have been practicing this year (at the suggestion of Steve Nielson) is to mix quieter. I find I have better balances and less ear fatigue when mixing quieter. If one of the announcers is a mumbler with bad microphone technique to boot (like Drew Remenda) when the FX drown him I can tell quickly-- if I am not hearing this guy, then you at home might not be able to hear this guy as well.

The irony with my quest for mix dynamics in sports is that once my mix leaves the truck it runs through numerous compressors and limiters in the transmission path so what you hear at home can be two dimensional and squashed.

Oh well. My ears is all i have. My goal is to make it sound as good in the truck as possible. Before you order another beer in the bar where they have the volume turned down anyway!