Variable studio atmoshphere sound on BBC World New

When I watch BBC World News, i've noticed that they seem to notice the different levels of the studio atmoshphere sound, this is what tends to happen.

Main newspresenter-Little bit of studio atmoshphere noise
Sport presenter/Business presenter- Much more studio atmoshphere noise.

But during the World Business Report, particularly today with Tanya Beckett intrviewing that guy from Merill Lynch, the studio atmoshphere noise was so excessive, it felt like they were presenting near a railway station!

So why is there so much variation in the studio atmoshphere sound between the presenters?

Maybe it could be due to the positioning of the Microphones! I'm not an expert on this, but I would have thought that when the mics (on desk) are moved around, then they are able to pick up noises all over the place! But I could be talking nonsense!

Come to think of it, the mic where the sports/business presenter sits does tend to point towards the newsroom, rather then to the presenter, but as I say with World Business Report, the interview with Tanya Beckett, and the Merill Lynch guy, really had excessive studio noise, it bascially sounded like a hugh fan motor or something, the sound was also a bit fizzy as well!

Yes but the main sound must surely come from the lapel mics... I'm not sure how it works - techy bods will know - how much sound from the desk mics are mixed with the lapel ones if any?

Your part way there. The mics on the desk, hopefully, are never used - they are there only as a back-up if the personal mics fail.

Atmos from the newsroom gets more noticable the further the personal mic is from the mouth. This isn't just BBC World, but TV as a whole. Unless you have a soundproffed studio you will always have this problem

For all you News watchers, listen to N24 when Matthew presents... He places his microphone the furthest down his suit than most. Listen to the titles when he's on - keep listening with a keen ear when his microphone is faded up... you'll also hear the music coming from the studio speaker (foldback) & it sounds awful. You'll notice this more if you listen in stereo.

That's interesting, i'll have to watch out for that, I can't remember how low down the mic was for Tanya Beckett's interview, but I will certainly watch out for this!

(Edited by harshy at 9:08 pm on Dec. 18, 2001)

Another factor which isn't in World's favour is the design of their studio. Facing the presenters is a 'wall' of set, which due to it's shape acts like a concave mirror - amplifying & reflecting all sound hitting it.

That's interesting, yeah that's what I was thinking as well, I am sure it's to do with the studio design.

BTW, Techy Peep will the new BBC world/BBC4 studio be soundproofed?

(Edited by harshy at 9:32 pm on Dec. 18, 2001)

...and of course, some people speak quieter than other. Raise their mic level and you bring the background noise up too.

on some nights there is a sudden 'studio' noise in News 24 when it's on world. Is that done artificually?

In addition to all of Techy Peep's comments, there is a further reason why the amount of studio atmosphere changes, apart from the obvious - the newsroom being quiet or noisy at any given time...

All of the sound on the News 24 and World sound desks goes through a box of tricks called a compressor/limiter. This is a final stage which stops sound from distorting if it is too loud.

What happens is that the louder you try and make the signal, once you have made it as loud as the sound desk can cope with, the loud bits of the sound are kept to a maximum level (and little lights start flashing on the sound desk to let you know it is happening) however the quieter bits (like the studio atmos) still get louder. Thus if you are pushing a presenter mic into the limiter, by continually opening the sound desk fader to make it louder, the loud bits stop getting louder, but the quiet bits keep on getting louder, so the newsroom sounds noisier.

This can be particularly noticable at presenter changeover times, when there may not have been enough time to take level from the new presenters, who may be quieter/louder than their predecessors.

I think that it is a mix of things really - certainly a long-serving News 24 presenter who talks quite quietly and puts their mic on the lapel NOT facing the plasma and studio guest (so is turning away from their mic during lives), and puts the mic very low down on the wrong lapel, always seems to be accompanied by loads of atmos... (But getting the mic moved is always a nightmare...)

A question for maybe techypeep or noggin:

Why is it so difficult to get the microphone moved? Surely any presenter wants to sound his or her best. Shouldn't News24 insist that Matthew Amroliwala moves his mic further up his lapel so that we hear less background noise and more of him?