Capturing the sounds of time
Plus insect-inspired microphones and the art of product sound design
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Imagine capturing the grandeur and atmosphere of a royal coronation through sound. From strategically placing microphones around Westminster Abbey to balancing dialogue and ambiance.
According to The Royal Mint the BBC used just 28 microphones in the Abbey for the radio broadcast of the coronation of George VI in 1936. In 1953, with the inclusion of a television broadcast, that number increased to around 200 as Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.
For this latest outing of the Crown Jewels classicalmusic.com reports 192 microphones were used to record the ceremony, and after a bit of uploading and downloading Decca Audio put out a same-day release album of the event. Impressive.
But one important moment was only heard by the King himself in line with the Jewish faith. At the end of the ceremony King Charles III met with faith leaders including Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis. The ceremony being held on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, led to the decision not to capture the audio.
Royal Central explains:
“Shabbat rules take into account the use of electricity. Although there are some debates around it, microphones are taken to use the human voice to affect the conduction of electricity while concerns about amplification through speakers or, in this case, broadcast media, are also reasons that the devices are usually forbidden on Shabbat.”
The pressures of capturing an historical event are high, as are the expectations of BBC viewers. So of course when ‘sound glitches’ creep in it becomes tabloid news.
A BBC spokesman said:
“We apologise that some viewers experienced intermittent sound drop-out during the Coronation broadcast on BBC One. This was due to an audio conversion issue from 5:1 surround sound to stereo that affected certain distribution services for the channel.”
But here’s a moment from King Charles III’s coronation captured beautifully both visually and aurally; Ascension Gospel Choir performing ‘Alleluia’ (O Sing Praises) with the Gospel reading.
🎧 If you worked as a sound tech during the coronation or know someone who did, hit reply now and let me know.
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This week on #AllThingsAudio Suze and Madalyn are talking about whether social audio is finding its niche as a community and relationship building tool. Guest contributor Morgan Evetts joins the conversation to discuss the impact of staff cuts at Clubhouse and the introduction of Houses to the web. We are also speak with Andrew Lyons from Spaces Dashboard who has some revealing insights into the apparent dip in English language Spaces created last month’s. He tells us why the stats aren’t telling the full story.
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A five-minute tour of product sound design from the team at 99% Invisible. How a marble, a bowl and a vice grip are integral to the sounds we hear every day and probably never even notice.
"As visual information saturates our environment, auditory information is in danger of being reduced to a background. We are losing our ability to listen."
Great issue!!