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Basketball Backboard Microphones
- Thread starter clouseau
- Start date
What would the goal of such a microphone be? Just to hear the thud when shots clank, or to hear the officials' whistles better, or ???
Been some years since I did LSU BB, but I recall the mics being lil'-bitty Sony ECM-50 lavalier mics that were inserted into a tiny hole drilled into the bottom rubber rim of the backboard.
Or, since it seems everything is now on TV, maybe just make friends with whatever TV web is doing your games in order to get a split of their mics. I imagine the school will help, if only to keep 4,291 different mics being clipped to the backboard
Or, since it seems everything is now on TV, maybe just make friends with whatever TV web is doing your games in order to get a split of their mics. I imagine the school will help, if only to keep 4,291 different mics being clipped to the backboard
Any small Omnidirectional Lavalier Mic will work...I use gaffers tape to tape the mic as close to the basket as possible. Remember these mics are normally Condenser Mics so they would require phantom power. Sony ECM-55s are popular now...
As Dr Tech says...If the game is on TV you can more than likely get an Effects feed. Most TV audio guys make up a mix of crowd mics plus baskets and key (painted area under the baskets) shotguns that they feed to the replay recorders. I most cases they assign a pair on their booth mult (snake) just to feed EFX to radio...Check with the A-2.
You will be helping the A-2 out if you have a mic cable to run to their position. In many cases the output from the truck may be the wrong sex. Make sure you have a couple of turn arounds in your kit. Another thing that comes up sometimes is hum. The TV truck is often on a different power circuit than the radio booth which will often produce a ground loop. A ground lifter for your power may help. An audio isolation transformer is a must have as well.
The feed from TV will be Line Level. Sometime a very hot line level. If you are using one of the popular semi-pro mixers like a Mackie 1402 make sure you are feeding a 1/4" line level input. A 1/4" TRS to XLR-F cable is another hust have...
Hope this helps.
t123
As Dr Tech says...If the game is on TV you can more than likely get an Effects feed. Most TV audio guys make up a mix of crowd mics plus baskets and key (painted area under the baskets) shotguns that they feed to the replay recorders. I most cases they assign a pair on their booth mult (snake) just to feed EFX to radio...Check with the A-2.
You will be helping the A-2 out if you have a mic cable to run to their position. In many cases the output from the truck may be the wrong sex. Make sure you have a couple of turn arounds in your kit. Another thing that comes up sometimes is hum. The TV truck is often on a different power circuit than the radio booth which will often produce a ground loop. A ground lifter for your power may help. An audio isolation transformer is a must have as well.
The feed from TV will be Line Level. Sometime a very hot line level. If you are using one of the popular semi-pro mixers like a Mackie 1402 make sure you are feeding a 1/4" line level input. A 1/4" TRS to XLR-F cable is another hust have...
Hope this helps.
t123
Let me get this straight:
We want to directly, mechanically couple a microphone- body, capsule and all, to the back of the board? Doesn't sound too logical to me!
A much better way to do this would be to hang a 58 or similar *behind* the backboard, about a foot back, pointed at the floor of the court. This will result in a more realistic sound, pick up of the spectators, the sound of the players on the court, and also result in a more natural effect. It will also keep the mics from getting the hell beaten out of them everytime the ball hits the backboard.
Drape the cable over one of the support bars on the back of the support frame and just let the mic hang there. Or, you could use a wireless lav in the same way, thereby eliminating the need for a cable.
-A
We want to directly, mechanically couple a microphone- body, capsule and all, to the back of the board? Doesn't sound too logical to me!
A much better way to do this would be to hang a 58 or similar *behind* the backboard, about a foot back, pointed at the floor of the court. This will result in a more realistic sound, pick up of the spectators, the sound of the players on the court, and also result in a more natural effect. It will also keep the mics from getting the hell beaten out of them everytime the ball hits the backboard.
Drape the cable over one of the support bars on the back of the support frame and just let the mic hang there. Or, you could use a wireless lav in the same way, thereby eliminating the need for a cable.
-A
Alan Fletcher said:
Yep...TV guys do it for every game. They will place a small lav as close to the basket as possible. That way you hear the swoosh of the basket when the ball goes through it. They will place a short shotgun like a ME-66 on the basket stanchion pointing toward the painted area to pick up shoe squeaks. I have noticed in the NBA the TV guys are place additional shotguns on the scorers' table to pick up the ball dribbling up the court. In College I see guys putting a lav near the scorers to pick up the official when he come to the sideline to tell them who the foul is on...
I would never use a SM-58 as a crowd mic. If I was going to use a stick mic I would use an omni like an EV 635A. A wireless mic should only be used as a last resort. I like to keep my RF down to a minimum.
t123
If what you say is true (and with some of the idiotic things I have seen done in the audio world, especially in TV) it wouldn't surprise me at all), it still makes no sense to me.
There should be no problem at all capturing the racket a basketball makes when it hits the backboard or vibrates the hoop that is attached to it. Placing the microphone near the backboard, but not mechanically coupled to it, would yield numerous benefits:
1) The microphone will last alot longer.
2) Setup and teardown will be alot simpler.
3) Input levels will be MUCH more manageable without a large, fiberglass resonating object coupled to the mic body, especially if you are trying to capture crowd noise, sounds from the court and athletes, etc.
4) Overall sound quality would be greatly improved.
-or maybe I'm just crazy... ;D
There should be no problem at all capturing the racket a basketball makes when it hits the backboard or vibrates the hoop that is attached to it. Placing the microphone near the backboard, but not mechanically coupled to it, would yield numerous benefits:
1) The microphone will last alot longer.
2) Setup and teardown will be alot simpler.
3) Input levels will be MUCH more manageable without a large, fiberglass resonating object coupled to the mic body, especially if you are trying to capture crowd noise, sounds from the court and athletes, etc.
4) Overall sound quality would be greatly improved.
-or maybe I'm just crazy... ;D
I have had Sony ECM-50s used almost exclusively as basket mics for many years.
If time is an issue (like if I am traveling with a team) and I couldn't get a feed from TV I wouldn't go to the trouble of putting mics on the baskets. A TV broadcast crew will almost always have grips that help take up cable and what not. I have done games where the TV crew had their booth gear packed away and off the court by the time I was off the air.
In places where the backboards are hung from the ceiling (like Cameron Indoor at Duke) the mics stay in all the time.
I don't think it is bad as you think. You can't just pot everything up and leave it...You have to ride gain.
t123
A
Ann Tenna
Guest
I run the radio production for an NBA team, and I can tell you EVERY arena does this. What's great is that for safety, there is a thick rubber bumper down the sides and across the bottom edges of the backboard...I'd imagine this is also the case in most NCAA arenas also. All you have to do is cut a slit in the rubber directly behind the net and push the mic up into the slit with the pickup aread just sticking out toward the net. The cable is routed thru the back of the cut and along the backboard support and upright down to the floor.
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