Pat Heigham
In the 1960s, we in TVC were really short of sound studios to record voice-overs or narration tracks, or build up reels of effects; if there wasn’t a TVC sound gallery available, I used to go to Bush or BH for the facilities.
All BBC staff were supposed to be able to operate all the studios, but I became badly unstuck in BH on two occasions – borrowing a studio, I couldn’t switch the place on! Phone to CAR – Ah! the apparatus room is across the corridor!
On another occasion – a long session building sound stuff with narration from studio artiste in BH, and running in effects and music from Grams, we had a perfect take. Director: :"Let’s play it back". Cue tape: absolutely f * all! I had been spoofed by the normalling system used in BH to feed the tape machines – box on the wall with a rotary switch. Never had that in TVC, always a jackfield with double-enders to route signals wherever.
Strangely enough, years after I left the BBC, I was back, shooting something near LG – the Director wanted some wildtrack narration, clean of background. I wandered into Studio R – the dedicated sound studio, much used by myself in the early days of “Dr. Who”, and set up to record. I went to the wall phone, and remembered the number to get the ventilation engineers to shut off the air-con!
There was a time when Sound Supervisors were asked to check the audio, from time to time via a small, (what would now be called a ‘near field monitor’) mounted on the edge of the sound desk. This was to do with what the home viewer might expect.
The SSs were required to switch monitoring to this near-field monitor (mounted on the edge of the sound desks) every so often to check what the home punter might be getting. After a while it was abandoned as it was then felt that if we were pushing out the best possible product, it would satisfy those with enough dosh to afford a decent set-up (i.e. why degrade the output to suit the cr*p TV’s when there were folks who wanted the best) – if the TV’s couldn’t manage it, that wasn’t the BBC’s problem.
The general opinion amongst the Sound Supervisors was, "Well, if it sounds OK on the gallery monitor, it’s going to be lovely at home!"
I staggered in, one day, with one of my Tannoy Chatsworth speakers, and fed it with the output.
It was startling, as no way did it match the sound gallery speaker. Then I discovered that the feed
to the gallery speaker was tweaked to match the acoustic of the room. Probably good, maybe most post houses use the same sort of set-up. Sound is so subjective – what one person perceives may not be the same as another.
Following a tinnitus problem, I had a hearing check – revealed a 20db dip at 6Hz. (Rifle shooting). Now – how many mixers with an unknown frequency deficiency would dial in EQ so it sounds good to them. And how many Directors would ask for tweaks so it sounds good to them! We are not always singing/hearing from the same song sheet.
In my day – the 1960s – we had to spend a few evenings in Quality Control at TVC and monitor the signal path, both vision and sound, at various points along the route, all the way from studio or telecine/VT source, via BH CAR to transmitter and finally, off-air.
Also, a close ear was kept on programme junctions for audio smoothness …
Dave Beer
I remember back in the late 1960’s during my time on sound at the BBC working on a Daniel Barenboim master class at the TV Theatre with Adrian Stocks Sound Supervising. Adrian used to check the output during rehearsals for balance through the small tape machine speaker as he reckoned that was how most viewers then would hear it!
Near miss …
Pat Heigham
I recall working on “The Grove Family” in LG E or D, going to the bar for a swift half before live on air – refusing the other half, luckily, and climbing up onto my boom – the opening dialogue was on me, just as the transmission light came on!
Peter Neill
Another near-miss. One sound crew member decided to go home during his supper break before recording of a sit-com, I believe, to feed his cat. He then managed to lock his car keys in the house. No mobile phones, out-of-order phone box, we just didn’t know what had happened to him. By five to eight we’d divvied up his scenes as best we could. And as the opening titles were running he miraculously appeared and leapt on his boom having apparently cadged a lift from a neighbour. He got a severe lecture about still being on duty during his (paid) meal break and an instruction not to leave the premises in future.
Pat Heigham
On “’It’s a Square World”, Mike McCarthy on Grams performed a wonderful job on all the sound effects for his miniature tableaux involving ‘invisible’ cast.
Dave Plowman
I remember having a peak in TMS when it was new and seeing lots of new lazy arm mic stands with fold up legs. Which were never folded up, as the stands and cables were just moved to a corner between sessions. In the main studios we had ‘permanent’ stands which had to have the legs unscrewed and taped to the main body before returning to stores. Anywhere other than the BEEB would have done a swap!
I was surprised when moving to Thames TV at Teddington Studios to find they had a multi-track sound studio before the BBC. And multi-track electronic dubbing too, although not so sophisticated as the Sypher Studer TLS. Using 6 track Telefunken machines – vast things. But by the time I got there in 1976, they were using 16 track Studer A80 in both band room and dubbing.
Pat Heigham
I recall working with Len Shorey to record a new version of the “Top of the Pops” theme – band in TC4. There was a requirement to layer the various instruments over a base ‘bed’ of the rhythm, can’t remember why, maybe the players were doubling..
So first track played back on the TR90, and next layer mixed in to a second recorder, and so on, until we got the whole thing together. I’ve got a 15ips copy of it, and it sounds splendid! But multitrack with punch-in would have made it easier. I think that was several years in the future though!
Dave Plowman
Generally classical music starts out as being designed to work acoustically with a suitable orchestra. So you wouldn’t write it with brass blowing hard and a flute taking the lead.
With something basically constructed in a recording studio anything is possible. But can be more difficult to perform live. So if you want a small string section to be heard over thundering rhythm, you have no option but to close mic each instrument. And pray.
Tony Crake
On OBs, the general sound practise was to split the mix between the "stage mix" and the "orch mix" in TWO separate trucks. Somewhat in the old TVC mode of the Grand Operas of the late 1960s.
Doing the entire mix in one desk as “Strictly Come Dancing” is doing must be a nightmare !
The last Eurovision Contest in Birmingham in 1998 (?) had one complete Sound Crew led by Tim Davies in the MSC doing the (last) live band, whilst Barrie Hawes did the stage final mix in the CMCCR.. I seem to recall it all went very smoothly!
Prompt Cut
Alec Bray
I was told that the prompt cut should switch studio sound to a Ferrograph tape recorder which had a tape of general studio background noise.
John Howell
TC2 to TC5 had a draw for the Ferrograph just to the left of the Sound Desk. A later development was an electronic noise generator but I never saw it in the studios. The prompt cut button muted only the microphones so if the Gram and Tape operator was playing any background effects they didn’t get cut.
There was a light in the Sound Control Room that indicated the prompt cut had been pressed, saving the Sound Supervisor having heart failure when it appeared that all his microphone had failed!
Peter Hales
I seem to remember that the normal procedure was to record onto a Ferrograph one minute of studio atmosphere during the 1/2 hour line up period prior to transmission. When the prompt cut button was pressed then a green light would be illuminated on the TRANSMISSION / REHEARSAL light board. and the pre-recorded atmosphere loop would replace the studio mics.
Alec Bray
I can only remember the prompt cut being used once in my time – we did a live "Softly Softly" which was one of a series of three episodes which had a story line continuing across the three: quite unusual as most stories were contained within one episode.
For some reason, the first episode had been pre-recorded (and by a different crew!) and had already been transmitted. One of the actors, playing a journalist, had continually dried during the first episode recording, so at least all the crew and regular actors were prepared for the second, live, episode. As expected, the actor dried, the prompt cut was used and the other actors basically busked their way round the scene.
Chris Wickham
I remember the last live “Dixon of Dock Green” from Riverside. Jack Warner was already getting on a bit. He had great difficulty with his lines on this occasion. The prompt cut ,although used sparingly, was usually given to the AFM on "the book". Jack started fluffing, the AFM panicked and was cuttingsound during correct lines and then releasing during "drys" and calling the lines which were heard on air. Poor old Jack was mortified and all subsequent episodes were recorded.
Chris Maurice
I seem to remember one incident – I think in TC7 – during one of the ‘Apollo’ missions when an engineer stuck an AVO in the ‘Prompt Cut’ socket on one of the wall points by mistake whilst chasing a fault.
The relay duly operated and everything went very quiet. The offending ‘prong’ was quickly removed, but the relay remained unconvinced and the output came back very one-legged. John Staple – for it was he – cranked the master fader up to max and then made the fatal mistake of turning round to speak to the engineers who had rushed in to find the fault. At this point the relay returned to its normal position. Ever so loud it got!
Pat Heigham
There were standing instructions that BBC microphones should not be placed on any surface, except a clean white sheet of paper? I think this applied to the likes of a 4038, big magnets that could have picked up metallic fragments in the studio.
Tony Crake
Tony Crake in LG Studio D doing a very difficult “Jackanory”, with a SFX or Music every few seconds. Tony says that although he was rather tense about it, it all worked rather well! (Much to his surprise!)
Photo taken by Robin Luxford
