What our sound and audio mixing work covers for live productions

Why we are writing about sound now

Autumn is when many of the studios and venues we speak to start planning their winter output: evening news bulletins, panel shows, filmed concerts and the party nights that fill December. Sound is often the item left until late in those plans, and it is the one viewers notice first when it goes wrong. Pictures can be forgiving; a muffled presenter or a boomy band is not.

So this note sets out plainly what zycroix offers under Sound and Audio Mixing, who does the work, and how it fits alongside the rest of a production. It is written by the head of studio production, who sees the requests as they arrive, and it is meant to help a producer or venue manager decide what to ask for before a first conversation.

Nothing here changes how we charge or who we work with. It is simply a clear description of an existing part of our work, so that teams know what is on the table.

Microphone placement comes first

Most clear speech is decided before anyone touches a fader. Where a microphone sits relative to a mouth, a desk surface or a loudspeaker determines how much room, rustle and spill gets into the signal. For a news desk we look at the presenter's seated position, the angle of the head when reading from a prompter, and where hands and paper will move.

On a live stage the questions change. Drum kits, guitar amplifiers and floor monitors all leak into vocal microphones, so placement becomes a matter of choosing which sound each microphone is allowed to hear. We walk the set or stage with the production team, mark positions, and note where a lapel or headset will serve better than a stand.

The aim is a signal that needs little correction later, which leaves the mix free to follow the programme rather than rescue it.

• Desk, lapel and headset microphones for presenters
• Stand and boom positions for panels and guests
• Spill control around drums, amplifiers and monitors

Mixing for speech and for music

Joanne Davies leads our audio work, and she treats speech and music as two different jobs. For spoken programmes the priority is intelligibility: steady levels from one speaker to the next, no sudden jumps when a guest leans in, and background sound that supports the scene without competing with it.

Music asks for balance across many sources. A filmed concert needs the band to sit together while the vocal stays clear above it, and the broadcast mix is not the same as the mix the audience hears in the room. We build the feed for the viewer, keeping an eye on how it will sound on a television speaker as well as on good headphones.

Where a show combines both, such as a studio programme with a live musical guest, the mixing plan sets out in advance how levels hand over between talk and performance, so nobody is reaching for a fader at the last second.

Monitoring: hearing what the viewer hears

A mix is only as good as the way it is checked. We set up monitoring so the engineer can judge the programme feed separately from any foldback sent to presenters or performers. Mixing from the wrong speakers, or in a room that colours the sound, leads to decisions that do not survive the journey to air.

Talkback matters as much as the mix. The director, camera operators and floor crew need to hear instructions without those instructions reaching the programme feed. We check the talkback routes, test the cues, and agree who can speak to whom before rehearsal begins.

Headphone and loudspeaker checks are repeated once the audience or guests arrive, because a full room changes how a space sounds. Small adjustments at that point are normal and are planned for rather than treated as a problem.

• Separate programme and foldback monitoring
• Talkback routes tested before rehearsal
• A final check once the room is occupied

How the work fits with the rest of the production

Sound does not sit apart from the other crafts. Lighting stands and camera positions can block microphone placement, and a boom operator needs clear space that the lighting plot has to respect. For that reason our audio engineer is brought into the same planning conversations as the lighting designer and the camera team.

The cue structure also depends on audio. A run sheet that says when a guest is introduced should also say when their microphone is opened and when the music bed fades. We write these moments into the same document the director and vision mixer follow, which is part of our live show workflow planning.

Where a studio is being equipped from scratch, the audio plan is considered alongside cabling and equipment choices, so that the sound path is not squeezed in after everything else has been fixed.

Getting in touch and what to bring

If you are planning a news studio, a live show or a filmed event and want to talk about sound, the most useful things to bring are a description of the space, the number of speakers or performers, the programme format and the date you need to be on air. A floor plan or photographs help, though they are not essential at the first stage.

We will reply with questions, then confirm what we propose in writing before any work is booked. Costs for audio work are set out on our prices page, and the contact form is the way to start an enquiry.

There is no need to have every detail settled. Part of our job is to help a production team work out what it needs and in what order.

Good sound in a live production comes from careful placement, a mix built for the viewer, and monitoring that tells the truth. That is the whole of what zycroix offers under this heading, delivered by a small team that works alongside your lighting, camera and direction. If you are planning something for the colder months, send us a few details through the contact page and we will tell you plainly what we would do.