QUESTION · AUDIO Q&A

Could the panelists offer recommended resources, videos, production behind the scenes, examples, et cetera, that they've seen or heard recently that illustrate audio principles or best practices?

ASKED BY · Brody Hefner · NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK · 16 SEP 2026 · ▶ 00:33:41

THE PANEL'S ANSWER
Jeff FrancisPANELIST

Recommended NBA behind-the-scenes mic placement video, DPA Microphones Instagram for Broadway and on-set mic hiding techniques, and SNL behind-the-scenes audio series covering boom ops and PA systems.

Jeff FrancisPANELIST

Recommended Adam Savage's behind-the-scenes video on Hamilton costume mic hiding and front-of-house PA work for live production examples.

Mickey

Recommended Avid Pro Tools YouTube series 'Film Sound Workflow Secrets Revealed: The Final Mix' focusing on Atmos mixing workflows for post-production sound.

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From the transcript.

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33:37Anyway, let's see. Is there anybody else has their hands up? Nope. Alexander, let's go to the next question. All right. Brody Hefner, New York City, New York asks, could the panelists offer recommended resources, videos, production behind the scenes, examples, etc. that they've seen or heard recently that illustrate audio principles or best practices. What's the best example, Jeff? I don't know if it's the best example, but I enjoyed the Where the NBA Hides Its Mics YouTube video.

34:09I'll put that link in the chat, but that's a good little breakdown of that. Another one I found is I follow Instagram of some companies like DPA Microphones. they will often have a lot of things from like Broadway and that kind of stuff where people are hiding microphones or on set and so it's good little tips and techniques of like how to hide

34:33body mics and those kind of things and other placement things so check out Instagram of your favorite mic companies another example that I think is really great there's a whole series of behind the scenes videos of how they do audio on Saturday Night Live I was joking about Garrett Morris there if you don't recall that was the one where he was in the corner screaming for the hard of hearing

34:55silly but there's a whole series of pieces and one is all about the boom op they talk about you know I think they have one about the PA in the room and excuse me all of the sound effects and whatnot, and then tested with what's-his-name that used to be on MythBuster, Savage. What's his first name? Jamie. Adam. Adam. Adam Savage. Yeah, Adam Savage.

35:27He did a thing when Hamilton, I believe, was in San Francisco where he went backstage and he did one whole video about how they hide the mics in the costumes. He did one whole video with the front of house PA guy. Great behind the scenes stuff for different types of things. Actually, I take that back. Both of those are just live productions.

35:55Yeah, I agree. Behind the scenes stuff. Mickey, what do you think? What do you know? so uh there was a series released i guess this just last week um on uh the avid pro tools youtube channel um film sound workflow secrets revealed the final mix and it's it it jumps into uh a little um it focuses a lot on the uh workflows specifically with mixing for atmos um so

36:25So yeah, that's probably something if you're into post-production sound or even if you're just curious, it gets you into the mindset of how that whole production side of Atmos mixing worked. Very cool. Alexander, let's go to the next question. All right, next up from Stefan Fischer in Wurzburg, Germany. Did IBC bring some fancy new audio devices? What's the missing piece in your audio world?

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MENTIONED IN THE ANSWER
DPA Microphones→NBA→Saturday Night Live→Hamilton→Adam Savage→Avid Pro Tools→Atmos→
ALSO IN THIS EPISODE

12 more questions
from Office Hours | Wednesday | September 16, 2026.

The whole episode →
▶ 00:00:28Has anyone used or heard of DMB Soundscape immersive PA software?▶ 00:04:17If you had to teach audio to a video person in one hour, what's the order? Gain staging, mic distance, room, then everything else. What do you cut?▶ 00:13:26Does this exist? An audio device for clients with a red warning light to indicate you're speaking too low.▶ 00:23:20What's the one habit that makes a host sound radio without gear, mic technique, breathing, plosive angle, or just talking 20% slower? It's 11% slower.▶ 00:28:01Do you folks think appearance is still important for on-camera talent?▶ 00:30:58What are the best practices for high quality audio descriptions and captions in large Zoom events?▶ 00:36:43Did IBC bring some fancy new audio devices? What's the missing piece in your audio world?▶ 00:37:44Adobe's enhanced speech versus iZotope's RX dialogue isolate versus Waves Clarity VX—which one does the panel reach for first and which one wrecks sibilance?▶ 00:47:26I was asked in the House of Worship if there is a way to have a system to have automated translation so we are not limited to an interpreter. What would you suggest for any tool or software?▶ 00:49:09Do you use professional near field monitors at your workspace even if you don't do real mixing, just for the sake of having good sound or do you prefer headphones?▶ 00:54:48One of the neat things out of this year's IBC looks to be an all-in-one production solution from Grass Valley called Avora. What are your initial thoughts on it, with emphasis on audio mixing?▶ 00:55:17How do you overcome the client issue where they presume they know the difference and that they care about audio quality, but they don't?