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Sennheiser and Neumann Herald 2005 with Historic NPR 5.1 Broadcast
"Toast of the Nation," now in its 25th anniversary year, is a coast-to-coast celebration that, this year, will be broadcast live, not only by the 100-plus NPR member stations but also, by Sirius satellite radio, NPR Worldwide, and radio stations in Europe, including Radio France. Beginning early on December 31st, with a live jazz performance from Paris, France, NPR will join Parisians ringing in 2005 at the renowned jazz spot Club Sunside. "Toast of the Nation" will move westward as the countdown to midnight continues across the U.S., featuring performances first from Boston, New York and Washington, DC, a juke joint in Mississippi, a Latin jazz extravaganza in Denver before ending in the early hours of New Year's Day at the legendary Yoshi's Jazz Club in Oakland, California.
"What we're talking to them about is how to do 5.1 in a standard FM and digital radio environment," reports Pappas, who is holding seminars for engineers and producers at NPR's headquarters in Washington, DC. In addition to in-depth discussions on the use of stereo mixing consoles and delivery codecs in the 5.1 broadcast process, he will also be spending some time describing his preferred 5.1 miking techniques using Neumann and Sennheiser equipment.
"Our left-center-right arrays are going to be Sennheiser MKH800s," reveals Pappas, discussing the 5.1 microphone setup for KUVO's contribution to the landmark broadcast. "The rear channels are going through a Neumann KU100 'Fritz' stereo head because it's simple and effective."
In the past, Pappas has also experimented with using Neumann M150, TLM170 and KMS183, as well as the Sennheiser MKH50 microphones, in the LCR positions, in addition to a pair of Neumann KMS184 mics alongside 'Fritz,' before settling on his current setup. One thing that is unchanged is his unique use of a Neumann M150 small-diaphragm tube mic to capture the LFE channel information.
"We love doing that. It makes for really great sounding audio," he says of the unusual technique which uses a microphone rather than artificially deriving low-frequency information from the five main channels through processing for the surround format's dedicated '.1' sub-bass channel. "Either the Sennheiser MKH20 or the M150 are my favorite tools for that. The other thing is, when you don't bass manage, you get around all the problems that you have with bass management, which effectively adds phase shift back into the pass-band of the audio."
As Pappas reveals, KUVO's contribution to "Toast of the Nation" will feature the Latin Giants of Jazz, formerly led by the late Latin percussion legend, Tito Puente, a band that features four trombone, five saxophone and five trumpet players. "If processing is used to create the LFE channel," he observes, "The trombones are noticeably affected when you put an 80Hz band-pass in there."
Not every contributing NPR station necessarily has those same Neumann and Sennheiser microphones in their mic lockers, he acknowledges. Consequently, he adds, "We're making arrangements to provide the other locations with whatever they feel they'd like to use."
The U.S. portion of the broadcast will begin in Boston with the Donald Harrison Quintet live from Berklee College of Music at 7:00p.m. (Eastern) on December 31st. As the evening progresses the show will include a tribute to jazz vocalist Shirley Horn from the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; highlights from "A Great Night in Harlem - a Tribute to Ray Charles" sponsored by the Jazz Foundation of America from the Apollo Theater; the first New Year's Eve from Frederick P. Rose Hall, the new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center; a juke joint party from actor Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi; the Latin Giants of Jazz live from Denver; and, finally, the Joshua Redman Trio and friends live from Yoshi's in Oakland, California.
In picture: Mike Pappas coordinates NPR's New Year's Eve Broadcast "Toast of the Nation" in 5.1
23rd December 2004
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