Sound Designer of the Olympics: Dennis Baxter

Hyper-Real sound design is used in more applications than just for film. One very interesting way this technique is implemented is in the Olympics. In an interview with NPR, Dennis Baxter, the official sound engineer for the Olympics, explains how he uses creative microphone placement to create a listening environment for the TV viewer that actually exceeds what is heard by the live audience.

"It is figuring out exactly what it is you want a sport to sound like, and then [develop] a microphone plan that delivers the highest possible quality of sound to engage the viewer, and fundamentally satisfy the expectations of the viewer," said Baxter in the interview. Baxter decides how he will design sound for all of the games based on what he himself would expect to hear if he was to close his eyes and listen to the sport . These expectations have been molded by film and video games and do not reflect reality. A creative approach at recording the games must be taken in order to appease the audience.

For the Archery event, Baxter recalled his childhood watching Robin Hood, and decided that he wanted to be able to hear the arrow fly through the air during the event. To accomplish this, microphones are set up under the archer, and then periodically all the way to the target in order to catch the sound of the arrow flying by. For gymnastics, the sounds we hear on TV are actually near impossible to hear as a live viewer, even if you were sitting in the front row. For the uneven bars and the balance beam, contact microphones were placed on and within the equipment that are able to detect vibrations. These vibrations are picked up in the microphone device, no matter how discrete, and then transmitted to the TV viewing audience allowing the view to hear every flex of the bar and footfall of the athlete. For rowing, Baxter had to take a completely different approach. After his first time engineering the games, a complaint was made that during the rowing event, the most audible sounds were that of the helicopters filming and the motors of the chase boats. The solution of removing the unwanted sound was to record the teams at practice, and then use that recorded audio synced to the live feed. What the audience hears during the rowing event  isn't live audio, but it does meet the expectations of the viewer to be able to hear the oars and boats cutting through the water, without the distracting sounds of support members.

With the winter Olympics right around the corner, pay attention to exactly what you are hearing. Odds are pretty good that what you are hearing is a unique experience to TV. Even though must of us can't be in Sochi next month, at least you get to stay warm and hear every little detail of the action.