Strictly Come Outside

Outside broadcast vehicles belonging to Red TX and CTV worked in tandem to provide BBC Studios and Post Production sound engineers with the facilities to capture and broadcast the audio from Strictly Come Dancing’s one-off Glitterball Spectacular in stereo and 5.1 surround sound. The event, which took place at Wembley Arena on 17 November 2012 in aid of Children in Need, used the RED II truck from Red TX, while CTV provided its main OB9 scanner.

Andy Tapley, who used the Studer Vista 8 digital mixing system on board RED II, commented: “It was a complex project that involved a lot of inputs to capture the sound from the audience, the presenters and the judges, the dancers, the orchestra and the guest acts. Usually Tony (Revell, BBC sound engineer) and I sit next to each other at the same console, but for this show we were in separate vehicles and had to co-ordinate our mixes using the technical infrastructure provided by Red TX and CTV.” The two trucks were linked using a combination of MADI and MIDI interfaces, which allowed Tapley, who was in charge of the audio from the orchestra and the dancers, to work in unison with Revell, who was handling the audio from the audience, presenters, judges and guest performers to create the main mix.

Red TX Director Ian Dyckhoff, who along with Red TX engineer Ollie Nesham was present on the night to support the BBC sound team, said: “We consider it an honour to be involved in such a prestigious project. Live shows are always nerve wracking and, although we weren’t manning the controls this time, we saw it as our responsibility to ensure that technically everything ran smoothly.”
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