Alex Martinez Discusses Career In Broadcast Audio Business
Sound Engineer Alex Martinez who works at Univision discusses his career in the broadcast audio business and what he thinks will be the biggest change to the way programs will be mixed over the next five years.
Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?
I’m
the audio operator for Univision Noticias, the news wing of Univision
Network, where I’ve had the privilege of working for roughly seven
years. I mostly cover our live network news shows. This includes Primer
Impacto, Noticiero Univision, Noticiero Univision en UniMás and
Noticiero Univision Edicion Nocturna. I also work on the bigger special
news events, such as US State of the Union speeches, US and Latin
American election coverage and Papal visits around the globe, among many
others.
How did you get into the broadcast audio business? What made you realize this was the career path you wanted to take?
I
got into broadcast because of my love of audio, our fast-paced
schedules and the content we cover. I love working under pressure.
Whether a breaking news event across the world or a presidential
election here in the States, my team always seems to really shine in
these scenarios; and I’m happy to be a part of that. I also gravitated
to broadcast because I wanted to mix for a larger audience. The growth
potential at the network level to go from live concerts to in-studio and
live broadcast is huge, you can’t get much larger than a network seen
by so many in the US and simulcast to so many other countries around the
world.
But my foray into audio dates back to high school, when I
was working for a friend of mine who was a DJ at a local radio station.
Back then, I made $50 a night, mostly lugging record crates in and out
of appearances, and got to hang with them during the events. That was my
first experience seeing the power that audio has over listeners’
emotions and their way of thinking. I was hooked. I wanted to learn how
the recipe was put together. Soon after, I began an apprenticeship with a
local club owner who, for the next decade, taught me signal flow, how
to mix and even “why” circuitry behaves the way it does. Mixing live
bands solidified my love for audio mixing and the technical prowess
needed to do it properly. It was halfway through this apprenticeship
that I decided to formally go for a second college degree, this time
focused on audio.
What lead you to Univision?
It was
serendipitous, really. I was working for Avid’s Pro Tools Certification
School as a student advisor, and Univision called one day because they
wanted to look into certifying their audio operators. However, they
needed the instructor to be bilingual. The call came to me as I was the
only on-site advisor who was bilingual. They invited me to their studios
for a tour, and I fell in love with the fast pace and high energy on
set. They just so happened to have been looking for a new audio
operator, and I jumped at the opportunity.
How have you seen
audio technologies, and the way sound is captured, mixed and delivered,
evolve over your career? How has this changed programming or the way you
work?
When I started in audio, we were still using tape- and
reel-to-reel, so I think it’s safe to say that audio technology has
evolved tremendously. The progression from recording in analog to
recording on digital and non-linear editing has been the biggest change
I’ve seen. Everything is instantly available to mix and edit. We’re able
to turn a recorded segment, edit it and send it to master within
seconds. This has allowed us to now be able to update any relevant news
within minutes and have it ready for the next airing on the next time
zone.
On the delivery side, the current broadcast standard may
no longer be accurate. The biggest change I’ve found is that now we’re
mixing more for on-demand audiences who are tuning in on different
platforms. I foresee our format changing in the next few years and
adapting to this as a norm. Similar to the way in which music migrated
from CD-quality to MP3 formats, so, too, will broadcast evolve in the
same manner. Audio engineers will have to overcome the challenge of its
viewers tuning in from home theater setups in 5.1 and mono firing
speakers from a smart phone streaming live from a social media site.
Automating certain tasks will also become more frequent.
What do you see as the biggest change to the way programs will be mixed in the next five years?
The
biggest change is the immediacy of everything, and the quality it’s
sent in. The amount of signal loss and compression that occurs when
something is streamed is going to be a huge factor in the upcoming
years. Everything newsworthy will be based off social media and how
quickly we can come on-air to inform our audiences. I just hope we don’t
lose the artform of mixing in the evolution to social media and
automation. When you automate certain audio protocols, you lose that
touch that makes our shows so engulfing and emotional. I can lead our
audiences through the emotional highs and lows and transitions of our
stories on-air and have them feel as though they watched one cohesive
show – not just a bunch of random stories smashed together. This is only
achieved with actual mixing within proper dynamic range.
What is the workflow that you follow?
For
most shows, I sit with the director and go through the rundown he
created with the rest of production. Based on the show’s needs, I’ll
then go meet with our floor manager and tell him which mics and combos I
need, and what the show will require for each individual segment.
Everything is dictated based off how much movement we have: how many
guests, translation requirements, etc. Then I work with the technical
production manager to discuss the live satellite feeds. At that point,
we patch the live feeds into one of our Calrec consoles and clean them
up as needed so that they are broadcast-quality and level. Lastly, we
establish communication with our internal studio and any necessary
external sources and fold-back mixes. This would also include any mix
minus needed for said show.
What Calrec consoles do you use?
Are there any features that make your job easier, help you to produce a
better-quality product, benefitted your workflow or increased your
productivity?
Currently, I use the Calrec Artemis set up as
48-fader frame, but I actually started mixing broadcast audio on the
Alpha. Univision also currently deploys the Apollo, but I prefer my
beloved Artemis, and the Summa console for smaller productions.
The
ease of patching and routing on the Calrec Artemis has been a game
changer. The console allows me to do everything internally, and from the
comfort of my mix position. It has completely eliminated the need to go
to any type of patch bay, while the flexibility of internal routing
saves me a lot of time. Whenever necessary, I can quickly route anything
the director needs and adapt to any changes without worrying that I am
sacrificing my attention to the mix.
Then, there’s the most
important part: the sound. As mixers, we sometimes forget how a clean
signal can drastically ease our tasks. The console itself is the
clearest console I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on. The noise floor
is so low that it’s imperceptible, thanks to the EQ and compressor.
There’s no unwanted color or harmonics, it’s amazing how clean it
sounds. It allows the elements to just sit in the mix and mingle with
each other, instead of fighting for the audio space.
Can you think of a time when the Calrec consoles helped resolve any problems you were facing during a production?
There
was a time during the 2016 US election that we had to use multiple
studios, which required different control rooms. We had to unite them
and work out of three studios simultaneously with continuous translation
– from Spanish to English and English to Spanish – to air, throughout.
At one point, I believe we had about 12 translators going
simultaneously. Of course, this was in addition to our in-studio talent,
guests and live feeds. The broadcast was aired live on our two networks
and simulcast on social media. Due to the flexibility of the Calrec
console, I was able to route all audio, mix minus and outputs (with
different reference levels) without having to rely on other control
rooms for additional I/O or submixing.