The Tools Behind a Dependable Broadcast Audio Workflow

Before any desk or stage box is chosen, the first tool we pick up is a plain input list. Every source gets a row: what it is, where it sits, which microphone or feed carries it, and who is responsible for it on the day. It sounds modest, yet most audio problems we are asked to untangle began with a list that was kept in someone's head.

We build the list with the production team rather than for them. Presenters, guests, playback sources and remote contributors all appear, along with the awkward items that tend to be forgotten, such as a talkback return for the floor manager or a feed for the interpreter. Once the list is agreed, every later drawing refers back to it, and changes are made in one place only.

The list also settles an argument early: how many channels the desk really needs. Counting honestly, with spares marked separately, keeps the choice of console grounded in the show rather than in the catalogue.

• One row per source, with owner and location
• Spares listed apart from live channels
• One master copy, changes dated and initialled

A microphone plan is a floor drawing with a purpose: it tells a crew member who has never seen the set exactly where each capsule goes and what it is for. We draw it to scale from the studio plan, mark boom paths and cable runs, and give every position a short, consistent label that matches the input list.

Choice of microphone follows the room and the person, not habit. Hard reflective surfaces, a nearby air-handling duct or a presenter who moves a great deal each change what will work. We note the reasoning beside each choice, so that a replacement swapped in during a busy week does not quietly undo the thinking behind it.

Where lavalier microphones are used, the plan records placement on the body and the intended wind and clothing precautions. These small notes save many minutes in make-up and wardrobe, which is where audio time is usually lost.

• Scaled drawing taken from the studio plan
• Labels that match the input list exactly
• Reasoning for each microphone choice written beside it

The routing diagram is the document we return to most often. It follows a signal from source through stage box, desk, matrix and outputs, and shows every point where it can be split, delayed or muted. We keep the layout left to right, with the same symbols throughout, so that an engineer can trace a fault by following a line with a finger.

Alongside the diagram sits a patch table in plain text. Where the diagram shows structure, the table gives the exact socket, bus and output for each source. When something fails during a rehearsal, the table is what gets read aloud, and a shared table prevents two people from describing the same connection in two different ways.

We also mark which routes are fixed and which may be changed per show. That distinction matters for crews who rotate between productions, because it tells them what they may adjust and what must stay put.

• Left to right flow, consistent symbols
• Patch table kept beside every diagram
• Fixed and adjustable routes clearly distinguished

Monitoring is where good plans are checked against reality. We specify the listening position, the level at which the mix is judged and a short set of reference material the whole crew knows well. Judging a broadcast mix at an arbitrary volume on unfamiliar material is a reliable way to be surprised on air.

For performers and presenters, foldback is planned as carefully as the main mix. Who needs to hear what, on which feed, and how it is balanced against the room are written down per position. Over-loud foldback causes spill into open microphones, so we treat the two problems as one.

We recommend that the control room and any secondary listening points are compared once, early, using the same reference material. The differences are noted rather than corrected away, since a crew that knows how each room colours the sound makes better decisions under pressure.

• Fixed listening level and known reference material
• Foldback planned per position, not per show
• Differences between rooms recorded

The last tool is a checklist, and we write it to be short enough to be used. It runs in signal order: power, clocking, stage box links, each microphone with a spoken line check, desk recalls, outputs to the vision mixer and any remote returns. Every step has a named person, so nothing is assumed to have been done by someone else.

We keep a copy of the saved desk settings from the previous show alongside the new ones. If a rehearsal sounds wrong, comparing the two files often shows the cause within minutes, whether that is a changed gain, a moved fader group or a bus that was reassigned for a one-off sketch.

Mid autumn schedules tend to bring heavier calendars and shorter set-up windows, so a routine that takes fifteen unhurried minutes is worth more than any single piece of equipment added to the rack.