Los
Angeles, CA (November 12, 2015) — Like many sound
mixers working in L.A., Jay Verkamp initially moved to California to pursue a career in music only to find his
true calling--sound mixing for TV and film. A professional sound mixer and boom
operator for more than a decade, Verkamp reports that he reached a defining
moment in his career five years ago when he first encountered Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless® technology.
Verkamp first became a
fan of Lectrosonics when he arrived in LA in 2002, because he says that they
are the industry standard and the first choice of professionals. Later, in 2010
he encountered the power of the SMVQ transmitters on the set of Top Gear.
“In 2010 I started working
on History’s Top Gear,” Verkamp
recalls. “I met with experts, researched and tested transmitters and antennas,
and that’s when I discovered the one-two punch of the SMVQ
transmitters coupled with an array of SNA
antennas. I wrote emails to the producers to convince them to invest in this high-powered
equipment. That was the game changer which
transformed our audio department into a “car show audio” department. We needed
high-powered transmitters and the correct antennas to keep up with the high
speed action and long distance transmissions involved in shooting a high impact
show like this, and Lectrosonics made this transformation possible.”
History’s Top Gear is the U.S. version of the
original BBC show in the U.K. and features a trio of hosts—Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood—who face a
series of challenges in each episode driving anything from a cheap clunker to
the most expensive supercar. When Verkamp arrived on the show the
production was already using Lectrosonics wireless equipment, and he quickly
added more.
The
Lectrosonics SMQV UHF belt pack transmitter is a dual-battery model that offers
user-adjustable output power: 50, 100 or 250 milliwatts, depending on the
application and desired battery life. “I convinced the Top Gear producers that we needed more
high-powered transmitters on the car show. Since then my job has become so much
easier,” adds Jay.
There are at least six
SMQVs on the show, typically paired with a Sanken COS11 Microphone, Verkamp
continues. “It’s generally one per host, and I also try and get something on
each car, especially if it’s a supercar or something that sounds really
distinctive. It’s usually positioned by the exhaust, but I have put a mic under
the hood when you can really hear an intake. That makes the level of reality
even cooler.”
There may also
occasionally be guests, he says, adding to the channel count. “One time I had
an entire mariachi band crammed into a Volkswagen Bus.”
A typical Top Gear production involves a caravan
of vehicles, Verkamp continues. “The producers’ vehicle with a Lectrosonics Venue
receiver and SNA antennas is out in front, because they’re obviously keeping
out of frame. The camera car falls behind that, with me and the camera guy,
strapped in, shooting out the back. Then, the hosts or other talent are lined
up behind.”
With such a spread of
vehicles all travelling at high speeds, a high-powered transmitter is
essential. “You need the throw, especially when you’re driving through areas
where you have no idea what the frequencies are doing. They’re always changing,
so you need something that pounds through all of the madness out there,” he
says, referring to the dense RF spectrum in some parts of the country.
Offering an example
where high power and a long throw proved essential, Verkamp singles out an
episode from season three, when Tanner, driving a Bentley, raced professional
snowboarder Benji Farrow down a slope in Breckenridge, Colorado (and won). “We
had a Venue system that I set up in one of the ski shacks halfway up the hill
and the producers were able to hear the entire drive all the way down the
mountain. I chalk that up to the Lectrosonics SMQV transmitters.”
Verkamp generally
spreads the production across four Lectrosonics frequency blocks, “Everything
going to the camera is on a certain block. My IFBs—they’re the regular
Lectrosonics IFBR1a receivers—are on a totally different block. I use two
blocks for the talent and split them.”
Being able to switch out
frequency blocks in the Venue receiver on the fly in order to cope with a
changing RF environment can save the day, but Verkamp says he always does his
homework upfront. “I send zip codes off to Max Francis at Lectrosonics,” he
says. Francis joined the company earlier this year after a decade in
professional audio and the film industry. “Max sends me back charts and tells
me which blocks to use. Frequency coordination is a huge part of the job, and
being able to spread everything out over multiple blocks definitely helps.”
“I don’t think there’s another company like
Lectrosonics that can comprehensively take your whole shoot—high-power
transmitters, antennas, Venue systems, everything—and coordinate it with PDFs
so that you have a reference before you go