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[Dan Schielke]

So I've been watching the ceremonies the last couple days and have been daydreaming about what the setup is for the entire olympic venue. I think it would be fun to creatively mic all the events. Getting that subtle brush of the hands on the pommel horse or an arrow hitting its target during archery. Also I've recently caught this video of the PA in the stadium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jN96ZEJxXU

I counted something around 20 line arrays. And that's just one venue! And then all the broadcast sends...

[TrevorMilburn]

There is an article here about the systems in the main stadium:
http://www.prosoundnewseurope.com/main-content/full/l-acoustics-v-dosc-for-opening-ceremony;jsessionid=1E0972437173A20A065848FAF3735753
There was a discussion over on speakerplans.com (http://forum.speakerplans.com/olympics_topic69359_page1.html) about the system and related matters.
Hope this helps.

[Christian Tepfer]

I watched a video about olympic audio at a wireless seminar, lots of microphones, odd-looking placement etc. Very interesting stuff. It was a video by Audio Technica and I don't seem to find anywhere.

[Chris Johnson [UK]]

As someone who is a Londoner and has been working on several parts of the Olympics, including a small part of the opening ceremony, i thought i'd chime in...

So yes, it is pretty massive. Although, perhaps not as massive as you might think considering what a huge event it is. The only other large event I could think to compare it to is something like Eurovision, which contains as much PA/Lighting/Video as this, but obviously has a very different range of content.

The PA in the stadium works very well. Good coverage. Having it suspended where it is strikes a great balance between sight lines and audio quality. Stadium systems often have to compromise massively on positioning, typically having speakers either solely on the ground, or very high leading to extreme down angles. The rigging here has minimised that issue as much as you can.

FOH is a pair of Digico SD7s for the ceremonies, with another pair at Monitors, and I believe one being used for the show mix (from ceremonies) to the broadcasters.

At an event like this though, you have to remember that you have a lot of duplicate kit. Partly for redundancy, but also because there are multiple broadcasters with multiple sets of cameras, ambience & FX mics, etc... A lot of infrastructure is shared, but not everything.

However, that being said, the really huge undertaking in anything like the olympics is communications (something i have been involved with). There are hundreds of comms panels in the stadium, not to mention a system of thousands of digital trunked radios that cover the entire city...

[Jordan Wolf]

However, that being said, the really huge undertaking in anything like the olympics is communications (something i have been involved with). There are hundreds of comms panels in the stadium, not to mention a system of thousands of digital trunked radios that cover the entire city...

Peter Erskine has been sharing a lot of his inside info with us concerning the comms setup(s).  If you haven't already, read through it and share some of your own experiences with the setup and what you've been involved with.

[Phill Chapman]

...and I believe one being used for the show mix (from ceremonies) to the broadcasters.

Yes, two SD7Bs (one as backup) are being used along with an SD10B as an ambient mic sub-mixer.

[Kevin McDonough]

Yes, two SD7Bs (one as backup) are being used along with an SD10B as an ambient mic sub-mixer.

More info....

http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,139342.0.html

k

[Alec Spence]

I counted something around 20 line arrays. And that's just one venue!

22 hangs, actually (counted during a long rehearsal one day)

Plus plenty of ground stacks too!  I remember the joy of the first rehearsal to track of the industrial revolution.  1 performer crouched down right behind one of the ground stacks - I knew he wouldn't last long beyond the first "hah".

Quite cute to see a bundle of ART 312 used for secondary PA during rehearsals too.

But, boy, did that kit take a *lot* of rain over the 6 weeks before the show...

[Nikhil Mulay]

 I just attended a digico training session in Mumbai here the day before and their guy was talking about all the consoles that they have put out for the olympics. He also happened to be at the stadium for the opening ceremony and he said that they were using Vdosc's for the main hangs. Didn't get any other details though.
  Talking about the broadcast, I saw it here on ESPN HD over here and I noticed that they kept on switching between the stadium mics and a direct mix at random moments. It was kind of irritating when that happened as I felt that the stadium mics sounded beautiful as you could feel the ambience in the stadium while the direct feeds while very well mixed lacked the atmosphere. Was wondering if it happened to the Indian feed or it was on all the feeds.
  All in all, still cannot get over "Pandemonium". Have seen it thrice already and it still blows me away with the production.

[Marcus Baeumler]

...
  Talking about the broadcast, I saw it here on ESPN HD over here and I noticed that they kept on switching between the stadium mics and a direct mix at random moments. It was kind of irritating when that happened as I felt that the stadium mics sounded beautiful as you could feel the ambience in the stadium while the direct feeds while very well mixed lacked the atmosphere. Was wondering if it happened to the Indian feed or it was on all the feeds.

I think this happens when the tv commentator, who sits in the stands, switches his microphone on and off.

[ProSoundWeb Community]