On another forum within USMB I was discussing audio as used in broadcast. I recalled an event I had worked in 1976 which, to the very young, seems like Abraham Lincoln might have somehow been involved.
He wasn't.
In 1976 Trinity (Episcopal) Church in Newport, Rhode Island had a very important service commemorating the founding of the church. The guest was Dr. Michael Ramsey (Michael Ramsey - Wikipedia}, then Archbishop of Canterbury. Roughly comparable, in The Church of England, to The Pope in The Roman Catholic faith.
It was a cold and blustery night with snow forecast.
The somewhat small remote truck was parked in the cemetery behind the church. First job was to route camera and audio cables into the church. But there were no doors or windows at the back of the church. We had to lower a rope from an arched vent opening in the attic then haul up the cables (they were quite large in diameter and very heavy back then) and then back down through the pipes of the organ into main body of the church.
I got the job of placing microphones. Nop wireless microphones at the time; everything was cabled. Simple enough until I came to the pulpit. The pulpit structure in Trinity Church was and still is a three-deck affair. Not enough microiphones to "cover" all three. Which one would Archbishop Ramsey use?
There were several clerics in black "dresses" about. I picked one who looked like he'd been around a while and asked him which The Archbishop would use.
His response: "Ohhhhhhhh....... "He's an old bugger and always thinking how he needs to keep close to God. No doubt he'll use the highest one. The one closest to Heaven.....just in case...."
The service started; The music was glorious. The various local clergy well spoken. The camera work was exquisite. Snow had begun to fall and the dim lighting of the interior combined with floodlighting outside made for some really beautiful shots through the arched windows as big flakes fell and small piles built up on the lead supports built into the windows.
Finally the homily.....Archbishop Michael Ramsey.
The same old clergyman who had told me where the pulpit microphone should go.
Most genuinely humble and gracious clergyman I've ever met.
There was a videotape made and presented, along with an appropriate player to Trinity Church. Last I was in Newport I visited the church office but nobody there had any idea where the machine and cassette might be found.
There was a 2" tape archived locally but the station that kept it was sold several times and relocated so that, too disappeared.
Oh the part of the remote that almost spoiled the experience? The temperature had fallen and the snow accumulated. The camera cables had stiffened and were buried in nearly a foot of wet snow. Still, they had to be picked up and put away. A bit of work that took longer than the setup and broadcast combined.
He wasn't.
In 1976 Trinity (Episcopal) Church in Newport, Rhode Island had a very important service commemorating the founding of the church. The guest was Dr. Michael Ramsey (Michael Ramsey - Wikipedia}, then Archbishop of Canterbury. Roughly comparable, in The Church of England, to The Pope in The Roman Catholic faith.
It was a cold and blustery night with snow forecast.
The somewhat small remote truck was parked in the cemetery behind the church. First job was to route camera and audio cables into the church. But there were no doors or windows at the back of the church. We had to lower a rope from an arched vent opening in the attic then haul up the cables (they were quite large in diameter and very heavy back then) and then back down through the pipes of the organ into main body of the church.
I got the job of placing microphones. Nop wireless microphones at the time; everything was cabled. Simple enough until I came to the pulpit. The pulpit structure in Trinity Church was and still is a three-deck affair. Not enough microiphones to "cover" all three. Which one would Archbishop Ramsey use?
There were several clerics in black "dresses" about. I picked one who looked like he'd been around a while and asked him which The Archbishop would use.
His response: "Ohhhhhhhh....... "He's an old bugger and always thinking how he needs to keep close to God. No doubt he'll use the highest one. The one closest to Heaven.....just in case...."
The service started; The music was glorious. The various local clergy well spoken. The camera work was exquisite. Snow had begun to fall and the dim lighting of the interior combined with floodlighting outside made for some really beautiful shots through the arched windows as big flakes fell and small piles built up on the lead supports built into the windows.
Finally the homily.....Archbishop Michael Ramsey.
The same old clergyman who had told me where the pulpit microphone should go.
Most genuinely humble and gracious clergyman I've ever met.
There was a videotape made and presented, along with an appropriate player to Trinity Church. Last I was in Newport I visited the church office but nobody there had any idea where the machine and cassette might be found.
There was a 2" tape archived locally but the station that kept it was sold several times and relocated so that, too disappeared.
