Anthony Leo, co-founder of Nashville-based audio/video production company 800 Pound Gorilla Media that specializes in recording comedy performances for albums and live specials, regularly utilizes a range of Lectrosonics wireless gear that includes DCR822 Compact Digital and UCR411a Digital Hybrid Wireless receivers, HMa and SMQV Digital Hybrid Wireless transmitters and an HHa Handheld Wireless transmitter.
Leo has been doing audio and video production in Nashville for 16 years, with 800 Pound Gorilla Media originally starting as a comedy record label, but the firm now does much more. “We do albums, shoot comedy specials… we aim to be a supportive service for every stage of a comedian’s career,” he says.
Leo also notes that comedy venue recording isn’t like capturing a room for music: “You want to grab stereo ‘pockets’ around the room, where the crowd mics don’t pick up too much of the comic’s voice through the PA. If there’s too much of the comic in the crowd mics, you can’t raise the crowd level without also raising the comic’s echo – that’s why some comedy albums sound like they were recorded in a tunnel. The PA is almost your enemy.”
In addition, the production team has to work within the comic’s preferences for the project. “Comics get to select where their specials are shot, because they know the venue and their audience. We have to find places to mount mics for good capture without showing up on camera.”
Recently, the 800 Pound Gorilla Media team recorded a Leanne Morgan comedy special at the Lexington Opera House in Kentucky. One set of mics was placed above the highest balcony, angled down 60 degrees to clearly pick up the sound of laughter from the seats. “That’s all the way at the far end of the theater, and I’m all the way backstage,” he notes. “The Lectrosonics wireless has a range that I absolutely love! I could be backstage, around the corner with huge concrete walls in the way, and I’m going to get a clean signal every time. I can place mics wherever I want and I don’t have to worry about range.”
Meanwhile, to capture a wide crowd sound on the main floor, the team had to mounted mics on the theater’s ornamental columns. Once placed, the mics had to be ready to go, and stopping the show to replace batteries wasn’t an option.
“I can throw two Lithium batteries in the HMa Plug-On transmitter and it’ll run phantom power for almost five hours,” Leo says. “That’s fantastic, because we have to turn them on, make sure everything’s good – and then they open the doors, seat the crowd, run the opening comics, do announcements, deal with various delays… I don’t have to worry about losing a mic toward the end of the headliner’s act, when the crescendo is happening.”
A Lectrosonics HHa handheld transmitter with HHC or HHVMC capsule also serve as the comic’s primary and backup handheld mics, as well as a lavalier with SMQV beltpack transmitter to capture the voice when they go off mic or use the handheld mic as a prop.
“Being in production for 16 years, you quickly find that if something’s reliable, you want to stick with it,” he concludes. “Something is going to fail regardless, so you want to hedge your bets with gear that has the lowest possible failure rate. Our Lectrosonics gear has been so reliable for so long that it’s hard to find a reason to switch.”
Leanne Morgan’s comedy special at the Lexington Opera House is coming soon Netflix soon.
