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Sound Mixer Jon Mendel in the field with some of his Lectrosonics gear.

Mixer Jon Mendel Records The Sound Of Vermont With Help From Lectrosonics

Toolkit includes Lectrosonics SRC and UCR411a receivers, SMQV and SMV transmitters, SMDWB wideband recording transmitters, and IFBT4 transmitters paired with IFBR1a receivers for monitoring.

Burlington, VT-based sound mixer Jon Mendel regularly utilizes Lectrosonics Digital Hybrid Wireless gear for a range of projects that include a reality TV show about infomercial star Anthony Sullivan farming legal hemp, a web series in which kids win scholarships to prestigious athletic camps, and more.

Specifically, his toolkit includes Lectrosonics SRC and UCR411a receivers, SMQV and SMV transmitters, SMDWB wideband recording transmitters, and IFBT4 transmitters paired with IFBR1a receivers for monitoring. “Lectrosonics has firmly supplanted any other wireless gear I started out with when I got out of college,” says Mendel. “I resolved to save money and make the jump to Lectro as soon as I could, because I knew that owning broadcast-quality equipment would make a difference in the gigs I got. I bought my first Lectrosonics piece about five years ago, a used UCR411a.”

Mendel’s client-based work demands four main things from the audio department: “Reliability, range, durability, and sound quality,” he explains. “You have to turn it on and it just has to work without a lot of fiddling. At the best of times, you don’t want to mess around adjusting a transmitter on the talent’s body. With Covid-19, that’s now a hundred times as true because we’re doing shoots as distanced as possible. That’s why I love the dual batteries in the SMDWB and SMQV transmitters — they last forever. I will use the SMV, which has a single battery, if I need a transmitter that’s physically tiny.”

Range was a key requirement on the recently wrapped “Kings of Kush,” a reality show about hemp farming with a celebrity presence: “Anthony Sullivan, the infomercial guy, found that CBD was the only thing that relieved the side effects of a medication his daughter needs. Long story short, he was so impressed he bought an entire farm called MontKush and we filmed a show there for more than 40 days straight. I was part of an outdoor crew that would film conversations of these hemp farmers, employees, and ‘Sully’ himself from 20, 30, sometimes 50 yards away. We got crystal-clear audio the entire time without using distributed antennas — just the little whips on the receivers themselves. Most of the time, the output setting of 100mW was enough for this, but if we really needed punch, the SMQV can go to a quarter-watt.”

On another Woodward shoot, Lectrosonics’ infrared transmitter-receiver pairing helped him meet the challenge: “For one episode in New York City — which is already a crazy RF environment — the scholarship was going to a talented young gymnast in Harlem. She was on the way to meet her coach, who was going to give her the big surprise. I had scanned for frequencies ahead of time, of course, but later we found out there was a National Guard base nearby. Military radio is notorious for eating up spectrum. Suddenly, I have nothing from her coach, and the kid is walking in the door in less than five minutes. I was able to scan for a new frequency, bring the coach in, re-pair her transmitter, and get back up and running inside of 30 seconds or so. That was crucial, because delaying anything would have ruined the surprise.

“I don’t use IFB that often,” Mendel concludes, “but when I do, it’s on reality shows with multiple producers. Lectro just came out with the R1B but I still love the older R1A. This is another situation where it just needs to work, because if those producers can’t listen in on every little word and bit of drama between the talent members, they don’t care about why. Again, I always get crystal-clear audio with no problems. I’m working towards an all-Lectro rig, and the next items on my wish list are an M2 Duet digital IFB setup and the DCHT digital stereo transmitter for camera hops.

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TELEFUNKEN Elektroakustik’s mission is to design and build iconic microphones and modern professional audio equipment that provides classic sound for recording, broadcast, studio, and stage . Our vision is to be a global leader in emitting good vibes through manufacturing and design, all while capturing the spark of the TELEFUNKEN legacy and transmitting it with uncompromising quality.