Ink Master, an American reality competition on Spike TV in which 17 tattoo artists from around the country compete in challenges, is served by a specialized system utilizing Dante networking protocol and a custom control surface formulated by Peter Schneider, co-owner of Gotham Sound and Communications (NYC).
The specialized design facilitates all of the show’s audio being successfully managed and networked, with the mixes pulled together by a new Yamaha Commercial Audio QL5 digital console provided by Scharff Weisberg/Worldstage of New York.
Schneider is also responsible for the show’s entire audio system design, in collaboration with the show’s film mixer and sound supervisor, the late Martin Kelly, who passed away shortly after the new season began.
Shooting reality TV is a complicated, fast-paced process that requires precision. The audio team for Ink Master juggles 40 audio inputs for the contestants, judges, and human canvasses, plus 16 plant mics and four boom operators, the show’s host, not to mention producer mics, stage manager mics, cameras, etc.
“The control room essentially never gets powered down, and shooting takes place around the clock,” states Schneider. “Marty’s (Kelly) main concern was that the system be absolutely rock solid. We both felt that the Yamaha QL5 and Dante networking could provide that inherent reliability.”
Schneider provided an overview of the signal flow that also includes wireless mic sources for the 16 tattoo artists and “human canvasses,” judges, and boom operators. (Judges for the show include by rock legend Dave Navarro and tattoo icons Chris Nunez and Oliver Peck.)
“With all of these patch points, we needed an audio transport technology that wasn’t an after-thought to the mixer, but rather integrated into the very heart of the mixer,” Schneider says. “In this way, audio could be converted one time and then distributed, mixed, and processed to all of the needed destinations, all without leaving its native transport stream.
“The Yamaha QL5 digital audio console met our requirements, and more, including integrating analog I/O that can be seamlessly combined with the Yamaha Rio input/output box preamps and other Dante audio sources,” he continues. “In the Ink Master situation, our 16 plant mics were input via a Rio1608 that was remotely located 200 feet away in the studio. These outputs were used for IFB feeds and LTC time code.”
Since season two of Ink Master, the show has relied on Yamaha for mixing, starting with an LS9-32 (using MADI), followed by a CL5, and now the QL5. “We all loved the rock solid reliability of Yamaha’s products, and moving up to the new QL5 was really the only logical choice for the mixing console,” Schneider concludes.
