Behind the scenes: Take a peek inside a ‘This Is Nashville’ producer’s field reporting kit

For our upcoming daily show, This Is Nashville, transparency is important. So, we want to take you behind the scenes as we build this show from the ground up. This is the third in a series of blog posts introducing our team and letting you in on the process.

A journalism mentor once advised me that “it’s your job to make the microphone disappear.” Not literally, of course. While the legality of secretly recording someone varies from state to state, the practice is usually frowned upon by editors and listeners alike.

What he meant was that it’s my job as a journalist to keep my equipment from becoming a distraction during an interview. It’s crucial to make sources feel comfortable and engaged enough in the conversation that the recording device I’m holding less than a foot away from their face fades into the background.

Good eye contact and keeping the mic still goes a long way. But at the end of the day, the equipment we use at WPLN is very much present and absolutely central to what we do.

Today I’ll take you on a tour of my field reporting kit and explain how each piece of equipment is used to collect the audio you hear on the air.

Zoom Recorder

This is the star of the show. We use this device to record sound and control levels — that’s how loud the audio is. The two antennae-looking protrusions on top are the onboard mics, which are great for picking up background noise. Different external microphones can also be plugged into the Zoom recorder depending on the situation.

Omni Microphone

When you think of a microphone, this is more or less what comes to mind. This hand-held mic can be plugged into the Zoom and offers more control than the onboard mics.

Though I most often use these in interviews, they can also gather sound from all directions. For example, if I’m using this mic in an interview while music plays from a speaker to my right, it will pick up on both the music and your conversation. The fuzzy cover, sometimes referred to as a dead cat (no, really), cuts down on wind noise when recording outdoors.

Shotgun Microphone

This mic picks up sound in the direction I point it, and pretty much only in the direction I point it, which is useful when I’m trying to record an interview without background noise.

Headphones

Headphones also plug into the Zoom and let me hear what I’m recording. They are crucial. The tiniest, unobtrusive things — like shifting your weight, passing the mic from one hand to the other, or a refrigerator running in the background — can end up sounding thunderous and ruin the audio recording. They also allow me to monitor the audio and hear if it is coming in too loud or too soft. Listening in lets me know exactly what I’m bringing back from the field.

One of my favorite things about working with audio is the depth and variety it offers. From the clattering of bowling pins to the roar of a crowd at a rock concert to the beeping of medical equipment, sound is extremely evocative.

As we get ready to launch This Is Nashville, I’m looking forward to using sound creatively to explore our city and bring our audience along for the ride.

Rose Gilbert is a multimedia producer for This Is Nashville, a new daily show launching early 2022 from WPLN News. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @rosegilbert99.