We partner with WDAV, classical public radio, located in Davidson, N.C., for a live broadcast of this weekend's Classics finale performance, Carmina Burana.

So, what goes into setting up a live broadcast from the Belk Theater? Turns out, it's a lot. In fact, it takes the Charlotte Symphony's recorded media producer and engineer Bob Rydel (also a member of the horn section!), plus a crew of 4 to 5 people around 7 hours to set up the stage and control room. This includes 18 microphones and about 6,000 feet of cable. 

It takes another 3 to 4 microphones, over 1,000 feet of cable, and 12 hours to set up the announcer booth backstage and ready the equipment that transfers audio back to the station.

In all, there are 8 on-site members of WDAV staff directly involved in the broadcasts, including 2 broadcast engineers, 1 technical director, 1 or 2 hosts, 1 broadcast producer, 1 broadcast director, and 1 additional studio producer at the station. What's also cool is that on days of live broadcast, the concert audio is sent back to the station as a digital, stereo signal via the Internet, using multiple IP addresses for back up in the event of disruptions.