Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1333072
34 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Winter 2021 I met up with Bruce Arledge Jr., in the sound booth for Dancing with the Stars, via Zoom. I thought he was rolling, but Bruce said, "Oh, no, we're just rehearsing the opening number. It's all playback. I've got the faders open." Bruce has been on DWTS for sixteen seasons and is a second- generation Local 695 Sound Mixer. His dad, Bruce Arledge Sr., worked at KTLA, ABC and was one of the fi rst freelance Audio Engineers. Some of Bruce Arledge Jr.'s credits include Grease Live! (2016), Hairspray Live! (2016), and Rent: Live (2019), as the Audio Supervisor. Bruce began his career as an A-2 and then moved up to a Fisher Boom Operator on videotape shows. In those days they usually had two booms on the stage fl oor. When he moved on to four-camera live audience fi lm shows, there was no room for the base of the Fisher booms. The boom arms were moved up to the green beds and were mounted on to catwalk stands by Local 80. The booms were locked in place and they no longer had the fl exibility to have the A-2's dolly the perambulator into an ideal position on the stage fl oor. After Bruce put in a couple of seasons on Family Matters over at Warner Bros., he started tinkering on an idea to manufacture a device to allow the booms to be moved anywhere in the green beds. Thus, Boom-Trac was born; it's a T-bar track system that's interconnected, and can run along the whole front of the Boom-Trac by Richard Lightstone CAS AMPS Bruce Arledge Jr. & Boom-Trac stage above the proscenium. It's essentially a dolly system that sits on the track allowing the booms to move seamlessly and quietly. You can do on-air moves, while the mic faders are open. The Boom Operator can reposition and adjust angles depending on talent blocking, lighting, and shadow issues. You can move straight up and down or as high as you want allowing the opportunity to move the boom anywhere needed. In the fi rst year, he got his system on about four shows and it was very well received. Bruce explains, "I had great relationships with all the Boom Operators because, I too was a Boom Operator. We went from four shows, to eight shows, to thirty shows, within two seasons." Bruce Arledge's Boom-Trac is a hands-on operation. "I'm still involved with every setup and strike. I handle all the clients and producers, many I've known for thirty years. We have shows at Warner Bros., Sony, Radford, basically wherever there is a four- camera show that needs our system, we install it." At the time of writing, Bruce has installs on eleven shows.