Interruptible feedback
Encyclopedia
IFB or Interrupted Feedback (sometimes called interruptible foldback) systems are used in filmmaking
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...

 and video production
Video production
Video production is videography, the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media. The term includes methods of production and post-production...

 for television crew
Television crew
Television crew positions are derived from those of film crew, but with several differences.-Pre-production:-Casting Director:-Costume designer:-Director:* Associate Director -Location Manager:-Make-up artist:...

 communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...

, audio
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 monitoring and cueing. A recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 has a similar communications system called a Talkback
Talkback (recording)
In sound recording, talkback refers to the intercom system used in recording studios and production control rooms in television studios to enable personnel to communicate with people in the recording area or booth...

.

The IFB is a special intercom
Intercom
An intercom , talkback or doorphone is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings, functioning independently of the public telephone network. Intercoms are generally mounted permanently in buildings and vehicles...

 circuit
Telecommunication circuit
A telecommunication circuit is any line, conductor, or other conduit by which information is transmitted.A dedicated circuit, private circuit, or leased line is a line that is dedicated to only one use...

 that consists of a program feed sent to an earpiece worn by talent via a wire, telephone, or radio receiver (audio that is being "fed back" to talent) that can be interrupted and replaced by a television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

's or director's intercom microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...

. On a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 news program
News program
A news program, news programme, news show, or newscast is a regularly scheduled radio or television program that reports current events. News is typically reported in a series of individual stories that are presented by one or more anchors...

 for example, a producer can talk to the news anchors, to tell them when they are live on the air and when to begin reading off the script on the teleprompter
Teleprompter
An autocue is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards...

 or cue card
Cue card
Cue cards, also known as note cards or idiot cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience...

s.

In electronic news gathering
Electronic news gathering
ENG is a broadcasting industry acronym which stands for electronic news gathering. It can mean anything from a lone broadcast journalist reporter taking a single professional video camera out to shoot a story, to an entire television crew taking a production truck or satellite truck on location...

 (ENG), the IFB can be sent through a telephone hybrid
Telephone hybrid
Telephone hybrids are an essential functional component of the Public Switched Telephone Network . The term also describes the piece of equipment used in broadcast facilities to enable the airing of telephone callers....

, the station's multichannel television sound
Multichannel television sound
Multichannel television sound, better known as MTS , is the method of encoding three additional channels of audio into an NTSC-format audio carrier.- History :...

 (MTS) PRO channel during live remote broadcast
Remote broadcast
In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television studio and is considered an electronic field production . A remote pickup unit is usually used to transmit the audio and/or video back to the television station, where it joins the...

s, or through some other return link in a broadcast auxiliary service
Broadcast auxiliary service
A broadcast auxiliary service or BAS is any radio frequency system used by a radio station or TV station, which is not part of its direct broadcast to listeners or viewers...

. Program audio sent through the IFB, in this configuration, is in most cases a mix-minus
Mix-minus
In audio, a mix-minus is a particular setup of a mixing console, such that the output to a certain device contains everything except the input from that device...

; the complete mix of program audio minus certain elements. Because of the physics of electronics, all signals will suffer a time delay
Propagation delay
Propagation delay is a technical term that can have a different meaning depending on the context. It can relate to networking, electronics or physics...

 as they travel through a wire, or during the conversion to radio frequency and then back to electronic audio, or in the conversion from analogue to digital signal and back again to the analogue realm. Certain audio elements that originate remotely from the mix point will be eliminated (minus-ed) from the mix sent back to the remote site to avoid an undesirable echo. For example, a correspondent in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 connects to the bureau in New York via satellite TV backhaul. The bureau in New York broadcasts the program including the Baghdad element. The Baghdad signal is subtracted from the IFB feed to Baghdad to eliminate an echo that would occur because the signal travels so great a distance first up to the satellite then down to Earth (Baghdad to New York) then back up the satellite and then down to Earth (New York to Baghdad).

In-ear monitor
In-ear monitor
In-ear monitors are devices used by musicians, audio engineers and audiophiles to listen to music or to hear a custom crafted mix of vocals and stage instrumentation for live performance or recording studio mixing...

s (IEMs) are systems of small, usually custom-fitted, earpieces and transmitters used to provide foldback that in the past was fed to speakers in front of a performer on a stage. Wireless in-ear monitor systems are increasingly popular with musicians, since they allow more precise monitoring and freer movement on stage than fixed monitor speakers, and can incorporate sound-insulated ear-buds to provide hearing protection. For performances that include pre-recorded backing tracks, IEMs let the entire band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 synchronize with a click track
Click track
A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where marks were made on the film itself to indicate exact timings for musicians to accompany the film...

 without wearing cumbersome headphones. In-ear monitor can also refer to any headphone with sound-insulating earbuds which are placed inside the ear canal
Ear canal
The ear canal , is a tube running from the outer ear to the middle ear. The human ear canal extends from the pinna to the eardrum and is about 35 mm in length and 5 to 10 mm in diameter....

.

Occasionally, noise
Noise
In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...

 on the IFB can be so annoying that a reporter may casually remove the IEM from his or her ear while on the air. This noise may be caused by radio interference or another equipment problem. This can be quite dangerous to the ears as IEMs can take time to remove. In the case where a normal IFB receiver fails or is unavailable, reporters have been known to use mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...

s to provide an IFB circuit instead.

External links

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