Grams operators play in any music or sound effects that are required when recording a studio show or outside broadcast.
Grams operators play in any music or sound effects that are required when recording a studio show or outside broadcast. They work on a variety of programmes, from entertainment to sport. They report to the sound supervisor and take direction from the director. ('Grams' is short for gramophone, which is what originally would have been used to play sound cues during the recording or transmitting of live television shows.)
They prepare the sound files for use and follow the script and the director’s instructions on when to cue them. Some sound effects, like a contestant’s buzzer on a game show, will be rigged into the grams operator’s equipment so they can control the sound that comes out when it is triggered.
They need to know how to operate bespoke hardware, edit efficiently and work with MIDI and GPI software to enable sound cue relays from the vision mixer’s desk and graphics machines. Grams operators are either staff in studios with long-term or returning shows, sports units or freelance.