History of Sound Shark Audio – Part 3
But let’s get back to the Sound Shark story.
Randy Gardner, a freelance producer from Upland, California, visited the Klover / Kernwer booth at the 2013 Convention for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and asked if it would be possible to create a small parabolic collector that could be mounted to a camera or hidden in a corner. Randy worked in reality TV and was looking for a solution to the “change in character” that people go through when they see a microphone on a stick hanging over them.
Over the next year Klover Products developed a nine-inch diameter parabolic collector which we introduced at the 2014 NAB convention as the Klover MiK 09. Our other products were the Klover MiK 26 and the Klover MiK 16. You get the idea. Since that time the Klover MiK 09 has been used for various television & movie productions as well as for MLB baseball games, NBA / NCAA basketball games, and championship boxing match. This photo shows the unit in use at the NCAA basketball tournament.
Later in the spring of 2014, Will Crocket, a photographer consultant from Chicago, Illinois, agreed to test one of these units. Will loved the product and was the first to suggest that we offer a more user-friendly version of the product for the non-technical videographer. This suggestion led to the creation of the Sound Shark. Will went on to use the small parab for a project where created an automated system to create souvenir videos for visitors of The Ledge at Chicago’s Willis Tower.
Obviously we owe a debt of gratitude to both of these men. The Sound Shark probably wouldn’t be here today without them.