LOS ANGELES — A 3.5-hour marathon of sorrow and triumph, the 54th Grammy Awards, broadcast live Feb. 12 from Staples Center, seen by 39 million and discussed by millions more on social networks, was astonishing, fresh and poignant — and flawless audio support was more crucial than ever. Audio for the succession of separate mini-productions was provided by ATK AudioTek and FOH engineers Ron Reaves and Mikael Stewart, with important assists from gear manufacturers including Audio-Technica, Sennheiser and Shure.
More details from press releases about the Grammy Awards and supporting manufacturers follow (and we’ll be adding to this posting as new releases become available —ed).
From the Grammy Awards (www.grammy.com)
54th Annual Grammy Awards Audio Technical Team Collaborates for Live Broadcast
LOS ANGELES — The 54th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012, showcased an amazing collection of musical performances and tributes and utilized the latest in technology to provide television viewers worldwide with a cutting-edge, high-definition/5.1 surround sound event.
The Grammy Awards’ technical staff consists of audio pioneers who continually strive to employ the latest in HDTV and 5.1 technology to enhance the show. The Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing members Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger again supervised the broadcast audio, while fellow P&E Wing member Leslie Ann Jones supervised the house audio.
Pictured here, only minutes before the start of the event are, from left, Toby Scott, Bruce Springsteen Engineer; Hank Neuberger, Grammy Award Telecast sound supervisor; John Harris, Co-Broadcast Music Mixer; Glenn Lorbecki, Recording Academy Secretary/Treasurer; Bob Clearmountain, Bruce Springsteen Engineer. Bottom Row: Eric Schilling, Co-Broadcast Music Mixer; Leslie Ann Jones and Phil Ramone, Grammy Award Telecast sound supervisors; and Maureen Droney, P&E Wing Senior Executive Director. Photograph courtesy of The Recording Academy/Wireimage.com 2012. Photograph by John Shearer.
From Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com):
Grammy Awards Show Uses Audio-Technica Microphones for 15th Straight Year
Audio-Technica provided over 250 mics for the live broadcast of the Grammy Awards, as A-T maintains its definitive presence at high-profile awards shows
LOS ANGELES — For the 15th year in a row, Audio-Technica microphones appeared on Grammy Awards Show, known throughout the industry as Music’s Biggest Night. This year, the 54th Annual Grammys, held February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featured a wide selection of artists from various genres of music. For the live show and broadcast, Audio-Technica supplied over 250 of its acclaimed microphones, including an impressive array of hard-wired mics and Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems.
The Grammy Awards ceremony itself has garnered widespread notice throughout the years as it continually raises the standard for broadcast entertainment. The EMMY-winning production was the first major awards show to venture into HDTV and 5.1 surround sound, and it was outfitted with the most advanced tools to ensure the highest fidelity for the evening’s performances. Audio professionals continually select Audio-Technica microphones to achieve exceptional quality amidst the ever-increasing sonic demands of the show’s musical portions. The team working on this year’s Grammys featured many top-tier contributors who returned to ensure the success of this landmark event.
The sound system was provided by ATK AudioTek with FOH (front-of-house) Engineers Ron Reaves and Mikael Stewart, with the house audio supervised by Leslie Ann Jones, a prominent member of the Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy. New Jersey/California-based remote facilities company M3 (Music Mix Mobile) were onsite with their Eclipse and Horizon trucks to create the music mix, facilitated by Broadcast Music Mixers John Harris and Eric Schilling, while Tom Holmes was responsible for the overall broadcast mix. The broadcast audio was supervised by Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger, also leading members of The Recording Academy Producers and Engineers Wing. Michael Abbott returned as Audio Coordinator, and M3’s Joel Singer served as Engineer-in-Charge for the Eclipse broadcast mix truck, while M3’s Mark Linett served as Engineer-in-Charge in the offline Horizon remix truck.
For the home audience, CBS once again delivered the most advanced form of HDTV, with 1,080 lines of picture resolution and 5.1-channel surround sound. To meet the sonic demands of this format, the audio engineers and music mixers employed a wide range of Audio-Technica microphones for the Grammy Awards.
Artists who performed throughout the evening using Audio-Technica’s Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System included Audio-Technica endorser Jason Aldean and The Beach Boys. Aldean performed using wireless AEW-T6100 Hypercardioid Dynamic Handheld Transmitters for his lead vocals, and The Beach Boys used a combination of AEW-T5400 Cardioid Condenser Microphone/Transmitters and AEW-T6100 units for their vocals.
The backline mic complement of A-T wired microphones included additional AE5400s for backing vocals, horns and rotary speaker cabinets (high and low); ATM350 Cardioid Condenser Clip-On Microphone for strings; AE5100 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone for hi hat and ride; AT4050 Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphone for overheads; and AT4081 Phantom-powered Bidirectional Ribbon Microphones and additional AT4050’s for guitar cabinets.
From Shure (www.shure.com):
Shure PSM1000 Used Exclusively for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards
UHF-R Wireless Systems Also Dominate the Event
LOS ANGELES — All of the artists and bands who performed using in-ear monitors during the 54th Annual Grammy Awards used the new Shure PSM1000 Personal Monitor System, including Adele, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Foster the People, and Taylor Swift.
“The PSM 1000s are a dream come true,” said Tom Pesa, monitor engineer, Stage Right, for this year’s show. “The RF stability is so solid, it allows us to focus on mixing. Using the Cue Mode feature, we can provide the monitor engineers a single pack with all of the bands’ mixes so they can scroll through them while on stage.”
“In a very short time, PSM 1000 has become a favorite among some of today’s top artists and their monitor engineers,” said Cory Lorentz, Artist Relations Manager for Shure. “This year’s Grammy Awards show had 26 channels being used by everyone from Rhianna to Katy Perry.”
Legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen opened the Grammy Awards this year with “We Take Care of Our Own,” a track from his forthcoming album, Wrecking Ball, with the rest of The E Street Band all using wired Shure SM58 microphones for vocals.
“The Boss really set the pace for all of the night’s performances at this year’s show,” said Lorentz. “He sounded great, and it seems like his energy and intensity are just as powerful as they were back in the days of Born in the U.S.A. I mean, Springsteen on a wired SM58…it just doesn’t get any more All-American, rock and roll than that.”
Shure UHF-R wireless microphone systems, with a combination of SM58, Beta 58A, and KSM9 handheld transmitters, were chosen by a long list of artists for performances throughout the evening, including Bonnie Raitt (UR2/SM58), Coldplay (UR2/Beta 58), The Civil Wars (UR2/KSM9), and Jennifer Hudson (UR2/KSM9) for her emotional rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” in honor of Whitney Houston.
“One of my favorite performances was The Civil Wars doing ‘Barton Hollow’ as the introduction for Taylor Swift,” added Lorentz. “The Shure KSM313 on their guitar sounded amazing, as did the Shure Super 55 on Taylor Swift during her song.”
Every year, the Grammy Awards include at least one tribute. This year was no different, with performances honoring The Beach Boys, performing with two Shure endorsers: Maroon 5 (UR2/SM58) and Foster the People (UR2/KSM9); and Glen Campbell, featuring Shure endorsers The Band Perry (UR2/SM58), Blake Shelton, and Campbell (UR2/SM58) himself.
The show ended just like it opened, with a legend performing on a wired SM58: Sir Paul McCartney closed the 2012 Grammy show with a medley of “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight,” and “The End.”
From DiGiCo (www.digico.org):
ATK AudioTek Uses DiGiCo Consoles at Three Locations to Support 54th Annual Grammy Awards
LOS ANGELES — UK-based digital console manufacturer, DiGiCo, was the live music console of choice at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, as specified by longtime show production partner ATK AudioTek. The 3-1/2 hour music celebration and ceremony garnered the second highest ratings of any Grammy airing with approximately 41 million viewers.
A combination of five of DiGiCo’s newer SD10 consoles along with one of its larger format SD7s handled FOH and monitor duties—for a total of 400+ I/O’s and 256 mic preamps distributed between 6 SD Racks—among four engineers in three locations within the Staples Center arena.
The entire PA system was powered by a versatile Optocore fiber optic network, which made it possible for the consoles to tie together seamlessly and also allowing the signal path to stay 100% digital from mic preamps to amplifiers. Additionally, the Optocore network cut the traditional massive wire clutter down to merely two strands of fiber per console.
“The show’s producers continue to raise the bar in broadcast entertainment year after year and we needed to follow suit with the technology,” said Mikael Stewart, ATK’s production mixer and VP Special Events. “By using the best and most advanced tools, we guarantee the highest fidelity for every performance. The sonic quality of the DiGiCo consoles was one of the biggest assets this year, in addition to the Optocore infrastructure that allowed complete flexibility and accessibility.”
The process to vet the DiGiCo consoles began several years ago, when ATK began to contemplate making a switch from the consoles that had been used for nearly a decade. ATK’s Stewart along with audio consultant Jeff Peterson were instrumental in the decision to bring DiGiCo onboard and into the mix.
Peterson designed the show’s PA and console system and functioned as the systems engineer during the event, with assistance from Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher. Ron Reaves was at front-of-house on an SD7 mixing all the musical performances alongside with Mikael Stewart, who handled all the non-music production assets on an SD10. On stage right and left respectively, Tom Pesa and Mike Parker facilitated monitor mixes for the artists on both performance stages on a pair of SD10s (with an additional two serving as ‘redundant’ backups).
“There was a noticeable difference in how the system sounded this year,” recalled Peterson, “and the comments and compliments came from touring and recording engineers alike. It’s not that the sound was bad in previous years by any means, but the overall intelligibility and the quality of the audio was noticeable. There was detail that we had never heard before, which we attributed to the addition of the DiGiCo consoles.”
“Not surprisingly, DiGiCo offers the most flexible, high performance range of digital audio mixing systems available today,” added Group One Ltd president Jack Kelly, DiGiCo’s US distributor. “With the expanding I/O and processing requirements of most of today’s large productions, including the recent Grammy awards show, the DiGiCo SD Range of consoles are ideal solutions for today’s engineers.”
From Harman (www.harman.com):
Harman Audio Components Grace the Stage at 54th Annual Grammy Awards
LOS ANGELES – As in years past, Harman Professional audio components played a crucial role in the live sound reinforcement system at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, held February 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. ATK Audiotek provided live sound reinforcement at the venue, relying on JBL VerTec line arrays and AKG microphones.
The annual Grammy Awards telecast, known as Music’s Biggest Night, is presented by The Recording Academy to honor outstanding achievements in the production and performance of recorded music. This year’s awards featured performances by some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Bruce Springsteen, The Beach Boys, Bruno Mars and others, highlighted by a special tribute to Glen Campbell. Adele earned multiple Grammy Awards, including Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year for “Rolling in the Deep,” and Album Of The Year for 21.
This year’s Grammy Awards also featured performances by Harman’s JBL “Hear the Truth” campaign artists Paul McCartney and Maroon 5, while Harman artist Kanye West won four awards.
ATK Audiotek provided the main PA system, which featured four arrays each containing 12 VerTec VT4889 fullsize line array elements, plus two arrays of six VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers each. An additional 12 VRX932 Constant Curvature loudspeakers were used for front fill.
The Staples Center also features a newly installed JBL VerTec line array system, which ATK Audiotek utilized in addition to some temporary components. The Staples Center system features eight arrays each containing between 11 and 13 JBL VT4889DP-DA powered line array elements, plus two fill clusters each containing four VT4889DP-DA elements, which are specially positioned to cover the end seating areas. The system also features four subwoofer arrays, each containing six VT4880A fullsize arrayable subwoofers.
ATK Audiotek also equipped all three pianos on stage with three AKG C414 microphones each. The pianos were featured in multiple performances throughout the Grammy Awards, including performances by Diana Krall, Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keys. Rusty Anderson, who played guitar during Paul McCartney’s performance, used an AKG DMS700 digital wireless system in his guitar setup, while Chris Brown used a Crown CM311 microphone for vocals.
“Providing live sound for the Grammy Awards is always a unique challenge, given the variety of performers and elaborate productions,” said Brett Valasek, General Manager, ATK Audiotek. “VerTec line arrays consistently perform well for us and our system, combined with the new in-house PA system at the Staples Center, provided the necessary coverage and output to deliver high-quality sound to the live audience.”
From Sennheiser (www.sennheiser.com):
Sennheiser Rocks (and Rolls in the Deep) with Big Grammy Winners
LOS ANGELES — This year’s Grammy Awards event, hosted by LL Cool J, celebrating music’s biggest night, went down in history as the second highest rated telecast since the show’s inception in 1959. It was a phenomenal undertaking showcasing nearly thirty diverse musical performances on multiple indoor and outdoor stages, along with a very last minute tribute celebrating the late Whitney Houston. So when Sennheiser artists took the stage, their engineers knew they had to have Sennheiser microphones to assure their performances would go off without a hitch.
Adele, the big winner of the evening, tied the record, set two years ago by Beyoncé, for the most awards won by a female artist in one year. The 23-year-old pop-soul singer won the night’s most prestigious awards, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for 21, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video for the single “Rolling in the Deep,” and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You.”
The most highly anticipated performance of the evening finally arrived when Adele took the stage to perform “Rolling in the Deep.” Her favorite nickel-finish Sennheiser SKM 2000-XP wireless handheld transmitter with MMK 965-1 capsule conveyed her beautiful voice to the adoring crowd. Dave McDonald, Adele’s front-of-house engineer, said, “It’s a great microphone. We started using it just after the Brit Awards in February of last year, and she’s loved it ever since.” He adds, “Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the equipment we use is Sennheiser – and the point-one percent is Neumann.” Her performance brought the Grammy audience to its feet for the longest standing ovation of the evening.
Foo Fighters, nominated in a total of six categories, swept the entire rock category, winning awards for Rock Song and Rock Performance for “Walk,” Rock Album for Wasting Light, Hard Rock/Metal Performance for “White Limo,” and Best Long Form Music Video for “Foo Fighters: Back and Forth.”
The band rocked the stage twice during the Grammy broadcast, performing “Walk” from a tent on Nokia Plaza, adjacent to the Staples Center, then returning to play “Rope” during the electronic dance music segment with David Guetta, Chris Brown, Lil’ Wayne, and deadmau5. Frontman Dave Grohl made use of his usual Sennheiser MD 431 II vocal mic on both songs. Ian Beveridge, Foo Fighters’ longtime monitor engineer, spoke highly of Dave’s vocal mic: “I love that microphone to death. That microphone is so unbelievably flat in the high-end, and incredibly stable with moisture and temperature. During their shows, we used to have terrible instability problems with other microphones, and I was going through maybe four, five or six microphones a show with Dave, swapping them out. Now, I keep the 431 for the whole show. I can’t remember the last time there was any feedback during Foo Fighters’ show. And these Grammy performances were no exception.”
Bruno Mars, channeling James Brown with his energetic, throwback performance of “Runaway”, had the singer using an SKM 2000-XP with MMD 945-1 capsule. James Berry, monitor engineer for Mars shared, “Sennheiser products have great sound and reliability. We could not have done it without Sennheiser. I’m always grateful for their gear and support in making it happen under the stress of a live event like the Grammys.”
Other Sennheiser users got to shine during the show, too, including the evening’s host, LL Cool J, who made use of an SKM 5200. Alicia Keys sang a duet with Bonnie Raitt in memory of Etta James through her SKM 5200-II vocal mic with MD 5235 capsule. Katy Perry made a memorable entrance, descending in a glass box with her baby blue hair and her SKM 5200-II/MD 5235 combination to perform her new post-divorce song, “Part of Me.” During a medley honoring and featuring Glen Campbell, Blake Shelton performed the songwriter’s “Southern Nights” using his SKM 5200-II /MD 5235 vocal mic. Tony Bennett, in a duet with Carrie Underwood on “It Had to Be You,” also used an SKM 5200-II.
The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of around €468 million in 2010. Sennheiser employs more than 2,100 people worldwide, and has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones and monitor loudspeakers), and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).
Aphex at the 2012 Grammy Awards
Aphex also once again played a key role at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Aphex CEO David Wiener stopped by the Music Mix Mobile Eclipse and Horizon trucks where Joel Singer, Music Mix Mobile’s co-founder and the Engineer-in-Charge for the Eclipse Broadcast truck, was hard at work. Joel and his team were employing banks of Aphex products: 1788 Remote Controllable Mic Pre’s with hundreds of channels were stacked with other Aphex processors to ensure the consistently flawless sound that’s crucial for a live broadcast of this magnitude.
