NEW YORK – The crowds at Rockefeller Plaza Nov. 30 were dazzled by the sight of some 30,000 LED lights on the 74-foot-high holiday tree, but the annual 2010 lighting ceremony didn't belong to lampies alone.
A big part of the two-hour event, broadcast on prime-time TV, were the musical performances by Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Jessica Simpson, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Susan Boyle, Charice, Kylie Minogue and Katherine Jenkins, among others.
For more than 10 years, Production Resource Group (PRG) has handled audio production duties for the event, which featured gear from JBL, Sennheiser and the debut of L-Acoustics' new KARA line source array system.
This time, the Norway spruce was flanked on both sides by six-element KARA arrays, each flown over three SB18 subs, stacked in a cardioid configuration and powered by three LA8 amplified controllers.
PRG also provided two tiny two-element KIVA clusters pole-mounted below the tree for fill, while much larger hangs of 12 KIVA plus two KILO powered by two LA4 served as the north and south arrays for the block. Eight-element dV-DOSC arrays, also driven by four LA4, provided additional coverage for the thousands of visitors spilling out across 49th and 50th Streets.
PRG, which had turned the Rockefeller Center ice rink into a stage for the national telecast on NBC, also flanked the stage with ground-stacked subcompact JBL VerTec line arrays – four JBL VT4886s atop two VT4883 subwoofers.
The RF environment for the ceremony has changed quite a bit since its origins in 1933, of course. Wireless First has been providing support with Sennheiser gear for nine consecutive years. This year's setup included 18 channels of Sennheiser's EM 3732 wireless receivers, MKE 2 lavalier mics and SKM 5200 handheld mics, each with Neumann KK 105 S capsules. Wireless First also provided 12 G3 wireless personal monitors and another dozen channels of receivers.
