LOS ANGELES — The 81st Academy Awards moved to a more classic Hollywood approach with a Big Band feel, and communications between the broadcast crew, musical director Michael Giacchino, orchestra members, and the audio crew from ATK Audiotek was as essential as ever. Aviom's Pro16 monitor mixing system was at the hub of the communication and monitoring setup.
"This year's orchestra setup was different than in years past so it called for a slightly different monitoring and communications configuration," said Andres Arango, staff engineer for Audiotek. "To achieve the look and feel of a Big Band from the 1940s, the orchestra was situated on two risers on opposite sides of the stage. As a result, our monitor mixer, Michael Cooper, had to ensure that each riser was connected to the other as well as to the monitor console. Since the Aviom system is so flexible in how it can be set up, we were able to configure it so that each riser had its own A-16D A-Net Distributor to bring audio stems to each location from the mixing console."
Each band member was fed audio stems from the music director as well as program elements from a live broadcast truck that was covering the event for the major networks. An on-air mix was also included so Giacchino could hear what the performance sounded like as well as communicate with the show's director, Roger Goodman. The Aviom Personal Mixers allowed Giacchino and his band members to select which stems they would like to hear, helping to keep everyone on cue.
In addition to the Aviom gear, Giacchino used a Studio Technologies Model 233 Announcer's console as the main intercom interface for the ceremony. The Announcer Console's output was fed into the Aviom Pro16 system along with mix stems from the main console for the band's monitor system. Each riser had its own A-16D A-Net Distributor, which provides eight parallel outputs so that each instrument section had an Aviom A-16II Personal Mixer, which was able to drive wireless connections through Tweecomm OB-1 headset boxes that offered level control and a headset connection. The two A-16Ds were connected to each other via Cat-5 cable and run to the console.
"Though Audiotek has used Aviom's system as part of its monitoring and communications setup for many of the larger events we handle, this was the first time that Michael Cooper used the system," Arango noted. "After having much success with it on the Academy Awards, he said he would want to use it from here on out for all future projects such as these."
Aviom pioneered personal mixing with its Pro16 Monitor Mixing System and has taken another step with its Pro64 Series of audio networking products. All Aviom systems use A-Net, and all are designed, tested, and manufactured in the U.S.
For more information, please visit www.aviom.com.
