WASHINGTON, DC — An orator’s message is ultimately only as effective as the audio gear conveying it, and for 18 minutes, the live sound industry helped Barack Obama deliver an inaugural address to listening audience of truly epic proportions, with well over a million gathered at the National Mall. “To the best of my knowledge, this was the largest amplified event in human history,” said Robert Goldstein, president of Maryland Sound International (MSI), which handled the audio, with Clair Global providing delay speakers.
Along with those listening in Washington, the global listening audience may have exceeded a billion, including an estimated three in four American adults tuning in or watching streaming video over the Internet. Soundcos were also kept busy with hundreds of official and unofficial events leading up to and following the historic address.
Discussions between inauguration officials and MSI on handling the swearing-in ceremony were ongoing throughout the year, but the contract wasn’t finalized until the end of November, according Goldstein. The physical install started January 2.
“After the election it became clear that this was going to be an event of historic proportions,” Goldstein said. “We developed a series of plans to cover various venues and areas of the city where we were fairly sure there would be a need for audio support. There were at least a dozen site visits.” They worked closed with sound designer Pat Baltzel and the Capitol staff, both who are veterans of such events. “This gave us the opportunity to make evolutionary improvements to the system, rather than having to re-invent the wheel.”
Gear from manufacturers helped overcome obstacles. MSI used Production Intercom’s AD-Cat5, for example, to overcome RF restrictions and replace long runs of mic cable, and to ensure that the podium audio would be glitch-free, MSI used two Sennheiser 816 shotgun mics on the sidelines as emergency backups.
The biggest challenges were more logistical than technical, however — especially considering the number of people attending and the security concerns. The weather had MSI dealing with a string of days in single digit temperatures, but they came prepared for that.
“This year we did introduce a number of new signal transmission technologies to the main ceremony, as well as some of the other larger outdoor events,” he says. “This was not as much a concern as it was another design and integration challenge, but that really just makes it more interesting. Our confidence in our work and our equipment was always high.”
On a personal level he adds: “Aside from the obvious and dramatic historic significance of this Inauguration, the sheer size of the audience both in person and live around the world is something that will set this event apart, and may not be replicated in our lifetimes. It is a privilege to be so closely associated with something like that, and to have done so as well as we did.”
Clair Global, meanwhile, was responsible for 2.2 miles of sound reinforcement, from the Lincoln Memorial down to the end of the reflecting pools. “The clusters were designed to cover the first 100 feet, just short of the first delay tower,” Clair’s Mike Wolf says. “Southside of the reflecting pool, there’s a skinny strip where we had four towers equally spaced.”
The first load in was eight days before the event. “There were different events, but this was the largest one. And the weather was so cold we left the gear on overnight to stay warm. I never saw that many people before, and it was a very memorable event. You work hard, have long hours, and it’s a great feeling when it goes well. It’s just great.”
In addition to the swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address on Jan. 20, soundcos were busy with Obama’s re-enactment of Lincoln’s 1861 train ride to Washington, D.C., the Jan. 18 “We Are One” free pre-inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial, which was also broadcast on HBO, the Jan. 19 Kids Inaugural “We are the Future” concert and hundreds of other official and unofficial pre- and post-inaugural balls.
For the “People’s Ball,” a.k.a. the Neighborhood Ball, ATK Audiotek provided the sound. The only official ball open to the public, it had unique challenges, says ATK’s GM Brett Valasek.
“We didn’t have much time because we had to send trucks before we even knew what bands would be there,” he said. “But we did a good job at guessing at what we would need.” Inside the convention, two stage systems were set up, one south facing and another east facing, with the FOH area set up where those lines intersect. Each stage had its own monitor engineers.
“With all the events going on, frequency coordination was important. There was an overall frequencies coordinator and everything had to go through. And we had a lot of speakers for front fill as we were dealing with a podium where speeches were made plus the music.” Valasek said it all went well, and he was especially appreciative of the work Kish Rigging did, as “nothing would happen without the riggers.”
Thom Pesa, ATK Audiotek’s monitor mixer, and Andres Arango, staff engineer, also credited Aviom for its Pro16 system, used as part of their personal monitoring and communications setup for the event, which was also nationally broadcast.
“Audiotek has used Aviom in the past for large events such as the Democratic National Convention with excellent results, so the decision to use it for the Inaugural Ball was an easy one,” Arango said. “With an entire nation watching from home, missing a cue was not an option for [musical director] Ray Chew and his band.”
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