Grammy Awards Show Relies on Audio-Technica Microphones for 14th Straight Year

For the 14th year in a row, Audio-Technica maintained its status as the hallmark

of superior sound at the GRAMMY Awards Show, known throughout the industry as

Music's Biggest Night. This year, the 53rd Annual GRAMMYs, held February 13, 2011,

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 150 of its acclaimed microphones, including an impressive array of hard-wired

mics and Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems. This year, the music mixers

relied heavily on the AT4050ST Stereo Condenser Microphones, as they have come to

favor them for a rich stereo drum overhead sound.

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 evenings performances. Audio professionals continually

select Audio-Technica microphones to achieve exceptional quality amidst the

ever-increasing sonic demands of the shows musical portions. The team working on

this years 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 P&E Wing. Michael Abbott

returned as Audio Coordinator, and M3s Joel Singer served as Engineer-in-Charge for

the Eclipse broadcast mix truck, while M3s 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-Technicas Artist Elite 5000

Series UHF Wireless System included Bruno Mars, B.o.B and Janelle Mone, who shared

the stage to perform a medley of their recent hits; Esperanza Spaulding, who played

with the 2011 GRAMMY Jazz Band; and Bob Dylan. All performed using wireless

AEW-T5400 Cardioid Condenser Microphone/Transmitters for their lead vocals. Dylan

shared the stage with folk-rock up-and-comers Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons,

who used hard-wired AE5400s and wireless AEW-T5400s, respectively. Barbra Streisand

also delivered a breathtaking performance of Evergreen using a hard-wired AE5400.

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; AT4050ST Stereo Condenser Microphone for overheads;

and AT4080 Phantom-powered Bidirectional Ribbon Microphones and AT4050 Multi-Pattern

Condenser Microphone for guitar cabinets.

FOH (front-of-house) Engineer Ron Reaves stated, Its always a pleasure to see

Audio-Technicas team here at the GRAMMYs, to provide both microphones and on-site

support. Weve been using A-T on the show as long as I have been FOH, and most

notably the new AT4050ST has proven itself as a great stereo overhead mic. Its this

kind of forward thinking product development that keeps Audio-Technica as one of the

premier microphone manufacturers.

Mark Linett, M3s West Coast-based Engineer-in-Charge, operated the offline Horizon

remix truck. Linett, who has a rich background in both studio and live engineering

and has worked with artists such as Brian Wilson and The Red Hot Chili Peppers,

said, This is the second year I have been part of the M3 team at the GRAMMYs, and I

am glad that Audio-Technica is an intricate part of the show, supplying product and

on-site support. Working with the M3 team, I have been exposed to Audio-Technica

products on a broad scale, and A-T has definitely won me over. I have great

admiration for the extensive A-T product line, and I can definitely hear the

difference when using their wired and wireless microphones.