PRODUCTION PROFILE: The Grammy Awards
Below (L-R): B stage Monitor Engineer, Mike Parker behind his DiGiCo console; David Bellamy and Grant Greene took care of the wireless microphones for the spectacular evening.
frequencies and see if they’re legitimate in this room,” he said. Greene reported: “We’ve got 44 channels of microphones, 20 channels of guitars, 20 channels of in-ear monitors, and over 200 frequencies of communications for PL codes.” Communications are managed at a separate position. MICROPHONES For the third consecutive year, all of the artists and bands who performed using in-ear monitors on the telecast used the company’s PSM 1000 Personal Monitor System. Shure vocal mics were in abundance on the stage. Jay Z helped get the party started with his Shure UHF-R wireless microphone system, and was soon followed by Shure endorser Hunter Hayes (UR2 transmitter with SM58 capsule); Robin Thicke (UR2/SM58); Keith Urban and Gary Clarke Jr. (UR2/SM58); Shure endorser Imagine Dragons (UR2/KSM9HS), who performed with Kendrick Lamar (UR2/ SM58), and The Highwaymen (UR2/SM58). The
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all-star Daft Punk performance featured Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder (UR2/SM58); then Nate Ruess (UR2/SM58), who performed with P!nk; Ringo Starr (UR2/SM58); Chicago (UR2/ Beta 58); and endorser Sara Bareilles (UR2/ KSM9), who performed with Carole King (UR2/ SM58). Shure endorser Kacey Musgraves (a twotime winner on the night) performed on a Shure UR2/Beta 57A. Bellamy also reported: “All the horns were using Shure UR1 on high power in spectrum with a high noise floor; and the equipment worked perfectly.” On a satellite stage in the audience, Lorde sang into a wired SM58. Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor as well as John Legend and Paul McCartney all opted for wired Beta 58’s. John Harris, in the M3 truck, commented: “For this years’ show, Eric Schilling and I discussed using the Beta 181 on Lang Lang’s pianos. Combined with the A75M clamps, they provided a great solution for us, both sonically and aesthetically.” The pianist performed with Metallica, and used a Super 55 BRC, in one of
the Grammy Awards show’s signature artist mash-ups. P!NK, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Beyoncé, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert and Queens of the Stone Age all appeared on-stage with Sennheiser microphones and wireless systems. P!NK, for example, used a Sennheiser HSP 4 cardioid capsule on a custom headset before switching to a Sennheiser SKM 2000 transmitter with a custom MD 9235 capsule. Bellamy deployed 22 channels of Sennheiser wireless during the show and had several Sennheiser EM 3732-II radio frequency receivers in his rack backstage. “I am using channels 62 and 67 because of the high number of RF devices in the show - these are the only receivers that will hit these upper range frequencies on the market, and I really need them,” he explained. Two channels were dedicated to show host LL Cool J, also the star of the CBS hit show ‘NCIS Los Angeles’, who made use of a Sennheiser SKM 5200 transmitter coupled with an MD 5235 dynamic microphone, in tandem