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The Grammy Awards Gala Pays Homage to 50 Years of Hip-Hop

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Spliff Star and Busta Rhymes were among the dozens of rap artists who performed during a 15-minute tribute to 50 years of hip-hop. Photo by Timothy Norris/FilmMagic

The 65th Grammy Awards took place Feb. 5 at Crypto.com Arena, and once again ATK Audiotek, now backed by Clair Global, served as the gala’s sound reinforcement vendor.

Broadcast live to 12.4 million on CBS, with more viewing via livestream on Paramount+, the event, hosted by Trevor Noah for the third consecutive year, featured a 15-minute Questlove-curated tribute to 50 years of hip-hop supported by performances by 35 rappers, three DJs and Questlove’s band, the Roots.

The production team supporting the 65th Grammy Awards

The production was helmed by a team of veteran audio engineers and sound technicians, including audio producer Michael Abbott, production mixer Tom Holmes, and music mixers John Harris and Eric Schilling. Front of house was overseen by production mixer Jeff Peterson and FOH music engineers Ron Reaves and Mike Parker. Monitor engineers included Tom Pesa and Andres Arango.

At FOH, Reaves and Parker alternated mixing live performances by the evening’s artists on two DiGiCo Quantum7 consoles, including Harry Styles, Bonnie Raitt, Lizzo, and Adele, all of whom were also category winners that night. A Quantum338 desk also shared the FOH platform with them, through which production mixer Jeff Peterson combined the two alternating FOH feeds with production-audio elements such as introductions, announcements, and acceptance speeches from the podium.

Production mixer Jeff Peterson at the show’s DiGiCo Quantum338 console.

Monitor engineers Tom Pesa and Andres Arango, meanwhile, used a pair of Quantum7 desks in monitor world, alternating their focus on the split stage that would have one performance taking place while the next was setting up behind the “close-down” screens that kept the focus on the live performance. All the Quantum consoles were connected on an Optocore network loop, each with a complement of SD-Racks and SD-MiNi Racks.

“The Quantum7 is simply the best tool for that job,” said Ron Reaves, who was mixing his 20th Grammy Awards show. “It presents a very good, very powerful platform that lets you do anything you want and place anything you want anywhere on it,” he added. “My template is 168 open faders, so I have to be ready for anything, and I am with that console, because it has the horsepower I need for that kind of wide-ranging array of performances.”

Reaves added that since many guest engineers are familiar with the brand, it allowed for a “common language” that helped streamline the three days of rehearsals leading up to Music’s Biggest Night. In all, more than two dozen individual artists performed during the show, and Reaves spent time on every song during rehearsals and soundchecks consulting with their FOH engineers.

Reaves’ partner at front-of-house, Michael Parker, also credited the desks, noting that he made use of the Spice Rack’s Chilli 6 multiband compressor on many of the vocals he mixed, including Stevie Wonder’s performance.

The Quantum7’s flexible worksurface also came in handy during the 50th anniversary of hip-hop segment, when Parker and Reaves changed their workflow. Instead of mixing performances on one side or the other of the split stage, Parker handled all of the vocals for the entire stage while Reaves mixed the music tracks, live band, and three DJs. “On the network, we all had access to all of the inputs, and the Quantum7 lets us easily configure each console for each production,” Parker noted.

A view of ATK/Clair’s DiGiCo Quantum338 production console (foreground) and two Quantum7 FOH consoles at this year’s Grammy Awards in Los Angeles

Over in monitor world, Pesa covered IEMs for stage right and Arango for stage left, both with DiGiCo Quantum7 consoles for the third consecutive year. This was Pesa’s 23rd Grammy Awards, and he noted how the production relies a foundation channel template built on the Quantum7’s worksurface. That then gets copied and customized for each artist, for quick recall as the show progresses.

Even so, the production team members are always alert for last-minute changes. “You want to have every parameter at your fingertips at all times because you never know when you’re going to have to make a quick adjustment,” Pesa said.

Andres Arango also noted how the Quantum7’s flexibility helped with the challenge of mixing monitors for the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop segment. “Tom and I were going to town on that, and I was amazed at how fast and accurately we were able to work on what was a pretty hectic production number,” he said. “Questlove was calling out each performer just before they came onstage and giving a quick countdown over his talkback mic. ‘Ice-T—one, two, three, four, go! Busta Rhymes—one, two, three, four, go!’ We were just racing. And the Quantum7 kept up.”

Arango also cited another “staple” at this year’s gala — Shure’s PSM 1000 IEM systems. “We relied on more channels of PSM than any other year before,” he noted. In all, a total of 28 channels with 160 Shure P10R bodypacks were in use, and the awards ceremony relied on 59 channels of Shure wireless in all.

Many performers, including host Trevor Noah, relied on Shure Axient Digital wireless microphones, which got a big thumbs up from broadcast music mixer Eric Schilling. “Shure mics are used in several areas of our music performances, including featured performers. This year I was able to use the Shure KSM11 head on Mary J. Blige and Lizzo with great results,” Schilling said.

Stevie Wonder, meanwhile, used a Shure KSM11 cardioid condenser vocal microphone paired with a Shure Axient Digital wireless transmitter for his performance of “Higher Ground” with Chris Stapleton. The KSM11, which was released last year, was also used by Smokey Robinson, one of MusiCares’ most recent Persons Of The Year, who joined Stevie Wonder for Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown.”

Smokey Robinson, who used Shure’s new KSM11, performing with Stevie Wonder at the 65th Grammy Awards. Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Before receiving her award for Record of the Year, Lizzo also used a Shure KSM11 during her performance of her hit, “Special,” joined by a gospel choir, with support from her monitor engineer Rico Gonzalez. “The KSM11 is a new standard,” Gonzalez said. “The clarity helps Lizzo’s vocals stay in front of the mix with little effort.”

Other artists performing with Shure mics included Mary J. Blige singing “Good Morning Gorgeous” with a custom gold KSM11 capsule and Axient Digital transmitter and LL Cool J, who performed a segment of “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” on a custom gold Shure transmitter. Also performing during the 50 Years of Hip-Hop tribute, Busta Rhymes traded verses of “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and “Look At Me Now” on Shure’s SM58 wireless microphone. Grammy newcomer Luke Combs, meanwhile, performed “Going, Going, Gone” with a classic SM58 capsule / AD transmitter combination.

Music mixer Eric Shilling provided Shure KSM11 mics for Mary J. Blige, Lizzo and others. Photo of Mary J. Blige by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

ATK Audiotek got a RF coordination assist from Soundtronics’ Steve Vaughn. Along with Shure Axient Digital, he made use of Wireless Workbench to overcome one of “the world’s most challenging RF environments — Wireless Workbench gives me the control and flexibility these large-scale events demand.”

For gala attendees, sound reinforcement within Crypto.com Arena began with 86 JBL VTX A12 line array elements, configured in eight clusters for mains and delays, with 36 JBL VerTex 4886 elements (in six clusters) to provide upper level coverage. For the low end, the production included 20 JBL VTX S28 subwoofers, all powered by 22 Crown Vracks with Crown 4×3500 and 12000 amps.

Photo of Lizzo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

As with previous Grammy galas, K-array’s discreet Tornado-KT2 point source speakers were also provided, tucked within the table centerpieces, for the seated nominees.

For more gear and crew details, see Showtime, this issue.

For more details on this event from Sennheiser, go to https://fohonline.com/featured/65th-grammy-awards-performances-by-brandi-carlile-bad-bunny-and-more-heard-via-sennheiser-digital-6000-wireless-setup/