There is a joke about sound guys that, while it does not shine the best possible light on us, causes every sound person I have ever told it to to either laugh or nod because it rings so true.
Q: How many sound guys does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: 10. One to do it and nine to stand around telling each other how much better they could have done it.
I know it sounds familiar to anyone who is honest about it. We are an opinionated bunch. It's part of the gig and one component of our "charm."
Hey look, a chicken…
As 2009 was winding down, I got several pitches for Grammy coverage. I know it is a huge and technically-challenging gig but we have covered it so many times that I just could not get a grasp on a way to do it differently. So I passed.
Then while at the NAMM show I got asked by Robbie Clyne, a good friend who does PR along with Lisa Roy for the Producers & Engineers Wing of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences-the organization that puts on the Grammys) to come out and experience the rehearsals for the show myself. And even with all the coverage we have done, I have never made that particular trip. It comes at a rough time of year, and I always assigned the coverage out to one of our very capable freelancers.
This time, I had not made an assignment, and as it turned out, I needed to make a trip from Vegas to L.A. to get a rush on a passport renewal anyway, so I told them I would come out but made no promises as to what form the coverage would take.
It does not take a lot of experience in this business to know that the Grammys are a very big production. But there is no way anyone can really appreciate just how big and how complex it is until they go and see it themselves. I have been around my share of big shows, and I have never seen anything that was near this level. The amount of technology and level of organization in and under the Staples Center was on a level all its own.
Two of the biggest trucks I have ever seen housing the director surrounded by a curved wall of video monitors calling camera shots live, techs flying in graphics and Tom Holmes with his hands on the faders as the last link in the audio chain. And just to make sure the pressure is on, he has uber-producer Phil Ramone sitting behind him supervising the mix.
I spent some time talking with the show's Audio Coordinator Michael Abbott, and he got interrupted at least a dozen times with questions and requests. We talked about everything from how the live mixers working on the show interact with the FOH engineers for each band and artist on the Grammy stage to how the audio team is dealing with a complex surround mix that they send to CBS which sends it to 3,500 affiliate stations who broadcast it, and finally to the TVs themselves which may or may not handle the surround stream in a way that presents it as intended. A problem with any link in that chain could send your left and right to the center and the sub to the surrounds or some other screwy path. And given that there are at least three chipsets that run most of the TVs out there, it could go one way on your TV and another on your neighbor's or even on the TV in the bedroom.
I made my way out to the actual arena to the front of house position occupied by music mixer Ron Reaves and production mixer Mikael Stewart. Onstage, Green Day was rehearsing their spot with the 20 or so singers from a Broadway-bound production of American Idiot. The band's engineer stood behind Ron and gave him some notes on when the additional singers came in and out. Three passes, and it sounded ready for broadcast. VERY impressive.
Sitting behind the mix position at a laptop running Smaart was Scott Harmala from ATK, the live audio provider for the show. I didn't recognize him at first, because the only other time we have talked face to face was in D.C. when he and I and Mark Dennis from the KA show were talking with congressional reps about the whole wireless issue and he was in a suit. He showed me some of the more novel parts of the system and how they got even coverage in a notoriously difficult room and a show for music pros who at least theoretically know what sounds good. The sound was complicated enough, and the RF made the audio look like a show for a power trio with an eight channel PA and speakers on sticks. Antennae that looked more like a weapon than part of the wireless system and what looked like a hundred powered-on wireless mics sitting on a table sorted into foil baking loaf pans by act to keep down intermodulation between the individual mics. Unreal.
So now to bring it full circle back to the light bulb joke…
A few years ago there was an audio glitch on the show, when someone misread a "ready" cue as a "go" cue and unplugged a "mult" taking audio for the singer onstage down prematurely. When it happened, a couple of forums and blogs started up just savaging the crew as not being as good as everyone assumed. And I am here to tell you that that kind of idea is so off-base that I can't find the words to explain it.
Everyone there was calm, professional and in control of their part of the show. In a situation this pressure-filled, and where the complexity of the show and systems make it astounding that there is not some kind of huge failure every year, these guys were cool and collected where most of us-including yours truly-would have been totally spun out.
Make no mistake about it. This IS the A Team. No doubt about it. And it was astounding and really an honor just to watch them work. From here on out, I'll watch every big televised production with a new perspective and respect.
