It never got as cold as predicted, but that didn’t make the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show any easier.
It was the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show in history, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Bruno Mars, the diminutive ball of vocal dynamite whose ability to avoid controversy made him the NFL’s pick for the halftime show at Super Bowl XLVIII, delivered an estimated 115.3 million viewers for the Feb. 2 event. They watched him and his hand-picked “special guests,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers rip though a 12-minute set at MetLife Stadium, which was prepared for sub-freezing temperatures but at showtime, Mars’ gold lamé jacket may have been plenty against what turned out to be an almost pleasant evening, with temps around the 40°F. range.
Mars was an anodyne choice, a calculated compromise aimed at ending a string of vintage-rock males (The Who, McCartney, the Stones, etc.) and fierce females (Madonna, Beyoncé) that put a younger face (Mars is 28 — less than half the age of every male halftime headliner since Janet Jackson’s 2004 wardrobe malfunction) out front of the still-raging hormones of the RHCP’s. (Though some of that testosterone may be Axiron-induced — the band’s debut LP came out a year before Mars was even born.) In fact, the Mars/Red Hots show outdrew the two previous ratings toppers, beating the 110.8 million scored by Beyoncé last year and the prior record of 114.0 million set by Madonna two years previously.
Lots of Speakers
MetLife Stadium, formerly the New Meadowlands, already had a formidable sound system when all it’s asked to do is host two dozen or so football games each year (it’s home to both the AFC Jets and the NFC Giants). Designed by WJHW and installed and integrated by Pro Media/Ultrasound, the $1.6 billion, 82,500-seat stadium’s distributed audio system made for a decidedly Harman house: speakers from JBL, amplification by Crown and systems control with the BSS System Architect.
The main distributed system consists of 1,050 speakers, most of which are JBL PD 5322/64 60 x 40-degree full-range, three-way loudspeakers, augmented by 700 JBL Control Series 322CT 12-inch large-format ceiling speakers and Control 328CT 8-inch large-format ceiling speakers. Control 226C/T 6.5-inch medium-format ceiling speakers extend the audio into the stadium’s premium-seat and club areas. These are powered by 432 Crown CTS 1200, CTS 2000, CTS 3000, CTS4200 and CTS 600 amplifiers, each with DSP-based PIP modules linking them. Side fills are handled by JBL AE and AC Series speakers that extend coverage to areas in acoustical shadows that the main distributed PA speakers cannot reach.
But for the halftime spectacular, they had to go for even bigger guns. This time around, ATK Audiotek — which has provided on-field sound for the Super Bowl for the last 19 years — rolled out a main system comprised of 66 JBL VT4889 VerTec mains and 32 VT4880A subwoofers (CLICK ON IMAGE AT LEFT FOR A DETAILED VIEW). These were loaded onto 18 field speaker carts aimed at the seating areas.
The 2014 stage was significantly different from past halftime shows. Instead of a platform pulled together by hordes of well-rehearsed volunteers into the middle of the field, this year the main stage was built into one side of the stadium (at the cost of several dozen seats, each of which had a face value of about $2,000), with a relatively small thrust into the sideline area. As this was the first Super Bowl played in an open-topped stadium in a northern-tier location, the NFL was justifiably concerned about possible damage to the field from the wheels of the platform pieces, and the fixed stage minimized the need to traverse the field by the 1,500-pound wheeled carts, which are loaded with either four or five speaker enclosures, depending on where in the stadium they will go, and a pair of subwoofers. The stage position also changed the sightlines within the stadium and required the use of a dozen VT4886 fill speakers, also on carts, to cover areas to the rear of the stage.
The main system was mixed through a DiGiCo SD-5 digital console. (CLICK ON IMAGE AT LEFT FOR A DETAILED VIEW) Wireless microphones were a mix of Shure and Sennheiser systems. Lexicon PCM91 and PCM 96 effects processors provided most of the outboard effects, while an iZotope dialog processor plug-in and a Dolby CAT430 dialog processor were applied to vocals.
Monitoring was mostly through 600 FM-band IEMs for the cast members and volunteers, with those onstage using 24 Shure PSM1000 IEMs. These were buttressed by a combination of two dozen ATK M5 and M2 wedges, with a pair of JBL VT4881 speakers used as drum subs. Monitors were mixed through another DiGiCo SD-5 using TC Electronic M6000 and 2290 effects processors, a Midas X-42 dual-channel four-band parametric EQ with XL4 mic/line preamps, and a Tube Tech dual-channel compressor.
Patrick Baltzell, owner of Baltzell Audio Design and the main systems designer for ATK Audiotek for the last 17 Super Bowls, says the NFL asked for some alternate designs for the system, such as moveable towers for line arrays. But that approach would have resulted in sightline issues for fans in the stands and at home by getting in the way of some camera shots, as well as deployment complications. “The use of small carts to hold the P.A. components was the perfect solution for line-of-sight issues,” Baltzell explains. “A structure with twelve or fourteen speakers on it isn’t easy to articulate, and it becomes an obstruction.”
The positioning of the carts around the stadium was determined by the gap between the field level and where the house sound system coverage picks up, a task made easier in MetLife Stadium because of the distributed installed system there. “The carts are the beginnings of the P.A. system’s coverage,” Baltzell says. “When it comes to the music show, everything else — the installed system and the fills and so on — is an extension of them. The carts are time zero.”
The transition between coverage from the field carts to the existing distributed sound, Baltzell says, was roughly determined by the three levels of luxury suites above the 200-level seating. “There was a 30-foot vertical gap with no audience and then there is the upper deck [300 level] seating,” he explains. “I used the existing distributed system for all of that coverage and… for the small outside seating on the club level. All of the lower bowl for the 100-level and 200-level seating was covered by the field carts.”
The upper levels of the venue presented the biggest challenges, including more glass around sky suites. Baltzell divided the house P.A. into nine discrete zones that were connected directly to the London BLU processor, which bypassed those speakers’ existing delay and EQ settings and used new values that dovetailed with the coverage from both the cart speakers and the other zones. However, for the Super Bowl, the venue sound system has to continue to function as it was designed to do, as a house P.A. for announcements, but then be able to be handed off to become part of the music system before the game and at halftime.
“It’s complex,” Baltzell says, in an understatement. “I have to get control of those zones for pre-game and halftime. We’ll usually bring in the integrator who did the programming of the original system to create new files for the event.” This was complicated by the fact that the original processor, installed four years ago, was a Peavey MediaMatrix. That was replaced last summer, during an upgrade, with the BSS London unit. Thus, the programming was very recent and the new processor can communicate directly with the systems amplifiers and other components using Harman’s HiQNet system, which Baltzell says made the process simpler.
Even though the stage was mostly fixed this year, the spectacle still required several hundred volunteers to move carts and other items around the field in a frenzied technical choreography just prior to the halftime show. These approximately 600 volunteers were coordinated using a very basic “E band” 66 MHz to 87 MHz stereo FM radio with an earpiece, with the transmitters supplied by ATK. One channel of the radio is dedicated to a music and click track and the other as a conduit for the choreographers’ instructions, both broadcast on separate frequencies.
Bruno Rocks
There was plenty of movement on stage, too. Derek Brener, Bruno Mars’ front of house mixer for the last four years, says the band is very animated during shows. “They’re like a new Jackson 5. Raw talent,” he quips. (Mars’ stage moves are often compared to those of the late King of Pop.)
Mars’ vocal chain was straightforward, as usual — a Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld wireless transmitter with a Sennheiser MD 5235 cardioid dynamic capsule into an Empirical Labs EL-8 Distressor and then a Waves C6 multiband compressor plug-in.
“I keep the vocal chain as simple as possible,” Brener says. “I use the Waves C6 to de-ess and squash the vocal around 2 kHz to 3 kHz, because [Bruno] can be a bit edgy there. I’ve tried lots of studio stuff on his voice, but eventually realized that live, you just need to put it out there and let it breathe on its own. I’m very fortunate to be working alongside ATK Audiotek and the NFL on this show. They make sure that nothing can go wrong, and if it does, we are fully redundant. It’s a full blown Bruno Mars show, and no one ever leaves unfulfilled from one of those.”
Don’t, however, mention that to the Denver Broncos. Fulfillment for them will have to wait until next year.
Supplemental P.A. System
Front of House
Console: DiGiCo SD-5
Outboard: (4) Empirical Labs EL-8 Distressors; Lexicon PCM91 Effects Processor; Lexicon PCM96 Effects Processor; iZotope Dialog Processor; Dolby CAT430 Dialog Processor.
Wireless Mics: (8) Shure UHF-R; (4) Sennheiser SKM5200 handhelds; (10) Sennheiser 2000 Series beltpack wireless
Speaker System
Mains: (66) JBL VerTec VT4889’s
Subs: (32) JBL VerTec VT4880A’s
Fills: (12) JBL VerTec VT4886 rear fills; (8) JBL VRX932LA field foldback speakers.
Misc: (16) Field speaker carts
Monitorworld
Console: DiGiCo SD-5
Outboard: Tube Tech LCA 2B; Midas XL-42; TC M6000 Effects Processor; TC 2290 Effects Processor.
Wedges: (12) ATK M5’s; (12) ATK M2’s
Drum Fill: (2) JBL VT4881 subs
IEM’s: (24) Shure PSM1000; (600) Cast FM-band IEM’s
Wireless In-Drum Miking
There is a lot of RF action during any NFL telecast, and with the Super Bowl, it’s even more so, but among the countless frequencies in use, wireless drums isn’t necessarily something you might expect.
During pro football games at MetLife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets, Shaun Gallant, the head of Gallant Entertainment, the creator of one of the nation’s premier drumlines, provides the beat that whips up the crowd, as he does for the New York Knicks, the New York Rangers and the Boston Celtics. And he recently brought his talented musicians to the biggest stage in the world: Super Bowl XLVIII.
Gallant Entertainment is the only ensemble to enhance the aural experience by using a Sennheiser wireless system and Randall May International’s Internal Microphone System, which consists of various microphone mounts and mixers for many of the drums.
RF coordination is a must. “Everything we use has to be approved by the NFL,” said Jim Woolf, Gallant’s director of technology. The feed is sent to the stadium’s house console and routed through the facility system as a stereo mix with just a touch of EQ.
Event drumlines typically range from 15 to 18 pieces, including Zildjian cymbals and Yamaha snare, tenor and bass drums. On the Yamaha snare and bass drums, Randal May International internal mics are mounted on pre-existing hardware that feeds into a wireless system inside the drums. Snares have modified Shure SM57’s; two AKG D112 mics are deployed in each of the bass drums, one for each head.
Two Rolls Pro-Mix Plus MX54S mixers are mounted onto the tenor drums via custom drilling. XLR cables run through the drum shell and affix to five internal SM57’s, which daisy-chain to the transmitter and require just one audio output.
Generally, all five bass drums, two snare drums and two tenor drums are miked, with the rest blending in acoustically. But even a great mic system would sound poor if the drums themselves could not handle the modifications and Gallant chose Yamaha Percussion due to their quality.
“We could mount mics on the outside,” said Woolf “but it wouldn’t look clean, the microphones would be exposed to the elements and if you have wires and mics hanging all over the drums, it could be trouble.” —George Petersen
Cold RF
This Super Bowl also came at a time when RF is constrained like never before, in the wake of ongoing spectrum sales by the FCC. Karl Voss, the NFL’s frequency coordinator, began building the necessary database months before the game, from which frequencies would be allocated on a hierarchical basis, with the game elements naturally taking precedence.
However, the entertainment segment certainly got its due. Orlando-based Professional Wireless and Brooks Schroeder (who worked with PWS) managed over 100 channels of wireless for microphones, IEMs and intercoms, with 40 of those being used for the performers, including Renée Fleming’s performance of the national anthem and Queen Latifah’s rendition of “God Bless America.”
It looked good on paper, but as Jim Van Winkle and John Garrido of Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) point out, it never completely turns out that way. “It’s pretty tight in terms of what’s available, and if we had a microphone at 500 [MHz], for example, there might be another one at 500.2,” says Garrido. “That’s extremely close, but it often had to be that way because there were so many channels of wireless.”
Voss often had to ask users to switch channels during the rehearsals as different trucks came on line with more power at certain frequencies then expected. “He was managing spectral congestion by horse-trading frequencies,” says Van Winkle.
And while the weather did warm up on game day, the 10 days prior to it were often sub-freezing, which produced some interesting challenges for wireless. “The software that monitors the battery levels started telling us that it was too cold to charge the beltpacks,” Van Winkle recalls. “We had to bring them indoors to charge them.” —Dan Daley
