2005 Grammy Awards
The 2005 Grammy’s was considered one of the best shows in recent
history. Live performances this year included: U2, Green Day, Alicia
Keys with Jamie Foxx, Tim McGraw, Kanye West, John Legend, Mavis Staples,
Blind Boys of Alabama, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, Melissa Etheridge
with Joss Stone, Queen Latifah, John Mayer with George Benson, Members
of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dickie Betts, Elvin Bishop, Bonnie Raitt with Billy
Preston, Jennifer Lopez with Marc Anthony, James Brown with Usher, The
Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani with Eve, Los Lonely Boys, Maroon5, Franz
Ferdinand, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Velvet Revolver, and Brian
Wilson.
To achieve such success on a show of this caliber, many factors
were painstakingly addressed. As for ATK Audiotek’s part,
the sound system had to provide audio coverage in a venue (
Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA) that has long had a reputation
for posing challenges to many sound designers. The seating
layout of Staples, consisting of three hundred and sixty degrees
of luxury sky suites encased in glass, creates sound reflections
that are extremely difficult to deal with for a nationally
televised production. Instead of using a traditional arena
touring sound system design, ATK Audiotek implemented a revolutionary
design that installed a greater quantity of smaller sound clusters
to focus the sound on specific areas of the venue. This achieved
seamless coverage areas throughout the venue. As difficult
as this was to accomplish, the end result was a system that
offered the audience an incredible listening environment while
keeping the arena free of those “annoying audio reflections” that
ruin many television broadcasts. Thousands of audience members
benefited from this design in the arena but millions of viewers
around the world reaped the rewards as well.
Stage monitor systems on live broadcast shows have also evolved
along with the main sound system. ATK Audiotek has customized
cabling and equipment that can be quickly set-up and connected
for shows of the caliber. At the Grammy’s, the monitor
mix engineers are critical in maintaining the fast paced production
schedule mandated by the production company. Creating a comfortable
mix for an artist to hear on stage takes place in a relatively
short amount of time. After an initial sound check, a couple
more passes are done with the song for “camera blocking”.
Once the rehearsal is completed, the next band is quickly setup
and the whole process repeats again. That mix is saved onto
a digital console and then, the console is instantly reset
to start the next band. During the broadcast, every band’s
setup is restored precisely to where it was during their sound
check. This is a daunting task that was executed flawlessly
for all eighteen acts.
This show had plenty of incredible performances, including
the opening number. Five bands were on three stages that performed
independently: Maroon 5, Black Eve Peas, Franz Ferdinand,
Gwen Stafani with Eve, as well as Los Lonely Boys, who performed
on a satellite stage in the middle of the audience. At the
end of the opening performance, all bands combined together
for an amazing final reprise. The evening’s most endearing
performance was Melissa Etheridge who, weakened by a battle
with cancer, belted out an amazing rendition with Joss Stone
of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart”.
Each year a new Grammy show is produced to showcase much
of the industry’s amazing musical talent. Along with
that, the set designs are always different to reflect the industry’s
new and innovative talent. ATK Audiotek is constantly adapting
its sound systems solutions to enhance these changes and remains
an integral part of one of the industry’s greatest musical
shows.
