Grammy Awards Show Relies On Audio-Technica Microphones for 14th Straight Year

For the 14th year in a row, Audio-Technica maintained its status as a hallmark of the Grammy Awards Show. This year, the 53rd Annual Grammys, held February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featured a wide selection of artists from various genres of music. For the live show and broadcast, Audio-Technica supplied over 150 microphones, including an array of hard-wired mics and Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems. This year, the music mixers relied heavily on the AT4050ST stereo condenser microphones for a rich stereo drum overhead sound.

The sound system was provided by ATK AudioTek with front-of-house engineers Ron Reaves and Mikael Stewart, with the house audio supervised by Leslie Ann Jones, a prominent member of the Producers and Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy. New Jersey/California-based remote facilities company M3 (Music Mix Mobile) were onsite with Eclipse and Horizon trucks to create the music mix, facilitated by broadcast music mixers John Harris and Eric Schilling, while Tom Holmes was responsible for the overall broadcast mix. The broadcast audio was supervised by Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger, also leading members of the P&E Wing. Michael Abbott returned as audio coordinator, and M3's Joel Singer served as engineer-in-charge for the Eclipse broadcast mix truck, while M3's Mark Linett served as engineer-in-charge in the offline Horizon remix truck.

Artists who performed throughout the evening using Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF wireless system included Bruno Mars, B.o.B, and Janelle Monáe, who shared the stage to perform a medley of their recent hits; Esperanza Spaulding, who played with the 2011 Grammy Jazz Band; and Bob Dylan. All performed using wireless AEW-T5400 cardioid condenser microphone/transmitters for their lead vocals. Dylan shared the stage with folk-rock up-and-comers Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons, who used hard-wired AE5400s and wireless AEW-T5400s, respectively. Barbra Streisand also performed "Evergreen" using a hard-wired AE5400.

The backline mic complement of A-T wired microphones included additional AE5400s for backing vocals, horns and rotary speaker cabinets (high and low); ATM350 cardioid condenser clip-on microphone for strings; AE5100 cardioid condenser instrument microphone for hi hat and ride; AT4050ST stereo condenser microphone for overheads; and AT4080 phantom-powered bidirectional ribbon microphones and AT4050 multi-pattern condenser microphone for guitar cabinets.

Reaves said, "It's always a pleasure to see Audio-Technica's team here at the Grammys to provide both microphones and on-site support. We've been using A-T on the show as long as I have been FOH, and most notably the new AT4050ST has proven itself as a great stereo overhead mic. It's this kind of forward thinking product development that keeps Audio-Technica as one of the premier microphone manufacturers."

Mark Linett, M3's West Coast-based engineer-in-charge, operated the offline Horizon remix truck. Linett, who has a rich background in both studio and live engineering and has worked with artists such as Brian Wilson and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, said, "This is the second year I have been part of the M3 team at the Grammys, and I am glad that Audio-Technica is an intricate part of the show, supplying product and on-site support. Working with the M3 team, I have been exposed to Audio-Technica products on a broad scale, and A-T has definitely won me over. I have great admiration for the extensive A-T product line, and I can definitely hear the difference when using their wired and wireless microphones."