For the 11th year in a row, Audio-Technica maintained its status as the hallmark of superior sound at the Grammy Awards Show, known throughout the industry as "Music's Biggest NightTM." This year at the 50th Annual Grammys, held February 10, 2008, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Audio-Technica supplied over 250 of its acclaimed microphones, including an impressive array of hard-wired mics and Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless Systems.
The Grammy Awards ceremony itself has garnered widespread notice throughout the years as it continually raises the standard for broadcast entertainment. The Emmy-winning production was the first major awards show to venture into HDTV and 5.1 surround sound, and it is outfitted with the most advanced tools to ensure the highest fidelity for the evening's performances.
Audio professionals continually select Audio-Technica microphones to achieve exceptional quality amidst the ever-increasing sonic demands of the show's musical portions. The team working on this year's Grammys featured many top-tier contributors who returned to ensure the success of this landmark event. The sound system was provided by ATK AudioTek with FOH (front-of-house) Engineers Ron Reaves and Mikael Stewart, while the broadcast audio was supervised by Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger, leading members of the Producers & Engineers Wing of The Recording Academy. New York-based XM Productions/Effanel Music were onsite with their L7 remote truck to create the music mix, facilitated by Music Mixers John Harris and Eric Schilling.
For the home audience, CBS once again delivered the most advanced form of HDTV, with 1,080 lines of picture resolution and 5.1-channel surround sound. To meet the sonic demands of this format, the audio engineers and music mixers employed a wide range of Audio-Technica microphones for the Grammy Awards.
Artists who performed using Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System, with the AEW-T5400 handheld microphone/transmitter and AEW-R5200 true diversity frequency-agile dual receiver, included Morris Day and The Time in a show-stopping performance with Rihanna; Kanye West; an all-star gospel revue featuring Aretha Franklin and BeBe Winans; a duet with Kid Rock and Keely Smith; the Icons of Rock segment featuring John Fogerty, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis; and the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" tribute finale.
The backline mic complement of A-T wired microphones included AE5400 and ATM250 for Leslie cabinet; AE5100 for ride cymbal, hi-hat, overheads, strings and audience; BP4029 for audience; AE2500 for kick drum; ATM350 for strings; AT4050 for horns, overheads and guitar cabinets; and AT4040 for guitar cabinets.
Michael Abbott, Audio Coordinator for the 50th Annual Grammys, has come to rely on the unsurpassed quality and consistency of Audio-Technica mics. He stated, "Live TV Broadcasts of this magnitude can be very overwhelming in their specifications and applications, but having Audio-Technica as a partner gives me one thing I don't have to worry about. The show needs mics that are acceptable to a wide spectrum of artists, engineers and different genres of music, and A-T delivers in all of these aspects, second to none. This year we have been pleased to use the BP4029 and AE5100 to capture the audience in particular."
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