MUSIC
MIX MOBILE EMPLOYS WAVES DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR THE 52ND
ANNUAL GRAMMY® AWARDS
— Waves’
critically acclaimed plug-ins allow remote recording specialists
Music Mix Mobile to keep the workflow moving every time —
TEL
AVIV, ISRAEL, February 8, 2010 — The 52nd Annual GRAMMY®
Awards, broadcast live from L.A.’s Staples Center in 5.1
audio on CBS-TV on the evening of January 31, 2010, once again
earned its reputation as “Music’s Biggest Night®,”
as the year’s hitmakers sang their biggest songs and shared
the stage with music legends for several once-in-a-lifetime collaborations.
Creating a consistent sonic context for such a wide range of performers
was the challenge faced by Music
Mix Mobile, a New Jersey/California-based remote facilities
company combining the talents of award-winning production professionals
and state-of-the-art audio solutions. The Music Mix Mobile team
includes industry veterans John Harris, Jay Vicari, Joel Singer,
Mitch Maketansky and newly added West Coast-based partners Bob
Wartinbee and Mark Linett. In the company’s dual M3 trucks
(now known as “M3” and “M3 West”), the
GRAMMY Award Show Broadcast Music Mixers John Harris and Eric
Schilling, along with Music Mix Mobile Engineer-in-Charge Joel
Singer, were on site to ensure the audio would be of the highest
quality. For this prestigious event, they relied on plug-ins from
Waves Audio, a leading provider
of digital signal processing solutions.
The
team responsible for the audio at this year’s GRAMMYs once
again included a who’s who of broadcast audio. The broadcast
music mix was handled by Harris and Schilling and was supervised
by Hank Neuberger, a noted member of The Recording Academy®
Producers & Engineers Wing® while ATK/Audiotek provided
the sound system with FOH (front-of-house) Engineers Ron Reaves
and Mikael Stewart.
Co-Music
Mixer John Harris notes that they used an extensive selection
of Waves plug-ins, including Waves Renaissance Equalizer, Waves
Renaissance DeEsser, Waves Renaissance Vox (vocal compressor),
Waves Renaissance Axx, Waves CLA-76 (from the Chris Lord-Alge
Classic Compressors), Waves UM226 Stereo-to-Surround Processor
and Waves MV360º Surround Dynamics Processor.
States
Harris, “We use the Renaissance EQ on the overall equalization
on all the music. And then as far as the vocal chain, we have
Renaissance DeEsser, Renaissance EQ, Renaissance Vox and the CLA-76.
All four of those on every vocal – that combination in that
order lets us have all kinds of flexibility. We can really hang
onto vocals for rock bands like Bon Jovi, giving us an in-your-face
sound, or scale it back for Andrea Bocelli or Mary J. Blige for
a more open sound. Also, we use the CLA-76 on the kick and snare,
and definitely the bass. For acoustic guitars and violins, we
use the Renaissance Axx. Such a great thing – they’ve
got pre-set dynamics for string instruments – things that
are picked, plucked and sustained – and I rarely have to
alter the pre-sets to get the sound we need.”
As
Harris notes, there is rarely time to change the settings anyway.
They have “maybe five or six minutes” to do a 60-input
band, and then they have to move on. “I need things that
will work exactly how I want them to as soon as I drop them in
the chain. That’s what Waves gives us, and that’s
why we continue to rely on them for live broadcast scenarios.”
Since
the show is broadcast in 5.1 surround sound, Music Mix Mobile
uses Waves UM226 on stereo elements within the performance to
fill out the 5.1 mix. States Harris: “For this, we use Waves
UM226. We can up-mix any stereo track to either LCR or full 5.1,
and it works really well. The thing that this plug-in does that
no other manufacturer has been able to accomplish is that when
the overall mix is folded back down to stereo for non-surround
home viewers, those tracks that had been up-mixed and down-mixed
again sound exactly like they started, when a lot of other up-mix
plug-ins from other manufacturers end up coloring the sound in
various ways. With Waves, if you do an A/B test between the original
stereo track and the down-mix after the plug-in, they’re
exactly the same.”
Additionally,
Harris and the rest of the team use Waves’ MV360º Surround
Dynamics Processor. “This is really the key to the show,”
he notes, “because in digital TV and the demands of home
delivery, we have to be very precise on what we deliver, and it
needs to land within a certain dynamic range. The MV360º
compressor is so adaptable – it can very easily be molded
for different performers. We’re able to really keep dynamic
control in such a great way with this 360 plug-in.”
Lastly,
Harris reiterates, “We know we can rely on Waves. I have
great confidence in them and their plug-ins, with their current
product line and as they continue to innovate with new offerings.
They’re developed by engineers for engineers, and they’re
always very musically thought-out.”
For
more information, please visit www.musicmixmobile.com
and www.waves.com.
...ends
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Photo
File: JohnHarris.JPG
Photo Caption: John Harris. Photo by Matthew Cohen. (This photo
is the property of Matthew Cohen and may be used by the press
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About
Music Mix Mobile, LLC
New Jersey/California-based Music Mix Mobile, LLC, is a full-service
remote recording company that combines the talents of award-winning
production professionals and state-of-the-art audio solutions,
resulting in superior audio recordings, streamlined production
values and long-term customer relations. For more information,
visit the Music Mix Mobile web site at http://www.musicmixmobile.com.
About
Waves Ltd.:
Waves is a leading provider of audio DSP solutions for professional,
broadcast, and consumer electronics audio markets. Waves has over
15 years of expertise in the development of psycho-acoustic signal
processing algorithms that leverage knowledge on the human perception
of hearing to radically improve perceived sound quality. Waves’
award-winning processors are utilized to improve sound quality
in the creation of hit records, major motion pictures, and popular
video games worldwide. Waves offers computer software solutions
as well as hardware plus software solutions for the professional
and broadcast markets. Under its Maxx brand, Waves offers semiconductor
and licensable algorithms for consumer electronics applications.
Waves’ Maxx technologies dramatically enhance audio performance
and are used by industry leaders such as Sony, Sanyo, JVC, Toshiba,
and many others. For more information, visit the Waves web site
at http://www.waves.com.
All other product names and trademarks are the property of
their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated
with Waves.