Shure UHF-R, Wireless Workbench 5.0 Software on Parade at Carnaval

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, March 24, 2009 — Last month, thousands of dancers in full make-up and bright costumes, along with hundreds of elaborate floats accompanied by musicians and rolling PA trucks blasting samba music marched down Rio’s famed Sambódromo in celebration of this year’s Carnaval. Song after song, samba school after samba school, Shure microphones took charge of vocalizing the passion of the week-long event that marks the beginning of Lent.

Televised globally by Rede Globo, the fourth largest broadcaster in the world, Carnaval is a giant celebration where samba schools, which consist of thousands of performers, compete for bragging rights as the official winner of Carnaval. The schools prepare all year for this one performance where they are meticulously judged on their costumes, choreography, floats, music, harmony, and overall theme. Because music and harmony play such an important role in the outcome, and due to the hectic outdoor RF environment, all of the bands that performed chose Shure wireless microphones to accompany them on their kilometer long, one-hour performance.

Representatives from Shure worked with Pride Music, Shure’s Brazilian Distributor, to provide RF coordination and technical support for Rede Globo and Gabisom, Brazil’s largest live sound company. They successfully coordinated and monitored the use of more than 78 channels of wireless frequencies using Shure Wireless Workbench (WWB) 5.0 software and UHF-R wireless receivers.

“Our goal was to give full-time technical support to the Gabisom team by managing and monitoring RF using an external scanner that talks to Shure’s Wireless Workbench software,” said Marinho Alves, Sales Manager for Pride Music. “Because of the constantly changing RF environment, the Wireless Workbench RF scanner and backup frequency features were critical in allowing us to recognize and respond to any RF problems, as the trucks accompanied the performers down the Sambódromo.”

In all, 30 UHF-R channels, 12 UHF wireless microphone systems using SM58® and Beta 58A capsules, and 12 PSM®700 personal monitor systems accompanied the schools on their performances without a failure, thanks to daily frequency scans and coordination by Alves and Gabriel Benitez, Training and Education Manager for Shure.

“During one of my Wireless Workbench scans, I noticed two intermittent DTV stations and one of those channels landed right on one of the UHF-R handheld transmitters,” said Benitez. “Since this occurred during one of the performances and there weren’t any spares available, there was no chance to swap it out or reprogram the transmitter. Fortunately, UHF-R is an extremely agile wireless microphone system, so we didn’t experience any dropouts.”

Shure at the 44th Academy of Country Music Awards

UR/SM58 Wireless Stands as the Evening’s Favorite

NILES, IL, April 20, 2009 — Once again filling the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena, the 44th Academy of Country Music Awards drew Nashville’s hottest acts to the glittering desert oasis, where Shure wireless proved to be the choice of a number of artists performing at the annual event.

“From an audio and RF standpoint, Shure’s UHF-R® Series and the SM58® capsule continued to provide us with maximum stability and flexibility,” production mixer J. Mark King said, commenting on the stage blueprint responsible for capturing the night’s live performances. Giving credence to King’s statement, the show opened with Brooks and Dunn, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, and other A-list artists, all using UR/SM58 wireless to sing a medley of hits.

Shure endorser Heidi Newfield and her UR/SM58 mic took the stage shortly thereafter, as did Toby Keith, who broke slightly with the night’s established standards by singing into a UR/KSM9 wireless handheld mic. Falling back into the gravitational pull of the UR/SM58 like iron shavings orbiting a powerful magnet, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Keith Urban, and Shure endorser Montgomery Gentry each took their turn in the spotlight, as did Carrie Underwood, who sported additional dazzle by bringing her custom-studded UR/SM58.

The show’s UR/SM58 highlight, however, came when Trace Atkins relied on the mic to sing “Till the Last Shot’s Fired” accompanied by the West Point Glee Club, who were also captured by UR/SM58s. Rascal Flatts closed the evening with “Here Comes Goodbye,” done with — you guessed it — UR/SM58s.

Certainly no stranger to this awards show, Burbank, California-based ATK Audiotek managed RF coordination and all other logistical aspects of implementing the wireless systems. Comprised of some of Nashville’s best studio musicians, the house band included Brent Mason on electric guitar, Glenn Worf on bass, Paul Franklin on steel guitar, Eddie Bayers on drums, and Steve Gibson on acoustic guitar. Not to be left out of the action, Shure hardwired mics figured prominently in the performances in the form of KSM32s on overheads, Beta 98s on toms, and SM57s on snare and guitar amps. Newcomer Jamey Johnson sang on a hardwired SM58, the same choice of John Rich.

“The strong showing of all these Shure products was gratifying,” noted Ryan Smith, Shure’s Regional Artist Relations Manager, who flew in from Nashville for the event. “I am also thankful to the artists and crews behind the scenes who showcased our products.”

Audio-Technica mics featured at Rock Hall induction

For the 12th year in a row, Audio-Technica microphones were chosen to outfit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A-T supplied more than 50 mics to capture audio for the event held in Cleveland’s Public Hall.

The 24th annual induction ceremony of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was held on April 4, 2009, with inductees including guitarist Jeff Beck, R&B vocal group Little Anthony & the Imperials, heavy metal legends Metallica, hip-hop pioneers Run-D.M.C., soul/gospel singer-songwriter-guitarist Bobby Womack, “Queen of Rockabilly” Wanda Jackson, and instrumentalists/sidemen Bill Black, DJ Fontana and Spooner Oldham. The show was broadcast live on Fuse and www.fuse.tv.

Audio-Technica’s acclaimed Artist Elite® 5000 Series UHF Wireless System was used with the AEW-T5400 handheld microphone/transmitter for frontline vocals on performances by Little Anthony, Wanda Jackson and Bobby Womack. Metallica used A-T AE5400 Cardioid Condenser Microphones for their vocals. A combination of wireless AEW-T5400s and wired AE5400s was used for vocals in the show’s finale, which featured Metallica and Jeff Beck, along with Jimmy Page, Ron Wood, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, in an all-star jam of the Yardbirds’ take on the blues classic “Train Kept A-Rollin.’”

The backline mic complement of A-T wired microphones included AE2500 Dual-Element Cardioid Instrument Microphone for kick drum and guitar cabinets; ATM450 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone for piano; AE5100 Cardioid Condenser Instrument Microphone for hi-hat and audience; ATM350 Cardioid Condenser Clip-On Microphone for toms, horns and strings; ATM250 Hypercardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphone for toms; AT4047/SV Cardioid Condenser Microphone for guitar cabinets; AT4050 Multi-pattern Condenser Microphone for overheads; ATM25 Hypercardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphone for toms; and AT4055 Handheld Cardioid Condenser Microphone for horns.

The technical staff for the induction ceremony was made up of professional audio industry veterans. Mitch Maketansky returned as Audio Coordinator this year, organizing and assigning all the inputs and microphones for the event. Frenchtown, New Jersey-based remote recording specialists Music Mix Mobile, the company responsible for both recording the program and mixing the live feed for broadcast, used its M3 remote truck with Jay Vicari as Music and Broadcast Mixer, mixing the event’s audio onsite. Al Centrella was the Production Mixer, Tony Blanc was Front-of-House (FOH) Engineer and Tom Holmes was the Monitor Mixer. Joel Singer served as Audio Engineer-in-Charge (EIC) and Pro Tools Engineer.

Jay Vicari remarked, “I continue to choose Audio-Technica wired and wireless microphones for high-profile broadcast events because of their fidelity, overall reliability and consistency from microphone to microphone. When dealing with a complex production such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, things can get pretty hectic, but being able to depend on A-T’s sound quality makes my life a lot easier."

Smokey Robinson Really Gets A Hold On Shure

Motown Icon Performs With PSM® 700 Personal In-ear Monitors

NILES, IL, April 2, 2009 — William “Smokey” Robinson hardly needs an introduction. With more than 4,000 songs to his credit spanning a musical career of 50-plus years, Robinson was one of the architects of the legendary Motown sound. Producing the label’s first million-selling hit, “Shop Around” in 1960, he charted countless others with The Miracles from 1960 into the ‘70s, wrote and produced tracks for other Motown hit makers, and served as the record company’s VP under lifelong friend and Motown founder Berry Gordy from 1961-1988.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1990, Robinson performed at this year’s GRAMMY Awards on February 8, as part of a Four Tops tribute, including Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, and Duke Fakir, the only surviving Four Tops member. Onstage, the singer was a longtime believer in floor wedges when it came to meeting his monitoring needs, this until a fateful meeting with the late Luther Vandross changed his performing style forever.

“My production manager is this guy named Brian French, and Brian had tried to get me to switch to ear monitors for probably eight years,” Robinson admits. “I went to see Luther Vandross—who was a really good friend of mine—and he was at the Hollywood Bowl. Afterwards I went backstage, and he said, ‘Smoke, let me tell you, the ear monitors, they are really what’s happening. It’s like singing to yourself in the studio. When you saw me, when I came on, I was barely singing, because I could hear myself. I don’t have to strain; I don’t have to do anything.’

“Later I told Brian, ‘I saw Luther and he was telling me…’ Brian said, ‘Great man! I’m gonna have the lady come down to the studio and fit you.’ I said, ‘OK, fine.’ So they fitted me and the first concert that I used them on I could hear myself great, better than I ever could. It was a godsend. It doesn’t matter where you’re playing. It doesn’t matter what the acoustics are. It doesn’t matter if you’re outside or inside. It doesn’t matter if the wind is blowing. It doesn’t matter, whatever is happening, you can hear yourself. I tell everybody, I tell all the singers I know, who haven’t tried them. I told Gladys Knight, ‘Gladys, get the ear monitor. Get it baby, because it is what’s happening.’ I told Aretha, ‘Get the ear monitor because it’s what’s happening.’ It saves your voice. When we do concerts, I’m not kidding, I sing for two-and-a-half hours. I don’t have to strain because I can hear me.”

Timeless Love, Robinson’s latest record released in 2006, was, according to the artist, tracked with all the musicians present at once. “We just did the stuff live, man,” he relates, grinning with his wide and famous smile, “and I had a ball. I haven’t had that much fun recording in years, because it was like doing a concert in the studio.”

Robinson’s tour schedule this year will include stops at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ, on April 17 and 18 as well as a date at the Star of the Desert Arena in Jean, NV, on May 23.

For more information, visit www.smokeyrobinson.com