DiGiCo keeps CMA Awards covered

USA - The 52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards ceremony, held on 14 November at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, recognised the best in country music released during the CMA’s annual eligibility period. Winners included Entertainer of the Year Keith Urban and Song of the Year Broken Halos by Chris Stapleton, who also garnered the Male Vocalist of the Year award.
Everyone who heard the show’s 22 music performances and awards introductions by those artists and others listened to them through a pair of DiGiCo SD-Range consoles: an SD7 helmed by Blackhawk Audio president Rick Shimer at FOH for the event’s music performances, and an SD5, which mixed the evening’s production audio, piloted by ATK Audiotek principal Pat Baltzell. The house audio was played through a JBL PA using a combination of VerTec 4889 and VTX V20 enclosures.
“Rick and I have done this show for nearly 20 years, and the SD consoles have made a huge difference in both the house sound and the workflow,” says Baltzell, who was also the sound system designer. “We split the sound between us - Rick handles all of the music mixes from the stage, while I do the production mix, which is all of the audio elements other than the music: the awards introductions, acceptance speeches, video rolls, and so on. We’ve found that division of labor to be the most efficient workflow.”
(Jim Evans)

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