Inauguration Audio

[Alex Specht]

Obama inaugural is dream job for Baltimore sound company -- baltimoresun.com

That is some heavy-duty production. Any insider details on audio? What is the audio rig? What company? etc...

They really dialed in the audio for the quartet.

Do you think they are really playing?

How about the band for Aretha? Where is the pit?

[Alex Specht]

Obama inaugural is dream job for Baltimore sound company -- baltimoresun.com

[cubivore]

kinda looked like schoeps on the main podium, and it did look like the quartet was playing, but the audio did seem a little detached. i can't believe their instruments stayed in tune with that weather!

[Alex Specht]

TWO MILES OF DELAY SPEAKERS AND 30 BIG RIGS!!!!

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Alex Specht

They really dialed in the audio for the quartet.

Do you think they are really playing?

...

if they were, I would like to buy a set of those windscreens!

[theblue1]

As a rule, highly trained classical players are not natural born lip syncers... it's pretty low on their priorities.

It would pretty hard for me to imagine people like Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma putting on a sham performance.

Then again, I suppose when your nation calls, you might do what you're asked to do. But I didn't get the sense that anything else was pre-recorded. Aretha seemed clearly to be live -- and in a more difficult position, performance wise, since she had to stay coordinated with a large brass band and choir. By contrast, a small group of classical players with appropriate monitoring (I noticed in-ears) should be fairly easy to manage.

With regard to the temperature, the stage areas appeared to be enclosed on the sides and, since people on stage weren't wearing overcoats -- while everyone in the crowd was wearing overcoats and parkas -- I'm pretty sure it was somewhat temperature controlled.

That said, I doubt Itzhak brought the Strad... but ya never know. History has a mighty heady call, I'm thinking.

[NandoOg7]

Did anyone else think Aretha didn't do well?

[theblue1]

I thought she did fine given the circumstances and considering the fact that she's a 67 year old female singer chosen for her place in history (as a key performer identified with the civil rights struggle in the 60s).

One can hardly expect a 67 year old's voice to be as fluid and flexible as it was when she was 25... I don't know how many older female singers you've paid attention to, but the years are generally not kind to the voice, particularly in upper registers.

[sahiaman]

I clearly saw a red badge Neumann in front of Yo Yo Ma's cello. If they rerun it try and spot it in the first 10 seconds. So I'm sure it was the live sound. Sounded fantastic.

[NandoOg7]

Originally Posted by theblue1

I thought she did fine given the circumstances and considering the fact that she's a 67 year old female singer. One can hardly expect a 67 year old's voice to be as fluid and flexible as it was when she was 25... I don't know how many older female singers you've paid attention to, but the years are generally not kind to the voice, particularly in upper registers.

Understood, butjust thought it was way too messy and brought the "emotional" level down, for me.

[Crash]

Originally Posted by sahiaman

I clearly saw a red badge Neumann in front of Yo Yo Ma's cello. If they rerun it try and spot it in the first 10 seconds. So I'm sure it was the live sound. Sounded fantastic.

I saw that too. There are a lot of Clair guys there for various acts.

[Tom H]

Yeah, cool I spotted the neumann too.

[Martin Kantola]

Sounded fantastic to me too! And I saw an Earthworks microphone in addition to the Neumann...

Definitely live performance, very impressive everyone!

Martin

[dualtone]

I love Aretha, But wouldn't it have been really cool to have had Mavis Staples deliver it? A Chicago native with such a close association with MLK and who sang "I'll Take You There", one of the heavily used songs of Obama's candidacy. Ahhh...so little reason to quibble about anything at the moment!

[Berolzheimer]

"The primary microphone into which Obama will deliver his inaugural address is among the most important and expensive items in Maryland Sound's inventory, of sufficient quality to capture the natural lows in the incoming president's voice, Goldstein said.
"

Looked like the usual pair of sm-57's to me.

I thought the brodcast mix was unfortunately dry, there was very little sense of the size of teh place or crowd. C'mon, guys, a little echo from the audience mics won't hurt ya! Makes things sound more bigger & profound!

[TocaLaGuitara]

Looked like a pair of 57's to me, with some massive windscreens on them.

[gearaddict]

Originally Posted by NandoOg7

Did anyone else think Aretha didn't do well?

+1...Me and my wife could not understand one lyric that came out of her mouth, She could have hummed it and sounded the same, I herd maby 4 english words out of the whole performance!!!

[fifthcircle]

Looked here like an SM57 next to a Schoeps from what I saw. The wind screens on the two mics were Shure SM81 heavy duty wind screens (which work really well- I have 15 or 20 of them that I use for outdoor gigs). There were also a couple of long shotguns down at the base of the podium. looks like they were there to capture the folks that were standing off to the sides.

As for the string instruments- on one of the broadcasts, it was mentioned that Yo Yo Ma was playing a carbon fiber cello.

--Ben

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by NandoOg7

Understood, butjust thought it was way too messy and brought the "emotional" level down, for me.

Maybe she should have lip synced?




Seriously, though, it's great when everything goes super slick and every little facet of everything is perfect. I guess. But this is the real world. And just between you and me, I'm pretty over the whole extruded plastic, totally manufactured reality typically served up these days.


I thought the President nervously fumbling his lines repeating his oath of office had a real, human charm...

And if a woman chosen for her place in history sounded like a woman who has lived some history, I say that's about right.

I'd certainly rather have that than some Auto-Tune diva.

[paultools]

looked like a Neuman TLM 170 to me in front of the cello, and thought I saw an Earthworks also.

[DCtoDaylight]

Originally Posted by theblue1

I thought the President nervously fumbling his lines repeating his oath of office had a real, human charm...

And if a woman chosen for her place in history sounded like a woman who has lived some history, I say that's about right.

I'd certainly rather have that than some Auto-Tune diva.

Excellent points! I totally agree about the human charm....just for the record, Chief Justice Roberts bollixed the oath, which threw Barry off stride, but it certainly did add some feel!

And maybe I'm nuts (OK, I'm definitely nuts), but I was tearing up when Aretha was singing...just knowing all she's seen and done, and hearing a song that I remember learning in first grade sung in that context. Worked for me.

[Denny McNerney]

Originally Posted by Alex Specht

Obama inaugural is dream job for Baltimore sound company -- baltimoresun.com

That is some heavy-duty production. Any insider details on audio? What is the audio rig? What company? etc...

They really dialed in the audio for the quartet.

Do you think they are really playing?

How about the band for Aretha? Where is the pit?

well, i sincerely doubt that the quartet was live.
it was a playback.
the earthworks omni was two feet away from the violin.
yes, that was a 47 fet on the cello, i think. 18" to two feet away.
everything was mic'ed so well and close.
no wind noise.
no tuning problems in 30 degree weather?
a grand piano in 30 degree weather?
playing a clarinet in 30 degree weather (yes, i know salvation army people do it)?

didn't anyone else notice how different the audio sounded at the end of the piece when they brought in the audience reaction?

aretha's vocal was live, but the rest was playback.

which is fine, it's showbiz...

anyone else here remember when whitney houston faked the national anthem a long time ago, and denied it vigorously?
i remember watching her sing in a stadium into a 58 on tv, and thinking... wow, how come it sounds like a 87 into a la-2a?

[Denny McNerney]

and, btw, this is not to take away from any of the talents involved in the thing today...

it's showbiz.

there wasn't a trainwreck anywhere.

kudos to everyone involved, especially the sound company pulling off the incredible delay towers.

[oudplayer]

It seemed live to me (the quartet, that is) - Arethra was definitely live, I liked her performance, quirks included, it was very real.

There wasn't much wind in DC today, so not surprised about the lack of wind noise.

[3rdeyeKnight]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

There were also a couple of long shotguns down at the base of the podium. looks like they were there to capture the folks that were standing off to the sides.

--Ben

Actually, those are normally there for safety precautions- If the situation gets totally out of hand and Secret Service is not able to react fast enough. I couldnt resist.

[Denny McNerney]

just in case you didn't see it...
i am very impressed if this is live audio.
YouTube - Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman Perform at Barack Obama's Inauguration Celebration

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by NandoOg7

Did anyone else think Aretha didn't do well?

There wasn't a dry eye at our inauguration brunch. She totally brought it.

-R

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Alex

They really dialed in the audio for the quartet.

Do you think they are really playing?


[URL="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/politics/bal-te.md.sound20jan20,0,6108986.story"

[/URL]

Obviously they were really playing. Incredible isn't it, that people can actually play live music that brilliantly.

-R

[RKrizman]

Originally Posted by Denny McNerney

well, i sincerely doubt that the quartet was live.
it was a playback.
t

They were most certainly live. You could even hear the mix being tweaked as the performance progressed, such as when they upped the piano volume a little.

Stuff like this is very doable. i'm sure there was warm air being pumped into their enclosure.

-R

[Jules]

Originally Posted by cubivore

kinda looked like schoeps on the main podium, and it did look like the quartet was playing, but the audio did seem a little detached. i can't believe their instruments stayed in tune with that weather!

I enjoyed that piece!

Re the tuning, Me neither I was totally astounded it was in tune. Did you see the piano player wearing fingerless gloves?

Aretha did a fine job - no miming for her - v professional and an impressive hat too!