Innova-Son Consoles At The Grammys

While the controversy over rap singer "Eminem" grabbed the headlines, there was another first at the recent 43rd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles: a pair of Innova-Son Grand Live Digital consoles at the heart of the house sound system.

ATK Audio of Burbank, CA, orchestrated the evening's audio and provided the Innova-Son consoles for the festivities, which were held at the Staples Center in downtown L.A.

Rob "Cubby" Colby mixed FOH, working with Andrew "Fletch" Fletcher. In addition to assisting during the actual performances, "Fletch" set up and programmed the Innova-Son consoles during rehearsals. Mike Stewart, ATK Audio, mixed production audio (podium mics, lavaliers, audio from video, clips, and so on).

The Innova-Son digital consoles were supplemented by a pair of AMEK Recall Consoles. Each Innova-Son was paired with a Recall, and while one "team" of consoles was mixing an act, Fletch configured the other "team" for the subsequent act.

"The key factor of Innova-Son consoles at a live event like this is their instant recall capability," noted Fletch. "We had very little time to reset each pair of consoles between acts, and that short time frame was compressed further by the need for line checks. I was also impressed by the Innova-Son's ease of use. They pack a lot of flexibility into a very intuitive interface. I had never touched one before the Grammys, but I never even had to open the manual. Now I know why Innova-Son is getting such a buzz in engineering circles!"