American Idol Uses Personal Mixers For Communications Network
Overview
ATK Audiotek, a leading sound reinforement provider for the professional audio and broadcast industry, routinely relies on Aviom to streamline production and communication. For the popular TV show American Idol ATK used Pro16 products to create the monitoring and communications network for the band. Details
Key Features
- Increased monitor control in a live TV environment
- Simple setup and installation
- Multiple zones simplify content delivery to the performers
Products Used
- Pro16 Series
- 1 AN-16/i Input Module
- 2 A-16II Personal Mixers
- 1 A-16R Rack-mount Mixer
Broadcast Communications Simplified
Using Aviom’s A-16R and A-16II Personal Mixers, California’s ATK Audiotek created a communications system for the most-watched television show in the US, American Idol. The show features live performers competing to be voted America’s next popular music star.
Filmed in Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre for Season 8, American Idol posed a unique challenge for engineers because they were dealing with amateur performers and a professional band on a multi-level set with conductor and bass player Rickey Minor separated from the other musicians in a second-story balcony across from the band.
Staff Engineer
ATK Audiotek
The communications network that ATK Audiotek created is arranged into two zones—the band zone with an A-16R controlled by the monitor engineer and the drum zone with a standalone A-16II, which the drummer can control. Minor and the director can speak to band members using Clear-Com Party-line AB-100 and Studio Technologies 233 announcer consoles as the main interfaces. “We knew we had to make it work,” said ATK’s Andres Arango. “The Aviom mixers made it possible.”
Arango also noted the “added benefit of allowing the musicians to have increased control over their own audio monitor levels, including the verbal cues.” In addition, the simple setup and flexibility of the Aviom system allow engineers to adjust to the changing needs of the Idol set.
In fact, the Aviom system is so flexible and reliable that ATK Audiotek used a similar setup for the Academy Awards show, which is also broadcast live from Hollywood’s Kodak Theater.
