Garth Brooks performed live on CBS to benefit F.I.R.E. (Fire Intervention Relief Effort), an organization aiding the victims of last fall’s Southern California wildfires. The show was broadcast in HD with a 5.1 surround mix and featured guest performances by artists Trisha Yearwood and Huey Lewis. The show’s producers, AEG Ehrlich Ventures, contracted MTV Networks’ Remote Unit 8 audio truck to handle music mixing responsibilities for the event. The truck’s mixing facilities include two Lawo mc²66 digital audio consoles.
Greg Lankford, the EIC (engineer in charge) for MTV’s remote audio truck, noted that the production included a fair amount of pressure on the crew. Challenges included a shortened rehearsal schedule and several last-minute mix changes. “We didn’t get to hear Trisha Yearwood at all during the rehearsal,” Lankford said. “She performed a duet with Garth, and the first time we heard her sing was during the live performance. We had to make several last-minute modifications to the mix.”
In addition to the main 56-fader Lawo mc²66 console, Remote Unit 8 also has a second, smaller mc²66 — in an 8 x 8 x 8 configuration, with 16 main channel faders and eight center assignable faders and its own core, MADI interfaces and DSP facilities. As part of a recent upgrade to the truck, the two consoles can share up to 192 signals in either direction, with one of the four MADI ports always providing redundancy to the three others. For the live Garth Brooks event, the smaller mc²66 served in a backup capacity, with all the snapshots from the main console loaded in, making it a fully functional standby system.
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