Austin, TX (April 29, 2024)—Earlier this month, the CMT Music Awards, broadcast live from the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, honored the best in Country Music with a night of performances and awards. This year’s three-hour broadcast featured 16 musical performances, and 5.4 million people who watched at home heard it all thanks to John Harris and Rob Macomber of HEAR, brought on for the event by CMT Audio Producer Tom Davis.
“Award shows like this have many styles of music and represent a range of emotional experiences for the listener,” said Harris. “As a team, we have a great love of all music, and what we bring to a broadcast like this is the ability to elevate these experiences by creating the proper audio environment where they can flourish. All of the artists, whether they are industry legends or up-and-comers, are equally important to us. We give everyone 100% whether they are a household name or not.”
Tight coordination with Davis as well as the Front of House mixers for each of the acts enabled the HEAR team to dial in the right sound and feel for each act individually as well as create sonic cohesion between them. “Making it all work together on an emotional level can be challenging, which is one of the big advantages that HEAR brings to a project like this,” Davis explained. “John and Rob know how to build trust with artists by working quickly and delivering what each needs quickly while still having a sense of the larger goal of how the event should sound.”
Operating out of the HEAR Audio Truck, Gemini, Harris and Macomber utilized the vehicle’s dual control rooms to cover multiple aspects of the show at once as well as provide Davis and his assistant with a full-featured office space from where he could monitor the broadcast and provide feedback where needed.
“Gemini is ideally suited for shows like this because we can offer a seamless workflow between the duplicate rooms and provide a safe monitoring space for audio producers within the same truck,” explained Macomber. “It makes for quick, easy communication with the producers and also gives us additional redundancy in the event it’s needed.”
Davis appreciated their input, noting, “They understand that it’s as much about watching as it is listening, and hearing the live broadcast mix reflects that. Is the stage setup dark and dreamy? Is it bright and punchy? They have that sixth sense of how the audio mix can enhance that experience and bring the music and visuals together.”
