Grand Ole Opry Backs Up Reputation as Country Musics Most Famous Stage with HARMANs Studer Vista 9 and Vista 5 M2 Digital Consoles
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - As even casual country music fans are aware, the Grand Ole Opry is an institution of American music. The Opry stage, with its trademark barn fa ade backdrop, has hosted musics most accomplished recording artists for almost 90 years. Without fail, live audiences are comprised of fans from around the world, while radio and television broadcasts also extend to listeners and viewers across the globe. However, while the Opry is steeped in tradition, it also stays on the cutting edge of technology to deliver top sound quality to its live fans and worldwide audiences. Demonstrating this commitment, the Opry recently purchased a HARMAN Studer Vista 9 digital console for its broadcast services and a Studer Vista 5 M2 as its new FOH console.
With shows on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at Nashvilles Grand Ole Opry House (including occasional back-to-back shows on Fridays and Saturdays), the Oprys technical staff operates at a hectic pace with little margin for error. For its broadcast and post-production work, the Opry chose a Studer Vista 9 digital console.
We have been digital for a long time on the broadcast side, but we went with the Vista 9 because it was purpose-built for live broadcast and post, said King Williams, Broadcast Engineer, who mixes the live radio broadcasts and handles the post-production work, while also remixing performances for the Oprys marketing department to utilize. Having the automation capability for both broadcast and post is important.
The FOH console at the Opry is a Studer Vista 5 M2 console, which features a TFT metering system capable of displaying signal levels from mono through to 5.1 channels on each input, with a configurable lower area which can be used to display bus assignments, surround images or the unique History Mode. Metering for layer 2 signals can also be viewed, while the Control Bay screen can be used to provide configurable user pages with up to 40 meters.
We are working with 96 inputs and the Vista 5 M2 is set up on four banks of 10 on the top and six layers deep, said Tommy Hensley, FOH Engineer for the Opry. I use three of those banks for inputs and a VCA in the middle. The console is very easy for me to navigate and I love the meter board. Being able to see the history right in front of me is a huge advantage. Its a great console and easy to operate.
Until the Opry upgraded to the Vista 5 M2, the FOH console was the last piece of analog audio equipment remaining. However, the Vista 5 M2 has provided all the benefits of digital technology while retaining the warm sound and tactile operation of an analog desk. The recall on the analog board was just faders and soft keys - none of the mic pres, EQs, or limiters were recallable, Hensley said. Needless to say, the Vista 5 M2 has made my life way, way easier.
I love the comps and gates on the M2 as well, Hensley added. The Lexicon reverbs sound great, and we have that feature on both Vista consoles here.
For the in-house and broadcast elements, built-in cue lists were priorities when deciding on both Vista consoles.
Considering the number of artists we work with every week, we have tons of snapshots that we need to save to be able to recall the settings for each artist, said Kevin McGinty, Audio Engineer at the Grand Ole Opry. Lots of consoles are not able to handle the cue lists that we require. We have several hundred snapshots for both consoles, and the Vista boards are able to store the tons of information we have in a very efficient way.
The Vista 9 is set up to where I run down the cue list, recall the snapshots and fire away, Williams added. Its important that I take a full snapshot of every artist, including mic preamp settings, because I am responsible for the multitrack recordings.
According to Hensley, its not just the depth of the cue lists that make a difference; the ability to organize the lists alphabetically is an often-overlooked but crucial feature. Its something that a lot of consoles dont have, he said. Having those alphabetized cue lists helps us access those snapshots right away, which is important because most of the artists only play one or two songs, then you have a few commercials and you have to adjust to the next artist right away. Its really convenient to easily find the snapshots, quickly review them and lock them in.
Other HARMAN equipment at the Grand Ole Opry includes a Soundcraft Si Expression 2 in the video department and an Si Expression 3 that is used as a sidecar to the Vista 9, via a MADI interface. We run radio commercials and other content on the Expression 3 and sometimes well get some playback from the video department that goes from the Expression 2 to the Vista 9 and Expression 3, Williams said. In addition to the Si Expression consoles, the Opry features HARMANs JBL VERTEC line arrays for its main PA system and BSS Soundweb London DSP for the Oprys 70-volt system.
In addition, Studers commitment to customer support and hands-on service has stretched the value of the Oprys investment in the Vista consoles. Working with Rob Lewis [Studers US Sales Director] and James Tunnicliffe [Soundcraft Studer Field Support and Applications Engineer] has been an absolute pleasure, said Jon Mire, Technical Services Manager for the Grand Ole Opry. They have been there for us whenever weve needed them and provide the best support I could ask for. That kind of attention to detail makes a huge difference.
When it comes to music venues, few can match the prestige of the Grand Ole Opry, so when it comes to technology, there can be no sacrifice in performance, said Mike Franklin, Senior US Sales Manager, Studer. This is a tremendous showcase for the capabilities of Studer digital consoles in live and
Most recent headlines
02/01/2025
With more than 640 million users and more than 250 million subscribers, Spotify ...
02/01/2025
NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, continued to advance in 2024, with some notable developments and renewed hopes that a deregulatory-minded Federal Communications Commi...
02/01/2025
Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly the hottest topic in the tech industry today, displaying all the excitement, apprehension and hype of the early days of t...
02/01/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. NBC Sports said 2024 was its best year in terms of ratings since 2016. Its success was fueled by the Paris Summer Olympics as well as its NFL co...
02/01/2025
MSG Networks has been dropped from Altice USA's Optimum-branded pay TV offerings after the operator and the regional sports provider were unable to reach a ...
02/01/2025
How color film and analog color TV works with bluescreen / chromakey
Graham Quince January 2, 2025
0 Comments
A deep dive into VFX History looking at ...
02/01/2025
Hulu Series Interior Chinatown Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton January 2, 2025
0 Comments
Colorist Aidan Stanford delivers complex gra...
02/01/2025
Bulk Font Replacement in Premiere Pro
Andy Ford January 2, 2025
0 Comments
If you want to change the font of multiple text layers in Premiere Pro, the...
02/01/2025
Streaming media's impact on the media and entertainment industry continued to widen in 2024, as more sports rights moved to streaming platforms and the rapi...
02/01/2025
ATLANTA The board of directors for Gray Television Inc. has unanimously voted to change the company's name to Gray Media, Inc. effective Jan. 1....
02/01/2025
Official television and film archives exist to preserve the history and creativity of media. But even these formal institutions do not contain everything that h...
02/01/2025
Welsh succeeds Renard Jenkins, who has reached the end of his two-year tenure in the role
By Jenny Priestley
Published: January 2, 2025
Welsh succeeds Ren...
02/01/2025
Creator Economy Isn't Really Like Film/Show Entertainment
Andy Marken January 1, 2025
0 Comments
Come on Barry, you're good at this sort of s...
02/01/2025
Blackmagic Design Announces New Lower Price for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera ...
02/01/2025
Hollywood Lighting Hacks: Big Looks, Tiny Budget
Sean Alami January 1, 2025
0 Comments
Discover how to create stunning Hollywood-style lighting using ...
02/01/2025
PDC World Darts Championship: Sky Sports on the oche for the Nuke's' re...
02/01/2025
PGA TOUR's Mike Raimondo on the Highlights and Impact of the PGA's New C...
02/01/2025
SVG Year in Review - Audio Edition: More Music, More Mergers, Fewer A1s Spectrum, sports betting, AI are other factors in sound for both broadcast and streaming...
02/01/2025
SVG Year in Review: Our Most Read Stories, A Look Back at Paris 2024, and the Bi...
02/01/2025
Comscore Appoints New Chief Marketing Officer Measurement innovator taps TV, streaming and digital ad veteran Jackelyn Keller for brand and product marketing e...
02/01/2025
A fresh start to 2025 with new faces, familiar voices and plenty of Irish music ...
02/01/2025
GeForce NOW is kicking off 2025 by delivering 14 games to the cloud this month, with two available to stream this week so members can get started on their New Y...
01/01/2025
Marcy Lefkovitz, Dalet SVP product innovation, details the findings of the companys report into the future of newsrooms, including leveraging AI, optimising mul...
01/01/2025
PGA TOUR Centers Media Operations in Transformative New Studio Fully integrated ST 2110 facility enhances production for fans domestic and international By Ken...
31/12/2024
Rashad Frett shares a moment with Michelle Satter at the 2023 Directors Lab. Pho...
31/12/2024
What's Ahead in 2025? OWC's Larry O'Connor Offers Some Bold Predicti...
31/12/2024
Blackmagic Design Announces New Features for Blackmagic Cloud
Brie Clayton December 31, 2024
0 Comments
New thumbnail icon view, clip metadata inspect...
31/12/2024
5 Features in DaVinci Resolve You're Not Using (But You Should Be)
Kasia Jarco December 31, 2024
0 Comments
In this video we are going to talk abo...
31/12/2024
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Day Games on Netflix Average Over 30 Million Global Viewers
Entertainment
31 December 2024
Global
Link copied to clipboard
...
31/12/2024
Back to All News
Squid Game' Season 2 Smashes Top 10 Records as Millions W...
30/12/2024
Leaving Thomson after 21 years, former Managing Director David Quin reflects on a career spent navigating the shifting sands of global media development. From r...
30/12/2024
[Pictured: a still from Love Lies Bleeding, one of the 100 Sundance-supported titles that opened to wider audiences in 2024]...
30/12/2024
Digital Domain Creates Groundbreaking VFX for Venom: The Last Dance, Bringing ...
30/12/2024
Internet Giant GMP Builds Tokyo Virtual Event Space with URSA Broadcast G2
Brie Clayton December 30, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 and ...
30/12/2024
Renderboxes launches Photon, a no-compromise transportable high-performance work...
30/12/2024
Shinobi II Monitor Supports Canon, Sony, Nikon - Touch to Focus with New Feature...
30/12/2024
30 Dec 2024
In a Groundbreaking Agreement, VEON and Starlink to Bring Starlink ...
30/12/2024
The pace of technology innovation has accelerated in the past year, most dramati...
29/12/2024
Gyeongnam Culture and Arts Foundation (GCAF), an active promotor of cultural and artistic diversity, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X700 camera chains for integration i...
27/12/2024
After starting 2024 with hopes that the transition to streaming might finally produce a more stable, profitable businesses, the media and entertainment industry...
27/12/2024
Broadcasters ended the year with hopes and fears about how the federal government will regulate the TV industry in 2025. While the incoming Trump administration...
27/12/2024
NVIDIA's AI Podcast gives listeners the inside scoop on the ways AI is transforming nearly every industry. Since the show's debut in 2016, it's gar...
26/12/2024
Talking about artificial intelligence in 2024 is akin to talking about the internet in 1994 everyone's excited about it and thinks it will have an enormous ...
26/12/2024
Back to All News
Netflix NFL Christmas Gameday Reaches 65 Million US Viewers
Entertainment
26 December 2024
GlobalUnited States
Link copied to clipboard
U...
26/12/2024
Back to All News
Check Out All the Must-See Trailers From Netflix's NFL Chr...
26/12/2024
Back to All News
Beyonc Delivers Epic Gift of a Halftime Performance "Beyonc...
26/12/2024
Back to All News
Get in the Game With Squid Game' Season 2 Complete Coverage Guide
Entertainment
26 December 2024
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Are...
26/12/2024
This GFN Thursday wraps up another incredible year for cloud gaming. Take a look back at the top games and new features that made 2024 a standout for GeForce NO...
24/12/2024
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is calling for applications from South African film and television filmmakers to be part of the NFVF's delegat...
Grand Ole Opry Backs Up Reputation as Country Musics Most Famous Stage with HARMANs Studer Vista 9 and Vista 5 M2 Digital Consoles
