Paul Sandweiss of Sound Design Corporation.

In this part of the HFR backstage tour, we focus on the production phases in which all the disparate source components are combined into the complete audio signals to be transmitted to the home viewer. As it turns out, the Grammy Awards include two parallel – and independently-created – audio soundtracks: a 5.1 surround mix for HDTV viewers, and a surround-encoded two-channel mix for viewers who receive standard definition broadcast signals.

The High-Definition 5.1 Surround Mix

In the Effanel OSR trailer, parked inside the Staples Center backstage area sits 5.1 Sound Mixer Paul Sandweiss of Sound Design Corporation. Sandweiss’ task is to take the 5.1 music mix produced by John Harris and Jay Vicari in the L7 trailer, and combine it with all the other audio components. “I glue all the elements together to create a unified, realistic sound,” he explained. These elements include the audience impact sound stems from Klaus Landsberg and the nominee package audio clips from Don Worsham.

Sandweiss also ensures that live and taped components such as the announcer’s voice are seamlessly matched in level, tonal balance, etc. Feeds from the podium and ancillary lavaliere mics require special attention to create a uniform balance among all the people spread out on the stage at the same time (i.e., when groups assemble to accept an award).

Given the caliber of people providing all these sources, Sandweiss admits that compared to some of his other audio engineering assignments this job is relatively easy – integrating the components with a predetermined mix in mind, he applies some light dynamic compression and limiting per network specifications, he sends out a full bandwidth 5.1 digital signal to the CBS trailer for signal encoding and transmission. As a safety backup, Sandweiss also keeps front-of-house feeds available, but will only use them as a last resort. Since his product is intended for the Grammy’s high definition broadcast, he takes a no-compromise approach. “I mix mainly for the high end,” he said.


The Standard-Definition Matrix Surround Mix

	Production mixer Ed Greene.

In parallel with Sandweiss’s efforts, veteran production mixer Ed Greene provides the Grammys’ standard definition audio content from a rather compact trailer he shares with Phil Ramone. Greene’s two-channel soundtrack is not a downmix of Sandweiss’s 5.1 soundtrack, but an entirely separate mix he creates from the same source elements that Sandweiss receives – the music-only 5.1 mix, podium mics, audience impact feeds, nominee audio cues, etc.

Drawing on his experience as a Grammy mixer since 1974, Greene weaves together these sources at his own console like a musician at a keyboard (he even uses a foot pedal for the audience feed to give him an extra real-time “hand”). Greene processes his mix through a Dolby Pro Logic II encoder to create the surround-encoded Lt/Rt mix which will accompany the standard definition broadcast (stereo-only mixes are no longer produced for the Grammys). Greene’s mix is ultimately broadcast by traditional analog CBS affiliate stations as well as any digital stations that are unable to pass a 5.1 signal.

When played back through a home receiver or processor equipped with any type of Dolby Surround decoder, Greene’s two-channel mix will yield a very good surround soundfield, notes Dolby Laboratories’ Rocky Graham, who serves as an onsite Digital TV consultant for the Grammy telecast. Those with more sophisticated decoding (Pro Logic II or Logic 7) will even get stereo separation in their surround channels. “I’m not pretending that it’s as good as discrete 5.1,” Graham said. “If you go side-by-side, you can tell the difference clearly. But it’s still a great, involving surround experience for viewers with basic home theater systems.”


Philip Brandes (Text) and Steve Grayson (Images) - 21/02/2005



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