Versacom, Riedel Rock the Grammys

Intercom rentals provider ATK Versacom used Riedel equipment to support the 50th Annual Grammy Awards show in February. The wide range of Riedel equipment included three Artist Digital Matrix frames, nearly 30 Artist control panels and a selection of Performer Digital Partyline gear.

John Arenas, general manager/partner at Versacom, served as the lead intercom design engineer on the project. He placed one Artist 128 frame on the main floor, one Artist 64 frame at the broadcast production truck and one 32 port Artist frame at the FOH, linking them via fiber to form a single decentralized matrix. Individual intercom stations were then connected to the nearest node using standard coax cabling, thus eliminating the need for long home runs to a single mainframe.

Performer Digital Partyline equipment, including both C3 digital beltpacks and C44 System Interfaces, was used to implement ISO functionality at cameras lacking standard four-wire intercom connections. The Artist system was also interfaced to a variety of other equipment including wireless devices as well as the intercom matrix installed in the television production truck assigned to the event.