For the second consecutive year, all of the artists and bands who performed using in-ear monitors during the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards used the Shure PSM1000 Personal Monitor System, including Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Carrie Underwood, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift.
This was the first time Shure Axient was used at the GRAMMYs, and it sounded great. It’s a tough environment for wireless inside the Staples Center, where it was even difficult to get cell phone service. A system like Axient with its frequency diversity is key.
In addition to Shure Axient, UHF-R wireless microphone systems, with a combination of SM58, Beta 58A, and KSM9 handheld transmitters, were chosen by a long list of artists for performances throughout the evening, including Dierks Bentley (UR2/Beta 58), Justin Timberlake (UR2/SM58), Jay-Z (UR2/SM58), Mavis Staples (UR2/SM58), Maroon 5 (UR2/SM58), Juanes (UR2/KSM9) and Frank Ocean (UR2/SM58).
Shure endorsers Mumford & Sons were big winners, bringing home the highly-coveted Album of the Year Award for their album “Babel.” They played twice during the evening using wired Beta 58A microphones to perform “I Will Wait” and then going wireless (UR2/Beta 58) as they shared the stage for the Levon Helm Tribute.
Fellow Shure endorsers The Black Keys swept the rock categories, receiving awards for Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album and Best Rock Performance. In addition to all of the wireless systems used throughout the evening, Shure endorsers The Black Keys took the stage with Dr. John using wired SM58 microphones. Other artists and bands opting for wired SM58s included Kelly Clarkson, The Lumineers and Jack White. The Lumineers and White also used Shure KSM313 ribbon microphones on their guitar cabinets.
Dave Bellamy of Soundtronics, coordinator of RF for this year’s broadcast, said he was never concerned about mic failures
