An Amercian country music institution for almost 90 years, the Grand Ole Opry counts live audiences comprised of fans from around the world, with radio and television broadcasts extending its reach still further. Counterpointing its tradition, the venue stays on the leading edge of the technology needed to deliver its performances to a worldwide audience. Most recently, it has installed a Studer Vista 9 digital console for broadcast and postproduction, and a Vista 5 M2 as its FOH console.

With shows on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House (including occasional back-to-back shows on Fridays and Saturdays), the Opry’s technical staff operates at a hectic pace with little margin for error. ‘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,’ says Broadcast Engineer King Williams, who mixes the live radio broadcasts, handles postproduction work and also remixes performances for the Opry’s marketing department. ‘Having the automation capability for both broadcast and post is important,’ he adds.

The FOH console at the Opry is a Studer Vista 5 M2, 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 ten on the top and six layers deep,’ says FOH Engineer Tommy Hensley. ‘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. It’s a great console and easy to operate.’

Before the upgraded, the FOH console was the last piece of analogue audio equipment remaining in use at the Opry. Now installed, the Vista 5 M2 has provided the benefits of digital technology while retaining the warm sound and tactile operation of an analogue desk. ‘The recall on the analogue board was just faders and soft keys – none of the mic pres, EQs, or limiters were recallable,’ Hensley says. ‘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. 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,’ says 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 says. ‘It’s 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, it’s not just the depth of the cue lists that make a difference – the ability to organise the lists alphabetically is an often-overlooked but crucial feature: ‘It’s something that a lot of consoles don’t have,’ he says. ‘Having those alphabetised 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. It’s 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 mixing desk 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 we’ll get some playback from the video department that goes from the Expression 2 to the Vista 9 and Expression 3,’ Williams explains. The Opry also uses JBL VerTec line arrays for its main PA system and BSS Soundweb London DSP for the Opry’s 70V system.

In addition, Studer’s commitment to customer support and hands-on service has stretched the value of the Opry’s investment in the Vista console: ‘Working with Rob Lewis [Studer US Sales Director] and James Tunnicliffe [Soundcraft Studer Field Support & Applications Engineer] has been an absolute pleasure,’ says Technical Services Manager, Jon Mire. ‘They have been there for us whenever we’ve needed them and provide the best support I could ask for. That kind of attention to detail makes a huge difference.’