Sandwiched around the most-watched US musical event of the year, Super Bowl 50 marked the fiftieth year of Super Bowl tournaments. Staged at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, ATK Audiotek provided sound reinforcement in the shape of its custom-designed, cart-based system – equipped with JBL VerTec line array loudspeakers for its pre-game performances of ‘America The Beautiful’ by the Armed Forces Chorus and ‘Star Spangled Banner’ by Lady Gaga, as well as the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Headlined by Coldplay with guest performances by Beyoncé, Mark Ronson, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, the mid-match music enjoyed a live stadium audience of 71,088 plus 165 luxury suites and 8,500 club seats. The event was telecast on CBS and streamed live on CBSSports.com as well as other mobile applications, commanding an average of 111.9m viewers – the third-most-watched programme in American TV history.
To ensure that the audio met the event’s requirements and expectations, ATK provided 18 carts – each loaded with four to five VerTec 4889 large-format line array loudspeakers (84 in total) and two VerTec 4880A dual 18-inch subwoofers – were rolled onto the field for the pre-game, halftime and post-game portions of the event. Driving the loudspeakers were more than 120 Powersoft K10 amplifiers and M-Force powered subwoofers.
‘The design of the systems was finalised months ago,’ says Mikael Stewart, ATK Audiotek VP of Special Events. ‘We only have a very short window when we can actually get inside the stadium and have the audio systems set up and tuned and ready for sound check. Patrick Baltzell – FOH engineer for the Halftime Show – is very experienced with these systems, having mixed 18 of the last 19 Super Bowls, which helps ensure we can accomplish all that we need to in the given time.’
When it was required, the ATK team had just six minutes to roll out and set up the mobile audio system, with the stage itself consisting of 28 individual pieces in addition to the loudspeaker carts that had to be rolled into position on the perimeter of the field. For the duration of the entertainment programming, the Powersoft amplifiers – drawing power exclusively from generators – performed flawlessly.
During the event planning processes, efficiency and footprint were key concerns, as Kirk Powell, ATK Audiotek Systems Designer, explains: ‘For events of this size, there is enormous power usage so efficiency is absolutely key. The Powersoft K10s minimise our power draw and provide maximum output efficiency,’ he says. The small size of the amplifiers also significantly reduces truck weight and transportation expenses. ‘We had five packed semi tractor trailers carting gear up to the stadium, and every bit of space counted,’ he adds.
The compactness of the Powersoft amplifiers – which occupy approximately one third the space of conventional amplifiers – helped enable a smooth transition during set -up from game time to halftime. ‘They were able to set-up and tear-down the K10s really fast – and there was absolutely no shortage of power in the stadium,’ says Entertainment FOH engineer Toby Francis. Francis was impressed with the sound and performance of the K10s, in what was one of the most energetic halftime performances in history: ‘The K10s really held it all together,’ said Francis. ‘The low end was tight as it could be, and the overall response was really good for a stadium like this.’
In addition to the full service sound system ATK provided for the entertainment elements, the existing stadium PA system was augmented with additional low-end reinforcement for mid-game music bumpers, referee announcements, and announcer calls. ‘When the speakers were not out there and we were in game mode, they wanted subwoofers to make gametime more exciting – so we had eight locations of Powersoft subs set up permanently against the audience wall on the field,’ explains Pat Baltzell, Sound Designer and FOH mix engineer for ATK Audiotek. ‘These helped us get an extra half-octave of audio, reaching the super-low frequencies, between 25 and 35Hz.’ By using the M-Force loaded cabinets with 30’ cones, the ATK team was able to leverage roughly three times the power of conventional drivers, the subwoofer count on the field from 24 to eight.
The M-Force powered subwoofers were positioned against the audience wall on the field, four on each side, in evenly spaced intervals. Each cabinet was powered by a single Powersoft K10 amplifier. ‘The M-force and K10 combination delivered exactly the low end we were looking for, perfectly complementing the house PA,’ Powell says.
To pull off an event like Super Bowl 50, which has incredibly sophisticated power requirements, efficiency is the name of the game. ‘They have to bring in so much extra power for these entertainment elements – including the lighting and the sound,’ explains Baltzell. ‘They asked us to be as efficient as we can, and in terms of a Watt in and a Watt out, Powersoft is the most efficient amplifier in the world. By using Powersoft, we are able to substantially reduce our power consumption and create big savings; truckloads are smaller, cartage is easier and of course the overall power draw is smaller. All of these efficiency elements come into play at an event like this, and it’s why we switched to Powersoft.’
There were no challenges from inclement weather that could have complicated the preparations for the big game: ‘With high-profile live events, you have to be certain that the equipment you use is going to perform exactly as planned,’ Stewart says. ‘There is no room for error...’
Big match mics
Setting the stage for the Super Bowl’s ‘golden anniversary’, Lady Gaga used a Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld transmitter with MD 5235 dynamic microphone capsule for ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ during the pre-game segment. Accompanied by a solo piano, her performance was marked by her dynamic range and subtle use of cadence.
‘One of the things I love most about this capsule is that it picks up dynamics really well, both in the lower and higher registers,’ says her monitor engineer, Jim Corbin. ‘This is also true with proximity – if she is up close on the mic or farther away, it sounds very similar and I don’t have to change settings.
The half-time show featured headliner Coldplay, joined onstage by veteran stadium performers Bruno Mars and Beyoncé. Mars’ set began with ‘Uptown Funk’ – featuring collaborator Mark Ronson on decks and a troupe of dexterous dancers adding an impressive dimension of visual energy aside a captivating vocal performance by Mars – who used a custom Sennheiser head mic.
‘Bruno is probably the most involved artist I’ve worked with as far as the sonics are concerned,’ says Toby Francis, who handled FOH mixing duties for Mars at Super Bowl 50. ‘The MD 5235 capsule performs better than any other mic when the artist goes out in front of the PA. These days, there is usually some element in the staging that puts the artist in front of the speakers. The MD 5235 has a tight pattern and good rejection to handle this – it also sounds more ‘hi-fi’ than most other dynamic microphones.’
Mars was joined onstage by Beyoncé and her dancers, performing her most recent single ‘Formation’ using a Sennheiser Digital 9000 wireless system, with a custom gold SKM 9000 handheld transmitter and MD 9235 dynamic microphone capsule. Mars rejoined Beyoncé for the new track as the two embarked on a ‘dance off’ – Mars switched over from the head mic to his Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld transmitter and MD 5235 capsule combination.
‘For a long time, Beyoncé was on Sennheiser’s 5000 wireless series,’ says FOH engineer, Stephen Curtin. ‘But when we finished the 2014 tour, we had a chance to upgrade to the Digital 9000 system. Since then, we’ve never looked back – there is really no other choice.
‘Before the Digital 9000, everything would be going through some companding and compression – so you’d be losing a bit of your frequency bandwidth. Since Beyonce is such a dynamic singer, we can now represent this entire bandwidth more accurately.’
‘With the Digital 9000, it was just another great sonic experience,’ adds James Berry, Beyoncé’s monitor engineer. ‘Steve [Curtin], the broadcast mixer, myself and of course Beyoncé were all extremely pleased – the unit delivered great sound and a solid RF performance.’
Berry says that Sennheiser was at their side to help support the event for the duration: ‘They sent out two Digital 9000 units – one that had to be loaded in for rehearsals, and another unit that was loaded in for the halftime show. Everything went perfectly.’
Beyoncé used her performance to announce her Formation Tour, a 40-date affair that begins in April and which will rely on the Sennheiser Digital 9000 system to deliver authentic audio.
RF engineer James Stoffo says that Super Bowl 50 was ‘probably the most difficult RF environment of any of the 17 Super Bowls I’ve ever done.’ He attributes this to both the proximity to Silicon Valley, the proliferation of white-space devices and an increasingly congested UHF spectrum. ‘Sennheiser equipment has always been the most meticulously engineered wireless microphones on the market, so having a quality product out there for an event like this calms my nerves,’ he says. ‘Since it is a digital system, the signal is much more tolerant to interference – this is not the case with other wireless systems, which will typically pick up background RF noise on overcast days. The Digital 9000 is a solid piece of machinery and an example of where we have faith in the quality of Sennheiser products.’
‘Sennheiser is proud to have played an integral role in such a milestone event,’ concludes Byron Gaither, from Sennheiser’s Artist Relations. ‘Our team worked tirelessly to ensure that Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars had the best equipment available to deliver a premium sound experience for all the fans in attendance, as well as viewers at home. We are especially pleased at the performance of our flagship Digital 9000 system, which continues to be used at high-profile events around the world.’
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