Joining more than 40,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for a tribute concert honouring the music of Michael Jackson, the Red II mobile truck was called in to record live audio for broadcast on Sky Arts and other television channels around the world.

Operated by broadcast sound specialists Red TX and manned by Red TX Director Tim Summerhayes with assistance from Ollie Nesham and Ben Summerhayes, the truck captured Michael Forever, with performances from Christina Aguilera, Leona Lewis Smokey Robinson, Pixie Lott and Cee Lo Green among others. Fans were treated to spectacular performances on a huge stage, which was billed as the largest event rig ever used at a European stadium.

‘This was a complex show to record because there were so many artists involved and many of them were working to such tight schedules that they were not able to be in Cardiff for the pre-show dress rehearsal,’ Summerhayes says. ‘Despite that, the event was fantastic and there were some magnificent performances that went down incredibly well.’

Taking splits from the FOH desk, Summerhayes sent stereo and 5.1 feeds from Red II’s Studer Vista 8 console to the two TV units, using the Snapshot facility to recall 52 individual scenes

Once Red TX had set up audience mics to capture the audience, the team mixed 140 channels from the stage via three 48-way stageracks (including eight returns), compressed down to 128 and recorded onto Pyramix.

‘We recorded the whole show as live and then spent some time tidying up the sound in postproduction, ’ Summerhayes adds. ‘No re-mixing was involved and the only real issue we had to contend with was a radio microphone failure during Alexandra Burke’s performance. This was fixed after the event when she re-recorded the song at Sarm Studios in London and we were able to drop the new recording into our mix.’

Red TX was commissioned to handle the audio recording by Iambic Productions: ‘I’ve worked with Tim for over 25 years and the recording is always excellent, the in and out seamless, and the dedication tremendous,’ Producer Dawn Davis says. ‘Red TX have really pulled out all the stops on this one, because despite schedules being impossibly tight and some of the artists under rehearsed, Tim and his team were able to cope with everything and deliver some fantastic audio.’

Although the run-up to the event was fraught with difficulties, concert delivered. World media was there in force and many of the artists who later took to the stage gave soundbites and interviews. The show itself was explosive – literally, as it involved a vast array of pyrotechnics during Ne-Yo’s opening performance.

The event came to an close with the Jackson family and the show’s stars packing the stage for ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’.

See also:
As Red: New UK recording mobile takes to the road
Red Hot and Red II (recording the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

More: www.red-tx.com