Audio Supervisor Skip Kent & Broadcast Audio Mixer Larry Reed
by Richard Lightstone CAS AMPS
In the first week of November last year, an audio crew of more than forty were hard at work in the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles to get the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on its feet.
Audio Supervisor Skip Kent explains, “Once I know who the bands are, then I start getting multiple emails and phone calls of who’s playing and what instruments they’re going to be using, and ultimately, what microphones we’ll be putting where. Musically, I speak with Bob Clearmountain if there are microphone choices that are left up to the Broadcast Mixer, and he respectfully considers the needs of FOH and monitors in his choices.”
Two audio recording trucks are involved with A&B consoles (Bob and Carl) and after one band is finished, the next band is being preset on that recording truck. The Front of House Music, handled by Robert Scovill, and the Monitor Mix Music by Mike Bove were on one console as they had time to change things over. Then there is the Front of House Production Dan Gerhard, who mixes video packages, delivers Robert’s music mix and mixes the award lectern microphones. You’ve seen this setup on just about every awards show, it’s two Schoeps microphones made up of a hypercardiod and a cardioid.
Skip continues, “This is no easy trick. After a loud full music mix, and full band, you now have one person standing two feet away from a Schoeps microphone that you have to get loud enough that people don’t complain. It’s really a difficult thing to do.”
Dan got to use a new device that he’s been introduced to, Alpha Labs De-Feedback. It’s a standalone unit in a computer program that uses artificial intelligence, to sample the room, taking the room out of the mic, allowing to get a higher volume before feedback.
The show is a mix of consoles, DigiCos, Studer Vista 10, Yamaha, and Avid. The show uses well over sixty IEM’s and that’s in the hands of Dave Ingels.
“Band after band after band get a sound check,” says Skip, “and there were a lot this year. It was very heavy. One of the other difficult things about this year, Soundgarden hasn’t been touring, so you can’t just call up the managers and say, “Send us over your stage plot and your input list.” You have to make it up when they decide to add Nancy Wilson or Joe Perry,
Larry Reed picks it up. “Wednesday, Thursday, Friday were all rehearsal days, and depending on how large the band is, you might have at least fifty-six inputs”
Larry explains, “There’s two mics on the kick drum, two mics on a snare, everything has a very specific mic. Skip talks to every band and every artist to find out what microphones they like, which ones they normally use, and tries to keep it that way for them so they’re getting exactly what they want or what they’re accustomed to. The variety of mics is enormous, Shure, Sennheiser, Audio-Tech. The keyboards get DI Boxes.”
Skip puts together the input list for all the different bands so that both the Music Mixers, the recording trucks, the Front of House Music Mixer, and the Monitor Mixer all know what’s being used for each band.
For example, with fifteen bands, there would be fifteen kick drums, resulting in thirty kick microphones and it grows from there.
Larry Reed continues, “It’s not just one mix that goes to everybody. The IEM Mixer has to create an individual mix and babysit each and every one of those artists. The drummer wants more bass, the lead vocal wants more, everybody wants more. He has to make many people happy throughout the entire show. Then, the Keyboardist decides, “Oh, I’m gonna turn my keyboard up because he’s not hearing enough, that screws everybody’s mix. We have no rewind button. We have no stop button, we don’t have second takes. We are live to the world. So, mistakes that are made are made to the world.”
Right after the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony was over, Larry and Skip were off to Las Vegas. Skip worked on the Latin Grammys Main Show. Larry on Latin Grammy Person of the Year and the Premiere Show, which takes place before the Main Show. Then MusiCares honoring Mariah Carey at the end of January, straight into Grammys Premiere, and then Oscars after that. Skip works on the Super Bowl Halftime Show. They are both very busy.
“Call time was 8 a.m. on show day, and the show doesn’t end until midnight,” explains Larry, “and then the A2’s have to tear it down, pack it up, and put everything back in the trucks. Skip and I drove to Vegas almost right away to get to the Latin Grammys, and then do the same thing there. I think I logged eleven days between Latin Grammys and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, probably more than one hundred and twenty-five hours. I’m sure Skip did more.”
Skip Kent concludes, “I’m proud of the entire audio team, they are amazing. It’s such a difficult show.”
I want to thank Skip Kent and Larry Reed for taking the time to talk with me and explain their very specialized work in a hectic “live” environment. They are both very talented, with unique skills, and extraordinary patience.
THE CREWSkip Kent – Audio Supervisor
MUSIC
Robert Scovill – FOH Music
Mike Bove – Mon Mixer Music
Steve Anderson – Splits
Damon Andres – Music Stage
Steve Crane – Music Stage
Craig Rovello – Music Stage
Brandon Gilbert – Music Stage
Michael Faustino – Vocals A-2
Dave Ingels – Monitor In Ears
TV PROD
Larry Reed – A-1
Dan Gerhard – FOH Prod
JP Elmore – Playback
Ebiut Cervantes – Show Pro Tools
Erik Bender – Production A-2
Kim Petty – Production A-2
Mike Faustino – Production A-2
Christian Schrader – Sweetener
PRESS
In House Mixer
M 3 ECLIPSE
Bob Clearmountain – Mixer
Joel Singer – Engineer
Caroline Sanchez – M 3 Pro Tools
Jimmy Goldsmith – A-2
M 3 VOYAGER
Carl Glanville – Mixer
Seth Mintz – Engineer
Louis Cohen – M 3 Pro Tools
Mike Fortunato – A-2
FHP
Mark Dittmar – Project Manager
Jason Sears – Mon Mix
Phil Valdivia – Mon Ears
Damian Burns – Mon Tech 2
Ken Muller – PA Tech 1
Aaron Morris – RF assist
Cameron Stuckey – RF co-ord
David Crawford – PA Tech
Erik Sandberg – System Engineer
Joe Simmons – PA Tech 2
Dave Ingels – Mon Ears
FIREHOUSE COMMS
Brian Hurst – PL Tech
Sisse Jonassen – PL Tech
Erin Hedley – PL Tech
Local – PL Tech
POST
James Orbison – Supervisor
Milos Zivkovik – Audio Mixer