The Latin Billboard Awards celebrate with JBL
- Details
Held in the University of Miami Watsco Centre in Miami and broadcast live on Telemundo, 2022’s Latin Billboard Awards featured performances by an eclectic roster of artists; honorary achievement awards for Chayanne, José Feliciano and Christina Aguilera; and a tribute to legendary singer Raphael. With a record-breaking 23 nominations, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny took home eight awards including Tour of the Year, which used Martin MAC Series fixtures.
Like all televised award shows filmed live with an audience, the Latin Billboards required an audio rig that provided full-scale live sound for the audience and accommodated both the performers and presenters with proper dynamics and EQ -all while being visually discreet for the televised broadcast. To meet these lofty requirements, Florida-based Reflections Productions - in conjunction with Acoutech Corp, who handled stage and digital audio distribution - deployed a versatile and camera-friendly setup using JBL VTX A12, A8 and B28 speakers.
“The challenges with awards shows increase significantly compared to normal live music shows,” said Raphael "Raphie" Alkins, FOH production mixer, N & N. Audio Inc. “You not only have all the ergonomic and logistical demands - it must be lightweight, extremely high fidelity, very quiet or very powerful - you also need to make sure that the system sounds the same in every audience seat. When you think you have it all covered, you’re told you’re in a camera shot or blocking a light or LED screen, and it is back to the drawing board to find a compromise.”
“Weight capacity is always an issue at awards shows, since the biggest limitation is always that the show’s producers don’t want to see speakers in the shots - especially for a broadcast with so many visual production elements,” added JC Aguila, network technical manager, engineering & tech field ops, Telemundo Network. “Luckily, JBL speakers and especially the VTX Series provide great SPL and an ergonomic banana curve design, which lets us raise the points way high and out of the shots and curve the line array. They’re just so flexible.”
The Latin Billboards team utilised the A12 and even smaller VTX A8 line array with 110-degree dispersion, as both speakers share the same high-frequency drivers, a newly redesigned Radiation Boundary Integrator and streamlined rigging system among other features. When used together, both line arrays provided the frequency range and dynamics needed for the many genres of music performed that night, as well as the precise coverage and clarity required for presenters speaking at podiums or from the audience, all while staying out of the camera’s view.
JBL VTX B28 subwoofers completed the show’s rig, providing reinforced, distortion-free impact to the A12 and A8’s already-impressive low end. Finally, the entire setup utilised Crown amplifiers and JBL Performance Manager software for reliable output and high-bandwidth processing.
