Maluma flies high in Manhattan with Sound Devices

USA – Fashion giants Hugo BOSS launched their premier men’s fragrance BOSS Bottle Beyond at an event staged at the Empire State Building. The highlight of the event was a live performance by Colombian singer/rapper and Hugo BOSS brand ambassador Maluma from atop the building’s 90th floor platform – the first time such a performance has ever been attempted.
To ensure “impeccable live audio” for Maluma, as well as the event’s 600 attendees and fans watching on the livestream around the world, an audio production team from Clair Global utilised Sound Devices Astral Wireless.
Although other artists have filmed videos and performances on top of the Empire State Building in the past, this was the first to be done completely live for an audience and supported by a worldwide livestream. “There were so many aspects of it that made it special – the location, the excitement around the launch, the place Maluma is in his career right now and him representing Colombia as an artist – we had to get to make sure we got it right,” says Clair Global live sound engineer and mixer German Tarazona. “We worked with incredible dedication on every single detail of the pre-production to make sure we’d pull off a rock-solid performance befitting of his talent and skill.”
Tarazona, and his team which included musical director Miguel ‘Escobar’ Marques, playback tech Camilo Fernandez, production manager Teo Echeverria, RF engineer Matt Edminson, and audio tech Andrew Puccio, were tasked with a specific set of requirements to ensure “a top-quality mix for both the live and streaming audio, as well as the in-ear mix for Maluma and Marques”.
“Our musical director created a special arrangement for the show and mixed it live – around 86 channels with a unique orchestration to give the performance a special feel,” says Tarazona. “All of this had to be routed through a single console and be supported by a wireless system that was utterly foolproof. This is where DiGiCo and Sound Devices Astral Wireless were essential to our process.”
Tarazona and his team utilized a DiGiCo Quantum 225 Digital Mixing Console and SD Mini Rack for mixing and audio routing. RF duties were handled by a Sound Devices ARX16 Digital Wireless Receiver, a pair of A20-Monarch Omnidirectional Antennae, and four Sound Devices Astral HH Digital Wireless Handheld Microphones.
“We had to carefully evaluate every piece of gear we were taking for this project due to the limited space available for us on the 90th floor platform of the Empire State Building,” Tarazona explains. “RF was the biggest challenge we were facing up there so we knew we needed rock-solid signal quality and the ability to quickly evaluate frequency availability to get the job done.”
For Maluma’s performance, the Empire State Building was lit up in the colours of the Colombian flag as he stepped out onto the 90th Floor Platform to perform several of his most well-known hits to the assembled crowd. “This was huge for Maluma and for Colombia in general,” Tarazona says. “12 intense minutes that delivered an incredible result for our artist – something we’re truly proud of as a production team.”
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