Stars Shine with Shure at Academy Awards

HOLLYWOOD, March 21, 2024—This year’s Academy Awards had it all: nail-biting anticipation, heartfelt speeches, and incredible musical performances. With the help of Shure wireless audio technology, the industry’s most experienced professionals brought the evening to life, making certain that all 10.5 million viewers watching the event around the world could enjoy every blockbuster moment with crystal-clear audio quality. 

Overall, the Academy Awards’ production team deployed 50 channels of Shure Axient Digital wireless, monitoring the spectrum with Shure Wireless Workbench. The team, comprised of professionals from ATK and Soundtronics, also deployed 16 channels of Q5X PlayerMics that were combined with Axient Digital wireless receivers to deliver superior digital transmission and spectrum efficiency. Originally developed for the NBA, Q5X PlayerMics are super concealable, bendable, and are designed with Shure Axient Digital radios. Each Q5X PlayerMic was paired with Shure’s TwinPlex Premium Subminiature microphones to provide the most transparent audio while remaining easily concealed. 

"The Shure TwinPlex lavalier mic is still the state of the art for live television specials like this year's Oscars,” said Pat Baltzell, Sound Producer for the Academy Awards. “Unlike Broadway shows where the performers are trained to project their voices, the movie actors prefer to speak confidentially, like they do on film sets. So, the challenge is more difficult to get their voices to the back row in a 3,300-seat theater. We also chose to use the TwinPlex lavs on the drummers / vocalists for the Osage Tribal performance of "''Wahzhazhe"'' from Killersof the Flower Moon because we could pick up more of the vocal compared to the drum using judicious microphone placement."

“Throughout the Academy Awards, Shure’s Axient Digital delivered outstanding, reliable wireless for performers and presenters,” said Stephen Vaughn, RF Coordinator for Soundtronics. “In some cases, we paired Axient Digital with Q5X PlayerMics, which allowed us to offer even more flexibility and concealability for performers. Meanwhile, Wireless Workbench provided the monitoring capabilities necessary to help deliver a seamless event.” 

Notably, all handheld presenters throughout the event used Axient Digital (AD2) transmitters that were equipped with Shure KSM9 condenser microphone capsules. Every single vocal performance throughout the evening trusted Shure Axient Digital (AD2) transmitters as well. 

For Ryan Gosling’s viral performance of “I’m Just Ken,” the Barbie star sang into a KSM9 microphone capsule. 

Jon Batiste delivered a performance of his profound ballad “It Never Went Away,” written for the documentary American Symphony, singing into a Shure KSM8 dynamic microphone capsule.

Andrea Bocelli and Matteo Bocelli shared an intense performance of “Time to Say Goodbye” for the memorial segment. Music for the performance was arranged and produced by Hans Zimmer. The Bocelli’s sang into KSM9 microphone capsules. 

“Congratulations to all of the individuals who worked on this year’s Academy Awards. It’s a joy to collaborate with this team to determine the technology that can meet the requirements of such a prestigious event,” shared Jenn Liang-Chaboud, Manager of Entertainment Relations, at Shure.