Found new video taken at the Grammys, you can hear Brian.

[drbeachboy]

COMMENT:  House mix style versus Broadcast mix style

The house mix usually makes musical sense since the mixer is going for a blend that conforms to what the audience is seeing; all musicians on stage.

The broadcast mix usually makes visual sense since the mixer is going to highlight the sound that goes with what is on the screen at a given time. If Brian is shown with other members of the group, he will not be featured. If he is in a closeup shot, then you may hear him slightly elevated in the mix. If a guitar or drum(s) is on screen that will be higher in the mix.

 ~ swd

Which is strange because when they showed Brian singing the 2nd verse, they lowered him and increased Jeff who was in the back and to the left of the screen. Quite the opposite.

[Paulos]

That video is great, you can hear Brian loud and clear and he sounds damn good, stupid Grammy people making us think he wasn't up to it.

[LostArt]

That video is great, you can hear Brian loud and clear and he sounds damn good, stupid Grammy people making us think he wasn't up to it.

I know I sort of suggested in a previous post that a decision regarding the broadcast mix might have been made by the Grammys or CBS, but frankly, we don't know if there was a conscious decision made by anyone to mix Brian lower for TV.  When you look at how much is involved with a production such as this, you should be able to understand that mistakes could (and do) happen.  Think about it, you've got act after act, on several different stages, with very little time in between to set up for the next act.  Each act has different requirements and different mixes.  Just for the Beach Boys segment, you've got at least 20 guys on stage.  Most of those guys have vocal mics that need to be eq'd and have levels set in a very short amount of time.  In addition to that, you've got mics for multiple drum kits (several mics per kit), mics for guitar amps, mics or direct boxes for each set of keys and for bass and assorted woo-woo machines, wind instruments, and percussion.  All of those need eq and levels set in a short amount of time.  And when the producer says 'go', it's time to go.  If a sound engineer is not ready, that's too bad.  It's live TV.  

[Chris Brown]

Wow, that was awesome to hear.  I agree with what others have said, it's great to hear more Brian, and the mix sounds so much more vibrant than it did on the broadcast.  And that's through a crappy cell phone speaker, I would imagine it sounded freaking incredible in the arena.

[runnersdialzero]

I just can't chalk up someone accidentally forgetting to have a LEAD VOCAL mic prominent in the mix. They do this sh*t with Jeff doubling Brian and being louder from time to time, we know this.

I doubt it was the "evil Grammy folks" who are at fault, here. It was absolutely intentional and is, again, a total slap in the face to Brian and to fans.

[Wirestone]

I just can't chalk up someone accidentally forgetting to have a LEAD VOCAL mic prominent in the mix. They do this sh*t with Jeff doubling Brian and being louder from time to time, we know this.

I doubt it was the "evil Grammy folks" who are at fault, here. It was absolutely intentional and is, again, a total slap in the face to Brian and to fans.

Then why did the live audience hear Brian at full volume? Surely his possible failure to perform competently in person would have been noted by all the industry types in attendance, which would have been damaging in its own way.

Brian's live mix, FWIW, has never turned him down like this. He's always mixed much more like the live footage -- at least at the same volume as Jeff, if not louder.

[Aegir]

The grammys certainly aren't live. There's definitely a bit of a delay. Whoever was doing the sound knew exactly what they were doing. Brian sounds good to a fan who knows he could sound far worse, but for the general public it (unfortunately) made sense to mix jeff a lot louder.

[MBE]

Well Stepen nobody made them sound better than you. Good to see you on here again!

[The Shift]

COMMENT:  House mix style versus Broadcast mix style

The house mix usually makes musical sense since the mixer is going for a blend that conforms to what the audience is seeing; all musicians on stage.

The broadcast mix usually makes visual sense since the mixer is going to highlight the sound that goes with what is on the screen at a given time. If Brian is shown with other members of the group, he will not be featured. If he is in a closeup shot, then you may hear him slightly elevated in the mix. If a guitar or drum(s) is on screen that will be higher in the mix.

 ~ swd

Which is strange because when they showed Brian singing the 2nd verse, they lowered him and increased Jeff who was in the back and to the left of the screen. Quite the opposite.

Always suspected someone in Brian's organisation dictates to the sound crew that this should happen.  That person is wrong to do so in my book.