Nalu, live audio engineer
Naholowaʻa Gramberg. Raised in Waimānalo, behind a console since 2010, and still the first one in the room.
I got into this the way a lot of island kids get into anything. Somebody older saw I was curious and handed me something to carry. For me it was a camera first, then a cable, then a fader.
In 2010 I started at New Hope Oʻahu, running camera, then the lighting board, then the A1 seat, and eventually producing services. Ten years of weekly services teaches you things a classroom can’t. You learn to mix a choir, a speaker and a full band inside the same hour. You learn that nobody remembers a good mix. They remember the one squeal of feedback.
From 2016 to 2019 I worked ballrooms and conference rooms at Hilton Hawaiian Village and Grand Wailea on Maui. That’s where I got formal training in rigging, RF coordination and system design, and where I learned how big hotel AV actually runs: how it’s quoted, how it’s staffed, and where the fat is.
Since then I’ve called the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, run technical direction for Nā Lei Aloha Lūʻau at the Hyatt Regency Waikīkī, produced events for OHA and Kamehameha Schools, and run A/V at Kawaiahaʻo Church. I started Nalu Media so I could take on the shows I care about, with people I trust.
The technical part
- Consoles. DiGiCo SD9 and other large-format desks, plus whatever is in the rental inventory. If I want a different desk for your show, I’ll tell you why before load-in.
- Networks. Dante audio networks with a clean, labeled patch anyone on the crew can follow.
- Wireless. Frequency coordination for mics and in-ears. The Waikīkī airwaves are crowded, and it’s worth getting right before doors, not during the keynote.
- Show files. Built from your input list ahead of time and tested with a virtual soundcheck, so line check is a formality.
- Video and LED. I’ve run LED wall systems and broadcast production, so I know what the video team needs from audio, and the other way around.
- Rigging and system design. Trained, careful, and never in a hurry with anything that hangs over people.
Outside the booth
Photography came before audio. A mentor got me shooting when I was twelve, and I still chase Hawaiʻi landscapes when I’m not working. It’s the same instinct in both jobs: notice the light, notice the room, and don’t get in the way of the moment.
I’m also a kahu. When a program opens with pule or oli, I understand what’s happening and why it matters, and the room will be ready for it.
All shot by me. New ones go up on @nalumedia.
Want me on your show?
Date, room, rough headcount, and whatever is keeping you up at night. I answer every request myself, usually the same day.