Monitor engineer Doug Kimball (Rob Thomas, Christina Aguilera, Goo Goo Dolls) insisted that the tour switch over to a complete Sennheiser package to accommodate the 12 wireless vocals, four wireless instrument packs, 38 wireless personal monitors, plus a plethora of conventional and unconventional instruments.
"In my opinion, there are a lot of mic manufacturers that make products that will do a passable job for a straight-up rock show involving musicians without nuanced technique," says Kimball. "But Rahman's show is much more than a straight-up rock show, and both he and the people he performs with are exceptionally talented. Sennheiser products are a big step ahead of everything else that's available in terms of fidelity and musicality. Beyond that, we have a huge number of wireless channels to manage in a tour of major metropolitan areas. I only rely on Sennheiser wireless in such challenging circumstances."
The A.R. Rahman tour boasts 12 vocalists on wireless handhelds, including Rahman himself. All use the Sennheiser SKM 5200. Kimball put the female vocalists on ME 5004 condenser capsules and the male vocalists on MD 5235 dynamic capsules with Sennheiser EM 3532 receivers tying the wireless signals to the wired world.
Many instruments benefit from Sennheiser wired mic fidelity as well. The bass drum conveys with an e 602, the snare with a MD 421 on top an MD 441 on bottom. All of the toms, as well as an auxiliary snare, rely on e 604 clip-on mics, and a Neumann KM 184 picks up the hi-hat and overheads. A collection of percussion instruments, including congas, bongos, taiko, and trash cans, similarly find the perfect balance of transients and body with e 604s. After trying all of the mics available, Kimball found that a classic Sennheiser MD 421 provided the most musical pickup for a hand-pumped harmonium.
In November, The Journey Home World Tour 2010 will stop in South Africa. Dates in Switzerland, France and Germany will follow.
(Jim Evans)
