Front-of-house engineer Brad Divens and monitor engineer Roger Pigman are two of the key people responsible for engineering Linkin Park's sound and equipment choices while on the road. Divens, who has worked with such diverse acts as Cindy Lauper, Monster Magnet and Machine Head, says he was sold on Audio-Technica mics from his first time using them. "Our monitor engineer Roger Pigman brought out a pair of AT4050s for me to try on guitar and after I used them once, I was sold. I brought the channel strip up flat and it sounded like the guitar - I didn't have to add anything or take anything away to try and manipulate the sound. It was simply the sound of the instrument, very smooth with presence. In fact, the miking on stage is all Audio-Technica. We're using the ATW-7373x handheld wireless for vocals, the AT4050 on guitars and overheads, AT4054 on bass cabinets, ATM23HE for snare top and bottom, ATM25 on kick, ATM35s on toms, AT4041 for ride and AT4033 on hi-hat."
Monitor Engineer Roger Pigman, whose clients include Tommy Lee, Face to Face, KMFDM, and the past four WARP tours, concurs: "My initial draw to A-T was the AT4050. It was the first real microphone that I ever used. I've used it on the road as well as in the studio - I don't think there is anything you can't use an AT4050 on. I was out doing a support act that FOH Mick Hughes was on; he let me try them and from that day on I was sold on A-T. The AT4050 is probably the best guitar microphone out there. It's also the most versatile and seems to create a dynamic range that no one else can touch."
In addition to the A-T wired mics, Linkin Park vocalists Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda are using the ATW-7373x handheld wireless system. Divens comments, "After evaluating all the wireless systems currently available, the A-T wireless just sounded more natural, and that's what they were looking for."
(Lee Baldock)
