Cowan, who is also acting as tour manager, says that the original plan was to take Jackson's pair of Neumann KMS 105 vocal microphones out on tour. "We meant to use them from the very beginning, because Joe had bought two on the last tour we were on - but he couldn't find them!" So the tour set off with a different microphone on Jackson's vocals. Then, he says, "We did a recording with a truck, and the truck had a 105, so we put that up." That was enough to remind them how much they missed the KMS 105. "I love that mic a lot," says Cowan. Thankfully, he reports, they've got the mics for the tour.
Jackson, together with the four members of the contemporary string quartet, Ethel, also make use of Sennheiser's Evolution Series EW300IEM-G2 wireless personal monitor systems. "Todd is the only one who doesn't," says Cowan. "He uses a stage monitor."Every show on the tour is also being recorded by the engineer, with additional Neumann and Sennheiser microphones supplementing the onstage setups. "I'm using a pair of Sennheiser MKH800s as a stereo X-Y pair out at front-of-house. Then, I'm using a pair of Neumann TLM 127s onstage, pointing at the audience, for ambience."
(Lee Baldock)
