The system is supplied by audio rental company Britannia Row, Florence herself uses a customised SKM 5200 with MD 5235 head, with musicians and backing vocalists making use of 2000 Series in-ear monitoring.
"When I inherited the show, we were still doing clubs and Florence was using a wired Neumann KMS 105," says Ian Laughton, Front of House engineer. "When we got bigger, we went for an SKM 5200 with a KK 105 capsule, but then we realised there was too much spill going down the 105."
Laughton still asserts that the 105 is the ideal microphone for Florence, because of its rich bottom end and perfect top. "But we've got a heavy Tom-Tom orientated drummer," he says.. "In fact, it's a very drum orientated band - there's even a song called The Drum Song - and there are two drum kits. Because of that, everything went down the 105 and there was no clarity.
"That was when we went to Mark Saunders at Sennheiser. He suggested changing to the MD 5235 capsule and it works really well. I don't think there's any spill at all and I'm really cranking the gear up. We have lots of pre amps and Avalon 737SP / Massenburg 8900 / BSS 901 MKII going on, 20dB more than any other singer because she whispers some songs."
"Because of the scale of the show, we've got a lot of extra inputs, so I had to move to a bigger mixing console - we're now using what's known as the 'Genesis' desk, the first large format digital console, and the console that Brit Row used with Genesis when they were still touring," adds monitor engineer Phil McDaniel. "In the past I always tried to squeeze the most out of a small package, but now that we've upped the desk spec I can properly hear the difference in the 2000 series IEM's from the G2, which we were using originally, to the G3.
"We've got top of the range as far as Sennheiser is concerned," he continues. "We've gone through five months of promo, with some big TV work and high profile American shows included, and we can accommodate the core band with a 12 pack of Sennheiser IEMs and a couple of radio mics. It makes getting in and out of venues really easy and works exceptionally well. I've never seen the band happier. They have big smiles on their faces when they come off stage and thank us all every night."
For more on Florence & the Machine's Ceremonials tour, see the May 2012 issue of LSi. Out soon!
(Jim Evans)
