Sennheiser solutions for Beach Chair Open Air
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Wired and wireless microphones and IEM solutions from the Sennheiser portfolio are ubiquitous at concerts by Gentleman and his band. And by forming the first links in the audio signal chain, they play a key role in ensuring the live sound quality.
For his performances, lead vocalist Gentleman, aka Tilmann Otto, uses a Sennheiser SKM 6000 handheld transmitter fitted with an MM 435 microphone head.
At the Gentleman concert at Berlin’s Hoppegarten, a 19” rack was located directly next to the monitoring console set up at the side of the stage. The rack contained two Sennheiser EM 6000 receivers, an L 6000 charging station and three LM 6060 modules, as well as a drawer with five SKM 6000 handheld transmitters and various capsules.
“We’ve been using the digital Sennheiser systems since the beginning of the 2021 summer season,” said Nepomuk “Muk” Tuschy, who has spent many years working as the monitor mixer for Gentleman. “It makes absolute sense for a touring band to take their own backline and all the mics along with them. And we intend to buy more Sennheiser microphones in the future so that we can completely mike the drum kit using suitable models from this manufacturer. At the moment, we are already using a Sennheiser e 901 boundary microphone for the bass drum and two e 604 microphones from the local equipment rental company for the toms.”
At the Beach Chair Open Air concert at the Hoppegarten, SKM 6000 handheld transmitters were used by Gentleman, background vocalist Patricia ‘Treesha’ Moore and guest rapper Ezhel. Another SKM 6000 was placed within easy reach at the entrance to the stage for use as a spare. The handheld transmitters were operated with different capsules. MM 435 microphone heads were provided for Gentleman and Ezhel, while Treesha’s handheld transmitter was fitted with an MMD 945.
“We have access to a wide selection of capsules and we’re really spoilt for choice. At the moment, we’re trying out which microphone heads fit best to which voice,” explained Muk. “For the backing vocals, we started with the MMD 935, which are known to be the classic microphone for this job. But in the meantime, we’ve changed over to the MMD 945 with a super-cardioid pick-up pattern, because we used to find that the loud drum cymbals were finding their way into the microphone capsules.
Muk didn’t have the opportunity to gain any hands-on experience with the Sennheiser Digital 6000 systems before their premiere at the Gentleman concerts: “I came to a show in Wiesbaden in July 2021 and it was there that I first took the handheld transmitters and their capsules out of their original packaging,” the monitor mixer said. “To be honest, I was a bit nervous, but the initial setup of the systems worked surprisingly well once I had learned how to operate the three buttons on the handheld transmitter.”
Proven analogue wireless technology continues to be the solution of choice for wireless in-ear monitoring. Gentleman and his musicians rely on latency-free wireless systems from the Sennheiser 2000 series at their concerts. At Berlin’s Hoppegarten, six SR 2050 IEM stereo transmitters were installed in a rack next to the monitoring console and were operated with two eight-channel AC 3200-II antenna combiners. These were connected to two A 5000-CP circularly polarised antennas. At Gentleman concerts, up to twelve wireless in-ear channels are operated in parallel. And when on tour, the production team takes 14 Sennheiser EK 2000 IEM beltpack receivers (including spare beltpacks) with them.
The beach chair event concept had its premiere last year and made it possible for fans to attend concerts safely once again in the summer of 2021, due to its exemplary compliance with all the pandemic-related social distancing and hygiene regulations. Following their successful debut in 2020, Beach Chair Open Air events were held in 15 German cities this year.
