The band's decision to place 100% reliance on Audio-Technica microphones and wireless technology was decided by production manager Adrian Barnard: "It was a quality and control decision to carry our own mics for vocals and backline. I've been a fan of Audio-Technica for a long time but we wanted to be sure we were using the right mics. A-T kindly arranged for their entire range to be made available and we did a lot of comparative testing.
"We proved that Audio-Technica AEW-T6100 hypercardioid dynamic transmitter mics and AEW-R4100 True Diversity receiver gave us the warmth and quality of sound that we wanted for lead vocals and chose other A-T mics across the board after careful listening. The back-up service has also been fantastic - the spring tour went without a hitch and our festivals, including dates in Hungary and Latvia, were a lot simpler with our own, trusted kit."
Sugababes Heidi, Mutya and Keisha (pictured L-R) each have their own designated A-T AEW-T6100 transmitter mic (along with an unused spare), while all the guitar cabs and drums overheads are covered by AT4050 condensers. The powerful and popular AE2500 Dual Element, dynamic/condenser is used on kick drum, ATM35 high-intensity, clip-on, cardioid, condenser instrument mics are employed on toms and an AE5100 cardioid large-diaphragm condenser on hi-hat.
Upcoming Sugababes dates include Switzerland, Heitere Openair Zofingen (14 August), UK Northampton Balloon Fair (20 August) and UK Chelmsford Spectacular (28 August).
(Jane Cockburn)
