Adam LAmbert chooses Sennheiser wireless personalmonitors
(Dave Molter | Posted 2010-11-14)
Already well established as a critically-acclaimed actor and vocalist of the international theater scene, Adam Lambert became a household name after finishing as runner-up in the eighth season of American Idol. His irresistible charisma and electrifying performances quickly earned him a recording deal, and the subsequent release, For Your Entertainment, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and sold nearly 200,000 copies in its first week. In July of 2010, he organized the Glam Nation Tour, relying on the stagecraft of his earlier career in a high-energy production that sold out, or nearly so, some seventy-two venues in North America before recently casting off for distant shores. Throughout, Lambert and his band have relied on Sennheiser 2000 series wireless personal monitors to inspire their performances with fidelity and RF-stability. The tour will continue through Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and, finally, Europe before taking a well deserved break in advance of the holidays.
As the longtime monitor engineer for Beyoncé and Solange, veteran sound engineer and company co-owner (Rowe Media Pro) James Berry is no stranger to Sennheiser RF technology. Berry insisted on Sennheiser wireless personal monitors when he was hired on as monitor engineer for Lambert (with no allowance for an RF tech!). “I’ve been using Sennheiser wireless technology almost exclusively for the past seven years,” he said. “With Sennheiser, the RF is in the bag. I power the units up during set-up, then scan and sync. That’s it. I don’t have to worry about the ears for the rest of the day, which is great, because I have a million other things that require my attention.”
Lambert’s production consists of ten wireless personal monitors: one for the star himself, four for techs, four for the band (one drummer, a bass player, a guitarist, and a keyboard player) and one spare. Five Sennheiser SR 2050 IEM dual channel transmitters with PC-control connect the outputs from Berry’s Digidesign Venue console to their recipients via Sennheiser EK 2000 IEM belt packs. Berry uses Sennheiser’s scanning feature to find uncluttered frequencies and then uses its “stressed-monitor-engineer-proof”, as Berry calls it, sync feature to assign the appropriate frequencies to the belt packs. He uses Sennheiser’s Wireless Systems Manager software to keep tabs on the RF rig during the performance.
“I think Sennheiser has always been ahead of the curve with wireless technology, and the new 2000-series ears take things one step further,” Berry said. “They have a remarkably clean high end. As a result, I’m able to forgo the high-end boost that used to be a standard part of the way I do things. That makes the overall volume lower, and Adam’s happy to run at ‘six’ where he previously would have been at ‘eight’ or so. In the short term, the change puts all the musicians a bit more in ‘the pocket’ from night to night. In the long term, it will help save their hearing.”
As the tour was heading overseas, Berry reported that the Sennheiser system had performed flawlessly in North America. Given his wealth of experience and the system’s agility, he anticipates no issues on the other side of the world. But should the unexpected arise, Berry is confident that Sennheiser’s global support network would come swiftly to his aid, as it has in the past.
About Sennheiser
Sennheiser is a world-leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Established in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser has grown into a global brand represented in over sixty countries through wholly owned subsidiaries and long-term distribution partners. Sennheiser is proud to be affiliated with Georg Neumann, purveyor of world-leading studio microphones, and joint venture Sennheiser Communications, which brings its award winning technology to headsets for gaming, mobile phones and PCs. Sennheiser’s pioneering advancements in technology has rewarded the brand with numerous awards and accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For more information, please visit www.sennheiserusa.com.
From a press release.
