OLD LYME, CT —In support of Hilary Duff’s new album, the Dignity Tour set out in late July to play thirty-two shows throughout North America, with more shows to be added in the fall. The show used Sennheiser wireless audio technology with thirty-nine RF channels, including Duff’s e 935 vocal microphone.
While in the thick of rehearsals, Duff and her Monitoring Engineer/RF-Coordinator Lorin White tested several wireless microphones to determine which would cut through the mix, flatter Duff’s voice, and reject the considerable stage noise generated by a drummer and a percussionist. “The Sennheiser e 935 was our clear favorite,” said Lorin. “When she was testing it out, she walked right between the drummer and the percussionist. I didn’t have to add or remove any EQ from the top end. The stage noise was clearly rejected and her voice popped out even without processing.”
Now that the show has hit the road, Lorin credits the cardioid’s ability to reject everything but a singer’s voice. “There are a lot of excited fans at Hilary’s concerts, and they can produce high frequencies above 4k like nobody’s business. She routinely goes down to shake their hands, and they’re constantly screaming — in essence of 114dB plus! I can leave the Sennheiser e 935 flat and still reject all that. Hilary cuts through.”
Duff’s elaborate stage show involves two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a percussionist, a keyboard/guitar player, a dedicated keyboard player, two background singers and four dancers. All of the mobile musicians have multiple instruments, all of which have an RF channel using either a Sennheiser 300 Series or G2 Series transmitter. Each of the backup singers has their own Sennheiser e 935. A bank of Sennheiser EM 550 G2 true diversity receivers collect the RF signals in Lorin’s pit.
All of the mobile performers and a host of stage techs use Sennheiser EW 300 IEM G2 wireless personal monitors. “For most of the band members, this is their first experience with (personal) monitors,” said Lorin. “They’re really diggin’ ‘em. They love the vast improvement in sound quality over wedges. But Hilary, who has been performing since she was ten years old, is an old hat with (personal) monitors. She really appreciates the greater fidelity and reliability of the Sennheiser units compared to other manufacturers. For my part, I love the functionality and flexibility of the Sennheiser monitors. They’re simple to use.”
The Dignity Tour will roll on through the fall, setting the stage for Duff’s second decade in the limelight.
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