Monitor engineer Mark Vanderwall, in his second decade on the road with John Mellencamp and currently out on the No Better Than This tour, is utilizing his proven microphone approaches, albeit with some new twists.
Continuing the tradition established by Rocky Holman, who had an 18-year run as monitor engineer with Mellencamp before handing off to Vanderwall, he’s using a lineup primarily comprised of Electro-Voice microphones.
Mellencamp sings through an EV RC2-967 supercardioid dynamic, the wireless version of the N/D967 microphone, via an EV REV wireless system. Two wired N/D967s are also used by the band for background vocals.
“I’ve used the 967s successfully for several bands who play loud on stage,” says Vanderwall, who used to be on staff at Clair Brothers and has toured with artists including Motley Crue and Prince. “The transducer is very close to the windscreen, so I don’t have to add as much gain to get the sound I want.
“The less gain I add, the less the mic picks up the sound around it, which makes it easier for me to control feedback.”
His wireless rack includes four REV-D dual receiver units and one REV-S single receiver unit, all dedicated to Mellencamp.
“That gives me a frequency range for any situation,” he explains. “I tend to use duals because that way a single rack space gets me a main and a backup for each frequency range. I have a dual for the C1, C2, and C3 bands, as well as a new dual that operates in the 500 MHz range. And then I have a single in Band D, which is not used in the U.S. anymore, but I keep it around for when we travel overseas.”
Another dual REV unit is used for the acoustic violin pickup. The electric violin, meanwhile, is handled with the REV’s predecessor, the RE1 system.
“We got a couple of RE1s when they first came out,” Vanderwall says. “Those were the first units I’m aware of that had the scanning feature. We’ve been using them for electric violin ever since, probably 10 years now.”
The two N/D967s on background vocals are joined by a pair of EV Cardinal cardioid condenser microphones, an EV PL80a dynamic microphone, and a vintage RE27N/D.
“I have two of the red Cardinals on stage,” Vanderwall says, “one on guitar and one on the Leslie low cabinet for the Hammond organ. They work out great. They have a wonderful frequency range, so they capture both highs and lows very well. It’s a very beautiful-sounding microphone, and very versatile. I use them with other bands on everything from drums to vocals, especially guitars and bass.”
The PL80a is used for a portion of the set when several people are singing background around a single mic. “It’s a custom cardioid version,” Vanderwall says, “which gives us a wider pattern to pick up the singers on the sides.”
The RE27 covers a tube amp that is fed by a split from the pickup in Mellencamp’s acoustic guitar, which also feeds a DI. “Playing through an amp on stage gives John a kind of vintage tone that he likes, and we use the RE27 to bring that sound into the mix.”
“Rocky always felt that EV was willing to listen to him and to incorporate some of his suggestions as they developed their newer models,” he concludes.”So EV has been part of our tours for a long time. The product is great, and it’s real solid.”
