Audio-Technica is proud to have been selected as the microphone manufacturer of choice for frontline and backing vocals on multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter Taylor Swift’s Fearless tour.
Swift’s vocal microphone needed to be suited to her voice and able to reliably reject feedback, even as Swift interacts with the crowd in front of the main P.A. loudspeakers.
Front-of-House (FOH) Engineer Russell Fischer and Monitor Mixer Andrea “Vito” Carena, together with Swift, chose Audio-Technica’s 5000 Series Wireless System for the tour because of its overall sound quality, gain-before-feedback properties and reliability.
Swift uses Audio-Technica’s acclaimed Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System with an AEW-T4100 Cardioid Dynamic Handheld Transmitter for her lead vocals.
All background vocals are handled by the 5000 Series Wireless System with AEW-T5400 Cardioid Condenser Handheld Transmitter, with all systems using the AEW-R5200 True Diversity Frequency-Agile Dual Receiver.
Fischer selected other Audio-Technica mics for the Fearless tour, including AT4050 Multi-Pattern Condenser Microphones on guitars and overheads, AT4051 Cardioid Condenser Microphone on snare bottom and an ATM25 Hypercardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphone for kick drum.
“During rehearsals for the tour, we tried a number of different wireless systems and mics from a variety of manufacturers on Taylor’s vocals, but we kept coming back to the Audio-Technica 5000 Series Wireless and the T4100,” Fischer recalled.
“We all agreed that the A-T was the right system for the job. For me, I needed a mic that would give me gain before feedback and work well with a female vocal.
“Because she’s moving around the stage a lot, going in front of the P.A. system plane, we need to make sure feedback doesn’t creep in the mix, so we needed something that had massive rejection and controllable gain before feedback.
“The mic really sounds great – it sounds like her.”
“This is the biggest tour I’ve been on yet, and that naturally presents some pretty big wireless challenges, but the A-T system has been very comfortable to work with,” Vito added. “I’ve never had a problem squeezing in all the frequencies or having them work flawlessly as a matter of fact.
“From arenas to clubs, from award shows to subway stations, the A-T has been rock solid.”
Swift’s Fearless tour resumes in London on November 23, and after an early-2010 jaunt to Australia, she will be back in North America, beginning March 4, 2010, in Tampa, Florida.
