The complement of Sennheiser microphones includes a wireless SKM 5200 with Neumann KK 105 capsule for lead vocalist Morten Harket, while bandmates Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen use e 935 wired dynamics for backing vocals.
A combination of e 902s, e 904s and e 614 small-diaphragm condensers are used on the drum kit, with an e 614 on the glockenspiel.
“Morten is incredibly sensitive to the performance of his microphone and wireless personal monitor system,” says El Barbari. “In fact, I’ve been an engineer for close to thirty years now, and I have never met someone who is so spot-on regarding what he hears, what he feels, and what he expresses. He is a perfectionist who is capable of delivering, and that has really raised the bar for Smith and myself.”
The singer is now very much attached to the sound of the Neumann KK 105 capsule. On occasions where he uses something else, Harket returns to the KK 105 as if it were a homecoming.
“That Neumann condenser sound is so clear and clean. It rings clear and true when he hits the incredible high notes for which he is known,” El Barbari adds.
Meanwhile, at the monitor position, Kursten Smith is using a DiGiCo SD8, having previously been a regular D5 user.
“I’ve had it for over a year and I really like it. It’s easy to get around and it sounds good,” he says. “I changed to it because of the multiband compressors and EQ. Although I inherited the SD8 on this gig from the previous monitor engineer, I had used it with another band before.”
“The console is set up with every song having its own snapshot, just basic settings for mixes and mutes,” he continues. “I’m using only the internal effects – a graphic on Morten’s channel and reverbs. The SD8 is a straightforward console. It’s easy to use and sounds really good, which is exactly what you want.”
All of the band is using Sennheiser ew 300 G2 or G3 IEMs.
“We carry spare packs in case of any RF trouble, but we didn’t need to use them,” says Smith. “Sennheiser’s equipment performs as advertised, provided you have decent frequency management. The tour’s video walls complicate things, but the Sennheiser gear is robust enough to deal with it.”
