Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

P!NK takes off with Sennheiser

08/07/2013

The 140-date 2013 tour sees P!NK perform like never before, flying above the audience, dancing between two stages and diving into water a demanding high-energy extravaganza that required custom solutions from the audio specialist.

Today's arena shows offer ever-increasing level of spectacle, fusing sound, vision, special effects and pure performance. In taking to the road with The Truth About Love tour, P!NK has raised the bar even further, with an elaborate game-show themed concert that takes off in every sense exploding into wild baroque performances and taking to the air with extensive aerial acrobatics driven by a wire system that lets the star travel to every corner of the arena. But how do you maintain great sound and all the emotion when everything is in motion?

Reaching new heights takes innovation Monitor assistant and sound engineer, Ben Byford described the challenge: With this tour, the biggest challenge is that she is so much in the air. This show takes it further than anything I have ever done just because of the distances she can fly over the audience, the height, the movement, including spinning on her own axis. It's definitely pushing it to a new level technically and physically for her as well. It was vital to plan for this and get equipment that worked for the job.

As Byford explained, the production relied heavily on solutions from Sennheiser, including custom prototypes developed specially for the tour: The whole show is essentially all Sennheiser: every microphone, every in-ear system, every radio system it's all Sennheiser. The in-ears we use are Sennheiser 2000 series IEM systems. P!NK uses an SKM 2000 microphone, but with an MD 9235 head. The in-ear piece that she uses is a special prototype that we're helping to test a custom-made in-ear with an integrated microphone.

That custom solution was developed by virtuoso monitor engineer, Horst Hartmann, who worked closely with Sennheiser. He explained that developing a special integrated monitor and microphone was the only way to cope with the highly physical nature of the performance, the aerial stunts and the lifts within the dance routines: As well as the challenge of the range of motion, we also needed to provide P!NK with a headset that could also work in front of the PA because she is often flying above the audience and through the whole room. Additionally, the microphone had to sound as good as a hand-held one and had to be extremely resistant to feedback, like a hand-held would be.

A headset with a neckband was ruled out because the set-up time would inhibit costume changes. They also needed a precise fit, as use of a cardioid mic meant that it had to stay in position right at the corner of P!NK's mouth in order to receive the highest possible intensity of sound. On past tours, the team had used an earset mic taped in position on P!NK's face but this time the audio team wanted to take things still further: We came up with the idea of an in-ear with an integrated microphone, said Horst Hartmann. I'd seen referees, pilots, and firefighters wearing this but that's about communication walkie-talkie rather than the hi-fi quality we demanded. The capsule was already there: that of the HSP 4, an incredible microphone. Working with Sennheiser, we then developed the hardware around this capsule.

Sennheiser developed a microphone that could be attached to the in-ear mould. With the in-ear fixed and securely in position, the attached microphone would stay in place with no adjustments. That was the theory, and in practice the solution proved a match for the demanding performance. Monitor engineer Jon Lewis explains: Being integrated means that it's very much set at the right position because it's custom-made to the curve of her face, so there's no movement. There's nothing to tighten or loosen. So once it's clicked into the in-ear piece, that's it! This was perfect as any movement would have made things impossible, given the circus-style aspects of the show.

Hartmann also describes the advantages of developing the whole solution with Sennheiser: It's now also one solution from one company, a simple solution that means everything is carried to the transmitter via the same cable. Much better for costume changes: You can take it off very quickly with one click, put a blind cover on it, so the connection is protected and that's it. Sennheiser developed this just for P!NK's current tour, and she liked it from the start. No other company offers this kind of product at the moment. And while it's a prototype, it's proved reliable we don't have any drop-outs when she is flying through the hall. It works perfectly.

Instrument and ambience mics For miking the band, Chris Madden, FOH, and Horst Hartmann drew on the extensive range of wired Sennheiser microphones. The 24 kick drum was miked with an e 901 and an e 902, while the hi-hat and ride cymbal were picked up using e 914s. Two MKH 80s were used as overheads. The guitar cabs were captured with a total of three e 906s. The Leslie speaker was miked by three MK 4s, with two of them positioned at the top of the speaker, and one at the bottom.

In order to capture the audience reactions for the artists' IEM receivers, Madden and Hartmann used two cardioid MKH 8040 for outside left and right, two MKH 8060 short gun mics for inside left and right as well as two MKH 8070 long gun microphones for far left and right.

A global tour, a universal receiver The Sennheiser EM 3732-II wireless receiver delivered a robust backbone to the audio. With a switching bandwidth of 184 MHz, the EM 3732-II can be deployed worldwide. Hartmann explains that its versatility offered a solution that would work perfectly in any venue, in any country: This is a universal receiver that is c
LINK: http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/news/pnk-takes-off-with-sennheiser...
See more stories from sennheiser

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

13/05/2026

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs Joel Pennington May 13, 2026 0 Comments New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...

13/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers New IP-based Cloudbass Sports OB Tr...

Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...

13/05/2026

Ikegami Announces its Broadcast Asia 2026 Innovations

Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...

13/05/2026

XRSA and FISE Partner to Deliver Immersive Action Sports...

FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...

13/05/2026

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Built-In Power Zoom Lens

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...

13/05/2026

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Commencement Ceremony

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...

13/05/2026

CBS Boston to Air CCBL Baseball

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Study: Free Streaming Emerges as TV's New Normal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Amagi Announces Major Enhancements To CLOUDPORT

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

FCC Releases Updates to TVStudy Software

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Nexstar Names Elizabeth Ryder EVP, General Counsel

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Foundry releases Nuke Stage- simplifying virtual producti...

Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...

13/05/2026

Tradfluencer - The Sharon Shannon Story

A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm Watch the...

13/05/2026

Hermes Unlocks Self-Improving AI Agents, Powered by NVIDIA RTX PCs and DGX Spark

Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...

13/05/2026

NVIDIA, Ineffable Intelligence Team Up to Build the Future of Reinforcement Learning Infrastructure

Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...

12/05/2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...

12/05/2026

G&D and CT Square Establish Joint Venture for India and Middle East Distribution

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...

12/05/2026

Telemundo Reports Record Advertiser Demand for FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage

With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...

12/05/2026

NHLs Stanley Pup Returns for Third Year on June 8

The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...

12/05/2026

NBCUniversal Outlines Ad Technology and Content Strategy at 2026 Upfront

NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports Funds Fandom Research Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School

FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...

12/05/2026

TNDV and Live Media Support NCAA Final Four Weekend for 13th Consecutive Year

TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...

12/05/2026

European Football Alliance Signs Distribution Agreement with Fubo Sports Network

The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...

12/05/2026

ESPN, TelevisaUnivision Ink Deal to Produce Additional Spanish-Language Super Bowl LXI Telecast

For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...

12/05/2026

CP Communications Manages RF Spectrum for Kentucky Derby Week

CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...

12/05/2026

LiveU and DRONERESPONDERS Announce Partnership for Public Safety Drone Video Transmission

LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...

12/05/2026

BMC TV Selects Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway for Horse Racing Transmissions

Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...

12/05/2026

NEP Europe to Deliver Broadcast Solutions for Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna

NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...

12/05/2026

Grass Valley Expands Collaboration with Ravensbourne University London on Media Production Education

Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...

12/05/2026

Stats Perform Launches Opta Pulse AI-Assisted Video Creation Platform

Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports and Sesame Workshop Announce Collaboration for FIFA World Cup 2026

FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...

12/05/2026

Little Show, Giant Heart: NHL in ASL Earns Two Sports Emmy Nominations in 2026

To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...

12/05/2026

At Its Annual Brandcast, YouTube Aims To Show Why Sports Is No Longer Just the Game

Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...

12/05/2026

Your Next Double Feature: Old Joy and Past Lives

A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...

12/05/2026

It's Your Party of the Year(s): A Look Back at Your Entire Music History on Spotify

Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...

12/05/2026

Black Lion Audio introduce the Auteur 8DAT

Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...

12/05/2026

Reason 14 now available

New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...

12/05/2026

One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pitch

One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...

12/05/2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at PCIM Expo 2026

Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...

12/05/2026

Ad-Hoc News: aconnic AG announces improved fund raising plan to support business and refinance debt

aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...

12/05/2026

CNN Pushes Into Lifestyle Products with CNN Weather' App Launch

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/05/2026

Marshall Electronics Cameras Elevate Elite Equestrian Com...

Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...

12/05/2026

IBC2026 registration opens as international media industr...

Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...

12/05/2026

Ross Video Showcases Unified Production Workflows at Broa...

Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...

12/05/2026

With over 50bn euros in assets under management and recor...

500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...