Featuring Disney teen sensation Miley Cyrus performing as herself and in character as Hannah Montana, the “Best of Both Worlds Tour” was launched in mid-October and became an instant phenomenon, selling out arenas nationwide in a matter of minutes. With thousands of tweens and teens screaming in adulation at every show, the tour’s sound engineers chose Sennheiser’s MD 5235 dynamic capsule atop the SKM 5200 wireless handheld transmitter to make sure that the only voices getting into the PA were those of Cyrus and her background singers. In addition, 16 channels of Sennheiser G2 wireless monitors ensured that Cyrus, her band, and her opening act, fellow Hollywood Records artists Aly & AJ, could hear what was being played through the impassioned barrage. And Sennheiser evolution wireless 500 series wireless guitar and bass systems guaranteed that fans didn’t miss so much as a nanosecond of the songs they’ve memorized note for note.

Miley Cyrus with her Sennheiser SKM 5200 wireless microphone has conquered the music world with the “Best of Both Worlds Tour”. Now her smash 3-D film version of the sell-out tour is impacting the film industry. (Photo Credit: Todd Kaplan)

“The crowd noise was unreal,” said monitor engineer Vish Wadi. “We wanted to try out the 5235 for Miley because of the loud crowd. I changed the singers to 5235s as well, due to its great rejection and so I could set up a gain structure for the personal monitors.”

Wadi, a veteran of tours with Shakira, Sting, Mariah Carey and Madonna, among others, started Cyrus and her two background singers on the Neumann KK 105 S capsule in rehearsals but, up until that point, had not had to contend with such screaming fans. “The kids scream at 2k, a red line special,” he said. The directivity of the MD 5235 provided wide cardioid coverage at the low-end but a narrow super-cardioid pattern in the high frequencies for improved rejection of high-frequency feedback and, in this case, crowd noise.

“They have a tight little pattern,” agreed front-of-house engineer Simon Welch of the MD 5235 capsule. “It’s a really sweet sounding mic and really rejective.” The stage set-up posed as much of a challenge as the crowd noise, he reported: “A lot of the set took place on a thrust 60 or 70 feet in front of the PA, so having a mic that is really rejective was paramount. It worked well for the ears, too. Miley walked in front of the 40 boxes of V-DOSC we’ve had without picking it up.” Plus, he added, “It was the same with the backing singers. They went out on these ramps and with the crowd screaming.”

Welch, who works for New York-based Firehouse Productions, the company that provided sound production for the “Best of Both Worlds Tour,” was the monitor engineer on last year’s Hall and Oates dates, and also has worked many of the television events covered by Firehouse, such as Live Earth, the Latin Grammys and the MTV Video Music Awards. Like Wadi, he seemed to be taken aback by the sound pressure levels of the “Hannah Montana” audience: “It was like a force of nature. When the lights went on at the start of the show and they all screamed at once, all 16,000 of them, it was like a weapon.”

The Best of Both Worlds Tour also made use of evolution wireless 500 series wireless guitar transmitters and receivers on the guitarists and bass player backing Cyrus. Welch reported that he also used an evolution series e 604 on a rack tom and an e 602 on a floor tom.

Coordinating the massive production elements of “Best of Both Worlds” was Supervising Producer Gary Lanvy, who prevailed over two decades of MTV Video Music Awards, as well as “Live Earth’s” rather unruly production landscape in Philadelphia. He has now set a precedent in production over-achievement in dealing with the intricacies of this tour. “Handling the ever-changing needs of “Best of Both Worlds” pushed the limits of working a virtual 24/7 for our staff and crew who performed at 110% throughout the tour. I’m thankful for all the support we have received, in particular, to Sennheiser’s Global Relations team for keeping our microphone needs fully satisfied.”

Cyrus, age 15, is the star of Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana” television show. The “Best of Both Worlds Tour” promoted her latest music release, “Meet Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana 2,” a two-disc set that comprises the soundtrack to the second series of the “Hannah Montana” show, plus the solo debut by Cyrus. Originally scheduled to end in early January, the tour was extended to January 31 due to ticket demand.

The Sennheiser Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. A family firm established in 1945 and based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, the company recorded sales of over 356 million euros in 2006, 82% of which was generated abroad. Sennheiser employs over 1,800 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. The Group has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as through trading partners in other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwick-lungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centers).


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