Alan Alford, audio crew chief and tour stage manager with Indianapolis-based Jonas Productions, explained that Connick and his band have changed vocal setups as they wound down their Christmas tour.
“We started using Neumann KK 105 capsules on Sennheiser SKM 5000 wireless transmitters,” Alford reported. “We also added two of the Neumann KMS 105s, the hard-wired microphone. Harry ping-pongs between singing at the piano, where we have the microphone attached to a gooseneck, then, at any time, he can pick up the wireless that’s lying beside him at the piano when he’s roaming.”
Jonas Productions has worked with Connick since 1995. The production company acquired the vocal mics as Connick’s tour in support of his Christmas album, Harry for the Holidays, was drawing to a close. Then, in January, the performer and his band added more Neumann microphones: “For the horns in the big band, we switched to a bunch of different Neumann mics,” Alford continued. “We have five of the TLM 193s for the five saxophone players and four TLM 127s for the trombones players.” Additionally, there are KM 185s on the trumpets and KM 184s on drums and the upright bass.
Two Sennheiser SK 5012 miniature wireless body packs were also added to the tour inventory. “There are 12 channels of wireless, and at any given time, there are 10 featured guys who will come downstage, do solos and then go back onto the bandstand. We wanted a bodypack that we could attach with Velcro to the trumpet that would be small and light weight. The other SK 5012 will eventually also go on a trumpet.
“Harry’s new album is going to be coming out in the next month or two, so we should start touring in mid- to late March,” Alford concluded. “We’re currently in the process of buying all of these microphones to use for the upcoming tour.”
For more information on the microphones, visit Sennheiser and Neumann at www.sennheiserusa.com and www.neumann.com, respectively. For more information on Connick’s touring schedule, visit www.hconnickjr.com. For more touring news, visit mixonline.com/live_sound_tour_profiles/index.htm.
