London, April 6, 2015: On February 25th, the BRIT Awards returned to London’s O2 Arena, where the best of British and international music talent were brought together for another spectacular night. Sennheiser assisted audio supplier Britannia Row Productions with both equipment and technical support, making sure that the sound quality for this RF-intensive show was crisp and clear throughout.
TV personalities Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly hosted the night and regular Sennheiser users Ed Sheeran (Mastercard British Album and British Male Solo Artist) and Sam Smith (British Breakthrough Act and British Global Success Award) received two awards each.
For the second year, and helping to address the RF challenges with its high linearity allowing an extremely narrow set-up of radio frequencies within the available range, Sennheiser’s flagship Digital 9000 Series microphones were utilised for the hosts, awards presenters and winners.
Ed Sheeran used his usual SKM 2000 with MD 9235 capsule combination, Sam Smith an SKM 2000 with MMK 965-1 capsule, Kanye West an SKM 5200 with MD 5235 capsule, Madonna an SKM 5200 with MD 5005 capsule and Take That all used SKM 5200 with MD 5235 capsules. Madonna and Take That also made use of Sennheiser 2000 Series wireless monitors, with all ‘house’ in-ear monitors also being Sennheiser.
This year, the sound team was headed up by Colin Pink for the first time, following the very sad passing of Derrick Zieba, who had been doing BRITs for the past 20 years.
“There was no point in re-inventing the wheel,” said Colin. “The team from Brit Row know the particulars of the show very well and there was no reason to change the ‘normal’ set up. It was more a case of making the nine acts fit the template and change things as necessary.
“Part of that ‘normal’ setup is Sennheiser’s involvement. Being my first BRITs, it was very interesting to find out how that involvement works and I’m very happy to say they made an invaluable contribution.
“They supplied an amount of additional equipment and, on top of this, both Mark Saunders and Andy Lillywhite were on site for rehearsals and the show, working alongside Sapna Patel, Brit Row’s RF tech for the event, to add their logistical and technical expertise.
“The main issue we had with the show was integrating a huge amount of RF of various types. Some of this is provided by Sennheiser, some by Brit Row, but some of the artists bring their own (often set up for American use) and this can create many issues. Having Mark and Andy there meant we could solve these quickly and easily.
“The show itself went very smoothly with no RF issues at all. For me, it was great having Sennheiser on board. It meant that I knew all the RF issues would be dealt with, allowing me more time to sort out the other things that come up on a show of that size.”
“This is our 13th time at the BRIT Awards,” said Sennheiser’s Mark Saunders. “It’s always a challenging show in terms of RF requirements and being able to help Colin and Brit Row for the duration is a task we relish each year. With the continuing restrictions on spectrum availability, having a product like our 9000 Series available for the show is a big advantage.”
The Sennheiser Group based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, was founded in 1945 and has gone on to become a leading manufacturer of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. Sales in 2013 totaled 590.4 million euros. Sennheiser employs more than 2,500 staff worldwide and operates plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA. The company has a worldwide network of subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hongkong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, and the USA. It also has long-established trading partners in other countries. Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin, a maker of studio microphones and monitor speakers, and Sennheiser Communications A/S, a joint venture making headsets for PCs, offices and call centers, are also part of the Sennheiser Group.
More up-to-date information about Sennheiser is available on the internet at www.sennheiser.com.
Caption:
Sam Smith.jpg: Sam Smith performing at the 2015 BRIT Awards (© john marshall / jmentertainment)
Please note that this image can only be used in conjunction with the press release
