Backstreet Boys Tour with Sennheiser Wireless Systems

Jun 13, 2008 2:03 PM

From L-R: Backstreet Boys A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and Nick Carter with Sennheiser SKM 565 G2 wireless handheld mics

Photo: Andre Csillag

The Backstreet Boys are currently on their Unbreakable Tour using Sennheiser SKM 565 G2 wireless handheld mics, along with Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2 personal monitoring systems. Monitor engineer Doug Deems found that the SKM 565 G2, an ME 865 super-cardioid condenser capsule atop the SKM 500 RF handheld, was the overall best fit for the group.

"I wanted everybody on the same capsule," Deems says. "That was my main goal: to find something that they all sounded good with, and the ME 865 just sounds amazing on all four of them. It just jumped out." For the Unbreakable Tour, the Backstreet Boys have had the vocal mics customized with a black gloss finish and gold windscreens, says Deems.

"As for the G2 personal monitors," says Deems, "I flat out won't use anything else. I don't know how you can listen to all the available units side by side and not choose the G2s." In addition to the four singers, two backline techs are also on ew 300 IEMs on a communications network that also includes the FOH and monitor engineers and the backing band's musical director.

The Backstreet Boys' Sennheiser wireless system

To ensure interference-free performance of more than 20 wireless channels, Deems relies on SIFM (Sennheiser Intermodulation and Frequency Management) software. Available as a free download from Sennheiser's Website, the SIFM software enables the rapid calculation of intermodulation-free radio frequencies for wireless microphone and monitoring systems.

"It's probably the one thing indispensable to getting 21 channels of RF spread out across four different frequency groups to work together. Learning about intermodulation and using SIFM have made it exponentially easier to keep all this wireless working," says Deems. "I think it says a lot about Sennheiser as a company that they put this amazing tool on their site for free."

To give the four singers—Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell and A.J. McLean—ambience in their monitor mixes, Deems uses Sennheiser shotgun microphones. "Two of my room mics are MKH 416s. If you want it to sound like the room, just put up a pair of 416s," Deems says.

Tour dates in the U.S. are currently scheduled to begin in August.

For more information, visit www.sennheiserusa.com and www.thebackstreetboys.com.

SOURCE

Where the boys are

Lesley Mofokeng gets all nostalgic chatting to Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell.

Why are you still together as a boy band?

After a 15-year rollercoaster ride and plenty of hard work, we simply can’t stop. Our voices have created a magic that people are drawn to.

Which would you say was the best boy band of all time?

I’d go as far back as The Beatles, even though they didn’t call them boy bands then.

What has been the greatest threat to your music career?

I had open heart surgery 10 years ago and this was a great source of worry. In addition , the ’90s boy band explosion saturated the market and almost overshadowed our success.

You guys are a lot older now; would you change the band’s name?

The Backstreet Boys have created a brand through their sound and their name, so we’ll never change it.

Which musician’s poster have you got on your wall?

I’ve got Backstreet Boys posters on my studio walls. In my home there are pictures of my family, wife and son.

Is it easy for you being an evangelical Christian and an idolised sex symbol?

I don’t think it concerns me as I’m no longer 18. If anything, my life represents stability as I’m a father, a husband and a Backstreet Boy.

Whose CD are you buying — Usher or NeYo?

Usher is noted for his great material, production and style of performance. The same goes for NeYo, but I think I’ d always pick Usher first.

Why must one not miss your SA shows?

It will be our first live performance in South Africa with our band. The shows are also very high energy, with lots of dancing and moving, and we sing almost all the hits we’ve had in the past.

Littrell’s favourite tunes of all time

Get Low by NeYo. Love In This Club by Usher. Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. Stop and Stare by One Republic. Don’t Know Why by Norah James.

SOURCE

Backstreet Boys coming to Canada

The Backstreet Boys, arguably the top-selling boy band in music history, are bringing their Unbreakable world tour to Canada this summer.

The band, which has sold over 100 million albums worldwide, recently completed the first leg of its tour. Starting in February in Japan, the 50-date leg went through Malaysia, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Russia and South Africa.

The second leg of the tour features 26 dates in the United States and Canada, beginning July 29 in St. John's, Nlfd. Fourteen of the dates are in Canada -- following two shows in St. John's, the Backstreet Boys are scheduled to make stops in Moncton, Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

Unbreakable tour is the first for the Backstreet Boys without original member Kevin Richardson. He left the band in June 2006 to pursue other interests. Brian Littrell, Nick Carter, Howie Dorough and A.J. McLean chose to continue as a group and released Unbreakable on Oct. 30.

Unbreakable is the sixth studio album for the Backstreet Boys following Backstreet Boys (1996), Backstreet's Back (1997), Millennium (1999), Black and Blue (2000) and Never Gone (2005).

Breaking onto the music scene in 1993 with a pop rock sound, the Backstreet Boys have matured into an adult contemporary act. The band has charted 13 Top 40 hits with songs like "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," "I Want It That Way," "As Long As You Love Me," "All I Have To Give" and "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" breaking into the Top 10.

For more information, go to www.backstreetboys.com.

SOURCE