OLD LYME, CONN. – The Country Music Association recently used Sennheiser EM 3732-II receivers, SKM 2000 and SKM 5200 transmitters and its new 300 G3 IEM series monitoring system during its 45 annual Country Music Association Awards national telecast, Nov. 9.
The following Sennheiser users also won awards and performed live onstage using Sennheiser transmitters and capsules:
- •Blake Shelton: Top Male Vocalist
- •(Sennheiser SKM 2000 coupled with an MMD 953-1 capsule)
- •Miranda Lambert: Top Female Vocalist
- •(Sennheiser SKM 2000 couple with an MMD 935-1 capsule)
- •Sugarland: Vocal Duo of the Year
- •(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)
- •Lady Antebellum: Vocal Group of the Year
- •(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)
Among the notable performance highlights was a rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” by the Zac Brown Band and music legend Gregg Allman, during which Brown used a Sennheiser SKM 2000 coupled with a MMD 935-1 mic capsule.
For Bexel staff engineer Jim Dugan, who designs antenna systems for a living and was RF coordinator for this year’s CMAs, Sennheiser was a foundational component of the show’s overall success. “We had 10 of the Sennheiser EM 3732-II receivers, which are really flexible and can cover any of the transmitters the artists are using,” he says. “They are well built, clean and have a very wide switching bandwidth which helps tremendously — especially in shows with 300 or more frequencies. Most importantly, they sound great.”
The sound and dependability of the RF transmitters is key in an awards show that features no less than 29 performers. “This is a challenging show that is all about music, and the only time someone isn’t playing is when someone is introducing music,” commented John Harris, the broadcast music mixer at CMA who had two of his Music Mix Mobile trucks on site. “Since there are performances way out in the middle of the arena and on three different stages, the RF has to be rock solid. The Sennheiser transmitters are very reliable and there were no blips.”
During this year’s CMAs, a variety of other Sennheiser microphones were used in many other applications. For example, Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum used the new Sennheiser MK4 large diaphragm condenser as overhead microphones, and Sennheiser mics were on every drum kit used by every band during the evening’s performances.
