Into his third decade of bringing rock and roll to audiences around the world, Chinese rock musician Cui Jian, dubbed the father of China rock, has a reliable partner in Sennheiser whether at home or on the road.

Born in 1961 to Korean parents inclined toward the arts, Cui joined the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra at 14 as a trumpeter and was introduced by friends to rock at the age of 20. Inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel, he taught himself to play the guitar. The multi-talented Cui shot to fame in 1986 when he performed his composition, Nothing to My Name, at a concert. Subsequently, he performed this song at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Over the last two decades, Cui has performed in numerous countries around the world. His tour in China last year stretched over 20 shows. In early May, he took centre-stage at the San José

The Father of China Rock: Cui Jian (Credit-Images: Ching)

Convention Center in San Francisco to a 6000-strong crowd, and also followed up later in the month with a benefit performance for victims of the Sichuan earthquake that raised over RMB 400,000 (approx. 37,000 euros).

A gifted trumpet player, guitarist, composer and singer/songwriter: Cui Jian  (Credit-Images: Ching)

Cui’s team of experienced audio engineers have nothing but praise for Sennheiser’s microphones, particularly the 900 series for the drums and trumpet. Front-of-house engineer Wu Zheng is the first to admit that he’s a big fan of Sennheiser’s tom microphones. “Sennheiser tom mics were the standard since the early days when we used the 504s, then the 604s and now, the 904s.”

Explaining his set-up, Wu explained: “For the bass drum, I use the e 901 and e 902 — there is a nice low end with an adequate amount of attack, and best of all not much equalizing is needed. As for vocals, the e 935 sits easily in the mix and cuts through the overall mix of the band.” The e 908B condenser microphone designed specially for wind instruments received the thumbs up from Cui, according to his monitor engineer Li Feng. “Cui Jian, being a musician himself and a highly professional artiste, is naturally more sensitive to the performance of the instrument mics,” said Li. “He complimented the e 908B for lending a bright quality to his trumpet.”

Monitor engineer Li Feng (Credit-Images: Ching)

Drum miking (Credit-Images: Ching)

For Cui Jian’s performances, Sennheiser also provided the e 902 for the Chinese drums, e 905 for metal drum, e 904 for cowbell and tambourine, e 914 for chimes and drums overhead, as well as the ew 300 G2 wireless monitoring system.

The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of over € 395 million in 2007, 83% of which were generated abroad. Sennheiser employs almost 2,000 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. Sennheiser has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

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