Press release
26.11.2008 - Sennheiser UK
Sennheiser Drives Audio at Top Gear Live 2008
This November has seen the Top Gear Live show wreak its particular brand of motorised mayhem around the British Isles. Screeching to a halt at London's Earls Court, Birmingham's NEC and Dublin's RDS Simmons Court, the audio for Jeremy Clarkson, James May, The Hamster, The Stig and the thousands watching has been in the hands of Gareth Davies, front of house engineer for the entire tour.
"I've done this show for the past three years," he explains. "We have had issues with RF in the past so when I approached Stage Audio Services of Stourbridge to put together the specification and the quote for this year's show I said it had to be Sennheiser RF technology."
With the three presenters in the middle of a large arena floor, often surrounded by speeding cars, reliable, clear audio was an absolute necessity. Which is why Davies specified Sennheiser SK 500 bodypack transmitters for the presenters, SKM 535 hand held radio mics for interviewing audience members and ew 300 IEM G2 monitors for the entire performing team.
"I've worked on the show with Miles Barton, our Radio Tech, for three years now," continues Davies. "It got difficult last year because we were using another manufacturer's hand held mics with Sennheiser in-ears. This year the presenters have told us how much they've been impressed by the technology, because they haven't had any problems. We were amazed by the area they covered. The three presenters are in a large arena being surrounded by cars much of the time. The arena at the NEC was about 50 metres across and nearly as deep. The presenters can be anywhere in that space. The in-ears work even while they're still in the green room. We've been really impressed.
"The show producer also has in-ears and a handheld mic so he can talk to the presenters during the show. He can be anywhere in the venue too. All the stunt drivers have bodypacks with in-ears. They have not had a single problem even when driving at high speed around a large arena. They need to hear the music and direction from the show caller, who sits next to me in the front of house position. There are also three percussion players who have click track and a full monitor mix in their ears. There's something like 25 in-ear receivers in total."
The show may be high profile, but for Davies and Barton, it's thankfully not high pressure.
"Once everything is up and running it's only a two-man show," promises Davies. "It's really straightforward. Miles knows the guys at Sennheiser so he knows that if there were any issues we could ring and get an instant answer. But we haven't needed to call Sennheiser once. We haven't had a single RF issue."
For more information about Sennheiser please visit www.sennheiser.co.uk or call:
Robert Collins, Sennheiser Pro PR
T: 07966 294 877