In just four years since first bursting onto the music scene, 22-year-old Rihanna has racked up over twelve million record sales worldwide and has collected one honor after another, including a Grammy Award in 2008 for her global smash hit, “Umbrella”. Rihanna is currently promoting her fourth album, Rated R, with high-profile live and televised performances in the United States and Europe, taking her longtime favorite combination Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld microphone with dynamic MD 5235 capsule wherever she goes.
Rihanna has been using the SKM 5200 since adopting it for her first headlining tour at the end of 2007. According to monitor engineer Brian Evans, on this tour her two background vocalists are also using the SKM 5200/ MD 5235 combination. The wireless vocal mics are being used together with Sennheiser’s EM 3732 twin receivers, he notes.
If a television production is unable to provide SKM 5200 RF wireless microphones for the background singers, Evans explains, he can usually rely on the ready availability of an alternate model of Sennheiser vocal mic along with G2 or G3 personal monitoring systems.