Capturing a 20,000+ crowd for the in-ears on Hilary Duff’s “The Lucky Me Tour”

On Hilary Duff’s “The Lucky Me Tour,” the sound of the audience is part of the monitoring. The DPA Microphones U.S. team supplied DPA, Wisycom and Austrian Audio solutions for the tour.

Music director Jacob Harelick has a background in music and a passion for building a complete concert experience. On this tour, capturing the energy of the audience is a critical part of that.

“The crowd mics are some of the most important mics for the show,” Harelick says. “They ensure that we capture the experience of the performance and help the musicians relate to the crowd.”

When standard shotguns didn’t work

“When we started, I was previously using standard shotgun mics over the audience,” monitor engineer Nathan Bond explains. “With 20,000-plus people screaming, that setup didn’t work at all; the sound was not ideal. But the DPA 2015 and 2017 mics made a huge difference. They literally solved that entire problem.”

The tour now uses DPA 2015 Wide Cardioid Microphones and 2017 Compact Shotgun microphones as dedicated ambient mics. The 2015 mics provide a wide-cardioid perspective capable of capturing the overall arena, while the 2017s offer a more directional perspective. Together, they give a much more usable representation of what is happening beyond the stage, and that sound becomes part of the tour’s in-ear monitoring.

With the DPA microphones, Bond says, “you can hear when people are yelling out things at her [Duff] in between songs; you can hear it perfectly.”

“I want to make it sound like you’re not wearing them,” he explains. “You’re hearing everything naturally. The DPA mics really changed that for me. As far as being a monitor engineer, I would definitely recommend those to everybody.”

Filling the gap at the front of the stage

Bond also added the DPA 5100 Surround Microphone to his audience capture.

“Bringing the 5100 into the system added another dimension. It has such a natural, open sound, and does an incredible job of filling in the gaps at the front of the stage. The result is a more complete immersive audience sound that translates the energy and atmosphere of the show in a very natural way. With the 2015 and 2017 on the sides, and the 5100 in the center, it feels less like you’re listening to microphones placed around a stage and more like you’re actually hearing the room,” he says.

Wireless that crosses borders

Delivering that sound reliably to the people who need to hear the crowd is where Wisycom comes in. The tour’s monitoring package includes Wisycom MTK982 Transmitters and a mixture of MPR50 and MPR60 Receivers, with additional MPR60 units supporting technical mixes and production personnel. The production is using 12 channels of Wisycom in-ears, while Sound Devices Astral transmitters handle guitars and handhelds. Audio, radio communication and talkback are integrated into the monitor workflow through an extensive communication network.

The production travels internationally. “The biggest advantage in choosing Wisycom was definitely the wideband tuning,” Bond says. “We can put together our package and travel with it all over the world without having to swap out any wireless equipment.”

Bryan “Beav” Van Rooyen, the tour’s RF technician, agrees. “We’ve been using Wisycom largely on tours since 2020, and it has worked really well for us,” he says. “It’s been especially effective at fitting everything into the available spectrum, which is a huge advantage when you’re dealing with a lot of wireless channels on the road.”

Austrian Audio on stage

For Duff’s vocal mic, the production went through multiple capsules before settling on the Austrian Audio 707 True Condenser Vocal Microphone, finding a sound that complemented Duff’s voice and the pop-oriented character of the show. The rest of the vocals are captured with 505 Active Dynamic Vocal Microphones.

“We tried other brands, but as soon as we heard the Austrian Audio 707, we knew right from the start that it was the right choice,” Bond says.

On drums and percussion, the production is using the Austrian Audio OC7 Instrument Microphone on toms and OC818 Multi-Pattern, Dual Output Mics for overheads, along with the CC8 Cardioid Microphone on hi-hat and percussion. For Bond, the ability to find a cohesive microphone package while still tailoring the choices to individual sources has been a major advantage.

Harelick highlights Austrian Audio’s suitability for pop vocals, stating “they are perfect for any pop performance.” He also points to the relationship between DPA Microphones, Wisycom and Austrian Audio as a positive collaboration, because the brands all complement each other.