Beyoncé
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Beyoncé's Microphones
One of Beyoncé's primary microphones. She can be seen using a Telefunken Ela M 251 for the recording of "Partition" in this video at 0:57.
The Ela M 251 was also used to record Beyoncé's vocals on Coldplay's "Hymn for the Weekend", as mentioned by A Head Full of Dreams co-producer Rik Simpson in this Sound on Sound article.
Beyoncé’s vocals were done at Chris’ house on the East Coast. It happened very quickly and was very home–grown. We built a vocal booth for her in the bedroom of Chris’ kids. I just came in with a laptop and an Avalon mic pre, and she favours a Telefunken 251. It was great because she is an amazing singer. There was really no comping done. We put the bridge part in loop and she sang over that, and once she had to figured out what to do she layered her parts. I literally used all of it. I did not have to do much to it, it is how she sounds.
According to this September 24, 2016 AudioTechnology interview with producer Stuart White, the 251 was also used on Lemonade.
“For the rest I have a Telefunken Ela M251 microphone, an Avalon mic pre, and a TubeTech compressor, all of which I used to record the majority of Bey’s vocals."
In this September 2018 Sound on Sound interview, White stated that 251 was also used on EVERYTHING IS LOVE.
He recorded both Beyoncé and Jay-Z with his “Telefunken mic, Avalon mic pre, and Tube Tech compressor. That was the chain for the entire album on both of them. I use just the one chain, because they jump back and forth on the mic all day long, and they both sound really good on that mic, so I kept it simple.”
Beyoncé started using the Sennheiser Digital 9000 system on her Formation tour and has been using it ever since. She uses a custom made golden SKM 9000 transmitter with an MD 9235 capsule. Having toured extensively over the last year with the system, Beyoncé‘s production team have become intimately familiar with the Digital 9000, and monitor engineer James Berry has also been pleased with the results as well as with the support he is getting from Sennheiser. Beyoncé has since purchased her own Digital 9000 system, so the crew can achieve greater predictability while on the road. Berry says: “There are a lot of places we play that don’t have top quality wireless, and it made the most sense for us to go out and buy one.” (article on Sennheiser.com)
Used "occasionally" in the studio, particularly on "Don't Hurt Yourself", as mentioned by producer Stuart White in this this September 24, 2016 AudioTechnology about the production of Lemonade.
“We started in August 2014 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. We were there for a month and had booked every single room; producers were everywhere writing songs. After that we took a break, then went to Paris for 45 days, where we lived in a hotel and set up two studios in two different hotel rooms. The identical setups consisted of ProAc Studio 100 monitors, an Avid Omni converter, Telefunken Elam 251 mic, an Avalon 737 mic pre, Tube Tech CL1B compressor, a Shure SM58 which she likes to use occasionally, and matching Pro Tools sessions."
(...) "Jack White sent his stuff in for the song Don’t Hurt Yourself, which was recorded on eight-track analogue, with tons of bleed. I love bleed, as it helps glue the track together and creates depth. The thing was, they’d taken all the effects off in the transfer to digital. It was a lot of work for me to get it to fit in our sonic world and make it rock at the same time. We added some samples to beef up the drums and make them fit in our big bass world. Bey sang through a Shure SM58 with distortion and the speakers turned up really loud, like Bono. The 8-track definitely gave it a colour and a mood, then we brought it into our more modern production aesthetic.”
Beyoncé used the Sennheiser SKM 5200-II microphone around 2005-2006. According to a user-uploaded photo from Nymag, she continued using it until transitioning to the Sennheiser SKM 9000 around 2015-2016.
"For the duration of the tour, Beyoncé and Jay Z have relied on Sennheiser’s Digital 9000 wireless microphone system, which was purchased specifically for the tour by Eighth Day Sound Systems, Inc. at the recommendation of front-of-house engineer Stephen Curtin and monitor engineer James Berry – both veterans of the tour," states this article.
Beyoncé used a Neumann KK 105 S capsule with a nickel Sennheiser SKM 5200 transmitter during her tour 'The Beyonce Experience', as confirmed by Front of House Magazine. The KK 105 S, based on Neumann's KMS 105, 140, and 150 line of live condenser microphones, is noted for its smoothness and ability to capture every nuance of a talented vocalist's performance. According to Ward, "The KK 105-S is beautifully smooth and captures every nuance of a talented vocalist's performance," and Morales adds, "It's an easy mic to mix for personal monitors because it's so transparent and clean. It cuts through the mix effortlessly."
This is a community-built gear list for Beyoncé.
- Find relevant music gear like Microphones, and other instruments and add it to Beyoncé.
- The best places to look for gear usage are typically on the artist's social media, YouTube, live performance images, and interviews.
- To receive email updates when Beyoncé is seen with new gear, follow the artist.
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BREAK MY SOUL (THE QUEENS REMIX)
Madonna & Beyoncé & Madonna · 2022
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