Audix News  Flash

SWEDISH BAND MANDO DIAO ROCKS HARD WITH AUDIX MICS

August 2010

Mando Diao, which was founded in Borlänge, Sweden in 1999, has become one of Europe's most successful rock bands. Respected musically for their honesty and independence, Mando Diao, combines vintage rock roots with punk and modern rock making them a favorite with both music critics and young fans. Known for their energetic and exciting live shows, they have have established themselves as a festival headliner at all of the largest festivals and have had year after year of successful tours. All 5 studio albums have sold Gold in many different countries including Sweden, Japan and Germany and the latest album Charted #1 with the #1 single "Dance with Somebody" being radios most played song across all categories in Europe 2009.

Their front of house sound engineer Dirk Schulz (from Germany), had been using Audix microphones in the studio before joining Mando Diao.

Dirk states: “I knew from my studio work exactly where to place the mics on drums in order to get the best results. The Audix mics save me a lot of time because they require little to no EQ. While using the SPL Transient Designer and Twin Tube on Bass drum, snare, and toms, the Audix microphones deliver just and make the drums sound 'right in your face'.

The ADX51 make the cymbals sound more soft and silky and they help avoid "cymbal overload," especially when you have a drummer like Samuel who loves to play cymbals.

The biggest challenge were the Vocals. Gustav and Björn both have enormous output and they tend to overdrive a microphone capsule very easily. After several tests we tried the Audix OM7 and decided this this mic was best choice for both voices and ultimately all voices on stage. Clear and narrow vocals with a great sound and an amazing ability to target just the vocals and minimize the drums and guitars on stage. We get very consistent results from show to show and could not be happier with the sound on stage.”

Mando Diao input list:

Kick Drum = D6
Toms = D2 , D4
Snare = D2
Hi Hat = ADX51
Overheads = ADX51
Congas, Bongos = D2
Vocals, lead and background = OM7

PHOTO from L to R: Roger Wagener (System & DiGiCo Tech), Mando Diao , Dirk Schulz (Front of House engineer).