The Stone Temple Pilots have chosen Heil Sound microphones to be a large part of their summer tour inventory. The tour, which began July 1 in West Hollywood’s House of Blues, plays at casinos, festivals and sheds throughout the U.S. Singer Scott Weiland is using the Heil RC 35 wireless capsule with great success. Andy Ebert is the monitor mixer for the tour and explains, “Scott sounds so much better through the PR35 capsule. I think it is the best rock vocal mic out there. The sound doesn’t change anymore when he’s cupping the mic, it sounds fuller and rounder and I have to ride it way less than I had to before.” In addition to Scott’s vocal mic, Heil PR 28 rim-mount mics are used on drummer Eric Kretz’s toms, PR 20 and 22 on snare, and the new PR 48 is on kick. Bassist Robert DeLeo sings through a PR 35. PR 40s are used on the guitar cabinets to round out the configuration.
While the importance of a microphone’s performance as it relates to the FOH mixer and audience is fairly obvious, the relationship with the bands monitor mixer is equally and in some respects, more important. Ebert finds the Heil mics give him much greater control while not sacrificing sonic performance. “All the Heil mics make my life a lot easier. We played the new Joint in Las Vegas the other day and, as expected, everything works as well in this big room as it did in the small HOB. Both shows were great!”
