In May 2023 the world’s eyes were on the spectacular ceremony celebrated at Westminster Abbey for the coronation of King Charles III, a key moment in recent history. For the celebration, including the start-studded Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle, Terry Tew Sound and Light was elected as the official audio supplier who relied on Shure gear to provide outstanding audio throughout these historic events.
Shure equipment included 24 channels of Axient Digital Wireless System handhelds and body packs, and 255 Shure Sound Isolating Earphones. The technical team used a Shure AD600 Axient Digital Spectrum Manager, along with Shure Wireless Workbench (WWB) software, to monitor the RF spectrum on-site. Additionally, 6 hard wired PSM900 In-Ear Personal Monitoring Systems were used on-stage to support world leading stars like Lionel Richie, Take That and Callum Scott.
Jonathan Edwards, Head of RF at TTSL, explained: “The scope of the Windsor Concert included 100 handheld microphones, 3.7km of RF cable, 139 radio mic channels, 58 IEM channels, 255 in-ears, 39 body packs, 243 IEM packs and over 1000 rechargeable batteries, showing that sustainability is possible even at this scale. From a software perspective we relied on WWB to create the frequency plot for the event and used the software’s zone mode across the different studios from where the concerts and ceremony were monitored. This gave us the optics and all RF details in real time, which was key for the success of these memorable events.”
A mixture of Shure SE 215’s and SE 425’s Sound Isolating Earphones were distributed to artists, musicians and choir members. Various Shure capsules were used too, including BETA 87, KSM8 and KSM9, the SM58 and BETA 58’s all of which helped ensure phenomenal audio throughout the show.
On explaining the rationale for choosing Shure, Jonathan Edwards added: “From an IEM perspective, we felt Shure could give us the confidence that the artists would be happy with PSM1000, in fact many of them specified it on their riders. When it comes to wireless, Shure Axient Digital System is our go to performance kit, whether it be for TV programs, events or The Coronation Concert.”
When specifying the kit, the team needed to be aware of artist riders and the spectrum limitations. “A big benefit was that Axient Digital is capable of utilising DME spectrum, so all of the radio mics were in the frequency range needed. Due to the high RF channel count we used every portion of DME spectrum available on-site.”
Jonathan Edwards added: “We are very proud of the overall outcome and our achievement, our biggest show to date. All the equipment worked seamlessly, 2 months of planning, 3 weeks of warehouse prep, the off-site rehearsals and a week on-site, contributed to the spectacle that night. I’d like to give a personal thanks to all teams at TTSL, along with a special mention to Ben Milton, Andy Deacon and Kev Duff.”
Stuart Moots, Director of Pro Audio Sales at Shure UK concluded: “Shure’s relationship with Jonathan and the rest of the team at Terry Tew Sound & Light is built on trust, loyalty, and a shared passion for excellence. Their support and feedback inspire us to continuously improve our products and we greatly value their choice to use Shure. It’s been fantastic to see both wired and wireless Shure systems deployed on such a prestigious event and to know it performed flawlessly in front of a global audience is testament to Terry, Jonathan and their entire team. We are all very proud at Shure to be involved in such a historic event.”
