Sennheiser Sound Tour

Neumann Mics Featured in The Beatles™: Rock Band™ Video Game

Wedemark, Germany — October 2009: The world’s most respected name in high-end studio microphones, Neumann, and its parent company, Sennheiser, teamed up with Harmonix Music Systems, the leading developer of music-based games, and MTV Games to add historical realism to the fast-selling The Beatles™: Rock Band™ video game, that was released globally on 9 September 2009. Consumers who purchase the game will see The Fab Four sing into Neumann microphones in all the studio scenes, just as they did in real life during those now-legendary Abbey Road studio sessions.

The Beatles: Rock Band allows fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic or drums and experience The Beatles’ extraordinary catalogue of music through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career. Additionally, for the first time in a music videogame, The Beatles: Rock Band introduces three-part vocal harmonies to gameplay, allowing gamers to revel in the unparalleled vocal stylings of The Beatles.

And since it is known that most of The Beatles’ trademark vocal harmonies were recorded into Neumann U 47s and U 48s, and some people claim that ALL of their vocal harmonies were recorded into those mics, the game uses them for the studio scenes with their near-century-old Neumann logos prominently displayed.

“The Beatles’ recordings are absolute magic, even on the most tired forty-fives,” remarked Kristy Jo Winkler, Sennheiser’s relations manager for the Americas and Canada. “Their nearly exclusive use of the highest-quality Neumann microphones is a huge part of the overall Abbey Road recording phenomena. We’re very happy that The Beatles: Rock Band has paid such careful attention to the historical details and that Neumann will play a key role in what is destined to be a landmark in the history of video games!”

Everyone who has every seen a picture of the Beatles singing into a large cylindrical microphone, either singly or as a group, has seen one of their cherished Neumanns. Of course, sound engineers need no introduction as they know the U 47 and U 48 just as car enthusiasts know the Lamborghini or the ’64 Mustang. The Beatles and their engineers prized the microphones for their clear, transcendent tonal quality. The newly-remastered Beatles catalogue, that was released simultaneously with the Rock Band video game, reveals the beautiful vocal harmonies that so define their sound.


The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of over €385 million in 2008. Sennheiser employs more than 2,100 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. Sennheiser has manufactur-ing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA, and is represented worldwide by subsidi-aries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Senn-heiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Ver-triebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).

You can find all the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting our website at www.sennheiser.com, or by contacting:

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Presse & PR • Edelgard Marquardt Greg Beebe
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark • Germany Director Global Relations
Tel.: +49 (5130) 600-329 Tel.: +1 (860) 581-8052
Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295 E-Mail: greg.beebe@sennheiser.com
E-Mail: edelgard.marquardt@sennheiser.com

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