After playing small clubs on the Midwest indie circuit for a decade, seeing their eighth album, Turn Blue, debut at number one in Canada, US and Australia, brought an abrupt change of pace for Ohio garage rock duo, The Black Keys. The band is currently touring the US, then taking a break before a European leg and finish in Australasia.
They are accompanied by long-time FOH engineer Jason M Tarulli and monitor engineer Rob Elliot. Tarulli has been with the band since their early days, and drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach, have remained loyal to him throughout.
Their transition from small and medium-sized clubs to sold-out 10,000-seat arenas has raised the stakes on the kind of gear available to the band: ‘It’s great to be able to choose what we want after so many years of having to make do with anything and everything,’ Tarulli says. ‘This is the first tour where we’ve had Sennheiser gear throughout, and so far it’s been great.
‘Overall, I’m really into the classic sound and feel of Sennheiser mics like the MD 441, 421 and the e 906,’ he explains. ‘I went for a combo of e 906 and MD 421 for Auerbach’s main guitar rig, with the 906 placed near the centre of the cone to get all the mid/hi-mid details, plus the crunch and fuzz that comes from the Marshall amp and Fender guitar, and the 421 placed midway or nearer to the outer edge of the cone to get the low-mid warmth. Blended together, that makes for a nice, full, big-sounding guitar. 
‘I’ve got a 906 on the rhythm guitar because it’s a great mic for guitars. Actually, I think the 906 is an all-round great mic, period. You could use it for almost anything loud and it would sound fantastic. And I have a 421, the classic bass guitar mic, on bass. You can’t really go wrong with this choice, the 421 has excellent low/low-mid response.’
For the drums, Tarulli has carried the studio use of Neumann mics over to the live setting along with Sennheiser equipment. He opted for an e 901 and e 902 for the kick drum, an MD 441 on the snare and a Neumann KM 184 on the hi-hat which ‘gets the sizzle of the hi-hats without sounding thin’.
He also went for KM 184s as overhead mics. ‘The KM 184 is an excellent small-diaphragm condenser with good detail – the cymbals are full sounding, not thin or washy and it also complements the microphones on the rest of the kit for a more natural feel.’
He decided on an MD 441 for the cowbell: ‘It really makes it feel full and even. Also, I can push the fader up when things get quiet to add a little extra ambience to the snare.
His final choice for the kit was an e 904 for toms: ‘The biggest problem I had for a while was with the tom mics,’ he admits. ‘I love mics like the 421, but mics that size can be difficult to focus and the stands can be clumsy and take up too much real estate on the drum riser. Most drummers can’t help but hit them – sometimes fatally. The 904 solved all my problems as it’s compact, clips easily onto the drum, won’t come loose or fall off, even after the occasional hit from a drumstick, and it sounds great.’
Tarulli chose e 945s for both tambourine and main vocals.
‘It’s great to have The Black Keys onboard,’ says Sennheiser Canada’s Chris Isaac, who handles artist relations. ‘They are a fantastic rock duo with great stage presence who never fail to bring the house down with their live performances. They also happen to be really cool guys, along with their team, who are a pleasure to work with.’
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