Lorde's Touring Crew Delivers Global Audio Precision

A streamlined, tour-ready audio design built around DPA microphones and Wisycom wireless is helping Lorde's team deliver consistent, high-impact sound across arenas, festivals and smaller rooms worldwide.

As Lorde continues her latest run of international shows spanning multiple continents, the sonic approach behind the performances is anchored by Front of House Mix Engineer Philip J. Harvey and Monitor Engineer Kevin Glendinning. Working together, the pair has devised a flexible, resilient signal and RF workflow that keeps clarity and emotion front and centre, regardless of venue size or location.

For the 'Ultrasound World Tour', which wraps on 10 October 2026 at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the engineers have had to navigate fluctuating RF conditions and shifting production formats. Their answer is a compact but powerful infrastructure that adapts quickly while maintaining the highest audio fidelity.

Harvey, who has mixed Lorde for more than a decade, builds the show around the vocal path. "We've been using the DPA d:facto™ 4018VL capsule since the 'Melodrama' tour," he explained. "To me, it's the most natural-sounding microphone out there. Whether it’s a whisper or a full-on scream, the d:facto captures everything with incredible detail and consistency."

With the current production leaning into synthesisers and direct inputs rather than a traditional backline, the stage is intentionally sparse for microphones, heightening the importance of each one. "We're essentially working with just four microphones on stage—Ella’s [Lorde’s] main vocal and three backing vocal mics," Harvey said. "Everything else is direct. That makes the quality of those microphones even more important."

Harvey points to the vocal mic's off-axis behaviour as a key differentiator in mixed environments. "Even when there’s bleed from other elements, it still sounds natural," he notes. "That's a huge advantage compared to other mics where off-axis coloration can become a problem. What you hear is what you get, and that makes mixing so much easier."

While Harvey crafts the audience mix, Glendinning oversees the in-ear experience for the artist and crew, deploying a fully integrated Wisycom platform across the production. “All our in-ear monitoring runs through Wisycom MPR50 belt-packs, MTK transmitters, MFL optical link and a CSI16T combiner,” he explains. “We’ve outfitted everyone, from the band to crew members, with the same system. Consistency is key.”

Glendinning first encountered Wisycom more than ten years ago and was immediately impressed. "The noise floor was lower than anything I’d used before, and the audio quality was incredibly natural," he recalled. "It's the closest thing to a cable mix you can get in a wireless environment."

Reliability is equally crucial when equipment faces the realities of life on the road. "These belt-packs get dropped, sweated on, you name it," Glendinning said. "But they just keep going. You can’t compromise on build quality when you’re handing gear to artists every night."

Frequent changes in venue and territory make spectrum management a moving target, but Wisycom’s wideband flexibility helps keep the show on pace. "We don't have to swap out gear for different regions," Glendinning explained. "We just adjust frequencies and keep moving. That’s a huge advantage when you’re traveling globally."

One of the production's trickier moments comes when Lorde ventures through the crowd, including a section performed from the FOH position. To ensure uninterrupted coverage, the team employs a fibre-linked RF distribution approach. "We run a Wisycom MFL RF over Fiber to extend coverage out into the audience area," Glendinning said. "It was all part of the system design, and it's been flawless."

Glendinning credits RF specialist Stacey Handley with architecting the system, and both engineers highlight the value of close ties with manufacturers. "Being able to pick up the phone and get support or custom solutions, quickly, makes a huge difference," Glendinning notes.

Together, the DPA and Wisycom ecosystems underpin a coherent, tour-tough audio path that serves both artistry and precision. "At the end of the day, everything I do is shaped by what comes through that belt-pack," Glendinning said. "If the transmission isn't right, none of the upstream work matters. With Wisycom, I know the final result will sound exactly how it should."

Harvey reaches a similar conclusion from the FOH position. "When you start with a microphone that sounds this good, everything else falls into place. It gives you confidence, and that translates directly to the audience experience."

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