New York, NY (December 12, 2016)—The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma recently wrapped up its latest tour, with audio engineer/designer Jody Elff onec again mixing the act. To ensure the ensemble was heard throughout each venue, he put DPA mics on all the strings, as well as on a gaita, shakuhachi, sheng, pipa and piano.
“A great example where DPA microphones excelled was for miking the shakuhachi – a Japanese bamboo flute with The Silk Road Ensemble,” said Elff. “Our shakuhachi player travels with several instruments for playing in different keys and will sometimes even switch instruments in the middle of one piece. Playing the shakuhachi is a physically dynamic act, so the performer is in motion while he is playing. If I were to use a conventional stand-mounted mic, either the performer would have to modify his playing style to stay on-axis of the microphone or I would lose his instrument as he moved in and out of the pickup pattern of the mic, neither of which is desirable. By putting a DPA d:fine 4088 Directional Headset Microphone on the performer, he is able to switch instruments freely and move comfortably during his performance and I always have an excellent sounding mic in a perfect position.”
Elff noted that whenwhen the arm of the headset mic is placed on the upstage side of the player’s head, the microphone wasn’t immediately visible to the audience. “I don’t know of any other microphone that would perform as well and solve the challenge as elegantly in that particular application. We have performed to near sell-out audiences in many of the great summer venues across the country. The mics have performed reliably and excellently night after night.”
He added, “In many cases, the only EQ’ing I need to do on the instruments miked with DPA is a bit of high-pass filtering. If my PA is well managed and the mics are good, very little EQ’ing is necessary. I will absolutely continue to use DPA mics on The Silk Road Ensemble performances as they are a perfect fit. I carry a variety of DPA models in my microphone kit and will continue to call on them regularly as new projects emerge.”
DPA Microphones
www.dpamicrophones.com
