A former professional baseball player turned gospel musician, Dontaniel Jamel Kimbrough has worked alongside worship artists such as Kirk Franklin, Dorinda Clark-Cole and Byron Cage is his various roles as a recording engineer, producer, musician and mixing engineer. His most recent project involved American gospel musician Todd Dulaney’s new release The Journey Continues, recorded live at Calvary Church in Naperville, Illinois.

While producing a live album presents particular challenges, Kimbrough’s aim – whether in the studio or live – is to capture voice and instrumental audio as naturally as possible. Starting with an authentic sound source is often key to producing a clean and natural recording.

For Kimbrough, this meant mics from DPA Microphones, including the 4099D Instrument Mics and 2011C Twin Diaphragm Mics, as well as the new 4055 Kick Drum Microphone. ‘The first thing I noticed about DPA mics was how they translated the source,’ he says. ‘After the lead vocals, the drums are probably the biggest focus of any recording – you really want to hear that beat. What makes a drum stick out is the quality of the recording. DPA has never let me down when it comes to a great recording, and this project was no exception.’

Supplied by Chicago professional A/V production company,Sven Pro, the majority of the DPA mics were used for Dulaney’s drum kit – including 4099s on snare and toms. ‘What I like about the 4099s is the transparency,’ Kimbrough says. ‘They remind me of a classic mic, but without the colour. I love that you can hear every ghost note on the snare. The mics pick up all the frequencies where the meat of the snare lives, around 350-450Hz. With most other mics, we would have to bump the frequency to feel and hear that, but that’s not necessary with the 4099s.’

With the sound of the drums top of Kimbrough’s priorities, he rounded out his miking with the new 4055 Kick Drum Mic, with 2011C Twin Diaphragm Mics for the hi-hats and as left/right overheads on the cymbals.

‘We opted to use the DPA 2028 and d:facto 4018 Vocal Capsules with Sennheiser wireless systems, which made everything so easy,’ Kimbrough continues. ‘With the d:facto, you can just switch the mic off, and quickly swap capsules. I used the same ones in the studio and on-stage to maintain a consistency in the recordings. These solutions are great for any application. All the capsules are linear and transparent; you hear every frequency because nothing gets washed out.’

Kimbrough is equally impressed by his experience with Sven Pro, who provided support throughout the live event. ‘Sven has never let me down; the company is great at bringing musicians and producers together and connecting us with brands that help elevate our creativity,’ he says. ‘Communication is everything in any relationship and Sven goes above and beyond. With their help, we’ve even been able to hold Billboard’s No. 1 spot on past productions.’

With The Journey Continues set for release this summer, Kimbrough is looking forward to sharing the album’s impeccable sound with the world. ‘I’m excited for you to hear Todd’s vocals,’ he says. ‘The ultimate goal with mics is to get transparent sound, which allows you to do whatever you want to do with the end result. These DPA mics have all been ridiculously good for that.’

Kimbrough is also music director at Calvary Church, one of the largest multi-ethnic churches in Illinois. A long-time collaborator of Dulaney’s, Kimbrough has helped the musician create multiple chart-topping hits, with runs lasting as long as six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel list.

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