An ambitious theatre project marked the centenary of Frank Sinatra’s birth by bringing him back to the stage of the London Palladium, in a multimedia show that combined footage of Sinatra’s performances over his entire career with a live 24-piece orchestra and a cast of dancers.
Described by reviewers as a cross between a tribute and a musical, Sinatra – The Man and His Music packed the theatre for a limited run of three months. The show’s Sound Designer, Dan Samson, chose DPA’s d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones to bring the music to the mixing desk on account of both their audio quality and their application to every musician, regardless of instrument played.
‘The musicians were one of the only live human elements in the show so it was important that they were not static,’ he explains. ‘We were trying to make it feel like a real concert, where the band was backing the real Frank Sinatra, so we wanted the musicians to move around and be part of the performance. We had them standing up for solos, standing on a pallet that formed part of the bandstand, performing shout choruses and generally being very visible to the audience.’
DPA’s d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones were used across the entire range of instruments, from percussion, drums and bass to piano, the string section, woodwind and trumpets. ‘They were undoubtedly the stars of the show,’ Samson says.
‘They are so versatile and come with such a great range of clips and mounts that we could use them on everything. Some of the microphones were connected wirelessly to our Shure radio system and delivered a consistent signal regardless of their location, which meant that the musicians had complete freedom of movement. They also offered great isolation and, thanks to their tiny size, we were able to position them really close to the sound source without interfering with playability.’
As an experienced sound designer who has worked on numerous shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Glenn Miller Story, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Blood Brothers and The Sound of Music, Samson is familiar with DPA’s product range and uses them on all of his shows.
‘d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones are great for most instruments but I particularly like them on acoustic guitar because they sound so natural and warm,’ he says. ‘They are versatile enough to mount on a range of different guitars and I have used them on steel acoustics, nylons and 12 strings, all with great success. The players love the way the guitars sound in their monitoring and are always pleased to see them.
He also uses d:dicate 2011C Cardioid Microphones for percussion, stating their ability to handle very high SPL and consistently sound great across a range of different instruments as the main reasons for his choice: ‘If I need a miniature microphone, I use d:screet 4061 mics or d:fine 4066 Headset mics,’ he says. ‘The 4066 is better for rock and roll shows because of how consistently close to the source you can position them without compromising the sound quality. This allows for high levels of vocal foldback.
‘The mics are also popular with performers because they are very comfortable to wear, even whilst the performers are dancing. They do a great impression of a rock vocal microphone but without the constraints of a handheld. The d:screet 4061, on the other hand, is much more suited to traditional shows because they deliver a really natural and detailed sound. They are also really easy to hide on a performer.’
The 40-plus d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones required for the Sinatra show were supplied by Cardiff-based Stage Sound Services, which has been a DPA advocate for more than ten years: ‘From a rental point of view, they are incredibly popular and are often specified by sound designers for a wide range of live sound and theatre projects,’ says MD, Phil Hurley.
‘We have been supplying them since they were first introduced and we are really happy with their audio quality. As the range has developed they have become even more versatile because they can be used on so many different instruments. They are theatre staples and, frankly, they are a very good rental earner so I am happy to invest in them.’
More: www.dpamicrophones.com
