
Renowned crooner Tony Bennett recently took to the stage for the One Last Time concerts at Radio City Music Hall alongside long-time friend and collaborator Lady Gaga, and the performances were nothing short of magical. As this is likely to be the last time audiences see Bennett perform live, the concerts were captured and aired as a CBS special on November 28, 2021. With sound at the forefront of considerations for this event, GRAMMY Award-winning Audio Engineers Jody Elff and John Harris of Harris-Elff Audio Resources (HEAR) selected a variety of DPA Microphones for the orchestral recording.
The audience was full of love for Tony Bennett, and it was a powerful couple of nights of music, says Elff. We were live on-stage at Radio City Music Hall, one of the greatest venues in the world, with a large orchestral ensemble. We also had Tony's jazz ensemble and Lady Gaga's rhythm section on-stage, in addition to full string and brass sections, a harp and a few woodwinds. We had DPA mics all over the orchestraour older 4021 Compact Cardioid Condensers [today known as the 4011ES] on the piano, 4061 Omnidirectional Miniatures on the violins and violas, and 4099 Instrument Mics on all brass, woodwinds and strings, including harp, as well as on the soloing sax and trumpet. As expected, all the DPA mics sounded great.
During the two performances, Elff was feeding his mixes to Harris, who was mixing the bands and vocals. I sent my stems to John for him to blend, explains Elff. It was not a live broadcast, but we were making a stereo reference mix that would later be used during the video edit. I had the orchestra under my fingers with 40 or 50 channels of inputs, with DPA arranged throughout. It was fantastic to have DPA's level of fidelity and unrivaled level of clarity and isolation in the very large hall, which had a lot of sound reinforcement and 6,000 adoring fans. The DPA mics allowed me to create a beautiful, clean, orchestral mix that worked really well for the recording. I also sent mixed stems of the orchestra mics back to the stage to be used in the performers' in-ear monitors. These performances were remarkably touching, and
the DPA microphones helped showcase Tony's legacy as one of all-time greats.
The multi-track recordings (147 channels total) were then handed off to Engineer Dae Bennett (Tony Bennett's son) for final editing and mixing for the broadcast. It was essential that what the team delivered was the best possible quality for Dae to work with, and DPA mics were central to that process.
According to Elff, the compact form-factor of the DPA mics also benefitted the production. I'm pleased that the mics are so discreet, he says. When there's a lot of people on the stage, like we had for these performances, using 4061s and 4099s gives the audience the ability to experience the music without a forest of microphone stands obscuring their view of the musicians, either in the hall or on-camera. I think it's important for the audience not to be distracted by all the technology. They're not thinking about the microphones, they're just watching the musicians play, listening to the music and thinking about how good it sounds. That's one of my favorite aspects of working with DPA mics.
A long-time DPA fan, dating back to the mid-1990s, Elff finds the brand's mics to be among the best in the business. For years, DPA has and continues to produce(d) some of the greatest sounding microphones out there, he adds. The mics certainly hold up to the rigors of live use in recording, as well as studio applications. The 4006s are a staple for orchestral recording, and they sound great as well. The first time I heard a 4006 was when I was queuing a microphone while checking lines. I didn't hear the microphone, just the room, and it instantly changed the way I thought about any other brand. When you queue up a mic, you hear how much character the device itself imparts to your signal, and with DPA, it's like there's nothing but your source material. It was a remarkable experience, and I have been using DPA mics whenever possible ever since.
Elff has mixed countless televised network concert events and his orchestral collaborations include the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Lincoln Center Festival. He has made field recordings of folk music in Morocco and Ethiopia, recorded three albums with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and has provided sound design for hundreds of performances around the world. He is also a co-partner for HEAR, which provides location and remote recording and broadcast music mixing services.
The CBS special, One Last Time: An Evening with Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett,'aired November 28, 2021 and is currently available to stream on Paramount+.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
09/06/2026
FOX Sports and ReachTV, an airport media network, have announced an agreement to...
09/06/2026
Cosm Atlanta, a 70,000-square-foot, three-level immersive entertainment venue located within Centennial Yards adjacent to State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Sta...
09/06/2026
NESN captured five awards at the 2026 Boston/New England Emmy Awards, including four program honors and one individual award.
These awards reflect the passion...
09/06/2026
Ateme has announced that its support for Apple Immersive Video workflows was referenced by Apple during its 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26).
Atem...
09/06/2026
Bitmovin has announced that Axel Springer SE has deployed Player Web X, Bitmovin's web video player, to power audio readouts of news articles and an audio-o...
09/06/2026
Grass Valley and Lawo have announced a technology collaboration to validate orch...
09/06/2026
LiveU has announced a deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) t...
09/06/2026
Globecast has announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform, powered by ...
09/06/2026
NBC Sports will present live coverage of Overtime's OT7 football league Championship Weekend from Sullivan Field at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angel...
09/06/2026
We're in three different locations, three different production teams. Coveri...
09/06/2026
The intro video for Men's Basketball won Outstanding In-Venue Video in the C...
09/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
09/06/2026
Since their debut, the clock-and-score graphic has drawn the affinity and ire of...
09/06/2026
Last month, Spotify hosted PURE FLOWERS LIVE, a special event celebrating the re...
09/06/2026
Last month, RADAR U.K. artist Skye Newman took the stage in East London for a sp...
09/06/2026
Company to cease operating on 30 June 2026
Australian loudspeaker and amplifier manufacturer Wayne Jones Audio have announced that after much consideration,...
09/06/2026
Increases low-end weight and character
The latest plug-in release from Sheffield-based fedDSP aims to offer an all-in-one solution for users in search of mo...
09/06/2026
Introduces AI Studio Assistant, Moises Studio integration & more
Fender Studio have just announced the launch a significant update that brings an array of n...
09/06/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is a statutory body mandated to spearhead the equitable growth and development of the South African film and video...
09/06/2026
The BBC has found its Hercule Poirot.
After Deadline revealed last month that t...
09/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
A project aimed at modernizing scheduling operations across Mediaset's channel portfolio
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitab...
09/06/2026
tvONE, an ACT Entertainment brand, debuts its most powerful video processor ever built: the 4RU CALICO PRO (C7-PRO-4200), at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N6813). Engine...
09/06/2026
Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee Va...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Technology collaboration to validate AMPP and Lawo HOME orchestration integration, showcasing Dynamic Media Facility principles in practice.
Grass Valley and ...
09/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced that Axel Springer SE, international media and technology company, has deployed Playe...
09/06/2026
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today announced a landmark deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) that has brought Video ...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Two Alumni Win Tony Awards Mike Morris and Cedric Leiba Jr. won awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Play, respectively.
June 8, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
...
09/06/2026
X-Rite Pantone Launches Offset360 to Modernize Color Control Across Existing Pre...
09/06/2026
09 Jun 2026
VEON Appoints Serkan Ozturk as Chief of Staff & Strategy Officer Dubai and New York, June 9, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital oper...
09/06/2026
Tuesday 9 June 2026
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a candid and unfiltered accou...
09/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Images And Poster For Wrath, A New Brazi...
09/06/2026
Enni Continues to Rely on Arvato Systems - And Will Be Using AEP.EnerS4 Billing Solution
Arvato Systems to implement transformation project for SAP S/4HANA Ut...