DISNEY IN CONCERT SOUNDS AWESOME WITH DPA MICROPHONES

DPA's d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones helped ensure string players in the orchestra were not drowned out by the PA.

The superlative sound provided by DPA microphones helped thousands of people in Germany, Switzerland and Austria enjoy a night to remember when they attended Disney In Concert, a series of 15 musical events that took place in major arenas over a period of four weeks.

During each show, audiences were treated to renditions of classic songs from Disney animated films such as The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Aladdin and Frozen. Live orchestral music performed by the Hollywood Sound Orchestra was interspersed with movie clips to create an unforgettable experience.

To amplify the sound of the orchestral strings, Tonmeister and live sound expert Professor Carsten Kummel specified 45 DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, which were supplied by specialist equipment hire company, Soundhouse.

I used d:vote 4099s as close up mics for the strings, in conjunction with an overhead system, he explains. All other instruments were miked from a distance. In my opinion there is no other choice than the d:vote 4099 because it is the only close-up microphone where you don't have to touch the equalizer.

Kummel, who has handled projects for a wide variety of top shows and artists (including Robin Gibb, Al Bano Carrisi, Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, The Harlem Gospel Singers and the Eurovision Song Contest), is best known for his ability to deliver exceptional live sound in complex environments, with and without an orchestra.

For the Disney in Concert tour, Kummel had various issues to overcome not least the fact that the very loud PA was behind the orchestra and there was also a band on stage supporting the orchestra because it was a crossover show.

I had to get close to the instruments to avoid crosstalk, he says. As far as I know there is no other microphone that works as well as the d:vote 4099 without using the equalizer. These microphones make my job much easier because they deliver such good sound that I can make adjustments prior to the soundcheck and that really speeds things up. In total we had about 120 channels from the stage, but we were able to complete the soundcheck in less than 10 minutes.

J rgen Erhard, System Engineer for the Disney Tour, adds: The Main PA (L-Acoustics 12 x K1, plus 6 x K2) was flown eight meters behind the front of the stage, as otherwise the audience would have had line-of-sight obstruction to the big screen. Even with a very large amount of condenser microphones, Carsten was able to work without feedbacks, due to the length of the PA, which reached a directivity up to 50Hz.

With audiences of 8,000 13,000 people per show, Disney In Concert was a massive undertaking and proved so successful that a new tour is planned for December 2018.

I wasn't the only one who was impressed by the sound the d:vote microphones delivered, says Kummel. We got plenty of good reactions from the audience as well.

Kummel adds that d:vote 4099 instrument microphones are also useful when he is tackling film projects or large corporate shows such as the big motor shows in Detroit, Frankfurt, Geneva, Beijing and Shanghai. Alongside his live sound work, he also has a Professor's chair at the University of Applied Science in Darmstadt and gives seminars and workshops at multiple universities in Germany, Russia, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland. For more information please visit www.tonmeister-online.de.

LINK:	https://www.dpamicrophones.com/news/disney-in-concert-sounds-awesome-w...
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