DPA Microphones is In Sync with Natalie Merchant
Veteran audio engineer George Cowan relies on a variety of company's mics to capture folk-singer's artistry
Whether folk-rocker Natalie Merchant is on tour or in the studio, the musician's long-time audio engineer, George Cowan, relies on DPA Microphones' d:facto Vocal Microphone to provide the singer with the purest sound possible. Additionally, a combination of the company's d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones highlight the supporting live-string quartet, while d:dicate 4011A Cardioid and 4006A Omnidirectional Microphones have been used for the musician's recent recording projects.
Cowan was first introduced to DPA Microphones while engineering at the renowned Bearsville Studios near Woodstock, NY. It was there, in 1989, that he met Merchant and the two have been working together ever since. For Merchant's current tour, the singer added a new element, a string quartet, which required proper amplification. Cowan turned to DPA to find a low-profile miking solution with high-quality sound.
I have mixed for a variety of live audiences, from stadiums to small clubs, so I know the importance of having a good microphone, says Cowan. Based off my experience and the company's reputation, I knew that DPA would be the best solution for close-miking the quartet as the d:vote mics allowed us to get an isolated sound on the string instruments, which can be difficult to do with other brands. The d:votes solved every problem we had and are great microphones for live music because they just sound clearer. We prefer a subtle attachment mic, and its unobtrusive design allows us to eliminate clutter from the stage.
In addition to the 2014 summer tour, Merchant, Cowan and co-engineer Eli Walker were busy working on the 20th anniversary re-recording of the singer-songwriter's hit album, Tigerlily which features new arrangements and sensibilities.
We used a d:dicate 4011A on the viola and seven d:dicate 4006As on the strings for the recording session for Tigerlily, continues Cowan. We also used the 4006As for ambience at the Club House, a studio in Rhinebeck, NY. The string mount that comes with the mics is the best in the business; I've never seen anything better. They're not clumsy at all and they are really well thought out.
In addition to using DPA to isolate the instruments, Cowan switched Merchant to DPA's d:facto Vocal Microphone. It was a no brainer when we tried the d:facto capsule on Natalie's vocals, adds Cowan. It sounded better than anything we were using prior. I'm a big fan of DPA, every time I hear a performance using their mics, I've been impressed. I want to thank the crew at DPA for being so wonderful to work with. Natalie was also very appreciative and she plans on crediting the company on her next record.
Cowan additionally expressed interest in trying out more of DPA's mics for future applications. With more than 30 years of experience in the music business, Cowan has toured the world live-mixing for the likes of Joe Jackson, Joan Baez, Aimee Mann and Todd Rundgren. In addition to his work as a FOH engineer, Cowan served as a studio engineer for many years.
Merchant released her sixth solo album (also recorded with Cowan and Walker, using DPA microphones) in May, a self-titled and self-produced collection of 10 new and original songs, named Album of the Week by The Daily Telegraph, along with a debut at number 20 on Billboard's Top 200. Additional albums include Tigerlily (1995), Ophelia (1998), Motherland (2001), The House Carpenter's Daughter (2003) and Leave Your Sleep (2010). The 20th anniversary release of Tigerlily, due out next year, will also be accompanied by a live concert video that was filmed over two days at the Tarrytown Music Hall.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
DPA Microphones is In Sync with Natalie Merchant
