Las Vegas Academy of the Arts tells a popular love story with DPA Microphones
Theatre students rely on d:screet 4071 Miniatures for production of Aida
DPA Microphones' d:screet 4071 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphone recently played a big role during the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts (LVA) production of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, providing both leads with a comfortable audio solution. During the three-week run of the musical, students learned how to use the company's high-end miniature microphone, exposing the theatre department to a behind-the-scenes, first-hand lesson in the simplicity of DPA's products.
At LVA, a publicly funded magnet arts school, the curriculum is designed to teach students the focused skills of their chosen major as well as life skills such as time management and leadership, along with academics. An average academic year for the theatre program includes three or four main stage and two black-box productions, run nearly entirely by the students. Adjunct faculty member Eric McFall, LVA's volunteer resident sound designer, has been an advisor of the theatre program since 2006. When he was presented with the chance to use DPA's d:screet 4071 on the production of Aida, McFall jumped at the chance to expose the students to the benefits of using DPA mics.
As an educational institution, we try to put professional products in the hands of the students as much as possible, says McFall. So, when the opportunity came along to introduce the students to DPA's high-end microphones, I knew I had to take it. We take great pride in the fact that we challenge our students to perform at a level well beyond what they thought they could ever accomplish; we treat them like the professionals they will become. Owing to this mindset, all technical and performance operations for Aida were controlled completely by the students. The feedback they had from using the miniatures was extremely positive. DPA is known for being the best in the business, and the d:screet 4071 has proven that it is no exception.
Small enough to be easily hidden without hindering the audio of a performance, DPA's d:screet Miniature Microphones are a great fit for young professionals and industry veterans who enjoy working with mics that produce a crisp sound and maintain a linear dynamic range. Right out of the gate, it was clear to my lead engineer, who has never had the opportunity to work with DPA before, that we wouldn't need to be nearly as aggressive on the EQ as we typically are, adds McFall. With the mics positioned so close to the performer's mouth, we often run into issues with a nonlinear response. The 4071s, however, didn't have any feedback problems and allowed us to find an EQ that sounded equally good at the high end as it did at the low end.
In addition to the technical improvements noted by the lead engineer and students working behind-the-scenes, the aesthetic differences were also noticeable. The performances are mostly funded by ticket sales, so we're used to working with lower budget mics, continues McFall. I was impressed by the construction of the 4071's - they are very well built and the cables are very easy to hide in the costumes.
McFall began his career in the live audio industry doing corporate events and installation work before he later moved to the touring circuit, working with NETworks Presentations on national tours of Cabaret and RENT. In 2004, McFall took a position with Cirque du Soleil's O at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where he currently serves as a systems engineer when he's not volunteering at LVA.
LVA's theatre season for the 2015/16 school year includes RENT, Footloose, and Crimes of the Heart. For more information, please visit www.lvacademytheatre.org.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Las Vegas Academy of the Arts tells a popular love story with DPA Microphones
