The Norwegian singer-songwriter is now touring Europe with a microphone line up consisting entirely of DPA.
Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora Aksnes is currently touring Europe with a full complement of DPA microphones that are being used to amplify her vocals, backing vocals and all of the instruments in her band.
Known simply as Aurora, this exceptional artist released her debut EP Running with the Wolves in May 2015. Later the same year she provided the backing track for the John Lewis Christmas advert, singing a cover of the Oasis song Half the World Away. Her debut studio album, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, was released worldwide in March 2016 and peaked at No. 1 in the Norwegian album charts and No. 28 in the UK.
Capturing the haunting and ethereal quality of Aurora's voice was top of the list for her FOH engineer Paul Inge Vikingstad and a key reason why he suggested using a d:facto Vocal Microphone for her live performances. Vikingstad, who played bass in several bands before moving into audio production, is renowned for his ability to make live shows sound great.
I introduced Aurora to the d:facto when I first started working with her nearly three years ago, and she absolutely loved it, he says. The d:facto makes her voice cut through the mix, almost in a three-dimensional way. The 3dB soft boost at 12kHz gives nice air to vocals without boosting the s'es and the lack of handling noise every time Aurora takes the microphone off the stand is simply amazing.
At present, Aurora is using a wired d:facto on a stand but her monitor engineer and tour manager Tomin Tollefsen says he's hoping to expand the production and make the d:facto wireless as well.
Anders Faafeng, from DPA's Norwegian distributor Lyd-Systemer, helped us choose the right microphones, Tollefsen says. Both Paul Inge and I have used DPA mics in the past and have always found them to be reliable. When I'm not on tour, I record acoustic music with a classical ensemble using my own d:dicate 4006 Omnidirectional and d:dicate 4011 Cardioid microphones. Incorporating DPA into a live environment really gives us the opportunity to bring studio quality sound to Aurora's live performance. We use d:facto Vocal Microphones for everyone who sings, not just Aurora, while the drum kit and guitar amp are exclusively amplified with d:dicate 2011C Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones. In total we're touring with five d:facto , eight d:dicate and two d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones the latter being mainly used for floor tom or acoustic guitar when we're doing club shows.
Although synths and samples are an intrinsic part of Aurora s sound, Tollefsen feels that capturing the natural bass/guitar and drum sound is important, too. This, he says, along with great sounding vocals, is what makes the music stand out as organic and dynamic.
To amplify the drum kit (which consists of a kick, snare, hi-hat, floor tom, cymbals and SPD), Tollefsen mounts a d:dicate 2011C on an LP-clamp and positions it a few centimetres from the front hole of the kick drum. This gives him the kick sound he wants without having to put a microphone inside the drum. He is also using a d:dicate 2011C mic for the hi-hat, positioning it so that it also captures a small tambourine, which is vital to the sound of some songs.
For the snare drum, we're using both an over and under mic, Tollefsen adds. Our drummer is very disciplined, so we can mount the top mic as close as we want to the drum without the risk of him hitting it. It really helps us capture that great low end from the snare, and after we started using DPA microphones virtually every local engineer we met asked us what mic we were using to achieve that great sound.
Amplifying the floor tom has been the subject of some debate because Tollefsen and Vikingstad can't decide if they prefer the d:dicate 2011C or the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone. We've been going back and forth about this because they both sound so good and we're having a hard time choosing, Tollefsen says. The 4099 is easy to position exactly where we want it, but the 2011C adds something extra that really responds well when we use it with large PA-systems. Both are great, so we use them interchangeably.
d:dicate 2011Cs are also being used as overheads because the musicians like them for their IEMs. We're basically cutting a bit of low end, adding a bit of compression and just giving them a great overall mix of the drums. I'll blend in a little bit of the other mics as well, just for that extra punch, Tollefsen says.
Aurora's tour continues until the end of the year and takes in venues and festivals across Europe. Tollefsen is convinced that switching to DPA has made a huge difference because the sound team can now deliver consistency at each venue.
They are absolutely helping the performance, he says. Having good quality mics that sound the same for every show makes everybody s life easier. The musicians and Aurora have made several comments on how much better their IEM-mix sounds. Prior to going all condenser, we were a little nervous about feedback sensitivity and cymbal bleed but we've had nothing to worry about. There s plenty of low end without any feedback issues, and there is no noticeable increase in cymbal bleed. The transition has been very smooth and we couldn't have asked for anything better.
To see Aurora using a d:facto Vocal Microphone in a live setting, please follow this link Lollapalooza 2016
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
The Norwegian singer-songwriter is now touring Europe with a microphone line up consisting entirely of DPA.
