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DPA Mics for Lord of the Rings
Bringing a book to the stage is often a challenge. Transferring an epic fantasy tale of over a thousand pages to a three-and-a-half hour production is certainly an undertaking. Yet, to do all this so soon after a block busting, visually thrilling and critically acclaimed trilogy of movies has claimed international success you either need to be a little crazy or very clever indeed.
Thankfully, UK producer Kevin Wallace comes under the second category. Bringing together some of the most talented theatrical practitioners in the world, Wallace and director Matthew Warchus recently premiered their $37 million dollar version of Tolkien’s, The Lord Of The Rings to an eagerly awaiting audience at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, Canada.
The production, which is essentially a play with music rather than a musical, is scored throughout by Indian maestro AR Rahman and Finnish contemporary folk group, Värttinä, and played live by 19 musicians. Sound designer Simon Baker and associate Sten Severson set out to create a crisp, clean and intelligible mix that was achieved almost exclusively with microphones from DPA.
Baker and Severson decided to use DPA IMK4061 miniature instrument miking kits and DPA 4021 compact cardioids on strings, DPA 4011 cardioids for horns, DPA 4041 large diaphragms on percussion and more strings while DPA 4015 wide cardioids look after more unusual ethnic instruments, which included a Johiko, Nickleharp and Bazuki. “DPAs are quality microphones,” says Severson. “They’re easy to use in that when you get them in the right place you they don’t need a lot of EQ.
Yet the pit is not the only place that DPA can be found on the show — the 64 Sennheiser personal transmitters are all running either DPA 4061 miniatures or DPA 4066 omnidirectional miniature headbands. “Anyone wearing a complete helmet has a headband mic and we have had really good results with the 4061s. They sound good and they are really rugged,” Severson continues.
In certain sequences there are up to 35 performers on stage, all with head-worn microphones competing with the orchestra and sound effects. All vie for intelligibility, creating an added challenge for Baker and Severson, as the show is very loud in parts. “If you can really get a good head position on a person, all you end up with is a High Pass filter in,” concludes Severson. “It will sound nice and clean, you get a good sense of the sibilance and of course that helps with the gain structure. Suddenly, you are not having to use the desk EQ to remove all the unwanted nasty frequencies.”
The show, which premiered in late March, met with a standing ovation from the 2,000-strong audience as well as blanket coverage from media around the globe. Now, with the show set to open in London and ultimately on Broadway, Baker and Severson can be sure in the knowledge that even blanket coverage won’t muffle the clarity of their DPA-filled mix.
19th April 2006
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