With their home in Sophia, North Carolina, serving as a pastoral and inspirational setting, Christian music duo Jonathan and Melissa Helser recorded their latest live worship album alongside family and friends. Entitled The Land I’m Livin’ In, the duo also filmed the sessions, calling in Brad King – engineer and co-owner of worship sound production studio, Creak Music – for the recording and mixing. Needing to capture both the Helser’s vocal stylings and the environment in which they were recording, King chose to use a selection of DPA Microphones’ mics.

Having previously used DPA mics on live recording projects, King knew that they would give him the results he wanted for both vocals and instruments. ‘I’ve loved every mic I’ve ever used,’ he says. ‘For this project, we started chatting with DPA about what to use, and we put together a whole list, which turned out great. Among the many benefits of using DPA is the small form-factor of the mics.’

King selected the DPA d:facto 4018V Vocal mics for each of the Helsers’ vocals, 2011C twin-diaphragm cardioids on kick and snare drums; 4099 Core instrument mics on toms and hi-hats; 4011A cardioids for drum overheads; and a pair of stereo 4099s on piano. To help mitigate reverberation and pick up the overall sound and ambience of the room, King also used a pair of 4006A omni mics overhead.

‘The d:facto is one of those microphones that you just kind of start using and don’t have to do much to it.’ King says. ‘We’ve used that mic in the studio a bunch. For the right singer, it just shines on their voice. It sounds really great.’

Using the d:factos also helped King isolate vocals in the open, reverberant space, which comprises concrete floors, drywall, windows and a metal ceiling, all reflecting sound despite attempts at acoustical treatment.

The ability to hide the mics also proved valuable for the video recording, which had an audience of around 70 people to lend it a live atmosphere. ‘When you’re capturing a crowd, you don’t want the video to just have a bunch of mic stands and cables,’ King explains. ‘Being able to hide the microphones contributed so much to the energy and vibe of the environment while we were recording. It didn’t feel so much like a traditional studio recording, it felt like an experience.’

King says that using the 4099s on drums enabled him to conceal the mics and cables, and eliminated the need for stands. The 4099s were equally as effective with the piano, where they were hidden inside with cables run along the side, giving the illusion of it being completely acoustic.

In the barn that hosted the recording, King installed 4006As on the outer edge of a second-floor loft space overlooking the large, rectangular main room. ‘Those mics helped us attain a different, more even sound in the space,’ he says. ‘Being able to get the room a little more balanced was amazing. I love the capsule that comes on the 4006A; it gives a flatter response, which is really nice. Having the tight polar pattern and pickup of the DPA mics saved this project. Had we been using anything else, there would have been so much bleed. We would have had to overdub everything. Instead, we just sent the whole project to mix.’

While working on a radio edit of one song, King was reminded of their ability to separate sources. ‘I was isolating the drums and vocals, and there was almost no bleed,’ he says. ‘The amount of isolation we were able to achieve just by placing everybody correctly and using those microphones really made it all possible.’

Best known for their 2016 album Beautiful Surrender, which peaked on The Billboard 200 at No.54, Christian Albums at No.1 and Canadian Albums at No.67, Jonathan and Melissa Helser have been recording together since 2013. Their new live album, The Land I’m Livin’ In is available on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and Pandora.

Creak Music was founded by Brad King, David Leonard and Seth Talley. The team has worked with worship artists such as NeedToBreathe, Baldwin, Brandon Lake, Maverick City, and Brandon Heath and Cody Carnes. The trio also produced their own instrumental cover music album commissioned by Integrity Music.

More: www.dpamicrophones.com