Handling the live sound for taiko drum troupe Yamato on their recent European tour, Sound Adventure called on its new DPA d:vote 4099 Rock Touring Kit.
Founded in Japan’s Nara Prefecture in 1993, Yamato have given more than 2,500 performances in 51 countries and tour for between six and ten months a year presenting original compositions to a international audience. This level of touring places high demands on equipment, and Artistic Director Masa Ogawa insists that the audience must not see any microphones during a show.
‘We have been using DPA mics on stage for a few years now,’ explains Erik Bouwmeester, Sound Adventure owner and Yamato’s FOH engineer. ‘We use the d:fine 4066 Headset Microphones for vocals or flutes and the d:screet 4060 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones for string instruments such as the guitar-like Japanese Samisen.’
Bouwmeester was introduced to the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones on Yamato’s previous European tour by DPA’s Belgian distributor Amptec Belgium: ‘They are a perfect match with our beltpacks and can easily handle the SPL of the drums, which is sometimes more than 132dB,’ he says. ‘Also the variation of good clips and clamps is very useful. For example we use four guitar clamps with an elastic extension on the medium drums called the Myadaiko. We also use a single d:vote 4099 on the biggest drum Yamato plays, the Odaiko which weighs almost 500kg, but it has no problems in picking up that sound as well.’
In total, Bouwmeester uses 32 wireless channels, 14 of which are miked with DPA mics. These are fed through a d&b audiotechnik PA system via a Avid Venue Profile/Mixrack console.
Having successfully used the DPA d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones in Europe, Bouwmeester says the Yamato troupe is now considering buying another DPA Rock Kit package for their own shows in Japan. They are currently back in their home country for various performances but will be returning to Europe in June for shows in Germany and Eastern Europe. ‘Obviously I will be using my DPA Rock Touring kit for those shows as well,’ he says.
More: www.dpamicrophones.com
