From Beyoncé and Mary J Blige to Madonna and Burt Bacharach, FOH/recording engineer Rick Camp’s portfolio includes his recent efforts with the Forbidden Saints, the Mississippi Orchestra and the Newark Philharmonic. He first used DPA Microphones’ d:screet 4061 Miniature Microphones for symphony gigs: ‘At the time, the d:screet 4061s on the strings sounded better than anything out there,’ he says. ‘Then, about six months ago, I was turned on to DPA’s d:vote 4099s and they provide a richer and fuller sound than anything I’ve heard before.’
Camp most recently used the d:votes for the Forbidden Saints’ 12-piece classically-trained ‘supergroup’ string section: ‘I like the directivity of the d:vote instrument mics, especially with Forbidden Saints, because they are essentially a loud rock symphony,’ Camp says. ‘The regular rhythm section plays pretty loud on stage, but the music is like Jazz fusion meets rock. The three main instruments – violin, harp and cello – are out in front, while the remaining strings and rhythm section are behind. I have no problem ensuring that every instrument is heard clearly when I use the DPA d:votes.’
The d:votes also served recent mixing with the Mississippi Symphony: ‘We had 60 players and I had to get it down to 48 channels,’ Camp explains. ‘I had two first and two second violins wired together, then the third and fourth, and so on, until we cut it down to 48 channels; and it sounded great. Then, after speaking with a colleague, I tried the d:votes on horns, and it was just as perfect. Every horn had its own d:vote and they sounded just as big as when I use a large-diaphragm microphone.’
Camp also used DPA’s d:dicate 4011 Cardioid Microphone for overheads for the symphony: ‘I was totally impressed,’ he says. ‘Since I couldn’t clip the d:votes to the flutes or bassoons, I decided to use the 4011s. It was the first time I had ever used them and I really liked what I heard. They sounded so good that, going forward, I have to have them for the percussion section as well.’
In the future, Camp plans to incorporate the DPAs when he hits the road with his larger touring clients: ‘Sometimes, you get one of these pop acts that want to go out big and take out a string section of like eight players, so the next time I come across one of those acts, I’ll definitely be using DPA. A lot of small condenser mics can’t take the sound levels of an orchestra, but the DPAs have proven themselves quite worthy.’
Camp has also incorporated DPA microphones into his Master Mix Live school, which he founded in 2012 as a means of training future audio mixers and engineers in live sound and recording. ‘With my collection of DPA Microphones products, I’ll now be able to show my students how to properly mic a symphony, which is something I couldn’t fully accomplish before,’ he says. ‘I’ll be able to teach them the best mic techniques for violin, viola, bass, double bass, etc. It will definitely be part of the curriculum when we get to the microphone phase of the course work.’
More: www.dpamicrophones.com
