An annual competition designed to promote a new generation of pianists, the International Keyboard Odyssiad and Festival (IKOF) called on recording engineer/producer Mirko Čanji to capture the sound of intensive five-day event in both 5.0-channel surround and stereo formats.
Čanji specialises in chamber and orchestral music, and chose Direct Stream Digital (DSD) recording for the event’s master classes and evening concerts, as well as the semi-finals and final rounds. He arranged a selection of DPA Microphones and a Grace Design m802 remote-controlled preamp for the job.
Using DPA’s d:dicate 4006A Omnidirectional Microphones in both his stereo and surround set-ups, he also used the company’s d:facto Vocal Microphones for commentary during the series of events, which took place in the Griffin Concert Hall at the University Center for the Arts at Colorado State University.
‘This is the first time in the IKOF’s four-year history that the team decided to record the event, so my goal was far greater than to “make a recording”,’ he says. ‘I wanted to capture the moment of the performance with such realism that when you listen to the recording you are transported to the concert hall for a visceral experience.
‘I chose DPA because of its history, reputation, design, flexibility and, above all, incredible accuracy. The comments from those who heard the live recordings from the event ranged from speechless gestures to “the best piano recording I’ve ever heard”. To ensure that this goal was met, I spent a lot of time in the concert hall during rehearsals, analysing the subtleties of the particular piano and the way it interacted with the acoustics of the hall and determining the ultimate position for the mics. This way, I was able to obtain the most natural sound of the instruments.’
One of the main challenges presented by the festival was the constant changes to the acoustical environment as it moved between venues and used different piano positioning. ‘Any one of those changes had an impact on the sound of the piano,’ Čanji explains. ‘In addition, the acoustics of the hall were sometimes adjusted to accommodate the artist’s preference. This required me to frequently relocate the microphones, with minimal time for a soundcheck; so I had to rely on my experience, combined with the reliable and consistent sound of the DPAs.’
When it came time to record the live performances, Čanji used matched stereo pairs of d:dicate 4006A Omnidirectional Recording Microphones on shock mounts, which he complemented with a surround arrangement of five matched d:dicate 4006A Omnidirectional Recording Microphones. Using DPA’s S5 Surround Mount kit, the engineer arranged the five microphones in a distinct formation that he found to be best-suited for the recording.
‘The performance of the microphones and the accessories during the festival was impressive,’ Čanji says. ‘Design-wise, DPA is a perfect blend of form and function. When I want to capture the acoustic environment and preserve the natural imaging of an event such as IKOF, the microphone placement and spacing are critical. The shock mounts perfectly minimized the foot noise and vibration from the stage, while the design of the surround mount was visually consistent with that of the microphones, which made for an aesthetically stunning design in its own right.
‘The d:facto Mics sounded great, and I did not feel a need to do any EQ for the recordings,’ Čanji concludes. ‘In fact, I intentionally stayed away from compression, EQ or any other processing in the audio chain in order to preserve the natural character of the piano. Thanks to the high-resolution DSD recording technology used, the sound that the DPA mics delivered into the signal flow was exactly what came out.’
