In an article in the
November issue of Total Production International, Louise Stickland reports from the Greenwich peninsula on the Arena production that celebrated 25 years of one of the world's most popular theater musicals.
The mic choice, consisting mostly of DPAs, numbered approximately 150 specific units — a specification that required sub-hiring from Europe and the States. The DPA mics were mainly a combination of 4061 miniature omnis and 4011C compact cardioids, with some 4011A cardioids and 4007 omnis.
Mick Potter has used DPAs on close to 100 productions since Saturday Night Fever in 1998; either the DPA 4065 omni headband or the DPA 4061 miniature omnis on cast members depending on the type of show.
“I’ve used them for so long because they sound much better than anyone else’s mini condensers,” he said.
“Saturday Night Fever was one of the first major uses of the 4065 once it had gone into production, and we worked with DPA on issues such as resonance in the tubes and things bending rather than breaking. They have a huge amount of gain before feedback for an omni mic while maintaining a transparent sound, which is critical in the theatre with multiple omni mics open on stage. Everything needs to be set up around high gain before feedback, at the same time maintaining a very natural vocal sound.
“Doing Andrew Lloyd Webber shows you’re running mics at much more preternatural and dynamic levels than you might on a more naturalistic show. Until DPA that wasn’t really possible; other mics would sound much more ambient and colour the sound. The DPA miniatures are phenomenal in this respect.”
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