STORMEN’S NEW CONCERT HALL ADD A d:facto™ VOCAL MICROPHONE TO ITS EXTENSIVE STOCK OF DPA

Sound engineer Håvard Christensen, who is Head of Stage Engineering at Stormen, was site manager during the construction phase and worked closely with Arup Theatre Consulting, which specified all sound, visual and communication systems. 

“I was also a user representative during the planning of the new concert hall because I had spent several years working for a local PA company,” he says.

Choosing DPA microphones was an easy decision for Christensen to make because he had used the company’s products for many years in his own studio, which specialises in classical and jazz recording.

“I have always regarded them as the No. 1 choice for natural sound reproduction of any instrument, both acoustic and amplified,” he explains. “Another very important feature is the accuracy of the pickup pattern. This makes feedback easy to control and makes bleed from adjacent instruments sound more pleasing.”

Stormen’s stock of DPA includes over 20 d:dicate™ Recording Microphones, 20-plus d:vote™ Instrument Microphones, four d:screet™ SC4098 Podium Microphones and over 30 d:fine™ Headset Microphones, all of which were supplied by DPA’s Norwegian distributor, Lyd-Systemer.

“We have invested heavily in d:dicate™ condenser microphones because they are so versatile,” Christensen says. “They are used for many different purposes including drum overheads, percussion, horns, strings, woodwinds, piano, choir and speech. We have also invested in 10 tube stands, which are very popular when we want to minimize the visual impact of the sound equipment on stage.”

Stormen’s d:vote™ Instrument Microphones are mainly used for strings but also come into their own when the concert hall’s wireless system is in use. This versatility similarly applies to the concert hall’s stock of d:fine™ Headset Microphones, which were also chosen for their sound quality and ease of use.

“We really like them because they sound so natural and are so easy to fit,” Christensen says. “In my opinion they are the most comfortable headworn microphones on the market. They are also exceptionally easy to maintain because you can change just the cable or the microphone if something gets damaged. This makes them very affordable in the long run.”

Since opening, Stormen has hosted many concerts covering all musical genres from pop and rock through to classical. It also hosts theatre and dance performances and is occasionally used as a conference venue. Among the artists who have performed there are Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Sivert Høyem, Trondheim Symfoniorkester/Krzysztof Urbanski, Dara O'Briain, the Emerson Quartet, KORK, Veronica Maggio, Brit Floyd, Gregory Porter and La Folia Barockorchester.

“We are very pleased with the sound quality we’re achieving in all three auditoria and particularly pleased with our choice of DPA microphones, “Christensen says. “Anders Faafeng from Lyd-Systemer was an indispensable resource and his detailed knowledge and experience with DPA products was very important when it came to helping us choose the right microphones for our needs.”