“The performance of the microphones and the accessories during the festival was impressive,” adds Čanji. “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. ”
In addition to using the DPA Recording Microphones to capture the pianos, Čanji selected the company’s
d:facto™ Vocal Microphones to project the announcements and subsequent artist interviews, which were also used in the recordings. “The d:facto™ Mics sounded great, and I did not feel a need to do any EQ for the recordings,” concludes Čanji. “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.”
Headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, the IKOF is a non-profit organization that supports the exchange of keyboard students and faculty via scholarships and fellowships, conferences, workshops, master classes and performance opportunities around the world. While the main IKOF competition is hosted annually in the U.S., it is shared with music schools in countries around the world through a network of participating member associates. The IKOF in each member country hosts its own competition and festival under license of the U.S. headquarters, which provides a turnkey operation for distribution to member associates.