As well as paying careful attention to the vocal sound, October was also keen to use DPA microphones on the drum kit due to the very dynamic role of the kit in the sound mixes.
“Drums were the first thing Katie spoke to me about when we were discussing her live sound as she was concerned that they should always be as subtle and quiet as possible to allow the very quiet and delicate songs space and presence, yet needed to provide the drive and feel in the heavier numbers,” October says. “For this reason, I needed microphones that could handle high SPL when the drummer played with sticks, but were also sensitive enough to convey the more subtle nuances of playing with brushes and mallets.”
The set up October chose included
d:vote™ 4099 Instrument microphones for the toms and
d:dicateTM 2011C Twin Diaphragm Cardioid microphones for the kick and distant snare. She also used a d:dicate™ 2011C for the guitar amps and added eight
d:screet™ 4098 Supercardioid microphones to capture the sound of the Gori Women’s Choir.
“This combination of microphones was a real dream as they were able to handle the SPL, yet were incredibly detailed when he source was at low level,” she says. “In terms of the choir, it was a real challenge with a live drum kit next to eight open condenser mics in a hugely reverberant arena, but the directionality and side/rear rejection of the
d:screet™ 4098s made the job less daunting because at low gain I was still able to pick up the four part harmonies of the choir with the most spine tingling clarity, yet without their sound being polluted by the band on the stage or the venue’s 8s decay time.”