STC’s new
d:screet™ microphones were supplied by DPA dealer Soundcorp, in conjunction with the company’s Australian distributor Amber Technology. STC’s DPA inventory also includes
d:dicate™ 4017 Shotgun Microphones, d:fine Headset Microphones,
d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphones, d:facto™ Vocal Microphones and more legacy d:screet™ 4061 Miniature Microphones than Lightowlers can count.
“In the 13 years I have been with STC, I estimate that we’ve purchased an average of fifty
d:screet™ 4061s per year to service the main stage shows, of which there are 12-15 per year,” he says. “They have a good resilience to sweat, skin contact, quick wig or costume changes and other extreme conditions we put them through. In the past this has included actors hurling themselves down a slip’n’slide across stage through a pool of water while fully nude, to a chorus of cast conducting an intimate conversation in typhoon conditions, all the while remaining intelligible to our audiences. Sometimes an actor might not leave stage for the whole play or it might be that a production spans over six hours.”
Lightowlers adds that switching to DPA’s new CORE microphones gives STC more resilience and even better dynamic range. He is delighted with the results they are delivering and pleased that they integrate so well with STC’s fleet of radio transmitters. “I especially appreciate getting the microphones terminated to Lemo connectors at the factory,” he says.
STC’s new
d:screet™t CORE 4061s have already been used on the theatre company’s longest-running production,
The Wharf Revue, which is a musical parody of Australia’s current political landscape.
“The new CORE microphones rose to the occasion and established that they could stand up to the demands of a typical STC touring production,” Lightowlers says. “They are now being used for rehearsals for
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in which one actor has to take a shower on stage. Instead of being able to put a mic on the actor backstage after the shower, he needs to stay on stage until interval, so we’ll need to introduce a capsule cover. It will certainly be a fun test for the team, but nothing we haven’t overcome before.”