One of London’s leading jazz venues, the Pizza Express on Dean Street, Soho, has invested in a DPA SMK4061 stereo miking kit for its Steinway grand piano. The kit comprises a pair of DPA 4061 miniature omni mics with a selection of mounting accessories.
The club’s resident sound engineer, Luc Saint Martin, originally needed to rent some good quality mics to place inside the piano with the lid closed to limit spillage. “When the rental company delivered them, I couldn’t believe that such tiny mics would work, but I was absolutely blown away by them,” he says. “It was more than I expected; the sound was clear and very faithful to the original, whereas with other mics the sound can change completely with the piano lid closed and get very coloured and boxy.”
Saint Martin quickly ordered an SMK4061 kit of his own from DPA’s UK distributor Sound Network, which was hand-delivered by the Soho-based company.
“Even though the 4061s are omnidirectional, you still get a very clear sound because you can place them so close to the piano board,” he continues. “Another plus is that cardioid mics can colour the off axis sound, but as these are omnis, everything sounds exactly as it’s meant to. Because I work mainly with acoustic music, I need transparency, and the DPAs are very transparent. This is extremely important when working with world class musicians who really know their sound, so if you use a mic that changes this, you have to use lots of tools to bring it back.”
Although the 4061s’ primary application is inside the piano, they are small and versatile enough to be used in other situations should the need arise. “The mounting accessories provided allow you to use them on virtually anything, anywhere,” says Saint Martin. “I’ve used them to mic guitar amps and again they bring a natural sound, which is open, not enclosed or restricted.
“Mic placement is the really critical thing: depending on where or how you position a mic you will capture the different aspects of a given sound. The mounting accessories allow many options. We have lots of different styles of piano players here, ranging from very acoustic and open through to rocky and energetic, and I’ve found that the magnetic mounts let you move them very easily to try different combinations of positioning, which is very convenient. Any mic which requires a stand takes up floor space, which is limited in here, and they can be easily knocked out of position.”
Saint Martin also uses the SMK4061 for recordings, podcasts and as lavaliers for interviews with musicians. “The aesthetic of these mics means they are very easy to position anywhere, while producing completely open, transparent sound,” he concludes. “These two little miniatures are able to provide us with the maximum flexibility we could hope to get from any microphone.”
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