DPA Mics Up Suede Acoustic Session

Britpop legends Suede were recently miked up by DPA at a live acoustic session for Absolute Radio at Abbey Road studios in London.
The equipment line-up for the set incorporated three DPA d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphones.
Suede’s rhythm guitarist Neil Codling specified the mics for his own Martin D28 guitar, for Richard Oakes’ Gibson J200 lead guitar and Matt Osman’s Dean acoustic bass.
"In an ideal world, a microphone should almost disappear, allowing the sound source to reach the listener's ear unimpeded, dissolving the artifice of a recording," Neil Codling said.
"Like the best condenser mics, the DPA d:vote 4099 Clip Microphones capture what is happening in the room with clarity and life, putting you there, in the path of the shifting air. The wonder is that, wherever you place them, d:vote 4099 microphones give you a sound you can build a mix around, or incorporate into a mix without fuss. It's as if they have one enormous sweet spot."
Codling was introduced to DPA Microphones by Front of House sound engineer Jamie Orchard-Lisle, who is closely involved with the chamber orchestra Penguin Café, of which Codling is also a member.
"When I have downtime from Suede, I play in Penguin Cafe, which has a different acoustic flavour: violins, viola, cello, double bass, ukuleles, Venezuelan cuatros," Codling says.
"Whatever you point the DPA d:vote 4099 at, they seem to capture the essence of the instrument, its subtle timbres and the full breadth of its dynamic range. You get warmth without boom, intimacy without overpowering mids, clarity without brittleness. You just point them at the sound source and they sound great."
He added: "When you introduce someone to DPA microphones for the first time, there's always an exchange of looks on first hearing that says ‘wow, this sounds special!
"Even when you first set them up, it's as if you've reached that point where you say ‘don't touch a thing: that's perfect. It's a happy knack, and you just have to hit 'record' and enjoy it."
www.dpamicrophones.com
(IT/CD)