PBS' Austin City Limits Makes Music History

As the longest-running music television series in history, Austin City Limits is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

The PBS Austin production got its start in 1974, with Willie Nelson performing on the very first episode, and has since helped Austin, Texas establish itself as the 'Live Music Capital of the World'. One of the most notable pieces of the show's history is its connection to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which takes place each October.

Unlike the festival, which hosts thousands of attendees across eight stages over two consecutive weekends, the TV series presents up to 20 performances each year from Downtown Austin’s historic, 2,800-seat Moody Theater. Among the most recent artists to take the stage at the iconic venue was the GRAMMY®-winning duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, who performed with the Austin Symphony to kick off Season 49 of the show. Leading into production for the new season, Audio Supervisor Randy Reynolds decided it was time to modernise the show’s audio solutions, turning to DPA Microphones to deliver a new level of innovation.

With the Rodrigo y Gabriela performance, Reynolds selected DPA 4099 Instrument Microphones for the 26-member symphony and 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones for percussion. "DPA has quality, modern microphones with exceptional sound, which makes a huge difference in a production like ours," he said. "Austin City Limits and its performers are very interested in providing people with a unique experience. I think we really did that, and it had a lot to do with our partnership with DPA. The microphones are well-made; they hold up and are the easiest things in the world to set up. We had no issues with any of the microphones and it was a very smooth process for us right out of the box, which is super rad and appreciated."

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