DPA joins Christmas at PePaul spectacular
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Long before the semester began, the school’s administration knew it would need to make some big changes if the Christmas show was to safely go on during these unprecedented times. With some ingenuity and an assist from DPA Microphones, the school found a way to host the event virtually.
Leading into the school year, DePaul University’s director of operations & events, Melissa Grady, knew it was going to be hard to gauge what would be possible in a COVID world. “We had to make the call very early that we were not going to have an in-person event this year,” she says. “The show’s artistic director, Tony Peluso, and production manager, Jamie Davis, both alumni of DePaul, worked closely with the university to create a plan that would allow us to pre-record our show.
“While the show looks different than it has in the past, we were still able to use the exceptional talents of our students, faculty, staff and alumni while following COVID protocols to make Christmas at DePaul a reality this year.” Dan Steinman, one of the professors in the University Sound Recording Technology Department, was instrumental in making the show a success.
To record and present this year’s show, Steinman knew he was going to have to rely on different equipment and setups than previous years. “Since the performers were recorded in their own separate dorm rooms, I needed microphones that didn’t add any coloration and delivered an exceptionally natural sound,” he says.
“As a professional audio engineer, I am very familiar with DPA’s products and have used some of their 4011 mics for live and recorded applications in the past. I knew the DPA mics would be an excellent solution for this unique situation, and we deployed them for all of the strings, flute, and percussion instruments.”
