Offering a range of study options from specialised short courses and workshops through to full time audio and post courses, Alchemea has a policy of using only the best equipment in its classrooms, and has equipped itself with DPA microphones.
"We chose DPA because we believe in giving our students the best mics available, so that when they go out into the real world they have realistic, high quality benchmarks to base their choices and opinions on," says Alchemea lecturer and certified Pro Tools instructor Neil Pickles. "Put simply, you can't tell if a microphone is good or not unless you've heard real quality first hand."
Alchemea's first purchase from DPA's UK distributor Sound Network was a pair of DPA 4006 omindirectional microphones. "I was looking to buy a reference quality pair of omnis for A/B micing technique and fortunately met Walter Samuels of Sound Network, who lent me a pair to evaluate," says Pickles. "We had a shoot out between the 4006s and other well known quality brands using various acoustic sources, and on the basis of this we went for the DPAs. They have proved a huge success with the students and staff, typically as main drum overheads, as an ambient pair or a main pair for strings and solo acoustic instruments such as guitars, cellos, violins etc."
Following the success of the 4006s, Alchemea became the first UK client for the recently-introduced 4091 omnis, specifically designed for instrument micing. "We have found these mics to represent superb quality for price performance on pretty much all applications, from acoustics to guitar cabs to tom toms and of course as a spaced A/B pair," says Pickles.
Alchemea has also incorporated DPA mics into its lecture programme. The ambient background noise of computers, projectors and air conditioning in its new Certified Apple Training Classroom necessitated a little sound reinforcement, and having previously found some cheaper wireless headsets to be cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear for long periods, Pickles decided to draft in the DPA 4088 miniature headsets which he'd seen in use on live shows.
"I was amazed at their clarity, comfort, spill rejection and lack of feedback," he says. "We've now introduced them in both our classrooms where they are used whenever any computer work or audio demonstration is taking place. They protect my voice from straining during a couple of three-hour lectures a day where I'd been attempting to project over all that noise.
"In short, DPA mics have enhanced the college's recording curriculum and teaching of that curriculum, and we look forward to seeing what innovative microphone they come up with next!"
(Chris Henry)
