In a tradition that dates back to 1880, this annual French national holiday parade takes place in Paris along the Champs Elysées. The event is broadcast across all major French TV channels, scoring around seven million viewers, and is also screened by a number of foreign TV channels. Approximately 100,000 people flock to watch the parade, which includes mounted and motorised divisions as well as flight squadrons, and of course a large amount of musicians.
French integrator BS Technology has traditionally covered the parade, and this year the company invited audio specialists Fréquence to look after the HF aspects of the event. Fréquence director, Julien Périlleux, says, "BS Technology delivers the global service of sound capture, mixing and broadcast. We took care of the HF microphone and intercom operations and sent a stereo mix to the TV transmission centre."
The company used more than 120 d:screet 4061 Miniature Microphones and d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones, which accounted for around half of all the microphones used.
"Primarily, we chose d:screet 4061 mics for their sound quality," says Périlleux. "Our philosophy is to use microphones that don't interfere with the musicians' movements and are invisible, which is crucial when you're shooting for TV. The addition of the d:vote 4099 microphones was necessary for some instruments where the mic needs to be closer, while still keeping a clear, natural sound. Clarinets are one example, and the specific mount for the d:vote 4099 makes it easy and fast to install the microphone."
(Jim Evans)
