The activity backstage at the annual Monterey Jazz Festival is usually chaotic as several guest engineers rifle through the festival's audio inventory to select mics best suited to each performance. Among them is Nick Malgieri, one of the festival's freelance audio specialists, who always reaches for the mic he says he trusts most, the DPA d:screet 4060. With the ability to amplify the most natural sound, the miniature mic is low profile so as not to distract the performers or audience members.
"I was really happy I was responsible for the main stage, because I had first pick of what mics I wanted to use," says Malgieri. "I have been using DPA at this event for a few years now. Because jazz musicians all have opinions on microphone placement, and prefer something low profile, I love the DPA 4060. It removes that visual barrier for performers and audiences, so they don't even notice the microphone is there. That means I get to really do my job and put the mics where I want them."
Malgieri has mixed the past several Monterey Jazz Festivals as a freelance audio specialist for McCune Audio/Video/Lighting. He originally discovered DPA Microphones while mixing in a theatrical setting, and has been a fan ever since.
Founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons in October 1958, the Monterey Jazz Festival features over 500 artist performances nonstop on eight stages for three nights and two days spread on 20 acres of land at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The annual event is one of the longest consecutively run jazz festivals.
(Jim Evans)
