Front of house engineer Simon Honywill specified a total of 37 DPA mics across the orchestra. These were a mixture of 4061 miniature mics, featuring low sensitivity and large dynamic range, on violins and violas, and 4099 instrument mics on cellos and double basses. Honywill was so impressed by the new 4099 instrument mics that he purchased four for his own use from UK distributor Sound Network.
The show's vocalists - Justin Hayward, Chris Thompson, Alexis James, Shannon Noll and Jennifer Ellison - were all on 4088 miniature cardioids headsets with omni back-ups.
"The show is very much about finding a balance between the music and the recorded narration of Richard Burton," says Honywill. "The music has got to be big and exciting, but the vocal must also be intelligible, as the voice of Richard Burton is sacrosanct in this production.
"In any kind of situation where we have to make a lot of noise with orchestral strings, there is no other alternative to DPA. Quality is one aspect of it, but how such a small mic can make such a fantastic noise so close to an instrument never ceases to amaze me."
Honywill chose the 4061s for their low sensitivity, and for the ability to mount them. "You can't have a mic that interferes with the way a musician wants to play," he continues. "The mounting device for the 4061 is easy, the musicians can mount the mics themselves with a bit of guidance, especially a young orchestra like this, who understand that it has to be done and why."
A total of nine 4099s were used on cellos and double basses. "Using these mics, the low end of the strings is just huge," he says. "The musicians love the mounting on these too, it's so simple. I suspected they'd be the right thing for this production, and they certainly are.
"Ultimately, this production was all about making the sound of the show faithful to the original recording while keeping it sounding real and live. I had to be certain that I could get a big, natural sound with loads of gain before feedback, and to make that happen, it was essential we had the right mics for the job."
For more on this production of War of the Worlds, see the July 09 issue of Lighting&Sound magazine
(Jim Evans)
