"I was looking for a very flat microphone that wouldn't try to enhance anything in her voice," Olivesi explains. "French engineer Malik Malki told me about the d:facto, so we tried it with Jeanne in the studio and compared it to a number of other vocal mics. We all agreed that it was the right one because it keeps her voice sounding natural. It also works for the FOH mix and the monitors - in my opinion vocalists sing better when they can hear themselves clearly without stretching the monitor's EQ."
Jeanne's tour is also an interesting departure for Olivesi because it is the first time he has been the Front of House engineer on a pop tour.
"I have been working as a sound engineer since 1997, both in studios and live and generally with the same French jazz artists," he explains. "With Jeanne, we are playing venues with a capacity of 600 to 2,500 people. The biggest audience we've had to date was at Les Vieilles Charrues Festival where we played in front of 40,000 people."
On stage, Jeanne plays bass and keyboards and is supported by a drummer and two more keyboard players/backing vocalists. They are also using d:facto Vocal Microphones.
"Alongside the d:facto mics, I am using d:dicate 4011C Cardioid Microphones as overheads, because they are really natural and allow us to maintain a nice, acoustic sound for our drums," Olivesi says. "I'm also using d:dicate 2011C Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones on the snare and kick because I like the low end. For the snare in particular, they allow me to work very precisely with placement so that I can have more or less of some frequencies that I either want to hear or hide."
(Jim Evans)
