Currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, Collier recently embarked on a project with Ben Bloomberg, a PhD graduate student at the MIT Media Lab, to find new ways to multitrack live music. As a fan of the brand, Bloomberg chose to use DPA microphones. These included the versatile d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone, which was used to capture drums, percussion, melodica and piano; a d:dicate 4011 Cardioid Microphone for drum overheads and a d:fine 4088 Headset Microphone, which Collier wore throughout his performance.
Bloomberg and Collier's collaboration dates from the beginning of 2015 when Bloomberg saw one of Collier's videos on line and sent him a message via Facebook.
"A few weeks later, folks from Quincy Jones' production company got in touch saying Jacob was building a live show and asked if I would be interested in helping out," Bloomberg explains. "Jacob and I met up for a weekend in Boston and I built the first sketchy version of the harmoniser for him. It was clear we were on to something, so he came back to Boston for a week and we started to formally build it, and the rest of his live set. We spent a week together in London rehearsing at the end of June and have since performed the show twice- at Ronnie Scott's and at the Montreux Jazz Festival."
At MIT, Bloomberg does music technology - robot opera, 150 channel surround sound installations, crowd-sourced symphonies, immersive experiences etc - but his specialty is audio and live entertainment technologies.
"I've used DPA mics for some time, but the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones are relatively new to me," he explains. "I only came across them in March when I was working on a project for the Lucerne Festival and I was immediately hooked. The tight pattern makes it ideal for looping and on-stage electronics and the bleed from the room is so much less than other similar microphones. Yet it manages to maintain a natural and balanced response, very music, with the perfect amount of ambience for stage. It doesn't need much work, you just plug it in and put the fader up.
"In contrast, d:dicate 4011 microphones are long-time favourites of mine. They are incredibly transparent and just all round work horses."
(Jim Evans)
