Sound Designer and Engineer Phil Wright has travelled the globe with artists, producers and companies to produce a diverse array of award-winning projects. Wright’s services extend from mixing live sound recordings and providing setup for radio and TV broadcasts, to preparing playback and cue files for film concerts that feature live orchestras.
Among his frequent clients are Ministry of Sound, which calls on him for classical orchestra productions and Senbla Live Events, a London-based national touring and promotion company. With such versatile needs, Wright has found his go-to, all-around microphone solutions in DPA Microphones.
A longtime user of the brand, Wright recently had the opportunity to be among the first to utilise DPA’s new CORE+ technology, which he deployed at the Barbican in London for a Jonathan Cohen singalong event. “We miked the principal violins and violas with 4061 CORE+ Microphones and put older 4061 models on the other small strings, which was a very useful experiment,” said Wright. “Placing a mic an inch off the bridge of a violin can often require quite a bit of EQ, so I’ve always preferred the 4061s on high strings because of the vocal presence peak, which is also especially useful in theatre. The CORE+ version of that mic was even more forgiving in that range.”
Prior to the Jonathan Cohen show, Wright utilised his DPA 4011 Cardioids and a pair of 4099 CORE Instrument Mics for the 2024 Gramophone Classical Music Awards, alongside RG Jones Sound Engineering. “The show had elite classical soloists in attendance, three of whom performed that night,” said Wright. “The team has traditionally had difficulty getting the sound of the broadcast to match that of the live production, because the room is too big and not acoustically appropriate for acoustic performances. I suggested we approach the broadcast more like a concert, rather than using the traditional tactics of a corporate awards show. To accomplish that, we needed transparent mics that translated well, while also being discreet, which is what we found in DPA.”
The show consisted of a variety of piano-forward performances, including a solo and duets with a vocalist and a violinist. “I put a pair of 4011ES on magnetic mounts inside the piano to give me a close view for PA, and at the back end of the piano I had a pair of 4011Cs,” continued Wright. “Having the wider cardioid pattern of the 4011 in the piano, without the bulk of a traditional preamp, meant we were able to shut the lid while the mics remained practically invisible. This was a game-changer.”
Seeing the benefits of using DPA on the piano, the team decided to also equip the violinist with the 4099. “It was the most discreet reinforcement physically possible; you wouldn’t actually know the microphone was there unless it was muted partway through the performance. This is how a classical performance should be. Using a high-quality microphone so close to the source also meant the recording was absolutely second to none,” said Wright.
Included among Wright’s other DPA staples are the brand’s 4015 Wide Cardioids and 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioids. “For me, there is nothing that quite competes with the clarity and super-low distortion that you get with DPA,” said Wright. “I often choose the brand because of my preference towards having a show not sound amplified, and part of that is not having the coloration that some other engineers desire. I prefer the transparency of the DPA microphones; a lot of the clients who I work for clearly must favor it as well, because they’re rebooking me and the rental companies I use continue to supply my recommended kit.”
Wright says he will continue to depend on DPA, whether it be for live, broadcast or immersive recordings. This includes his recent work for The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour, which is currently touring through the US and Europe, and Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, which is set to have its world premiere in June.
