French singer / songwriter Jekyll Wood put his DPA d:facto Vocal Microphone to the test recently when he played a solo concert at Jargeau public swimming pool, near Orléans. Despite the strange acoustics of the venue – and the hot, steamy atmosphere – the microphone rose to the occasion and performed perfectly throughout.
“The d:facto is really solid and I’ve never had any problem with it, indoors or outdoors,” Jekyll Wood said. “I actually own two of them, but for this concert the stage was so small that I only needed one. I use d:facto on stage and for my live recording sessions because my voice is always so precise in my ear monitors. It has been my ‘must-have’ vocal mic for nearly four years now. Its brightness and natural compression make it a great microphone in every circumstance, on acoustic and electric sets.”
“I’ve never played beside an indoor swimming pool before and I was really curious about how it would sound,” he explained. “Surprisingly, the sound was not at all bad and I had a great time.” With the support of Sound Engineer Nicolas Miljeu, Jekyll Wood has spent the last five years performing and recording as a solo artist.
“When I’m recording, I often use DPA d:dictate 4011 Cardioid and d:vote 4099 Instrument microphones, especially for guitars,” he said. “All DPA microphones reproduce the sound really faithfully so that you keep the tone of the original source. That’s what I love about them – they are so versatile and the compression you get allows you to deal with so many different sound sources in the studio. My d:dictate 4011’s and d:vote 4099’s have great presence, warmth and brightness and they are perfect for everything, even beatboxing. However, I tend to keep them in the studio because they don’t really fit my live needs – I have my d:facto for that.”
Jekyll Wood is also working on live covers for YouTube and a new live show where he plans to use a wireless adapter with his d:facto Vocal Microphone so that he can move freely around the stage.