As the sound engineer for
Joan Baez for the last six years, Jason Raboin is always seeking ways to bring the audience closer to the music. That goal led him to seek out DPA Microphones.
Working with the trio of traditional American music virtuoso
Dirk Powell (fiddle, banjo, violin, accordion), master guitarist and Celtic star
John Doyle (guitar, mandolin, vocals), and innovative Bluegrass bassist
Todd Phillips (bass), Raboin found major weaknesses in the sound of the instrument pickups being used. Placing standard condenser mics on the stands of the musicians was just as unworkable, as the players couldn’t move and Jason had to constantly ride the faders to maintain a balanced sound. A better solution had to be found.
Instrument mounted mics were the desired answer and DPA was Jason’s first choice. “DPA is just known in the industry for the highest quality instrument mics. There was nothing else that came close in my mind”. Wanting the highest fidelity possible the DPA 4099 was chosen. According to Raboin, the results were “simply fantastic!” The musicians, likewise, were equally impressed. “Sounds like the real instrument for a change!” “Like going from a photocopy of an image to a hi-rez digital photo.”
In comparison to other instrument mounted mics, the 4099 “simply blew them away”, chimed Jason. “I have as much gain before feedback as I could ever need. The 4099 gets us one step closer to bringing studio quality sound into the live sound environment. Add to that the best customer service I’ve ever received and I couldn’t be happier.”
The 2009 Joan Baez summer tour is being filmed for the PBS
American Masters series, which will be aired the fall of 2009.