Hamilton is about to celebrate its one-year anniversary on Broadway
USA - When the smash hit musical Hamilton made its highly anticipated Broadway debut at the Richard Rodgers Theatre last year, sound designer Nevin Steinberg knew he was part of something special. Today, as Hamilton gets ready to celebrate its one-year anniversary on Broadway, Steinberg continues to rely on a selection of predominantly DPA microphones to bring the sold-out audiences to their feet each night.

Steinberg has been a part of the show since the beginning. "I was invited to begin working with the creative team when the show was still doing readings and workshops in 2014, and through its critically acclaimed sold-out run at the Public Theatre," says Steinberg. "The show is not new to me even though it's relatively new to Broadway. Lin-Manuel and many members of the creative team were people I worked with on In The Heights about eight years ago, so it's been wonderful to be able to collaborate with all of these incredibly talented individuals again."

Steinberg is a long-time user of DPA Microphones and was introduced to them by his former business associates when he was with Acme Sound Partners. "Tom Clark had a very good relationship with DPA and he was the first one to introduce me to DPA's d:screet 4061s," adds Steinberg. "Since then, I've been a fan and I try to use them whenever I can. I think the product line is great and I'm always happy to find reasons to use them. DPA microphones are predictable, reliable and musical."

For Hamilton, Steinberg mics up the cast almost entirely using d:screet 4061 Omnidirectional Miniature Microphones. In terms of the orchestra, the show uses eight d:dicate 4011 Cardioid Microphones and five d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphones on the string instruments (bass, violins and violas).

"With the d:dicate 4011s there's not a lot of coloration to the original sound," says Steinberg. "I use them for spot mics, area miking over drums, guitar and just about anything else, because they seem to take to whatever instrument is in front of them in a very linear fashion. That's one of my favourite things about the d:dicate 4011. The d:vote I think is just a great problem solver for close miking instruments that traditionally in a studio situation wouldn't get a close mic."

Steinberg adds, "Typically, I look to DPA to solve a lot of my microphone challenges. I like that DPA is always trying new things. It's exciting to hear that the technologies that I've become very familiar with are also being used in applications where it's not necessarily theatrical, but the quality and the attention to detail carries over, and that is confidence building for me as a designer."

(Jim Evans)


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