Monday, 18 March 2019
USA - For the past 15 years, Ken Travis has been impressing theatre audiences with his innovative sound designs for some of Broadway’s biggest productions and national tours. With a distinguished Broadway resume that includes Newsies, Jekyll & Hyde, Scandalous, A Christmas Story, Memphis, Barefoot in the Park and Steel Magnolias, Travis continues to rely on a selection of microphones from DPA.
Travis was first introduced to DPA by an industry colleague in 2002. Since then, he’s used a variety of DPA mics - including the company’s d:screet 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones and/or d:fine 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones - for every Broadway show he’s designed.
When Travis was chosen to design the sound for Broadway hit Aladdin, he once again turned to DPA - he relies on DPA’s d:screet 4061 and recently switched to the new d:screet 6060 CORE Subminiature Microphone for the cast. In the orchestra pit, Travis turns to DPA’s d:dicate 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones, d:dicate 4011 Cardioid Microphones and d:vote 4099 Instrument Mics.
“The d:screet 4061 has been my go-to lavalier due to its incredibly transparent sound,” he says. “The human voice and head are very complicated so it’s great to have a microphone like the d:screet 4061 that works so well. We recently switched to the new d:screet 6060 CORE mic for our genie as it is smaller and seems to shed the sweat even better. I really hate seeing microphones on the actors, so I work with costume and hair to hide them as best I can.”
For orchestras, Travis relies on the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone to provide clear and natural sound. “When I design a new musical, I have my set selection of microphones for the orchestra,” Travis says. “On a recent production of Last Days of Summer, the band was onstage and the bleed between the wind section and the strings was problematic. I used a d:vote 4099 mic with the violin mount and it solved all issues and the musicians loved the way it sounded.”
(Jim Evans)
Travis was first introduced to DPA by an industry colleague in 2002. Since then, he’s used a variety of DPA mics - including the company’s d:screet 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones and/or d:fine 4066 Omnidirectional Headset Microphones - for every Broadway show he’s designed.
When Travis was chosen to design the sound for Broadway hit Aladdin, he once again turned to DPA - he relies on DPA’s d:screet 4061 and recently switched to the new d:screet 6060 CORE Subminiature Microphone for the cast. In the orchestra pit, Travis turns to DPA’s d:dicate 2011 Twin Diaphragm Cardioid Microphones, d:dicate 4011 Cardioid Microphones and d:vote 4099 Instrument Mics.
“The d:screet 4061 has been my go-to lavalier due to its incredibly transparent sound,” he says. “The human voice and head are very complicated so it’s great to have a microphone like the d:screet 4061 that works so well. We recently switched to the new d:screet 6060 CORE mic for our genie as it is smaller and seems to shed the sweat even better. I really hate seeing microphones on the actors, so I work with costume and hair to hide them as best I can.”
For orchestras, Travis relies on the d:vote 4099 Instrument Microphone to provide clear and natural sound. “When I design a new musical, I have my set selection of microphones for the orchestra,” Travis says. “On a recent production of Last Days of Summer, the band was onstage and the bleed between the wind section and the strings was problematic. I used a d:vote 4099 mic with the violin mount and it solved all issues and the musicians loved the way it sounded.”
(Jim Evans)