San Diego Symphony Orchestra

Power Plus Sound & Lighting, Inc. provides high-quality audio reinforcement for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Cuban-born violinist in Doc Severinsen’s Latin Band needed a specialized microphone for Ilmar Gavilan. Audio Engineer, David Leyton auditioned several mics for the project before choosing the DPA 4061. He characterizes the reaction of the musicians to the miniature condenser in a typically straightforward way, “They played for a few seconds, looked up and said, ‘We want to use that one.” And the reaction of violinist Gavilan? “He absolutely loved it,” says Leyton. “Before I stuck the microphone on Doc Severinsen’s trumpet, I put it on a cello, brought it up with no EQ, and it sounded huge. We ended up using the DPA for Doc’s house mix and his own mic for the monitor mix.”

Pressed for more specifics about the microphone, Leyton elaborates: “We need a very high quality mic to use on the strings to get more gain with pop and rock acts, and because of the high SPL this microphone can handle, it can be used in virtually any application. What’s beautiful about the string mounting system is its non-invasive rubber mount that hooks onto the strings behind the bridge. “A lot of violinists are hesitant to hook anything right onto the bridge because it’s part of the intonation of the instrument and they don’t want to damage their instruments,” Leyton adds. “But with the DPA system, you don’t leave any marks on the instrument or change its timbre. It’s brilliant and very easy to use. I was able to train several musicians on it in very short order.

“In a nutshell, it’s the sound quality of a large studio condenser in a very unobtrusive miniature package with a tremendous amount of versatility from their many mounting accessories.”

Headed up by Lane Rickard, President, Power Plus Sound & Lighting, Inc. is a versatile organization that focuses on special events, entertainment and has a prestigious list of musical and corporate clients in Southern California. David Leyton is an Audio Consultant/Engineer who works very closely with Power Plus. Leyton & Rickard both agree, “We have the capability to provide the highest quality audio product – and quite honestly the DPA 4000 Series miniatures are a natural for our clients.”