Authors and Literary Celebrities find their Festival Voice with DPA
DPA’s award-winning 6066 Subminiature Headset Microphones were used extensively during the recent Cheltenham Literature Festival to mic participants on eight different stages.
Clarity, ease of use and having the ability to match the
colour of the microphone to different skin tones were all good reasons why Toby
Chevis, Director of UK live events company Patch Productions, chose DPA’s 6066
Subminiature Headset Microphones to amplify speakers at the prestigious
Cheltenham Literature Festival.
During the 10 day event, the company used a total of 40 6066 Headsets across
eight venues, including Cheltenham’s Montpellier Gardens and Town Hall sites.
Among the famous participants who happily wore DPA were Andrew Lloyd Webber,
Louis Theroux, Rob Brydon and Graham Norton.
“The festival was keen to be as inclusive as possible this year, so being able
to offer a microphone with varying color options with a consistent audio
quality, was fantastic,” Toby Chevis explains. “I’ve been a big fan of DPA
Headset Microphones for eight years now and Patch Productions owns a number of 6000
Series Headsets, but for this event we bought additional microphones.”
Based in Cirencester, Patch Productions prides itself on
consistently delivering high quality technical productions covering festivals,
corporate events and theatres. Although this was the first time the company had
tackled the prestigious Cheltenham Literary Festival, it has previously worked
on the town’s Science and Music Festivals and won this contract on the basis of
the excellent services it provided at both of those events.
The Cheltenham Literature Festival was broadcast on Sky Arts, which took a mixed
feed straight from Patch Productions’ desk. Audio quality was very important as
it was imperative that the audience could hear every word spoken by the authors
on stage.
“We did have some issues to overcome because most of the venues were temporary
marquees, so we had to contend with wind and rain noise, as well as large
audiences who inevitably created background noise,” Chevis explains. “However,
the DPA 6066 Headsets were brilliant and delivered exceptional audio quality,
despite their tiny size. We had plenty of level to play with and it was very
easy to reproduce a natural sounding voice with these mics because they’re so
controlled throughout the frequency range.”
Chevis adds that being able to fit them quickly and easily
was also an advantage, as the turnover on stage was quite fast. Participants
found them light and comfortable to wear, which added to their appeal.
“I personally think the new 6066 Subminiature Headset Microphone is
unbeatable and I was delighted with the results we achieved,” he says. “We are
all looking forward to continuing to use DPA and our large stock will certainly
be out and about in The Cotswolds and surrounding areas over the Christmas
Panto season.”
Contact us for more information about DPA Microphones.