DPA microphones played a central role in broadcasting this year's Bastille Day celebration in France, an event that ranks as the oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe.
In a tradition that dates back to 1880, this annual French national holiday parade takes place in Paris along the iconic Champs Élysées. The event is broadcast across all major French TV channels, scoring around seven million viewers, and is also screened by a number of foreign TV channels. Approximately 100,000 people flock to watch the parade, which includes mounted and motorised divisions as well as flight squadrons, and of course a large amount of musicians.
French integrator BS Technology has traditionally covered the parade, and this year the company invited audio specialists Fréquence to look after the HF aspects of the event. Fréquence Director, Julien Périlleux, says: "BS Technology delivers the global service of sound capture, mixing and broadcast. We took care of the HF microphone and intercom operations and sent a stereo mix to the TV transmission centre."
The company used more than 120 d:screet™ 4061 Miniature Microphones and d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphones, which accounted for around half of all the microphones used.
"Primarily, we chose d:screet™ 4061 mics for their sound quality," says Périlleux. "Our philosophy is to use microphones that don’t interfere with the musicians' movements and are invisible, which is crucial when you're shooting for TV. The addition of the d:vote™ 4099 microphones was necessary for some instruments where the mic needs to be closer, while still keeping a clear, natural sound. Clarinets are one example, and the specific mount for the d:vote™ 4099 makes it easy and fast to install the microphone."
As well as the clarity of their sound, reliability was also key. To prepare for the event itself, there were six nights of rehearsal, "mostly in humid conditions," Périlleux recalls, "and with musicians moving around - yet we never had a problem. The expertise of BS Technology combined with Fréquence's ethos was a success, making for a perfect broadcast."
Périlleux describes Fréquence as a company that prides itself on providing bespoke audio links, both wired and wireless, for a range of live shows and events.
"As a relatively small company, we don't own hundreds of examples of every microphone on the market," he explains. "Instead, we carefully select our products so we can deliver a premium, custom-designed service for our clients. Every single service, rental or sale is treated as unique. Fréquence is not an 'over the counter' rental company, but a true partner."
DPA's d:screet™ 4061 Miniature Microphones are versatile workhorses with eminent sound quality, a large range of accessories, and adapters available for all pro wireless systems. Originally designed for use with wireless systems in theatre, TV and close-miked instrument applications, the d:screet™ 4061 miniature omnidirectional microphone is highly unobtrusive. The microphones are available in black, brown, beige and white.
DPA believes that musicians deserve to get the best possible live sound from their instruments, and has applied groundbreaking technology to create the d:vote™ 4099 Instrument Microphone range. These cost-effective mics are handcrafted in Denmark for a wide array of musical instruments, complete with discreet mounting solutions and robust carrying cases. All d:vote 4099 microphones feature a supercardioid polar pattern for superior gain-before-feedback.
For more information about Fréquence, please visit www.frequence.tv
For more information about BS Technology, please visit www.bs-technology.fr.
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About DPA
At DPA Microphones we’re passionate about acoustic truth. That’s why every DPA microphone combines ingenious audio engineering with brilliant design and is crafted with more than 200 hands-on procedures at our own facilities in Denmark: to get as close as humanly possible to honest sound.
For more information, please visitwww.dpamicrophones.com
