RIO DE JANEIRO – For Grammy®-nominated Latin American Sound Engineer Gabriel Pinheiro, capturing the best audio possible is critical to the success of his work. In order to find that extraordinary sound and dependability he is looking for, Pinheiro relies on DPA Microphones’d:screet™ 4061 Miniature Omnidirectional Microphones.
Pinheiro purchased his first two pairs of DPA microphones, the d:screet 4061 miniature omni mics with mounting accessories, about three years ago after taking a tour of the DPA factory in Denmark. He has been using them ever since, including on a recent, soon-to-be finished feature film on the life of the popular Brazilian musician, Chico Buarque.
“We shot the Chico Buarque film at the Cidade das Artes in Rio, which is a beautiful, new, 1,250 seat theatre,” says Pinheiro. “It is an amazing place. Everything you are going to see in the movie was recorded live, with no overdubbing and no fake singing or playing. I used all four of my DPA 4061s and also rented some more. I do a lot of acoustic music and this production had drums, acoustic bass, acoustic piano and at least one acoustic guitar at all times. For a few songs, we also relied on some clarinets, flutes and additional strings, including a quartet comprised of a cello, viola and two violins. We used the 4061s on all of the instruments because you just don’t see them. I’ve been using this technique for recording acoustic guitar in live environments for two years now. I just place one of those tiny 4061s on the inside of the guitar and it sounds amazing.”
Last year, Pinheiro used an extensive amount of DPA Microphones for legendary Brazilian singer/songwriter Gilberto Gil’s sold-out 70th birthday concert at Brazil’s Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. “The show was amazing and featured his five-piece touring band along with a symphony orchestra and a large amount of DPA gear,” he adds. “I used my DPA equipment on all of the acoustic guitars and basses and had a DPA specialist in Brazil bring in about 30 of DPA’s d:vote 4099s and d:screet 4060s and 4061s for the rest of the instruments. The entire orchestra was basically DPA; it sounded gorgeous.”
Pinheiro especially appreciates the flatness that DPA microphones offer. “On some microphones, you have what they call a colored sound, which means that the microphone itself has some sort of curve, but the DPAs, including the 4061s, are really, really flat,” he says. “The mics don’t mess with the sound at all and you can do all the tricks you want later. They have everything you need from low- to mid- to high frequencies, and despite their miniscule size, they have a huge sound. It’s a very impressive microphone and film directors love it because it is practically invisible.”
Due to the exceptional sound clarity of DPA’s microphones Pinheiro purchased a d:dictate 4011A about a year ago, which he uses in addition to his d:screet 4061s, as a studio mic for various music projects.
