SOUTH LONDON, U.K. — Following the advice of tour manager Mark Portlock and engineer Liam Halpin, U.K. R&B artist Joel Compass switched to DPA Microphones’ d:facto Vocal Microphone. Since then, the team has noticed an improvement in the singer’s vocal technique.
More details from DPA Microphones (www.dpamicrophones.com):
R&B artist Joel Compass, an emerging artist from South London who is rapidly making a name for himself, is the latest in a long line of singers to join the DPA Microphones fan club. Since making a switch to the company’s award-winning d:facto Vocal Microphone on request of Compass’ tour manager Mark Portlock and engineer Liam Halpin, the team has noticed an improvement in the singer’s vocal technique, which has gained respect from fellow industry professionals.
“DPA mics are renowned for their audio quality and very low noise floor, so I initially considered the DPA d:facto for another artist I am working with who has a particularly quiet voice,” says Portlock. “Once Liam and I demo’ed it, we realized it would also work really well for Joel’s voice, which has a great dynamic range. We introduced him to the microphone and he absolutely loved it. He is now using d:facto for all his live vocal performances.”
Halpin adds that DPA’s d:facto has made his life as an engineer much easier because he can use it with any professional wireless microphone system. “DPA’s U.K. distributor Sound Network supplied us with an adapter that gives us seamless integration with all of the professional wireless systems we usually encounter,” he adds. “I’m a big fan of Shure’s wireless system, but that doesn’t preclude me from using other brands of microphone. There is a correct mic for every situation and in Joel’s case, when it comes to live vocals, it’s the DPA d:facto. With this microphone, all I need is an adapter, a capsule and a grill and I can walk into any venue and use any wireless system – I don’t have to bringmy own. That saves us having to rent in a wireless system and allows us to use the right microphone for the artist and the performance space.”
Compass has been making waves in the U.K., receiving early buzz from media outlets such as MTV and Digital Spy. In addition to performing his own material, Compass also writes for other artists and is making a name for himself as a producer –his ballad Run was written with Rihanna in mind. His latest single Forgive Me is currently climbing the U.K. Top 50 and he has been making high profile appearances at the MTV Brand New Awards, London’s Red Bull Studios and live support shows with the British band Rudimental and American hip hop artist J. Cole. He is also working on projects with established artists for his own debut album Science. A busy summer, including live shows at Glastonbury and the Wireless and Secret Garden music festivals, awaits.
Portlock and Halpin believe that introducing Compass to the d:facto has had a number of hidden benefits, not least helping him redefine his microphone technique. “DPA’s d:facto seems to work best when artists use in-ear Monitors, because that’s when they can really hear the difference it makes to their voice,” continues Halpin. “With Joel, we started out using wedges, but this was a real pain because he would sing right off the mic, often with his hands covering parts of the grill. Eventually, when we switched to d:facto, we persuaded him to move to IEMs, which he now has in both ear. This made a dramatic change to his mic technique. Suddenly, he could hear his own voice properly and he got right on the microphone because he was enjoying the improved sound so much. It’s made a huge difference to his performance and to the consistency of his sound. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this microphone has done more than anything else to get his live performance to where it is now.”
DPA’s d:facto is now featured on the equipment rider for every gig that Joel Compass performs. As a result, Portlock and Halpin’s favored rental company, Encore, has invested in its own stock. The microphone is also proving popular with the studio and broadcast engineers that the team has encountered during the filming of some of Compass’ gigs.
“It’s really funny how their faces light up when you tell them your artist is using a DPA mic,” Halpin laughs. “Studio and broadcast engineers are usually pretty disdainful about live mics, but with this one they are more than happy. They know all about the audio quality of DPA, so the d:facto gives us credibility.”
Portlock adds that the d:facto also gives Compass credibility, especially among other artists who recognize that it is a significant investment. He credits DPA’s U.K. distributor Sound Network for making it possible to switch Compass to a d:facto and for supporting the team while they made the switch.
“The d:facto is not cheap and there is no way we would have committed a developing artist to such an expensive microphone if we hadn’t had fantastic distributor support,” says Portlock. “The fact that Sound Network was able to lend us the d:facto in various forms so that we could try them all out –with various cable bodies, adapters, colored grills, etc – made a huge difference. It gave us the confidence to go with the microphone and it also inspired our rental company to buy stock of its own so we now have access to mics that we can rent through them.”
To see Joel Compass in action at Transmitter Live using DPA’s d:facto Vocal Microphone, please follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7stBS5lYtI.
