"The close proximity, which enables frequent contact with and visits to DPA users, has both increased our understanding of the different regional markets and strengthened ties to our distributors on sales and marketing related matters," says Kimura. "This has ensured more sales opportunities and increased brand awareness, especially concerning DPA's new product introductions within the broadcast and live segments."
Kimura has recently overseen two major projects in these markets. In Seoul, DPA's Korean distributor Best Leading Solutions supplied rental company Seoul Sound with 50 DPA 4099 clip microphones and 20 DPA 4061 miniatures for a concert hosted by national broadcaster KBS at the Yong-In sports complex. Meanwhile, in Beijing, CCTV used four DPA 5100 mobile surround mics for a live broadcast of the 60th Anniversary of National Day celebrations at Tiananmen Square.
Featuring a 60-piece orchestra and leading Korean performers of different musical genres, KBS Open Concert is one of the country's most popular live shows. The DPA 4099s were mounted on various instruments across the orchestra, such as violin, viola, cello, double bass, brass and woodwind. Creating the required audio quality for the KBS high-definition broadcast in the open air setting, together with the size of the orchestra, presented a number of challenges. Kimura, together with Choe Chang Hwan from Best Leading Solutions, worked to overcome these by assisting Seoul Sound's engineers in setting up the instrument microphones.
"It was exactly for live venues like this that we designed and developed the 4099 microphones, to ensure musicians free expression without compromising the sonic qualities of their individual instrument," says Kimura. "Despite the small stage area for the 60-piece orchestra, we achieved clear, natural sound and channel separation, both within and in between the instrument sections."
Following the KBS open air concert, Cho Jin Yun and Kim Do Seok, respectively president and chief engineer at Seoul Sound, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the DPA 4099 Series and are now planning on acquiring additional units for upcoming live concerts.
Another recent high profile project for DPA in Asia was to supply four DPA 5100 mobile surround mics to Chinese national broadcaster CCTV for the 60th Anniversary of National Day celebrations at Tiananmen Square, Beijing. The live broadcast featured a military parade and an evening of entertainment, and CCTV engineers used the 5100s to record ambient sound for the entire broadcast.
(Jim Evans)
