Long time DPA ambassador Gary Baldassari was chief sound engineer for the week-long cruise, working closely with five other engineers who included none other than DPA marketing director Morten Stove together with American engineers Jim Fay, Gary Faller, Nils Warren and Mark Deadman.
The Jazz Cruise has been running for more than 25 years, switching to the prestigious Holland American Line in 2002. With this move, organiser Traveline LLC decided to upgrade the sound and contacted the above engineers, all known for their acoustic jazz work.
DPA mics were used exclusively for all 75 musicians playing on four different stages. Performers included 19-piece swing band the Clayton-Hamilton jazz orchestra with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton; Barbara Morrison; Monty Alexander; Freddie Cole; Tom Kennedy; Herman Burney; Wycliff Gordon and many more.
Stove and Fay handled the 900-capacity Vista Lounge, a concert hall with mezzanine and balcony where the headlining acts played. DPA 4023 compact cardioids on flamingo stands - which have an unobtrusive appearance - were used for all frontline. The seven-foot Yamaha grand piano was mic'ed with the DPA3521 stereo kit consisting of two 4021 compact cardioids while two 4006 omnis were used for the drum kit, with one 4023 for the kick, and a 4021 with VH4000 holder for the bass.
The second largest concert hall, the 500-seater Crows Nest on the 11th floor, faces the forward path of the ship. "We have to get creative on this one as it is not designed to do this type of show," explains Baldassari of the space, which can accommodate eight musicians and was in the capable hands of Faller. He began by placing a DPA 4041 large diaphragm omni on a ROWI clamp mounted near the low end of the piano, with the presence boost of the mic pointed toward the high end. The 4041 was pre-amped by an HMA4000 with the piano lid open. His next balance point was the acoustic bass with an IMK4061 instrument mic'ing kit with 4061 miniature omnis on the point of the bridge. "The drums emerged from these two omni mics just the way they should for acoustic jazz," says Baldassari.
DPA 4011 compact cardioids, 4021 cardioids and 4015 wide cardioids were used for the front line, with a 4091 omni spot mic on drums in the unlikely event that the brushes were too soft. "It seems simple but the trick is to only mix into the PA speakers what is missing from the real performance," he continues.
Baldassari himself took charge of the Oceans Bar, which seats 175 and has several facets, requiring lots of delay speakers. This room played host to small acoustic groups. At the low end of the piano he placed a single DPA 4003 with a UA0777 nose cone which creates a perfect omni.
A single IMK 4061 was used for bass, with one 4011 and one 4015 for the front line. Baldassari says: "On some bands that had a fantastic booming real bass we added no bass from our mics at all. We used bleed to the max because the DPA range has perfect off axis response. Their great omni mics can be equalised for feedback via a parametric EQ in a few minutes. That old wives' tales that you can't use omnis in a live situation is just a superstition; many of us use omnis in live situations every day."
The fourth venue, the Queens Lounge, is a miniature 175-person capacity theatre. Deadman took charge of the small acoustic groups here, taking a slightly different approach by placing a pair of MMB4088 miniature cardioids from DPA's 4088 head-worn cardioid near the hammers on the piano to get direct imaging, and filling out the sound by placing a 4091 at the low end. He mixed the piano in stereo as the effect could be appreciated in this particular venue. An IMK4061 was used for bass, then the same selection of DPA
