Sam Anning Uses DPA Core Mics on Tour

After replacing his d:vote 4099B Instrument Microphone for one with the new CORE by DPA technology, bassist Sam Anning says he is hugely impressed with the sound he’s achieving.

“I came across DPA mics a few years ago while touring around festivals in Europe and my first encounter with the d:vote 4099B was one of the those eureka moments,” he says. “It’s very vindicating, as a performer, when someone comes up with a well thought out and brilliantly designed answer to honestly capturing and transmitting the sound that you spend years in the practice room finessing. DPA’s d:vote 4099B does just that – and now, with the new CORE by DPA technology, it is even better.

“I tried my new d:vote CORE on my double bass for an Australian live to air national radio show with Maceo Parker, Gretchen Parlato, Terri Lyne Carrington and Barney McAll and it sounded incredibly natural and isolated (in a good way) from the other instruments. I’m now looking forward to seeing how my old Martin guitar sounds when I use it with the d:vote CORE 4099B on my songwriting projects.”

Originally from Australia, Anning became an indispensable fixture on the Western Australian jazz scene while studying for a Bachelor of Jazz degree at WAAPA. He went on to release Sam Anning Quintet: Re-Turning Point, his debut album as a band leader, which featured Graeme Lyall AM and cello quartet Wood. Anning later spent time in the USA completing a Masters of Music programme at the Manhattan School of Music, and then performed extensively at prestigious international jazz festivals such as Montreal, Vancouver, Detroit, Jazz a Vienne, Copenhagen, Port au Prince and Panama, as well as festivals in Melbourne and Perth. During his career he has won numerous awards and played with many international jazz greats including Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, Ari Hoenig, George Garzone, Gilad Hekselman, Greg Osby, and Charlie Haden.

Anning’s new d:vote CORE microphone now has a permanent place in his microphone arsenal and is attracting plenty of praise from other musicians and engineers.

“Recently, at the Melbourne Recital Centre where my band was supporting one of the international headliners, the engineers at the soundcheck were really impressed at how open and natural it sounded, while still delivering excellent separation from the drums,” he says. “Many of the concert goers and critics said we outshone the main act, which proved the point. The microphone also works well through foldback monitors and doesn’t feed back in the way that other microphones do – and the new removable cable at the end of the gooseneck stem makes life a lot easier, too.”

Anning recently took part in DPA’s World Tour event in Melbourne, which was held in conjunction with Australian distributor Amber Technology. During the event he played demo sessions with Chris Pickering on drums so that local musicians and recording professionals had a chance to hear various DPA products in action and learn more about microphone placement.

“We tried different microphone positions on the bass to get different tonal colours and even tried putting the IMK inside the body of the instrument,” he says. “Listening back, it was incredible hearing how much detail these microphones captured, despite drums taking up so much acoustic space. I was sold. It was a great experience for me and not only would I do it again, but next time I’ll be bringing my students and bass player friends because we can learn so much from working together.”

Sam Anning is currently touring Australian Jazz festivals with his band and promoting his new album Across A Field As Vast As One.