Tony Nominee Leap of Faith Used Neumann Digital Microphone Technology

Audio specialist Sennheiser announced that Leap of Faith, the Tony-nominated musical that recently closed on Broadway, was the first Broadway production to utilize digital microphone technology from Neumann. The musical, which featured a score by eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken, ran at the St. James Theater on 44th Street. The production featured no less than 12 Neumann digital microphones in the orchestra pits.

Broadway is widely recognized as maintaining the "gold standard" when it comes to live sound production quality; the company says sound designers routinely specify Sennheiser and Neumann microphones and wireless equipment for their sonic performance on both the stage and in the orchestra pit. For Leap of Faith, sound designer John Shivers and associate sound designer/mixer David Patridge specified Neumann digital mics on the brass and woodwind sections of the orchestra, which were then fed into a Neumann DMI before reaching the Digico SD7 digital console.

Leap of Faith had two separate orchestra pits, both of which used the digital micro-phones. The pit below the stage and directly in front of the audience contained the wood-wind section, which used four Neumann KM 184 Ds as overheads and four TLM 103 Ds in a low position, approximately 15" off the floor and resting at a 120-degree angle towards the instrument. The other pit was situated below and to the rear of the stage and contained the brass section, was miked with four TLM 103 Ds in a low position similar to that of the wood-winds.

"We had already specified the analog versions of these microphones when Masque Sound brought up the possibility of our using digital microphones on this show," Shivers recalled. "We jumped at the chance to use them since I am always interested in increasing the over-all sound quality of the production. We didn't get a chance to A/B these against their analog counterparts in a controlled environment, but my sense is that there is an increased clarity and transparency to these microphones."

"These microphones exhibit an open, detailed sound," Patridge adds. "I think additional clar-ity is evident in the high frequency range and the microphones themselves require less EQ. As for the noise floor, it is non-existent: these microphones are absolutely pristine."

According to Patridge, the benefits of using Neumann digital mics in the theatre extend well beyond just the pristine sound: "The pit can be a difficult area to access, and during sound checks I often have to send somebody in there to ensure there is no shelving or padding on the mics," he observes. "With the Neumann digital mics, I can control all these settings from software interface on the console, which saves time and gives my production team one less thing to worry about."

Shivers agrees that being able to control the microphones from a remote location is benefi-cial: "If a musician is playing particularly loud, having the ability to go to a control panel and adjust the padding could be very helpful. Also, having the capability to remotely switch to a hyper-cardioid from a cardioid pattern could give you a tighter sound and more rejection without having to move the microphone position. But for me, the audio quality is always most important."

During Leap of Faith's run, the Neumann digital microphones were put through their paces. "We were very impressed with how they sounded right out of the box," Shivers says. "We knew from the reputation of the company that it would be an improved product, and now we can assuredly say that it is. The quality of these microphones is of a very, very high standard and I would love to use them again."