Dubai’s Al Wasl Dome, originally the centerpiece of the EXPO 2020 Dubai, repurposed into a 3,000-seat concert venue, recently hosted a re-opening concert by GRAMMY-winning composer A.R. Rahman’s Firdaus Orchestra and a 30-piece choir accompanied by UK-based Indian singer Abi Sampa and her band, with support by sound designer/mix engineer Phil Wright and a variety of models from DPA Microphones.
Specifically, Wright deployed 4099 CORE instrument, 2011 twin diaphragm, 4011ES cardioid condenser and 4066 omnidirectional headset microphones for the production. “The band and orchestra were primarily 4099s,” he explains. “This included the guitar, French horn and cello, as well as the more traditional instruments such as the tabla, harmonium, ney, oud, sitar, daf, frame drum and qanun. These are tiny, very quiet instruments and the DPA 4099s really brought out their sound within this massive orchestral texture we had going on.
“For those instruments that were a bit more open, we used the 2011s, and then the double basses in the orchestra were on my 4011ES mics with 19 mm capsules. For the choir, we had 30 of the 4066 wired headsets. Overall, we had around 120 people on stage between the 30-person chorus, a 75-piece orchestra and Abi Sampa’s ensemble of 15.”
Further, the dome’s unique shape posed an acoustical challenge, with its centrally located performance space and open sides exposing the stage to the natural outdoor elements. “The durability of the 4099s was so impressive,” Wright states. “We weren’t in an air-conditioned concert hall — this was an open-air, outdoor venue with all the heat, high humidity and dust blowing in from the desert. Despite all of this, we didn’t have a single microphone failure. The heavy-duty cable for the 4099s also allowed for easy replacements, which was useful as we had a few people trip and damage the mic cables.”
Assisted by Dave Scarlet, Paul Medley and Pete Austin of SFL Productions in the UK, Wright notes that the team made the decision early on to mic everything very closely. “The flexibility and range of mount options for the 4099s was most appealing to me,” he says. “I was able to get really close and tight on absolutely everything on that stage whilst retaining that natural sound and air. We had lots of positive feedback about being able to balance these very quiet and traditionally challenging instruments.”
The complexity of the venue’s acoustics, which has proven difficult for other seasoned audio professionals, along with the classical nature of the performance was exactly the reason Wright was entrusted by both Rahman and Mohanaselvan Jeyapalan, vice president of the Portfolio Management Office for the venue, in the first place.
Building off his lengthy background of success with orchestral engineering, Wright was entrusted on the project by both Rahman and Mohanaselvan Jeyapalan, vice president of the Portfolio Management Office for the venue. “Both Mr. Rahman and Mr. Jeyapalan let me know that we had achieved everything that they had hoped for this show,” Wright concludes. “With the DPAs, the concert sounded just how they wanted, and they were blown away.”
