The lightweight and robust design of the company’s d:mension™ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone proved invaluable for recording in extreme locations.
d:mension™ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone was recently put through its paces by Australian artist, composer and lecturer Daniel Blinkhorn when he visited Mexico and Cuba to capture environmental sounds for his latest eco-acoustic composition.
Having previously used DPA microphones on successful recording projects in Svalbard, Africa, Australia and Alaska, Blinkhorn had no hesitation in choosing DPA again for this latest trip.
“I was keen to try the d:mension™ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone because I wanted to experiment with multichannel recording,” he explains. “Its compact and unique design, ease of use and lightweight yet robust nature, coupled with the calibre of its sound quality, meant that it ticked all the boxes and seemed the most suitable microphone for the task.”
Blinkhorn, who has won over 25 international awards for his work, undertook his latest expedition in July and August of this year. The trip was planned around a residency at the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS) in Morelia, central Mexico. He also spent time in the Yucatan Peninsula before heading to Cuba and the Canarreos Archipelago, which he circumnavigated by catamaran.
“At the heart of this trip was a desire to experiment with the multichannel possibilities offered by the d:mension™ 5100 microphone - and CMMAS was perfectly situated to assist in this,” he explains. “After leaving Morelia, I also wanted to record in key sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. I was particularly keen to capture the sound of the endangered ‘black handed’ spider monkeys in Punta Laguna, Quintana Roo, as well as Central American howler monkeys and jaguars in the ecologically diverse region of Sian Ka'an (established by UNESCO as a world heritage ‘Biosphere’). In Cuba, I was offered an incredibly varied eco-acoustic soundscape, which was enriched by the music that resounds throughout Cuban culture. It was impossible not to approach my time recording the manifold melodic activities associated with everyday Cuban life.”