Established in 2017, the Getty Music Sing! Worship Conference was designed not only to be a live event, but an experience that stays with you 365 days a year. Founder Keith Getty took inspiration from Martin Luther’s teachings and congregationally led musical style, and initially created the musical worship conference to celebrate 500 years of Luther’s work. With in-person attendance and online livestream viewing opportunities, conference registration granted participants unlimited access to talks, worship services and concerts. As miking a diverse arena event proved to be an unusual challenge, an equally unique solution was needed, leading Getty Music Engineer Dan Myers to reach out to music retailer Sweetwater. To complement the large event space, range of speakers, and variety in musical genres performing, an array of microphones from DPA Microphones was selected for clarity and ease of use.
Getty Music is no stranger to DPA Microphones, with the brand’s 4099 Instrument Microphone having been used for years on all the violins and some guitars at the Sing! Conference, and subsequently also on the piano. DPA’s d:facto 4018VL Vocal Microphone was later added to the conference’s repertoire, for a natural sound that was unattainable with any other mic. The most recent Conference boasted over one hundred microphones from DPA, with a selection of older DPA headset microphones and 4099 Instrument Microphones also cross-rented for the orchestra, which made the difficult arena audio easily manageable.
Getty Music Sing! Worship Conference Founder Keith Getty wearing a DPA Microphones Omnidirectional Headset Microphone
“After we switched over to the d:facto, we never looked back,” says Myers. “DPA microphones provide a clarity that we weren’t getting from any other microphone. With as many moving parts as we have on stage, gain before feedback is always a major concern. DPA Microphones has allowed us to get a lot more out of what we’re trying to do. We have well over 100 DPAs for the show, about a dozen of those being on the stage, and we get such fantastic reviews. Especially trying to do a symphony hall performance in an arena, it was a difficult challenge, but the DPA’s made it very simple to navigate.”