Mics and Magic: DPA's Impact on the 2024 Edmonton Singing Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas.

I know, you’re probably thinking: ‘Merry what now?’

Fair enough. Most of us aren’t ready to think about next winter. But the folks at Production World are still riding a Yuletide high from the success of the 2024 Edmonton Singing Christmas Tree event. And they’re already thinking about how to top it in December 2025…

Since Production World started providing audio and video for the Singing Christmas Tree extravaganza in 2008, the popular event has evolved substantially. The 2024 iteration is the first since 2019, explains Kelly Kimo, co-founder/owner of Production World, the Edmonton-based production company that, among other infrastructure elements, created and deployed a custom mic grid including a large amount of DPA microphones, a Meyer Sound monitoring system, and a massive 160 foot-wide and 26 foot-high LED for the event.

As always, the celebration revolved around a 35-foot-tall Christmas tree - ‘brimming with 120 of Alberta’s finest choir singers” as human ‘decorations’ - performing with a full orchestra and providing, as the online description puts it, 'A spectacular celebration of music, joy, and Christmas magic.’

Originally mounted in a local church (beginning approximately 50 years ago), the event was later moved to the Jubilee Auditorium and, this year, to the Edmonton EXPO Centre Arena, Kimo explains, adding that when the dates didn’t line up for a return to the Jubilee, “I suggested we do it in the arena – and we took up the entire floor. People loved it.”

For the event to translate well to the larger venue, says Jeff Carmichael, Production World’s Operations Manager/Head of Audio, “Essentially, we had to re-create a theatre (setting) inside the arena.”

Carmichael also did monitors for the show and points out the central challenge of this year’s setup. “The Jubilee has a way smaller stage and footprint, so, to area mic the singers in the arena, we had to create roughly 60 rigging points and a pipe grid to hang the DPA mics.”

“We built the grid in the roof, with different levels of mics to hit the top, middle, and bottom of the tree, from two to six mics all around, from the grid heading down,” Kimo notes, adding that the bottom row of mics was right behind the drums, which prompted concerns about drum sounds polluting the vocals of that section.

“Even so, we found, with DPA 4098s on the choir, there wasn't much leakage,” Carmichael adds. “We had no complaints. In fact, I think this was the loudest we heard the choir on top of everything.”

DPA microphones were deployed for the orchestra as well. “It was 112 inputs, and we used 48 DPAs in total - 4099s for all of the strings, DPA 4011 Cardioids for some orchestral elements, and 4098s for the choir. We’ve used DPA on this before, but this was the first year we used the 4098s,” Kimo says. Previously, they’d use the Jubilee’s mic pack for the orchestra. “But this year, since we had to supply all the microphones, we bought the 4098s.”

Using the 4099s on the strings was a no-brainer, Carmichael says, citing their responsiveness and the fact that the design of the mic clips tends to allay any worries string players have about potential damage to their instrument or interference with their playing.

That was particularly important for one violinist, Kimo adds, chuckling: “Because she was playing while being suspended above the stage, upside down.”

Longtime FOH engineer for the event, Mark LeCorre, felt the DPA mics addressed the challenges of the larger venue – logistically and sonically – exceptionally well. “They’re outstanding (microphones). I've used the 4099s before for strings. And the 4098s for the choir worked exceptionally well.”

LeCorre, who’s also mixed high-profile Canadian artists including The Tragically Hip and Sarah McLachlan has been working with Production World for decades and is no stranger to this particular show. “I’ve done this since the second year Production World did it,” he says.

A longtime DPA user, previously, he’s often used DPA 4099s. “I think the first time was probably on a Sarah McLaughlin orchestra show, and I immediately loved them,” LeCorre says. “Instead of trying to mic full sections, I could mic all the violins, cellos, and violists individually, which was great. There was another show where they had them on the piano, and it’s a great sounding microphone for that, too – in general, it’s an amazing microphone.”

It was the first time he’d worked with the 4098s. “And they were outstanding. The desk was maxed out. I had no inputs left, so it was challenging from that point of view – there’s a lot going on – but having a bunch of good-sounding mics really helped.”

LeCorre also points to the DPA 2011 Cardioids as a welcome addition to the show. “I’ve never used those before, either, and they were also outstanding. We used them on percussion, vibes, flutes, and things like that, and I was floored. They sounded so good. So that was my go-to ‘everything else’ mic (for the show).”

Carmichael calls out GerrAudio’s help in meeting the challenges of the timeline – “We only had about a month. Shawn Hines (Gerr’s Western Sales Rep.) gave me a bunch of options. I wanted his professional opinion about what works best because we didn't have much time. I trusted him fully, and it worked great.”

Initially, they’d planned to use the same or similar elements for the choir that had been deployed at the Jubilee. “But we wanted to stick with DPA,” Kimo says. The combination of the 4099s, 4098s, and 4011s, “They were the smartest choice,” he adds. “I think DPAs are one of the best mics out there, period. And if we were going to do this, it was, ‘right, let's do it up – for the orchestra, the choir, let's have all the same microphone brand. And that was the best choice.”

Reading this, you may still be thinking it’s way early – even criminally early – to be dealing with anything Christmas-related. But, at the time of our conversation in early 2025, the folks at Production World were already looking forward to December 2025, getting set to do it all again. Now that they’ve found a solution in DPA that meets all their needs for mics, they can "concentrate on visuals," Carmichael says. “So, a bigger LED wall - believe it or not.”