NEW ORLEANS ― Catgut Sound Owner and Production Sound Mixer Chris Welcker, CAS, has built a career at the intersection of music and film. A former musician and composer, Welcker worked his way up from utility sound technician to boom operator and ultimately department head. Known for projects that demand both cinematic storytelling and authentic musical performances, Welcker was brought onto the IMAX film “Sinners” as Production Sound Mixer, for which he relied on a comprehensive DPA Microphones’ package to meet the sonic demands of a 1930s-set horror drama steeped in live blues performances.
With much of the story unfolding around unamplified, live blues performances inside and outside a rural juke joint, Welcker says: “The theme itself is kind of hard to explain. It’s a multi-genre horror film and period drama that’s very heavy on the music. Because of the period nature of it, everything is unamplified: acoustic guitars with resonators, harmonicas and live vocals.”
Capturing those performances authentically, and often with wide lenses that limited mic placement, required a flexible, consistent microphone ecosystem. Welcker utilized an extensive DPA package, including 4018 Supercardioid and 4017 Shotgun capsules with a rotation of A, B and C preamp bodies; 4097 Micro Shotguns for plant-miking; 4099 Instrument Mics; a 5100 Surround Microphone; and a full complement of lavaliers, including 4060, 4061, 6060 and 6061 Omnidirectional models. His boom operator, Ryan Farris, also brought additional DPA options from his music studio.
“DPA was a perfect choice for us because the sonic profile of those microphones is very consistent,” Welcker explains. “When you cut together a lavalier and a boom, it’s very easy for the editors to make those sound cohesive. That consistency was huge for us.”
Unlike many music-driven films, “Sinners” captured performances live on set. Although pre-recorded studio tracks existed as a backup, Welcker coordinated with the film’s composer to use the same DPA microphones in the studio sessions to ensure tonal continuity. “That gave us consistency if they decided to use any prerecorded tracks,” he says. “It all blended naturally and gave us the presence of the voice and a perspective that matches what you see visually.”
For instrument-heavy scenes featuring acoustic guitar, fiddle and banjo, Welcker deployed DPA 4099 Instrument Microphones using dedicated mounting solutions when instruments fell below frame. “The mounting solutions made it really easy for us to jump in and place things quickly,” he notes. “We didn’t always have a ton of time to make those decisions.”
Creative lavalier placement also played a critical role. In one scene, Welcker had the costume department sew a 4060 into an actor’s shirt cuff to capture the intricate detail of guitar playing while staying invisible on camera. “It gives us options to place microphones in creative ways and still have that sound be both consistent and sound great on camera,” he says.
In challenging reflective environments, Welcker often turned to the 4018 capsule for its forgiving pickup pattern. One particularly demanding scene involved a live guitar-and-vocal performance inside a vintage convertible traveling down a gravel road. Wind, engine rumble and shifting environmental conditions complicated the capture. Welcker deployed a 4017 in an overhead mount with a large windscreen to capture vocals, a 4018 with C preamp hidden near the vehicle’s gear shift for guitar detail and lavaliers for redundancy.
“We make decisions on set like, ‘Maybe we should switch to the 4018 because it’s more forgiving of reflections and phasing issues,’ ” he recalls. “We threw pretty much every microphone we could at that scene. It gave post-production the options they needed to piece it all together.” To further anchor the film’s sonic identity, Welcker and the music editor recorded impulse responses inside the juke joint using a DPA 4018 placed in multiple positions. “That way, even the reverb used in post was captured through the same DPA microphones we used on set,” he explains.
With “Sinners” presented in IMAX, the sound team, which also included Boom Operator Charlie Mascagni and Utility Technician Emily Poulliard, had to rethink their on-set workflow to protect performance authenticity while managing the unavoidable mechanical noise that is inherent to IMAX cameras. To ensure clean dialogue and musical performances, Welcker’s team recorded extensive on-set wild takes, with sound-only recordings captured on-set after filming a scene.
“Actors repeated their lines and performances without the camera running, which enable us to capture the sound free from IMAX camera noise,” explains Welcker. “We also had both boom operators holding mics at different proximities—one tight and one more distant, as well as equipping the actors with lavaliers. The distant mic captured more of the space, which was important for preserving the truth of the environment. This approach gave post-production significantly more flexibility to patch together dialogue and musical moments that might have been compromised by camera noise, as well as helped maintain the acoustic truth of the environment, which was essential to the film’s immersive tone.”
For Welcker, reliability is as critical as sound quality, and southern Louisiana presents unique environmental and RF challenges. “We worked in moist, humid environments and some other brands just don’t hold up,” he explains. “In production sound, equipment failure isn’t just inconvenient, it can cause serious filming delays. One of the most important things about the DPA mics is that they actually work when you need them to work. They also seem to be very resistant to RF induction, which ensures reduced interference, cleaner signal integrity and fewer technical interruptions on set. Having microphones that blend naturally and capture both presence and space makes all the difference.”