FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, Ill. — Heil Sound PR 35 dynamic microphones have been selected by the Young@Heart Chorus for use in their stage productions and concerts. Four Heil mics are located downstage for the singers as they put a senior spin on rock classics such as The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now, The Ramones I Want to Be Sedated and others. The Heil mics were incorporated into the show for the first time at the Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles earlier in the year.
Sound Designer Dan Richardson, who has mixed Y@H for years, comments, “I was looking to replace our existing microphones and through sheer coincidence, Greg McVeigh who handles Heil’s artist relations had read an article about the group in the Los Angeles Times. He contacted me and arranged for us to try the mics. We immediately put them into service and haven’t looked back.”
The current performers in Young@Heart range in age from 72 to 88. A few have prior professional theater or music experience, others have performed extensively on the amateur level, and some never stepped onto a stage before turning 80.
Founded in 1982 at a housing facility for the elderly in Northampton, Mass., the group pooled their members’ experience to create a show that featured music, comedy and dance for a local audience. The group has since gained acclaim on an international level through annual tours and a self-titled, award-winning documentary film. The DVD, Young@Heart, was released in September 2008. They’ve also generated Internet buzz through member Fred Knittle’s rendition of Coldplay’s Fix You, which boasts nearly half a million hits on YouTube.
Challenges abound on a show such as this — not the least of which is the singer’s microphone technique, or lack thereof. On or off axis becomes subjective when the singer is in a wheelchair or attached to a breathing machine. Richardson explains, “My singers aren't very technical. There is a scene in the movie where we perform a show at a prison in Northampton. During the song Forever Young, Jack steps up to the mic, which is still positioned for the previous singer. He's perfectly happy to sing with the mic pointed directly at his chest. The Heil PR 35s sound great when you're on them, but their off-axis response is also useful. It's not that their pattern is wide; in fact, they're very directional. It's just that, unlike many mics, material coming from the sides still sounds good. They're audio lifesavers.”
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