August 10, 2016
Niles, Ill., August 10, 2016—From blockbuster films to the GRAMMY® Award-winning group Pentatonix, a cappella continues to rise in popularity. Returning for its second season, Pop’s Sing It On gives viewers a real-life look at the hard work, talent, and strategy needed to succeed on the competitive a cappella circuit. Sing It On is produced by Sharp Entertainment and CORE Media Group, with Matt Sharp, Teri Wagner Flynn and Kallissa Miller serving as executive producers. International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) owner Amanda Newman is its co-executive producer. John Legend, Ty Stiklorius, and Mike Jackson of Get Lifted Film Co. also work as executive producers in the documentary-style reality series that follows singing groups around the country as they juggle academics and rehearsals while vying for a spot at the Varsity Vocals ICCA.
To power ICCA performances for the competing a cappella groups featured on Sing It On, Varsity Vocals tapped Liquid 5th Productions to coordinate and manage a seamless audio production from start to finish—from the regionals to quarterfinals and finals. Liquid 5th is a leader in a cappella recording and production and Carl Taylor, the company’s CEO and chief mixing engineer, was tasked with choosing audio gear that could not only sound great during live competition performances, but also be recorded and mixed for airing on Pop. Taylor opted for 24 channels of Shure ULX-D® Digital Wireless Systems with KSM8 handhelds.
“The traveling ICCA competition takes place in cities with crowded RF environments, and we needed wireless mics that could address potential interference to ensure no dropouts,” said Taylor. “By using ULX-D in combination with Wireless Workbench®, finding available frequencies and distributing them is a breeze—it’s so much faster and saves quite a lot of time. The sound quality of the KSM8 also can’t be beat. Its bright sound and feedback rejection allows us to drive up the volume from the mics for mixing during the show without noise that would otherwise sacrifice audio clarity.”
The 24 channels of ULX-D are split across 20 performers and Sing It On emcees. Over the course of the ICCA tournament season, the mics go through the hands of up to 700 performers, requiring uncompromised durability. Each ULX-D system has rugged metal housing on both transmitters and the receiver—ensuring added endurance for the show. The system’s extremely efficient RF performance directly addresses crowded spectrum environments and enables a dramatic increase in the number of simultaneous active transmitters that can be on one TV channel with a rock-solid signal.
“We have been pleased with the Shure gear for Sing It On and our ICCA competition. The KSM8 has remarkable sound quality, ensures consistent audio, and lends itself well to a cappella performers,” added Amanda Newman, executive director at Varsity Vocals. “ICCA competitions are the real life ‘Pitch Perfect’ and it’s important that we place a priority on sound quality; and without fail, Shure has delivered.”
In addition to KSM8 capsules, two Shure Beta 58A wireless capsules are used for bass and vocal percussion performers.
To learn more about the series and to find your channel, visit poptv.com. To learn more about Shure Wireless and the KSM8, visit shure.com.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
