Press

11.09.2008 - Quebec City, Canada

Sennheiser MKE 1 propels Les Misérables to new heights

Directed by Frédéric Dubois and staged in the recently renovated Capitol, Quebec City’s oldest theatre, this new production of Les Misérables has broken new ground in terms of its simple and direct staging, high-end cast, and audio quality. With 32 live microphones on stage, nothing was left to chance and the new Sennheiser MKE 1 lavaliere mike proved an invaluable asset.

Gino Quilico, as Jean Valjean and Geneviève Charest, as Fantine, appearing in Quebec City’s production “Les Misérables,” debut Sennheiser’s latest engineering triumph, the tiny MKE 1 clip-on microphone, designed to withstand moisture via an acoustically open stainless steel membrane protecting the capsule. (Photo credit: Érick Labbé)   With the new, tiny Sennheiser MKE 1 microphone unobtrusively taped to his upper cheek, Gino Quilico, performing as Jean Valjean in Quebec City’s production of “Les Misérables,” applies the finishing touches to his make-up. (Photo credit: David Cannon)   Playing the beautiful Cosette, in Quebec City’s production of “Les Misérables,” Myriam Brous-seau’s “match head-sized” Sennheiser MKE 1 delivers pristine sound, while remaining virtually invisible to the audience. (Photo credit: Francis Gaudreau)

Richard Lachance, vice-president of international development at Solotech, oversees audio production and managed the selection of the required clip-on microphones and wireless systems for the show. According to Lachance, “One of the main sound challenges for Les Mis was that the audio had to be 5 dB to 6 dB louder than the average Broadway-type show, resulting in an average level of 88 dB to 90 dB SPL. And for such a small theatre like the Capitole de Québec, this was a real challenge. So, we turned to Sennheiser and their latest innovation, the MKE 1 lavaliere microphone.”   Lachance describes how a unique placement of the microphones made achieving a higher dB possible. “Due to their super-small size, we were able to attach the MKE 1 directly onto performers’ cheeks with make-up and skin tape, resulting in excellent gain before feedback.” In addition, the combination of the mike’s miniature size, make-up and skin tape made them virtually invisible to the audience.   “With a cast covering a wide range of ages along with different singing and speaking styles, the microphone had to showcase these differences. The actors could not all sound the same,” continued Lachance. “The MKE 1 did a beautiful job of rendering these subtle shades and characterizations. The sound was just crystal-clear. Musicians and critics alike paid notice. The entire production was performed in French and the intelligibility was a hundred percent. You could hear every word, every nuance.”   Despite the considerable potential for the microphones to sweat out in the demanding conditions posed by Les Misérables, especially by the very intense lighting system, Lachance was impressed with the MKE 1’s imperviousness to moisture. “We didn’t lose a single microphone to moisture even through many weeks of performances,” he said. “You always hope to get a certain number of performances out of a lav before replacement. To date, the MKE 1s have ‘out-sweat’ other brands and are still going strong!”   Lachance summed up his experiences with the MKE 1, “We knew we had a winner with the MKE 1 during the joint Montréal/Quebec rock opera production of ‘Starmania’ earlier this year, so we placed our order for forty pieces to be used for Les Mis. We used the new microphone with Sennheiser SK 5212 transmitters and EM 3732 receivers. Simply put, it is a fantastic microphone and an outstanding, rock-solid wireless system. I believe the MKE 1 to be the most interesting engineering breakthrough for the audio market in 2008. It sounds crystal-clear and natural, just like un-amplified opera singers but louder. Nobody could believe how clean and present the sound was, including the musicians.”    The Sennheiser MKE 1 omni-directional lavaliere microphone features an ultra-small 3.3 mm diameter capsule with a flexible, moulded cable. Frequency response is 20 to 20 kHz (±2.5 dB), with a sensitivity of 5 mV/Pa and an A-weighted self-noise of 27 dB. The MKE 1 is fitted with a three-pin special plug for the SK 5212, SK 5012, SK 250, SK 50 and SK 3063 bodypack transmitters or available in a version with unterminated cable.

The Sennheiser Group, with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. The family-owned company, which was established in 1945, recorded sales of over €395 million in 2007, 83% of which were generated abroad. Sennheiser employs almost 2,000 people worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. Sennheiser has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA, and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, China, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as by long-term trading partners in many other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwick-lungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres).
 

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