“A bloody lunatic, I’ll even carry your bags…”
It started with a phone call to Bob Heil from Pete Townshend. “Can you build a quad sound system? I have an idea.” From that call, and subsequent visit to London, an artistic vision was transformed to something real that tens of thousands of fans could experience in a concert setting.
This was uncharted territory for both The Who and Heil Sound and the stakes were high. What Bob describes as “miles” of cabling had to be configured plus additional loudspeakers to be hung in the rear of the venue. More stage hands, more trucks, less time. And then there was that mixing console. Four outputs with quad panning for real time effects? As they say, the rest is history.
Check out the latest podcast where Bob talks about the challenges of doing The Who’s “Quadrophenia” Tour.
Bravo .
I was there standing, my chest pressed against the stage directly in front of Pete’s microphone and guitar amps, as he crashed his way onto the stage… and Baba O’Reilley began… AMAZING SHOW!!!
Saludos ojala pudiera recibir información o catalogo digital de sus productos.
It’s wonderful that Bob is sharing these memories with his many friends and customers. It would be nice to have them on videos, as well. I was never astute, nor wealthy enough to become a Ham operator, in my teen years. Back in the 70’s, we were just old CB’rs. I had soldering iron and used it to attach PL-259 coax connectors and to wire the connector on my Astatic D-104 microphone. I still have it somewhere, collecting dust. My CB radio died a long time ago. In the early 80’s, while finishing college, I got into deejaying, with vinyl records and cassette tapes back then, of course. I worked my way up to a pair of Klipsch Cornwall speakers and later added a pair of Heresy’s to my system, as well. According to P.W.K., “A little Heresy is good for the soul.” Believe it or not, they’re still working, over 35 years later, in my garage, at home. Man, if I had a quad amp, they would surely be something special to listen to “Quadrophenia” through. I did have a quad 8-track system, way back, when I was a teenager. Now I’m really telling my age. My son, a 20 year old college student, has been getting into deejaying and running sound for small groups at local events, hopefully to earn some extra money for school. He started out while in high school and at Church, helping with sound and A/V projects. A lot can be learned from listening to Bob’s podcasts, if he’ll just make the time to do it, without his grades suffering too much in the process. I’m definitely not letting him use my Klipsch’s. I worked hard for them. Being his Major Investor/Partner/Unpaid Roady, I/we, currently have a pair of Bose L1 Model II systems with 2 pairs of B2 bass bins and the supporting extra power amps. They’re much lighter, for someone my age, to handle than the Cornwalls. We’ve started our own collection of Heil microphones with a Fin, a PR-20, 2 PR-35’s and a RC-35 on a Line 6 wireless, plus a pair of Heil Pro Set 3 headphones, for him to use when deejaying. He primarily does live sound work for acoustic groups, mainly Bluegrass bands. We’re trying hard to get them away from their big condenser mic, which they like to plant right in the middle of everything. I’m hoping to get a PR-77 for them to try out instead of using their ultra-sensitive Audio Technica, “thing”. They like to step into and out of it, as they’re performing. It’s hard to get much volume before feedback with that darn “thing”. On live sound jobs, we run everything into a 18 channel Behringer X Air XR18 digital mixer, A.K.A., “The Block”, to us. Not knowing the sensitivity of the PR-77, and having only seen internet pictures of one, I don’t know if the performers will be satisfied with it. I’m sure they’ll like its retro look, but am unsure whether to just turn the gain up on the mixer or to put a tube mic preamp in line, to give it that warm, retro sound to go along with the vintage appearance. The Behringer mixer has a selectible tube amp effect built into it, which can be injected and adjusted, so as not to lose too much articulation and muddy things up. We run the block wirelessly, using an external 5Ghz router, which we control with either his laptop, android tablet or either of our smartphones, but for me, mine is smarter than I am. Your thoughts and suggestions on this subject will be greatly appreciated, along with your continued podcast episodes. “73s” to all of you, out in Illinois, this Holiday Season. Sincerely sent from Maryland.
Dear Bob.
You are the smartest, cleverest, most innovative guy I ever met.
You are always quick to share your knowledge with all the young bucks,
which I had been back in the day and still am! You are the most accessible Pro, I have ever met
and I thank you for that!
Thank you my friend for putting up with all my questions over the years!
All the Best.
Dan Penney
Who would have believed that a young organ player from Marissa Illinois who owned “Ye Olde Music Shop” would excel as Mr. Heil did? A brilliant man named Bob Heil that’s “WHO”….Apologies for the play on words, however Mr. Heil’s expertise blossomed, and the entire world (and the amateur radio community) are grateful. The Good Lord has blessed you and us as a result. Thank you Bob for all your fantastic accomplishments, I rarely miss you on Ham Nation- God Bless!
-73 from N9HLG, Plainfield, Illinois.
Hi Bob, I saw your “One Man Show” at one of the many Boxboro Hamfests. Yo showed do and don’t for a large crowd of hams, how to get high power and how to get the message through, not by high power. Thank you for your nice and very pedagogic presentation. I wish I had that one on video or know if it is available somewhere
Dr. Bob…..
I could sit and listen to you tell these wonderful stories for hours and hours. I know you are such a busy man with your business, Ham Nation, concerts, and ham tests. Maybe these stories could be transformed into more dock documentaries with video and photos.
Thank you for your contribution, not only to sound and microphone production, but also to promote music education to the world.
May God continue to add His blessings to you and Sarah.
Russell Decker, KB6YAF
I believe that my friend, Craig, owns several of the cabinets that were built for the Quadrophenia tour.