Earth Wind & Fire Brings It With 1964 Ears

	Earth Wind & Fire

Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF), the iconic American band, has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, jazz, pop, rock, funk, disco, and gospel for over 40 years. They are one of the most successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 20th century. In September of 2013, they released their 21st album entitled Now, Then, Forever.

Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, three of the original members of EWF, along with ten other performers continue to tour the world with an incendiary live show. Providing on-stage monitoring for the band are new, custom in-ear monitors from Portland, Oregon-based, 1964 Ears.

A total of 18 sets of the Q Quad Driver were delivered for the band and the technical crew -- monitor mixer, monitor tech, guitar tech, and keyboard tech. The Q Quad uses four balanced armature drivers, including dual low frequency drivers, per ear and is tuned for extended low-end performance.

Terrence Chism is EWF's monitor mixer, having joined the group after working on The Jackson's Unity tour. He runs a total of 16 mixes with all but three being via the 1964 Ears IEMs. As can be expected, with a 13-piece band, there is a lot of sound -- low end especially -- originating from the stage, and in-ears helps tame that. Chism runs just three wedge mixes, one mono downstage mix for solos, one wedge for percussionist and vocalist Johnson, plus an additional sub for drummer John Paris. All of the remaining mixes are 1964 Ears.

The reaction by both the band and crew to the 1964 Ears has been unanimously positive. "Everyone loves them," says Chism. "Before we got the 1964 Ears the band was having a hard time. Their existing IEMs weren't giving them the sound and performance that was needed. Now I see the band being more relaxed, especially the singers, because they can hear much better."

1964 Ears is a Portland, Oregon-based manufacturer of professional, custom in-ear monitors for musicians and audiophiles. Founded in 2010 by Vitaliy and Anastasia Belonozhko, the company has equipped high-profile touring artists worldwide with their hand-crafted custom monitoring products.