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The Sound Waves Chorus, a barbershop group, added women to the group.
COLDWATER - The Sound Waves Chorus has been keeping alive the barbershop musical tradition in the Grand Lake area for three decades, harmonizing their signature melodies to folks young and old.
While the old-timey style of barbershop has largely remained the same, the group in recent years has opened the door to female singers.
Sound Waves is part of the Barbershop Harmony Society, which was strictly a men's organization. About five years ago membership was dwindling at chapters, due to age. The Society gave every chorus an option to invite women into the fold.
Director Terry Liette said the chorus today has 17 members with a 50/50 mix of men and women. The ladies add good vocal quality and help keep the numbers steady. Recently, three more women joined.
"It's been nothing but positive," he said. "It's no longer an all-male sound."
Ron Hirschfeld was president when the organization began welcoming women.
"It's been a huge change that's been awesome," he said. "It's added a whole different type of energy to the group."
The guys in the all-male chorus were getting older, and adding the women has brought the age down somewhat. The men and women also enjoy bantering back and forth during practices.
Hirschfeld said the chorus added newer songs to the repertoire. Most of the old pieces are from the turn-of-the 20th century era. The lyrics and songs were largely from a male perspective and didn't fit with the female voices.
Carla Hirschfeld, Carolyn Pancake, and Joanne Foulkes came to join their husbands in practice and immediately signed on with Sound Waves.
Carla Hirschfeld had wanted to join a barbershop chorus in college, but they were open only to men. She's been interested in music her whole life and loves to sing.
Carolyn Pancake got to know the members first through her husband, Leon.
She likes to sing and said it's a nice group of people.
"It's fun, I love it," she said. "We have a good time singing together."
In choirs, she performed as a soprano which usually provides the melody. In barbershop music, she sings tenor which harmonizes. She said this challenged her and gave her a chance to learn how the voices fit together.
She said it's a special group of friends with a common interest. They will often break out in song unexpectedly.
She recalled how after one performance the members went to grab a bite. There was a big group in the pizza place celebrating the birthday of an elderly man. They went over and sang to him. It surprised him so much, he had tears in his eyes. She said they like singing to the staff and servers, anything that will make the workers feel special.
The members talk about the 'harmony' within the group. Member Carolyn Pancake says they 'have a good time.'
Joanne Foulkes' enthusiasm shines through when talking about singing. She, too, sang soprano in her high school choir and now sings during her morning walk and throughout the day. She and her husband sang at their wedding and continued to do so afterward.
She said music is something that's in her blood. It's a big part of her life.
"I absolutely love it," she said.
Her husband belonged to the chorus for 20 years. When women were allowed to join, she was excited to be part of what she calls the family.
Barbershop music is a four-part chorus of unaccompanied vocal music. It consists of bass, baritone, lead, and tenor. The lead sings melody and the others harmonize.
Liette said what sets barbershop apart from other types of music is the arrangement of the pieces. There is a very specific way of arranging the music, which includes a lot of "7th chords with a resolution to the 5th and the root," he said.
This is still the case for a lot of the old standards. Some of the newer pieces will have barbershop nuances incorporated into the arrangements.
It was a struggle at times to get men to sing the tenor part since it's the highest. Most of the women have gravitated to tenor. Doug Foulkes said a barbershop chorus generally wants to have more lead voices.
Since the higher voices are more easily heard, there can be fewer tenors. A group also needs a good number of bass singers to achieve the optimal balance.
There is no specific number as to how many voices sing each part - it all depends on the vocal range of the individuals and the strength of the voices.
Instruments are not part of the chorus; it is strictly an a cappella group. When members are learning the music, a pianist will come in to play and help the vocalists go over and hear their parts.
All songs are memorized for the performances. Not being able to rely on sheet music for the words and notes is not always an easy task, according to founding member Dean Schaller.
Liette said the group sings a mixture of songs and the selection depends on where the group is singing and the type of performance. Traditional religious hymns are sung in church settings. The chorus has a repertoire of eight songs built around the service for St. Mark's Lutheran Church near Wapakoneta.
Performances for living facilities will center around easy listening and show music, with some church songs. Residents commonly sing along to the old songs they know. Also popular in those settings are patriotic songs with the medley highlighting the branches of the military.
Sound Waves has changed more than membership. Recenly the group added more modern songs - such as the Everly Brothers' 1950s classic "Bye Bye Love."
Liette puts together the music for performances about a month in advance and chooses songs the chorus knows and are comfortable singing.
The group's annual show is built around a theme with new music for the chorus.
"Doug Foulkes is the master. He develops the theme, he writes the whole program," Liette said.
Doug Foulkes will refer to Liette on the music selection to ensure the songs are good material for the group. He then writes the script, including a monologue for the master of ceremonies. The show is similar to a stage play once Doug Foulkes completes the work.
The group was formed in the early '90s. Schaller is the only original member still active with the group.
Before the Sound Waves Chorus was formed Schaller belonged to Miami Melody Men, a group that met in Piqua. After two years of driving the distance every week, Lee Olding, Ted Wilson, Tom Thomas, and Schaller agreed to see if there was enough interest to start a barbershop group closer to home.
Schaller said at first it was sort of a novelty to be involved with a barbershop chorus. They started with 10-12 men and had no problem recruiting members. He noted at one point there were 50 members in the group.
Doug Foulkes said today members' ages range from late fifties to late eighties.
"I've been a member for 25 years and I'm still one of the youngest," he quipped.
Turnover varies, but when someone joins they usually stay for at least three to four years.
Seven seems to be the magic number.
"If you get them to stay for 7 years, they'll be here for a long time," he noted.
Schaller holds the record at 33 years with Sound Waves.
Liette was brought on as director seven years ago. Schaller recalled frying burgers for the Coldwater Kiwanis club at Coldwater Memorial Park, and on a whim asked Liette if he'd be interested in the position.
"Terry said yes, and he was in," Schaller said. "He's helped us a bunch."
Doug Foulkes and Carla Hirschfeld are assistant directors. This gives Liette a chance to also sing with the group.
Hirschfeld has been a member of the Sound Waves for ten years and joined at the urging of Ralph Stuckman.
"I was working at Ralph's home," Hirschfeld recalls.
Stuckman kept after him to join and Hirschfeld finally agreed so he could get back to work.
"After that I was hooked," he said.
A longtime member, Stuckman was great at recruiting.
"He's probably the reason three-quarters of these people are here," Hirschfeld said.
Bud Preston was another longtime member really involved in recruitment. He resigned from the chorus due to health issues and Stuckman is moving from the area. Both will be greatly missed.
Current president Leon Pancake has been with the group for about seven years.
He would sing when alone or in the car but never in front of an audience until he and his wife sang a duet with their church choir. Stuckman was at the service and approached him about joining the group.
Leon Pancake was familiar with the Sound Waves and admitted he would sing along under his breath at a performance. Now retired, he likes being involved with singing and enjoys the camaraderie.
"I still have a bit of a struggle finding my notes," he said. "It sounds so good when you are up there in the group."
Doug Foulkes said some groups are about competition.
"We are more of a community service oriented group," he added. The Sound Waves members like to have fun as a social group and serve communities. He said singing in the group is a good hobby and he's made some really good friends who share a love of music and singing.
Schaller said it's a good pastime.
"It's great when you hear a chord really ring," he said.
He noted it all melds together and is really one sound.
Rehearsals are 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Monday at St. John Lutheran Church - "The Purple Door Church"- in Celina. Leon Pancake said new members are always welcome to join and stop by to listen. "Anybody that enjoys singing, come and try it," he added.
His wife commented that being with the group is even more important than the singing.
"That's what keeps us together," she said.
There are no tryouts and very rarely would anyone be excluded, Doug Foulkes said. The audition only determines where the voice would fit in the group.
Sound Waves performs at a variety of functions - schools, social events, basketball games and more.
Sound Waves is gearing up for a busy summer. They'll fill in for various church choirs two to three Sundays a month and have a string of upcoming gigs in Celina and New Bremen.
The group will appear at the Mercer County Fair in August and the annual Ice Cream Social at St. John Lutheran Church in July.
Sounds Waves will hold its annual show at 2:30 p.m. June 17 at New Bremen High School's Dicke Auditorium. Entitled "Feelin' Groovy," the concert will find the group performing 12 songs.
"We are all dressed in '60s and '70s (styles) and feeling groovy," said Liette.
During the winter months Sound Waves sing at three or four high school basketball games, performing the national anthem and "God Bless America." They also provide entertainment at local nursing homes and care facilities as requested.
The group does not charge for school or church events.
Liette said the chorus is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. There is a board of directors, which includes a president, secretary, treasurer and two at large members. Monthly meetings are held before a practice.
Additional information can be found on the group's Facebook page: Sound Waves Chorus.
