BEST SUPPORT FOR ANY RISING STAR!
As many of you will know, a great deal of my time is being invested in my daughter and her singing aspirations. I and her father spend a lot of time either accompanying her (or her dad acts as an unpaid chauffeur) to rehearsals for shows, the shows themselves and competitions. I am in fact, hoping that she won’t enter too many competitions this year as she has her GCE A levels coming up in May and June. It's all very well wanting to sing in musicals and it's great to have ambition but, it won't be easy. I feel it is very important that she obtains good solid qualifications in academic subjects as well as in singing and acting.
But whether she decides to enter any competitions or not in the next few months, she will certainly still still be taking part in several stage school shows. Also, hopefully she will be chosen to act and sing in the next big school production which will be held in the summer. All of these events will involve a lot of singing and words will need to be learnt. I have the job of listening to her read her scripts and she will also often asks me to listen to songs she is thinking of performing for shows and recitals, and also new songs she is learning. I am asked for my positive feedback. Although I am her mother I will only ever give an honest opinion, even if this makes me unpopular occasionally. Fortunately we have similar tastes, mostly.As she first got a real taste for singing when she was only seven and she is now seventeen, I’ve heard lots of songs; learnt many new ones, and become a fan of musical theatre. But my daughter is no Prima Dona; people are always surprised that she loves to sing as she is fairly reticent in her nature. In fact, in her earlier days it was I who suggested she join a stage school in the hope of improving her confidence. She is shy but loves to have a microphone in hand and to be on stage. The nerves, once she starts to sing, disappear.
Because of her hopes of pursuing a singing career we (her parents) have now bought a few microphones for her. The last microphone we purchased was as a Christmas gift for 2009. I should have, at the same time, bought a stand to go with it as there was a linked offer. I can’t remember what the saving was but if the microphone and stand were bought together, then a saving could be made. I think we hesitated as we weren’t sure which stand would be best, and my husband thought she wouldn’t want one. Really, I knew he was wrong. He quite often is!
The new microphone proved a popular gift when given with her other Christmas presents. And, after trying it out, she said she would really like a stand and would like to purchase one with some of her Christmas money. I considered this a good thing to spend her money on but stipulated that it needed to be foldable as we seem to be running out of space in our house. So we had a look on the internet for suitable stands and soon found the one I am reviewing which was purchased, as was the microphone, from Maplin.
Maplin is a nationwide electronics specialist supplier. They have many nationwide stores as well as having a comprehensive website. They will deliver orders. However, as I have a Maplins in my preferred shopping centre, I decided to go to the store to buy. This way of shopping meant that I could see properly what I was purchasing before making a final decision. This is my usual preferred way to shop.
Maplin staff can usually offer some advice on a prospective purchase (we have had some disappointments though!) but I really mostly wanted to make sure that I was buying a stand that would fold. It did. It does!
I purchased the stand at the price of, £24.99. Once home it was set up, fairly quickly. On purchase it was contained in a cardboard box and needed some minor assembling. It took approximately ten minutes.
Once set up the stand was, as expected, quickly put into use. On went the music in the form of backing tracks. Out came the microphone, which was fixed onto the stand and away she went. As to the neighbours, well I am fortunate that my neighbour often says that when the piano is being played or my daughter is singing she likes to turn the volume down on her television to hear better. Perhaps I should issue tickets!
The stand I have in my home is the black version. I am pleased that it doesn’t take up too much room. Because the tripod stand is low to the ground I can manage to push two of the legs under a cupboard so that it doesn’t dominate the room.''' When not in use for a few days it can be folded easily by straightening the three legs of the stand (or base)'''.
The boom can be angled easilyl, making the stand suitable for people of different heights. When not in use the boom can be put in an upright position. The whole stand can be put into a streamlined shape; thus a space saving design. But even when in position for singing or playing the stand doesn’t take up too much space and the slim design prevents it from dominating the room. The boom can be removed from the main stand which would be useful if singing and playing, perhaps accompanying oneself on guitar, or piano, perhaps. The boom can be removed by unscrewing from the stand, which then becomes a height adjustable microphone stand in its own right.
It is of a sturdy construction; the tripod base keeps it well balanced too. It doesn’t get in the way, as long as it isn’t left in the centre of a room.
One thing I do find strange though is, when looking at the website for this stand I noticed that it was stated that it doesn’t have a mic cradle and you would need to purchase one separately. Well, mine doe have a cradle which sits at the top of the boom. It holds the microphone and can be adjusted so that the mic can be completely upright (best for resting mode) and can be angled or turned.
So, if you too have a budding singer or musician in your family then you may like to purchase a stand for their microphone.
Here are some further details about this product or others available from Maplin, taken from the website, http://www.
maplin.co.uk/
• Free-standing microphone stand with three hinged legs which end 320 mm from the centre of the stand
• Provides a very rigid base
• Legs fold under for storage and transport
• Main stem is adjustable between 0.9 m and 1.65 m in height
• Sliding part of the main stem is clamped with a twist friction grip
• Supplied with an 83 cm adjustable boom, which can be rotated through 360° and set to the required angle
• Boom can be removed and the stand used on its own
• Both the stand and boom are threaded to accept standard microphone holders
• The microphone stand is available in two colours, black and chrome
Maplin Microphone Stand With Boom 
