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Indy Fest 2009 - The official site thread


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even got the company name on the poster YesCool COOL

COOL [H]

But no mention of Roadie's? [:(] Mang, you are the ultimate number 1 Klipsch Fan! But of course we all already know that.

So any chance we can still get some Roadie's tee shirts printed up? I've had an idea I've been meaning to sketch up for the main graphic but just haven't gotten to it. Almost did last night but I was up way too late as it was.

That is kind of a cool poster though.

Roadie's When You Wanna ROCK!

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GUYS- would you please check the list on Page 1 and confirm if you are coming and when you are arriving in Indy?

Mike,

I doubt I will make it over to Klipsch HQ on Friday because, well, I'll be at work. However if Roger is having everyone over at his place again that evening I will probably make that.

Saturday I will be available to help set up and hang out, as early as necessary, but I will likely abscond in the early afternoon (1-2ish) to prepare for and attend my High School reunion that afternoon at 5p.

Sunday I will hopefully be able to come by your place to hang out with everyone.

Looking forward to seeing all of you again!

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Ben, I give the glory to Klipsch.

What are your travel plans? You should come down and visit Klipsch on Friday if you can. Remind me about those Free Piezos when you get here.

I still like the shirt idea but running out of time and money. Seems like every couple of weeks I sent Parts Express $200 to get cables and connectors for building the PA. It takes a LOT OF STUFF to fill amp racks. You'll see. I mean, I ran through a box of 100 rack screws this month!

Thanks for checking in guys.

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  • Klipsch Employees

If we have enough roadies, I would like someone to run a headphone demo station. It would entail keeping an eye on the ipod and headphones and swapping eartips for clean ones. It is always good to address the target audience with products to sell.

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What are your travel plans? You should come down and visit Klipsch on Friday if you can. Remind me about those Free Piezos when you get here

I'm planning on coming down early Friday. That's a bit more tenuous as the company I work for has mandated that we all take 8 vacation days the last 2 weeks of December but it gets better, we've been very fortunate the last few years to get extra Holiday time off between Christmas and New Years as my teams clients are in the automotive industry. I'm grateful that we kept those extra Holidays as long as we have. Our work is financial in nature and it is month end so maybe we can work a day or two. Thankfully, I still have plenty of vacation days left as I've worked here for a really long time but a few co-workers who don't have 8 days left may need to borrow from the following year or take days off without pay.

So I'm hoping to hang out at Roadie's and/or HOK a bit until visiting Professor Thump and friends if that's OK? I have a Charlotte Church CD you posted I think to one of my Sweet Thrift Store Finds that you wouldn't mind having that I'm planning on bringing it if I can find it or don't forget to find it.

I still like the shirt idea but running out of time and money. Seems like every couple of weeks I sent Parts Express $200 to get cables and connectors for building the PA. It takes a LOT OF STUFF to fill amp racks. You'll see. I mean, I ran through a box of 100 rack screws this month!

I think the shirts would be way too cool but it's getting kind of late for that but probably not impossible as I think the 2 silk screen shops here in town can do things very quickly if they're not too busy but really don't have the coin and time to be in charge. And we don't have a design per se but at least a concept.

Had we pulled off the Roadie's shirts I was going to suggest we each kick in an extra few cents or buck and pay for yours. Anyway, I still think designing a Roadie's shirt for future use or for members of the Society is still a cool idea. Hmmmm maybe a small line somewhere Roadie's home of the Society.... (up too late and I'm drinking caffeine [:o])

I'm not sure I want to know how much ca$h the Roadie's PA is sucking up but I'm confident that it will sound amazing! Besides, sounds like you've got some great experienced assistance and are rebuilding things for the long haul. [H]

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If we have enough roadies, I would like someone to run a headphone demo station. It would entail keeping an eye on the ipod and headphones and swapping eartips for clean ones. It is always good to address the target audience with products to sell.

GREAT IDEA!

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If we have enough roadies, I would like someone to run a headphone demo station. It would entail keeping an eye on the ipod and headphones and swapping eartips for clean ones. It is always good to address the target audience with products to sell.

Excellent idea! Teenagers usually have the most disposable income .... I've long said the Image X10 is the must have iPod accessory (from a marketing standpoint). But now the new S4 and S2 models are very affordable. Money that many teenagers could afford.

Maybe a quick demo iPod or generic "earbuds" vs Klipsch. Maybe keep it simple. Earbuds vs Image S4. Maybe even let them compare against their own ear buds. Create a little buzz.

Even better if could raffle off a set of Image S4 or 2. Relatively inexpensive marketing. Klipsch mentioned from the stage.... maybe an announcement enter to win and the winner is later. Even better if Amy could create some coupons (code) to hand out for a few bucks off. Maybe someway to direct them where they could try all the models or at least more.

I would try to keep it simple though. No more than 1 or 2 models? If word gets out might need several people. One person per set to keep them from disappearing.

Maybe a compare these against yours and let us know what you think with chance to win? And coupon code or better even special webaddress... Giving something away would at least generate some interest. Collect some email addresses or maybe have them text an email address to enter or get on mailing list or even one time email?

Get 'em at least interested and know the Klipsch name... the teenagers of today are the big speaker buyers of tomorrow.

Give that boy a marketing bonus and make this work. Maybe a simple as a table with a Klipsch banner hanging in the front. I'd definiteily try to have at least 2 pair available at a time - maybe as many within reason as can reasonably safeguard the 'phones and any iPods but many teenagers will have iPods with them. Let them try them on their own equipment. No mix to make them sound better than they are.

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There will actually be a small 'acoustic' stage that we'll set up also so some of you guys can be soundmen there if you like. It'll be simple stuff like vocals and guitar mostly.

So I can pretend to be soundman for a few minutes? As opposed to grunt level roadie as in hey pond scum, move this over there. Yeah, back to where you moved it from an hour ago.

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If we have enough roadies, I would like someone to run a headphone demo station. It would entail keeping an eye on the ipod and headphones and swapping eartips for clean ones. It is always good to address the target audience with products to sell.

As long as I'm not liable should some twit manage to make off with something. See suggestions in my Coyteeesque length reply earlier....

Keep it simple. Let 'em compare with their current ear buds on their iPods. Take a survery. Offer discounts. Give away a pair or two or three.

Teenagers. Way cool 'phones. Get them to try 'em and compare. Maybe a start to getting kids to care about sound quality.

(the Reader's Digest version)

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Ben, I'm gonna do ya one better. You'll be given a pile'o'gear and told to set up a PA over there [points]. How bout that!

The acoustic stage is 400 feet from the main stage (and through a bunch of trees). That might be an ideal spot to set up the headphone demonstration.

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Ben, I'm gonna do ya one better. You'll be given a pile'o'gear and told to set up a PA over there [points]. How bout that!

[H]

As long as I get a few minutes in front of the main stage ... [:D]

Cool. I think I understand the very basic concept of things but I might need a bit of instruction or assistance. Sounds like fun. Could you recommend a PA for dummies primer? Sounds like fun.

(Of course now I probably just agreed to lug the pile'o'gear over there in an area that can't be driven to and provide the comical entertainment until the gut busting subsides or gets too painful and Michael sends over someone with more than a clue) If he makes it can I have Coytee as my assistant? I'm sure I'd end up looking clueless so who better than the Court Jester to help? Should I bring a hand truck? I have one that's pretty sturdy and good for solid ground. Vertical or horizontal.

The acoustic stage is 400 feet from the main stage (and through a bunch of trees). That might be an ideal spot to set up the headphone demonstration.

High trafiic area. Sounds like the perfect spot.

edit: This isn't some kind of old trick the new roadie wannabe into thinking he's moved up the food chain a bit, have i'm lug the old broken equipment in dire need of repair over there and then sit back and watch him try to make it work... or is it down the food chain? Banished to the hinterlands

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naw, we'll rotate through the smaller stage or let the festival people handle it. Two mics and the board/amps in one rack. Nothing should walk off there.

You turn this knob [points] to make it ONE LOUDER!

It's an acoustic stage, we'll show you guys how we ring out feedback and it'll be pretty foolproof [he says as the jester approaches]. Fun learning experience and hands on. You'll be playing through pro Heresies with HD woofers with a couple hundred watts per channel. Yeah that should do it.

Hand trucks welcomed. Mark it well.

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Ben, I think this little system will do just fine. At -6 on the board, the eq signal lights just beating to the music, the amp not even thinking about clipping- I just measured 122 db at one meter (indoors).

Dang, I might even get you a little analog reverb unit for that setup if time permits.

Gotta keep working on the gutters that the hail tried to rip off the house. Before it rains again. [st][8o|][st]

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Two mics and the board/amps in one rack. Nothing should walk off there

Well nothing should... but even an inexpensive microphone ain't exactly cheap. But yeah should be fine as long as somebody's there. But sounds like fun to pretend to be the sound guy. And not just a grunt roadie.

You turn this knob [points] to make it ONE LOUDER!

Hey. I can do that. Does it go to 11? 4 or 5 of 10 is probalby overdoing it I suppose? [:D] Can we hang a small cube speaker in front of one of your main bass bins or 682 cabinets - maybe take bets as to which hour it vibrates into worthless pieces (instead of well, just a little cube)?

It's an acoustic stage, we'll show you guys how we ring out feedback and it'll be pretty foolproof [he says as the jester approaches]. Fun learning experience and hands on. You'll be playing through pro Heresies with HD woofers with a couple hundred watts per channel. Yeah that should do it.

That was kind of a given... Aren't these the HOSS (as they're on a stick stand) that SCREAM! as I think you put it. I'm anticipating they'll sound awesome. Kind of weenie compared to the main stage but acoustic vs all out assault quality will probably not be much different except maybe the total effortless CLEAN bass the MWM and 682 cabs will be pumping out. Not really required for what I'm guessing is mostly acoustic guitar...

But not totally idiot proof. Belonged to a small campus ministry group in college that was going to put on a dance with another. Somebody allegedly arranged a sound system from the university in the student center. The sound system was a Rheem Caliphone (something like that) record player like we had back in our high school library. So I borrowed my roommate's and his brother's roommate's stereo (maybe my old Pioneer PL100) as my stereo was really junk though I still have the rat shack receiver.... nothing special ealy 80's Pioneer receiver and 10" 3 way speakers and Sansui receiver and 7" 2 way ADS speakers. Surprisingly good sound no semblance of anything approaching real bass as I turned off loudness control and backed off the bass and was pushing it hard so that the lights were dimming to the beat and a guy from the other group, a radio and televsion major who you'd think after a couple of years would've had audio basics 101 comes up and cranks the bass control... luckily I noticed him reaching for the bass control but it still cost me some cheap tweeters from McGee Radio (actually an upgade we all thought at even $4 a pop) and a new fuse or 2 for the ADS (whew, thank God for fuses).

The real kicker. The other group had access to a nice little Sure PA. Simple 2 speakers 15 inch maybe some sort of horn or ported (> 20 years ago) with large horn on top and mixer with one main one monitor output that blew away some of the junk that people paid money for. Sounded really good but as we used it for a similar thing but no real publicity and a dozen to 20 other students.... Kind of sad. We had another such effort where they hired a "real" DJ that tried to sing or rap along using like 2 little cheap rat shack speakers - the 2 8 inch "bass" drivers with shiny mylar dust caps and either a rectangular piezo or 3 of the square piezo's on top. Severly overdriven... sounded MUCH worse than a decent boombox.... and the place was packed... and one of the other groups sponsors actually commented "isn't this better" - no work for us (me really) (heck no, what's the point of a dance if it's 50% or more distortion I said rap or sing earlier as you couldn't really tell so I guess a lot of teens / young 20's back then didn't care about sound either, though it seemed that a lot more did

sorry - back on topic so the Court Jester is going to make it after all?

Hand trucks welcomed. Mark it well.

Already is. But I'll probably freshen it up a bit and wrap a few bands of whatever non-grey duct tape we have at home (blue?) or maybe buy some bright yellow or orange. Sure helps to quickly id the checked airline baggage. I think I have a bicyle cable or 2 I still have keys for if there's the ability to chain anything valuable to something nearby so we don't have to watch it as closely... Or chain the Court Jester to a tree in the woods...(JK)

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Gotta keep working on the gutters that the hail tried to rip off the house. Before it rains again. StormSuper AngryStorm

I gotta finish the one's I put back up on the front (seal up the seams) that I had to take off to reinstall the soffit that got blown inwards. A few dollars in that for some gutter sheet metal screws as I had some wood and screws to reinstall the soffit and < $30 to replace some fascia that the siding/roofing/general home repair dude wanted $685 for. Took a few hours but still well under $100 in materials. Too bad I don't have the money I saved to spend...

[:$] I got gutters to reinstall that got blown down / fell dwon last fall or earlier.... Aluminum guttering with gutter nails... The gutter screws I've found work much better.

Could we use a small step ladder / step stool? I got a pretty sturdy 3 step stool that's quite handy. The 3rd step is more of a small platform. And 8 and 12 foot fiberglass - the 8' might fit in the Grand Caravan if we could use such a thing. Fiberglas type 1A (300 lb duty rating). Don't think I want to strap the 12' on top though I could if we're really desperate for such. Should ride pretty well on the luggage rack. (things to chain to something when finished with)

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Good morning guys, still a lot to do for the weekend. I've met with the organizers, got the poster, set list for main stage, and helped put together BAND INSTRUCTIONS (which hopefully they'll follow). We're gonna shoot for 15-20 minute set changes so by the end of the day we'll be a well-oiled (and well-sweaty) machine!

I've emailed anyone who expressed any interest in attending and would like everyone to please check in here. Reason is we're planning on buying enough picnic goods to take care of crew on Saturday afternoon in the park. See 'about food' thread for input there. If we can keep a grille going for a couple of band sets, everybody should be able to rotate in backstage and get fed and hang out a bit. More on that on that thread.

To reiterate the schedule:

Thursday- final equipment check, hopefully load the trailer at Colter's.

Friday early - hang out, listen to whatever you want (vinyl on Jubilees anyone?). Quartermaster team will pack picnic for concert

Friday 3-5- visit Klipsch Engineering for listening tour with Mark Blanchard, Senior Engineer

Friday night- it's movies, popcorn, pizza and fun with Roger (IndyKlipschFan) about 20 minutes from HOK.

Saturday 8:00 - load out to BR park as early as physically possible- what do ya figure- 2 hours max setup?

Sat 10:00 - Main Stage sound check, set up second stage

Sat 11-7 Concert in the park (a scant 3 miles from House of Klipsch)

Sat night - Some Guys Pizza, collapse at Colter's after the show, unload (if we can). Campfire, fellowship & cigars.

Sunday - more listening and recovery. Say goodbye.

I'm IN! Looking forward to seeing old Klipsch brothers and meeting some new ones.

Michael

Band_Instructions.pdf

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On a more personal note...

I saw part of the movie 'Bucket List' while in a hotel room in Little Rock AR a few weeks back. Loved it so much that I checked it out the next day. Fantastic stuff, if you haven't seen it, please do so. It's about the list of things that you plan to do before you 'kick the bucket'. Here's my story:

I grew up near Broad Ripple Park where this concert will take place. My dear Mom used to take us boys there nearly every day in the summer for swimming lessons. In my teens I hung out there with friends and attended the WNAP Raft Race concerts every summer about this time. There, under the same shelter house that we're playing to, I saw the likes of local heros Faith and Road Master. I think Star Castle appeared once but my memory of some years is foggy. A lot of local rockers were in the scene then. I recall always being up close to the stage and just being in awe at the stacks of gear they had and how cool music sounded outdoors.

Some years later I was reading some old newsletters from a company I worked for in my early 20's. In it someone had interviewed employees about their aspirations for the future. My statement was something about 'have a huge PA system and working with lots of musicians'. A couple years after that I did get to work for a local sound company, Calliope Sound (now Indy Pro Audio), but the dream was lost after that. My careers turned from building supply delivery to accounting, carpentry to photography, eventually leading me back to Klipsch Audio. I always dreamed about that 'roadie' life and never had the guts to really go for it.

Next Saturday, playing music at Broad Ripple Park through my PA system is kinda one item on my bucket list. I've collected and built up a pretty substantial sound system over the past few years. I've lovingly restored most of the Klipsch speakers that you'll hear. For me, next weekend is returning back to music which always was my first love and never left my side during all my trials of the past decade. My life has always wanted to be about music. I'm happy to have the chance to do this little volunteer concert and to have great friends to share the adventure with.

So you see, for me, this is much more than just a show.

Today I'm a greatful man.

Peace my brothers,

Michael

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