colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 More notes later but here's my basic checklist for the IndyFest 2009 weekend. Fun with Klipsch brothers- check Lots of listening to Klispch product- check Instead of just sitting around enjoying our toys, take them out and work them - check Help some great kids who have some real talent, put them on a stage with some great Klipsch gear - check No one gets hurt - ok, well we all walked a bit like Ozzie last night and 4 guys were sleeping with Rolling Stones at -10 on my system, but nothing major Don't lose anything - check, I think we may have come out ahead on a couple pieces and maybe blew a horn driver but we kept it all together The sound system for the most part did a great job and everything worked. We did have a gremlin that snuck in and will require some chasing to be exorcised. But when it was good, it was VERY VERY GOOD. The frequency response, the dynamics, dispersion of the system were just enormous. I hope someone took a photo of the whole stage because it looked awesome. Everything was in the right racks, we only had to repair a couple banana plugs on site, and we weren't really wanting for anything during the day. I'll echo the good professor's thanks to all my good Klipsch Brothers- Custom Steve came to Indy a day early and was very helpful in applying his skills to the final touches on the amp rack, even helped with some soldering when my hands wore out. He was huge in getting bands set up on stage, especially drum kits and the like. He was patient with the kids, attending to their needs, and never got out of sorts with frustrating situations. That last band with submix, vibes, synths, and a whole host of things (looked like Genesis or Frank Zappas gear on stage) was a real trial at the end of the day- and they got great sound too! He continually kidded me about my catastrophic weather forecasts (it barely sprinkled during the day, forcasts had been for scattered thunderstorms). Brian (NOLA) helped as quartermaster and made himself at home in my bachelor kitchen and did an awesome job of getting the troops fed. Brian was a great house guest and fun to have around. Ben, as promised, was pretty much just given a small PA for the second stage and made it his own. I think he learned a lot in a hurry as bands were showing up with drum kits and Marshall amps for what was supposed to be an acoustic stage. He had bands with submixes, effects, and other goodies and patched it all together and kept it running. He told me this morning that at the end he pushed it hard enough to pop a fuse in a KP250- yeah! That's what they're there for. Got it fixed and kept on rocking! Very proud of Ben and heard a lot of good things from the festival organizers about the job he was doing with the kids. Steve K from Chicago was familiar with MCM's because he has them. It was great to have another strong back and strong truck on board. Steve pulled my brother's 16' open trailer PACKED full of Klipsch gear, helped Ben, and just kept his permanent smile and positive demeanor on board all day. Thanks Steve. Glenn and Verna are always pleasant to be around. They were the first Forum members I ever visited and we go way back. They made sure to stop by this morning and say goodbye on the way out of town. Glenn kep the stage anchored, mic assigns straight, and helped me with my near-meltdowns when things got a bit haywire. Glenn was also very good with the kids on stage and he and Steve quickly made a great team of getting things setup and ready for sound checks. Roger- for his fantastic hospitality on Friday night and undying friendship. That was another great kick off to the weekend at your place. It was fun hanging out and watching Game 7 on your Upstairs system. Those Khorns and CW center certainly aren't any slouch of a system. I've never seen sports so dramatically as I did that night. Maybe it was watching hockey with Picky and Verna. Roger was a busy man Saturday but managed to stop by for a bit to enjoy the show and lend support. Mark- I don't know what I would have done without Mark's friendship, support, and technical help during the show and in the month preceeding when we were 'building the system'. There is a lot more to a proper PA system than just acquiring a mountain of gear. Mark helped me assemble amps and processing into proper racks, wire the speakers, and tune the system. Day of show he was right there from early morning until late in the evening helping on stage, mixing, troubleshooting (we did a LOT of this, more later). I would have certainly had a complete and utter meltdown without him. He continually reinforced that this was a 'shakedown' show. We certainly wanted to do a great job for the kids, and they were appreciative, but this was the inaugural trip out for me with a large PA of my own making so there was a lot of things that could have gone wrong. Mark lent support at every turn, and was instrumental in getting Klipsch's support of the effort and supplying some marketing goodies to make the day more special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Did anyone see my nice Tommy Hilfiger pink and green beach towel? It was hanging on my chair all day and I don't see it here. - AH Thump has it. Ben, I have your freezer packs in the shop. Edit- no I don't, you must have gotten them. Smart man. The coolers were mine and Rogers but we're MISSING ONE RED cooler (with pull handle and wheels) Who has it? M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 I was worried about you off and on all day yesterday -- it's not easy getting good sound with a big rig, and it can go sideways in a hurry. I'm glad it worked out! I'd like to thank everyone for helping Michael. My son's band "Pirates of the Glen", took first place last night and became the 2009 Project Rock Champions. They won $500, 2 days of studio time at Black Disco Ball Studios, and 5 hours of production assistance from Gary King Productions. It's a three piece band, and they took on some heavy hitters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Stage passes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 My son's band "Pirates of the Glen", took first place last night and became the 2009 Project Rock Champions. They won $500, 2 days of studio time at Black Disco Ball Studios, and 5 hours of production assistance from Gary King Productions. It's a three piece band, and they took on some heavy hitters. It sounds like you have a winner there with your son! Congrat Dean! Will we have a video link soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Dean, that's very c[H][H]L! So staying home to stuff the ballot box really helped then? LOL Here's what few photos I have from the weekend. I was a very busy man and just didn't have time to take many, which really saddens me. I hope a couple of our guests caught a couple of images, it was a pretty cool day. This is the second stage system, staged in the shop. Behringer board with 4 XLR inputs, DOD 2x15 eq and old QSC1400 amp delivering 300 wpc to KP250 three way Heresy-sized heavy duty speakers. Ben and Steve K took good care of this little system, setting it up TWICE when we found the little stage at the wrong end of their shelter house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Custom Steve stopped in a day early from a 600 mile trip on his new bike. It's a beaut. Here he is doing aircraft-quality soldering to some connections. 'It's only for the mains, Steve' says I. He responds 'that's ok, in my old job airplanes depended on me getting it right'. Ok- I'm good. Steve put together some connections for the PA mains, the fans for keeping rack cool, and the support legs for the JBL enormohorns. Steve knows hardware, that's for sure! What Steve is holding is my homemade 'solder buddy'. I took a scrap block of flooring and just drill a pattern for various connectors. So far there's 1/4" plug (drill the side of the block also, it holds the plug for easy soldering), and both ends of XLR with orientation marks and 1-2-3 labelled so you get the G-W-B wiring right. Nothing like having to unsolder a plug because you got it wrong (or forgot to put the shells on first! arrggh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Steve and Ben starting the load out. Steve insisted that we hook up the MCM's at the far end of the shop, which was a great dry run. We used the setup to test the 2nd stage amp rack, the monitor rack, the mains rack. All checked ok. We loaded the trailer in reverse order of the way we wanted to build the stacks, so the 'auxilary' speakers the KP362's and KP682's went in first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 3 down, 20 to go. Yes, there were a total of 23 Klipsch speakers used this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Trust Me. I do this all the Time. In my hands- a bundle of insert cables for the main board. These are TRS to dual 1/4" phono plugs used to patch gates or compressors into individual mixer board channels. A four pack of these involves 38 solder connections and I made two sets. Whew, that's a job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Done. That's about 2,000 pounds there in that trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 The load. Monitors, lights, and second stage system were in the back of the truck. Here we see front to back KP362's were in front of me, dual 18 KP682's MWM bins, MSM and MSSM horns, amp racks. Cable boxes and dollies to the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Klipsch alum Rick Santiago at the helm. Professor Thump providing antennae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 Rick 'Mr. Steely Dan' Santiago getting serious. Yes I pretty much know where every one of those wires goes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 14, 2009 Share Posted June 14, 2009 the ONE photo I have of the setup. I hope someone took some photos of the crew in action. [] I don't even have a shot of the stage or the park on that beautiful day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Here's Thump back at Roadie's, testing the power distro! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Michael: I looked at Verna's photos last night and she did get some of the stage, crew and setup. I will try to find time to post some of them in the Picky Report thread this evening. I should also have some screen shots that I can lift from the video I shot during the show. It'll take me a few days to process those. They will have reduced quality but, at least they will be something. Thanks for showing us such a great time, Michael. Thanks for leting us all play with your "Big-Boy Toys!" You sir, are an awesome friend. It was great to see you and spend time at your place. -Glenn & Verna PS: Ms. Rose says, "Hi!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 The coolers were mine and Rogers but we're MISSING ONE RED cooler (with pull handle and wheels) Who has it? Yes. I got my freezer packs. I have the red cooler with pull handle and wheels as it's one that I brought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 The coolers were mine and Rogers but we're MISSING ONE RED cooler (with pull handle and wheels) Who has it? Yes. I got my freezer packs. I have the red cooler with pull handle and wheels as it's one that I brought. Oh, my bad. I think I saw the one inside at Rogers. We just borrowed the grey and blue ones from him them. Nothing lost, nothing gained. That's the way it should be. Cool.Thanks for your help Ben, hope you're moving a bit easier today. btw, both K69's (drivers on the enormohorns) continuity checked ok last night. I'll plug things in today to assess any damage....[:S] Glenn, glad to have you on board and happy that there's a few photos of the event. Nobody messed with our amp racks with the Picky Security Force on duty LOL. I'm looking forward to hearing more of The Picky Report and reports from all the crew about their experiences at the IndyFest and crewing with Klipsch! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 This sounds like it was a very cool event. I would have liked the outdoor concert stuff, Roger's house, and the Klipsch visit. Honestly, I never heard an all Klipsch PA for live bands to perform through. It would be good if more pictures could be made available. I was involved in another "fest" of sorts this past weekend. I'm sure there will be a thread about it coming up soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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