colterphoto1 Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 The Klipsch company picnic is today and they hired me to bring in an all-Klipsch PA system for the live shows. Engineer Rick Santiago will have his modern jazz band on stage at 11:30, then announcements, then local legend Michael Kelsey will entertain until 3:00. Click on the link to see what some describe as the 'Cirque de Soleil of acoustic guitar' I've been slowly building this system over the past couple of years. We're not taking the BIG boys out like you saw at the Pilgrimage, these are a more modern stack but nonetheless, are classic because they aren't manufactured in exactly these configurations any more. From Green Bay Wisconsin, courtesy of my good friend and driver Roger, is a set of KP-682 and KI-362. And, being Klipsch - they SOUND FANTASTIC! The 682's have dual K47 18" woofers and are more portable versions of the current Pro Cinema offering the KPT-684. Mine have metal grilles (for those errant beer bottles), dual wheels on the back, and handles for easy portability. You just tip em back and they become their own hand carts. Matching these are the KI-362's. KI means Klipsch-Installed which are versions without fuses and carrying hardware normally. In the case of the KI362, these are normally used for installation in churches, schools, and auditoriums. There used to be a KP-362 but they haven't been made for some time. They're beasts to stack, but hey, I'm a big boy, right? I have added rubber footies to aid in stacking and plan on routing the sides for handles some day. Rounding out the All-Klipsch lineup are a pair of KSM-2 monitors, the 'Drummer's Dream' in Trey-speak. Found these from an eBay add selling just the horn/driver and networks. Called the guy and asked about the cabinets, he'd stripped them down for easy sale. No woofers. I drove to Columbus Ohio to save them. Stole two steel-framed K43's from my LSI's (because the motor board is routed and will hold only the older K43), added two metal grilles from Parts Express and have two KILLER monitors. Note that Trey and Bill Hendrix use these same units. The K601 CW horn and K65 driver have great clarity and you'd swear that it's a three way system. Add Klipsch's own house PA, the KP272 slant monitors and you have a 4 monitor stage system. I'll be running two monitor sends so the sax/keyboard player can have their own mix while the bassist and drummer enjoy a rhythm section mix. Housed in a 16 space Star rack case (obtained from grandson of Crown Amp founder), is a Mackie VLZ1604 II board, the classic rock and roll sound board that everyone knows and loves. Then from top to bottom: Furman voltage conditioner/rack light Alesis Quadraverb (used for vocal and lead instrument FX1 send) DOD 2x15 eq for mains (not really needed the Klipsch speakers are so flat) DBX 166 XL dual gate/compressor/limiter (used with insert cables for specific channels) ART Multiverb effects (drum reverb for snare/hat FX2 send) Lexicon LXP1 (extra effects) Sony 5xCD player for playback Crown PS200 amp (I use for all-purpose single amp situations) 3 rack space drawer for patch cables, duct tape, tools, drum key, etc At the stage end of the snake is a 10 rack space Star case (white, bought from a Chicago auction from the band Styx) Crown Microtech 1200 for monitors (one channel per pair of monitor cabinets) Crown Microtech 1200 for mains speakers (this will power all four of my KI362's but we're using only one per side today) Crown K2 powering the massive sub system Rane 23 crossover in stereo configuration at 190 Hz between subs and mains (we'd like a lower point but the Rane isn't setup to do that) Custom speaker patch bay that brings the banana plugs at the back of amp rack to Neutrik NL2 sockets for twist-lock connectors. Ashley dual 31 band eq for fine tuning the stage sound and avoiding feedback. Doc came up last night and we hooked it all up in the House of Klipsch parking lot and BLASTED the neighborhood. It was two pretty full pickup loads with milk crates full of speaker cables, mic/cables, A/C power and mic stands. It's all under the tent now and awaiting our 10 am setup time. Sound checks are set for 10:45 and we'll help the bands load in and setup where needed. Roger stopped by to help out and test his new LSI BG HF cabinets that he's building into a garage/touring system with some Peavy LF bins. His new HF sections sound fantastic, the K77's were sparkling. Even with a xover point of 400 Hz with the 682's it was a fine rig. Trey's got his big cooker at the shop for the hog roast, although it's going to be another hot day (90) in Indy, I'm sure there will be lots of COOL tunes and I'm really looking forward to meeting some old friends. That's all for now, got to get the soldering iron hot! See ya! Photos to follow (help me out Amy!) yer buddy, Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Very cool Michael.[Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Michael, Glad to hear about the Gig..............best of everything to you today! Looking forward to seeing Pictures of your Setup. Regards Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 can't wait to see the pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Michael: Break a leg, pal! [H] -Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 For thosewho were at the last Hope Pilgumage, this is pretty much the same sound system... [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I'd love to hear the setup and the talent. Wow. nice show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Just got back and gear unloaded (but not properly stowed away). To top the day I decided to sit on the lawnmower in 90+ degree heat. Got some nice pix, the show went well. Rick Santiago supplied an all-Shure mic roster (he used to work for Shure, soon to be Doc's Alma Mater). Great band including stereo keys, tight drums and a lady named Bethany on upright and 5 string electric bass who just stole my heart. Rick can blow a mean sax and played tenor, alto, and soprano. I bolstered him with medium vocal plate, large vocal plate, and some delay/chorus FX. There was plenty of PA, we could have done a crowd 4x this size with this PA. It was crisp and clean all over the place. I think everyone enjoyed the sounds. Particularly interesting was the the band doing a jazz version of a Cold Play song. That was very cool. Trey was in full stride, giving tours of the listening rooms to interested employee family groups. He jumped right in with a 2x31 band eq from the lab when mine bit the dust (ouch!). Thanks for all the help Trey. Prof Thump was in good spirits and just enthralled by the sound of our main attraction. He stayed til the end along with several other helpful engineering types. Thanks guys! It was a blast. Michael Kelsey played an invigorating set to a rapidly diminishing audience, finishing at 3:30 with abot 12 of us getting a very personal show including Michael ad-libbing song lyrics to people's names (I made sure that Trey's Kathy got a soliquey). His specially prepared guitar, effects racks, and monumental sheer raw talent and artistry were amazing. Thanks to Charlotte Mabe and the HR department at Klipsch for throwing a fun summer picnic. Couldn't have done it without you. Loved the face painting too Charlotte- and you did a sweet job on announcements. Doc's out getting some grub while I dine on a chicken salad... bet Iburned through 4000 calories today but sticking to the diet. Amy was buzzing around with her Canon and new lens, maybe she'll post some pics for us somewhere... I'm going to go collapse now... Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhendrix Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Golly, Michael, sounds like you had a great time. Sure would love to have been there helpin' out. Brings back sweet memories of roadie days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Brings back sweet memories of roadie days. In some sense, that really is an oxymoron. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsch Employees Trey Cannon Posted July 19, 2008 Klipsch Employees Share Posted July 19, 2008 We were lucky to have an extra EQ in the lab. When MC's EQ died it made one of the ugliest sounds ever heard. All in the monitors. The band never missed a lick. Mike squared did a fine job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Michael, That PA was Beechin! I think even Michael Kelsey enjoyed hearing it since he was in front of the mains more than on stage. He actually asked for the monitor volume to come down. In all my days I have never heard that. No doubt he is a guitar savant. You know I didn't hear the monitors or FOH feeding back even when Michael stuck his head in the mains with a neck mic on. Nothing like Cardiod Mics and experts like Colter and Dr. Who ringing out the PA. Rich Santiago blew me away with his band. He was nervous because they had not played out before as a group. He doesn't need to be nervous anymore. That was hot! Thanks to all for an enjoyable afternoon. Too bad more did not come to enjoy the roasted pig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 We were lucky to have an extra EQ in the lab. When MC's EQ died it made one of the ugliest sounds ever heard. All in the monitors. The band never missed a lick. Mike squared did a fine job. Doc didn't understand at first when I yelled (sorry Doc) UNHOOK THE EQ FROM THE MONITOR FEEDS! The nasty squelchy squeal coming from the monitors had to be horrid onstage. It certainly wasn't feedback. What I wanted was to just bypass the EQ and play the monitors directly but at lower volume until we could get it fixed. I still don't know how Trey came up with another eq so quickly, it was like he just willed it to be there and next thing I know the guys are hooking up a fresh 2x31. Understand that the band was playing nearly all acoustic instruments except for keyboards which had NO ONSTAGE AMPLIFICATION- so when monitors went dead, the keys went totally dead except for mains. I was shrinking with embarassment when the 'band played on', jamming to give us time to fix. This was after maybe one or two numbers, so they didn't have time to get up to speed. Thanks to Mike and Trey for saving the day. Very quick thinking guys, I'd crew with you two any day. There's some real stage talent around the Klipsch camp. Today we drag everything out of the garage again and pack it up neatly. Eq goes to the shop. Oh, and Thump, thanks for the critique during the show - I want to hear more kicking drum, now the bass is buried, where are the keyboards - I quickly realized that you had me doing the 'fader creep' wherein a mix engineer tries to make 'everything louder than everything else'. Nice try man, I just eased down the mains. But the kick was a bit buried, you're right. At the time we'd run over on the sound check and I had no compressors in the mix anywhere, just riding the faders. Thanks for your comments above. When you and JJ both said you liked the mix that's coming from a good place indeed. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I have been begging Michael to hear Michael Kelsey for about 2 years now. On a few occasions I have been lucky enough to even sing with Michael Kelsey and I will honestly say it was a blast! Think something unusual Guitar Virtuosos on like a "Windom Hill Records" meets Jazz, Rock, Fusion... OK, and add he can sing too as well as make stuff up on the fly... If you ever get a chance to see him RUN and do it.... do not hesitate to do so. I am sure he LOVED that big PA Michael......... It had to of rocked BIG TIME!! I will say it here.. Micheal loves Klipsch more than can be said. For him to personally donate his time and his equipment to a gathering like this without getting politically correct on a number of issues is amazing to me. He loves Klipsch and people that understand that and his passion for Klipsch, love him as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Awwwe... Ya caught me you ol' fox. [Oh, and Thump, thanks for the critique during the show - I want to hear more kicking drum, now the bass is buried, where are the keyboards - I quickly realized that you had me doing the 'fader creep' wherein a mix engineer tries to make 'everything louder than everything else'. Nice try man, I just eased down the mains. But the kick was a bit buried, you're right. At the time we'd run over on the sound check and I had no compressors in the mix anywhere, just riding the faders. Thanks for your comments above. When you and JJ both said you liked the mix that's coming from a good place indeed. M Usually that fader creep issue gets the best of them. Actually for me there was all this free wine out to drink and I thougth it was "Kool Aid". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Geepers, not even an honorable mention in Amy's Blog either.....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Did anyone take pics of your set up? I hope so... It looked great before you packed it up at your house Michael. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Sounds like an awesome party. Roasted pig, fantastic sound provided by MC. I really hope we can see some pics of Michaels rig and the musicians playing. Congratulations on an awesome job Michael with a little help from Mike and other friends! Sounds like it doesn't get any better sound wise. We should all hope to experience performances with such awesome sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 I took some photos, but computer's acting up and I can't load Photoshop to resize the monstrosities. Was hoping that Miss Amy took a couple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest srobak Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Colter> Get a copy of a program called xnview for batch resizing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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