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[Jeff Lelko]

Hi all, I found this neat video earlier today and wanted to share for anyone that might be interested.  I can't take any credit for either the video or the production, but did anyone here work on this?  As I'm still very much a learner when it comes to pro audio it'd be fascinating to be an assistant on something like this - so much knowledge and experience to soak in!  Hope everyone had a safe and successful NYE!  While NYC would be fun I was much warmer and drier working in Miami...

[Taylor Hall]

Very cool, indeed. That popped into my video feed the other day and was a great insight into just how much of a monumental production something like this really is.

[Tim McCulloch]

They're already building the Super Bowl broadcast in ATL.  About 30 days to put together, another 2 weeks to take it all down and away.

The NYE gig is fast in comparison.

[Taylor Hall]

They're already building the Super Bowl broadcast in ATL.  About 30 days to put together, another 2 weeks to take it all down and away.

The NYE gig is fast in comparison.

Yeah, buddy of mine that works downtown has been watching the trucks roll in over the past week or so. Between big sports and movie shoots downtown is a pretty happ'nin place

[Chris Hindle]

They're already building the Super Bowl broadcast in ATL.  About 30 days to put together, another 2 weeks to take it all down and away.

The NYE gig is fast in comparison.

It's rather amazing what we all do for a 3 hour show... At whatever level you're involved with.
Chris.

[Jeff Lelko]

They're already building the Super Bowl broadcast in ATL.  About 30 days to put together, another 2 weeks to take it all down and away.

That doesn't surprise me.  I know this company routinely does many of the top-level events out there, which is why it'd be a huge eye-opener to tag along and assist, and compare that to the level of sound reinforcement I routinely do!  I'd enjoy helping out on the Super Bowl just to admire the engineering and logistical planning that goes into moving the stage and system around so quickly for halftime.  I hear that a lot of the non-skilled labor for that is volunteer, so maybe one of these years I'll have to sign up!   

It's rather amazing what we all do for a 3 hour show...

Yes, and so few people actually understand what all goes into a show at any level.  I can actually one-up that when putting my pyrotechnician hat on - large amounts of insanely physical work all for 18 or 22 minutes of display!  The larger shows can take a few days (or more) to setup, load, and wire, whereas the smaller ones are a very long one-day operation.  Still all for just a few minutes of raw explosive entertainment! 

[Stephen Beatty]

My guys watch the Today Show. I shiver when I think of getting the outside music gig set up out there for a way to early call.

[brian maddox]

Hi all, I found this neat video earlier today and wanted to share for anyone that might be interested.  I can't take any credit for either the video or the production, but did anyone here work on this?  As I'm still very much a learner when it comes to pro audio it'd be fascinating to be an assistant on something like this - so much knowledge and experience to soak in!  Hope everyone had a safe and successful NYE!  While NYC would be fun I was much warmer and drier working in Miami...

Great Video.  Well put together.  That's a LOT fo editing work.

I love the name drops since i know all those guys.  Ben Krum is actually on here [Hi Ben!].  I think Brian Bednar may lurk here at times as well.  The other B's [Billy and "Bob"] are also old DC guys that i've spent a good bit of 'quality time' with.

It really is an impressive show, especially when you have to make it work in the Rain/Ice/Snow, which also can make it just Miserable for the humans that have to make it work.  Watching it all happen this year in the 'ick' made me REALLY glad i wasn't there in the trenches with them. 

[Jeff Lelko]

That's cool Brian!  It's not my video so I can't take any credit for it - I just found it in my casual Youtube browsing and thought it might be of interest to folks here.  I always enjoy seeing the behind the scenes stuff, especially for levels/types of production that I've never worked at.  The only NYE video I can take credit for this year is putting my GoPro Fusion in the middle of my fireworks display!  Leaning to edit 360 degree video was a trick...  At least in Florida it's usually only rain and wind - rarely snow and ice!  Thankfully this year was good weather, but I had my fair share of rain last year...including firing my Fourth of July display in the pouring rain! 

[David Winners]

I shot fireworks for American and Zambelli for 17 years. I can say that even small shows are a brutal amount of work for a 20 minute show. It's well worth it though.

I actually prefer small, hand shot shows. I like to be in the racks with a flare.

[Jeff Lelko]

I shot fireworks for American and Zambelli for 17 years. I can say that even small shows are a brutal amount of work for a 20 minute show. It's well worth it though.

I actually prefer small, hand shot shows. I like to be in the racks with a flare.

Nice!  Hand-firing is a rush, no doubt, especially if you get to fire larger product.  I love the way my face would wrinkle when hand-firing 6" shells!  I know of a few crews that still do this, though it's getting more and more frowned upon, at least in my area.  Most of my small to medium displays I'll fire manually via analog system electric matches and my larger ones tend to be digital preprogrammed, especially when shooting from multiple locations with soundtrack.  While I love the fun and simplicity of just lighting fireworks, I much prefer the added control of firing electrically which makes for better pacing and presentation in my opinion.  It's more work though and subject to additional failure modes of course.  Fun stuff!

[Chris Hindle]

Nice!  Hand-firing is a rush, no doubt, especially if you get to fire larger product.  I love the way my face would wrinkle when hand-firing 6" shells!  I know of a few crews that still do this, though it's getting more and more frowned upon, at least in my area.  Most of my small to medium displays I'll fire manually via analog system electric matches and my larger ones tend to be digital preprogrammed, especially when shooting from multiple locations with soundtrack.  While I love the fun and simplicity of just lighting fireworks, I much prefer the added control of firing electrically which makes for better pacing and presentation in my opinion.  It's more work though and subject to additional failure modes of course.  Fun stuff!

You and Dave stil have all you fingers and facial hair, right ?   
Chris.

[Jeff Lelko]

You and Dave stil have all you fingers and facial hair, right ?   

I can't speak for Dave, but I do!  The catch is though, when pro pyro goes wrong it goes very wrong, and it goes very wrong very fast.  Generally speaking, if a 6" or 8" shell decides to go off in your face a few missing fingers will be the least of your worries!  Even the little 3" measlers are still lethal if misfired, which is why I impress upon my crews that even though the stuff looks safe enough while loading, it's incomprehensible just how much firepower you're standing in the middle of.  I wish the general public would understand that too, and why we have barricades in place where we do.  I'd even settle for less aggressive driving by other motorists while trying to get the (loaded) truck through downtown Miami!  Those orange diamond placards actually mean something... 

[brian maddox]

I can't speak for Dave, but I do!  The catch is though, when pro pyro goes wrong it goes very wrong, and it goes very wrong very fast.  Generally speaking, if a 6" or 8" shell decides to go off in your face a few missing fingers will be the least of your worries!  Even the little 3" measlers are still lethal if misfired, which is why I impress upon my crews that even though the stuff looks safe enough while loading, it's incomprehensible just how much firepower you're standing in the middle of.  I wish the general public would understand that too, and why we have barricades in place where we do.  I'd even settle for less aggressive driving by other motorists while trying to get the (loaded) truck through downtown Miami!  Those orange diamond placards actually mean something...

I have a running joke that most folks that have worked with me have heard.  "All the best Show Stories start with 'So there was Pyro...' and end with 'He lived, but....'". 

I seriously only feel comfortable around OLD Pyro Folks with ALL their digits still attached.  I did a festival a bunch of years ago at a stadium in DC that had a bunch of pyro for the finale.  I was patch monkey for the broadcast truck, but i flat out refused to be on that stage during the set because the pyro crew was FAR too young and, shall we say, less than professional in their approach.  If there's gonna be a pyro show, the only thing i want "Lit" is the Pyro, not the Crew...

[David Winners]

Nice!  Hand-firing is a rush, no doubt, especially if you get to fire larger product.  I love the way my face would wrinkle when hand-firing 6" shells!  I know of a few crews that still do this, though it's getting more and more frowned upon, at least in my area.  Most of my small to medium displays I'll fire manually via analog system electric matches and my larger ones tend to be digital preprogrammed, especially when shooting from multiple locations with soundtrack.  While I love the fun and simplicity of just lighting fireworks, I much prefer the added control of firing electrically which makes for better pacing and presentation in my opinion.  It's more work though and subject to additional failure modes of course.  Fun stuff!

The biggest I've ever hand fired were 12" single break out of fiberglass mortars buried in sand.  It rained, literally all day until about 10 minutes prior to the start of the show. We had no time to squib and wire them.  I lit the match, dropped down and rolled up against the plywood box.

I got out of fireworks in 07 when I joined the Army, Field Artillery of course, so I'm sure common practices have changed.

Yes, I have all 10 fingers and toes.  The last shooter from American seriously injured by a firework was back in 1978.  I was actually a little kid at that show and saw it happen.  A 5" 5 break Grucci detonated in ground buried steel. It blew a piece of paper through his neck and mouth, removing a few teeth and half his tongue.

I have been blown flat to the ground by a bunch of 2-1/2" Ti salutes that broke about 6" (ok 10') above my head during a finale. I've had rounds from cakes (class C shit in a big box for ground effect) bounce off my head.  Had an old riveted rack blow apart when a 3" detonated, but we were safe and set up with the rivets out so no one was injured. Lots of close calls, but proper planning, setup, inspection and systems during the show go a long way to keep you safe.

Same for playing in the sandbox.

[Tim McCulloch]

The biggest I've ever hand fired were 12" single break out of fiberglass mortars buried in sand.  It rained, literally all day until about 10 minutes prior to the start of the show. We had no time to squib and wire them.  I lit the match, dropped down and rolled up against the plywood box.

I got out of fireworks in 07 when I joined the Army, Field Artillery of course, so I'm sure common practices have changed.

Yes, I have all 10 fingers and toes.  The last shooter from American seriously injured by a firework was back in 1978.  I was actually a little kid at that show and saw it happen.  A 5" 5 break Grucci detonated in ground buried steel. It blew a piece of paper through his neck and mouth, removing a few teeth and half his tongue.

I have been blown flat to the ground by a bunch of 2-1/2" Ti salutes that broke about 6" (ok 10') above my head during a finale. I've had rounds from cakes (class C shit in a big box for ground effect) bounce off my head.  Had an old riveted rack blow apart when a 3" detonated, but we were safe and set up with the rivets out so no one was injured. Lots of close calls, but proper planning, setup, inspection and systems during the show go a long way to keep you safe.

Same for playing in the sandbox.

One of our gigs shot 16" shells a few years ago.  I could feel the lift charges detonate and I was 1300 feet away, separated by a major navigable waterway... They used 4 of them in the show, IIRC, and were chrysanthemums.  An impressive vision filler!

We send time code for Pyro Digital via dial up phone lines - the shoot location has a heavy mechanical shop with POTS, and some how a dial up phone line appears next to my audio control location.  Interfaced with Gentner MicroTel on each end.

Verifying the time code at the shoot location is about as close as I want to get to the mortars.  Congrats on maintaining your fingers and brain bucket.

[Jeff Lelko]

I seriously only feel comfortable around OLD Pyro Folks with ALL their digits still attached.  I did a festival a bunch of years ago at a stadium in DC that had a bunch of pyro for the finale.  I was patch monkey for the broadcast truck, but i flat out refused to be on that stage during the set because the pyro crew was FAR too young and, shall we say, less than professional in their approach.  If there's gonna be a pyro show, the only thing i want "Lit" is the Pyro, not the Crew...

You're not the first person I've heard say that.  I have to admit that I'm in the minority here regarding my age, in that the first digit is still a 2.  I definitely agree that decades of experience can't be substituted by any classroom instruction, though I can argue the opposite too - given that things have really changed over the past 15-20 years (so I'm told) regarding both what's no longer permissible as well as newly emerging firing equipment/techniques, the younger folks have the advantage of not needing to "unlearn" bad practice that was once allowable on a display site, though historical perspective is always a nice reference.  Touching on sound, you could make the same comparison to those that have never worked on an analog board since digital is so prevalent these days.  Thankfully mixing sound isn't usually quite as dangerous!  I think a lot of it comes down to the maturity and discipline of the crew lead - not only knowing his/her stuff but also knowing when to say "no" when everyone else is saying "go". 

The biggest I've ever hand fired were 12" single break out of fiberglass mortars buried in sand...I'm sure common practices have changed.

Yep, that's a definite no-go these days.  Per NFPA 1123 (8.2.9) anything over a 6" must be fired remotely.  There are some special exceptions for 7 and 8" shells, but without getting into code further that's pretty much the rule. 

I hate those rain shows...  Been there done that - squibbing in the dark right down to the wire while wearing a garbage bag to stay as dry as possible.  Unloading a rained-out show is the worst, but as mentioned above, as the lead technician it's my responsibility to be the adult in the room and say no-go if the weather isn't cooperating or the product isn't ready.  If it's not right I'm not shooting - period. 

Those are some good stories though!  Most of mine thankfully don't involve a product malfunction but are more the nature of the random stuff you encounter on the road or in the field yet could never make up...as is the world of live entertainment! 

One of our gigs shot 16" shells a few years ago.  I could feel the lift charges detonate and I was 1300 feet away, separated by a major navigable waterway... They used 4 of them in the show, IIRC, and were chrysanthemums.  An impressive vision filler!

Those are always fun.  One of my bucket list travel destinations is to Japan to see some of the massive shell competitions they put on.  Those beasts dwarf anything we're allowed to fire here in the states, even at the professional level.  NYE in London would be quite impressive as well.  Your mention of 16s brings back to mind the couple of videos showing a 16" shell in Author Illinois being a dud until it hit the ground again a few years ago...  Despite the rare occurrence of such things, the indoor close-prox pyro, high power ebay lasers, and CO2 jets scare me more than the big outdoor display fireworks, especially when in the hands of incompetent operators.

[Dave Garoutte]

I was in Spain many years ago at one of the saint day celebrations.  Best fireworks I've ever attended, but they were set off overhead, so the cinders rained on the crowd.  I cant imagine what sort of damage a late exploding dud would cause.

[Tim McCulloch]

I was in Spain many years ago at one of the saint day celebrations.  Best fireworks I've ever attended, but they were set off overhead, so the cinders rained on the crowd.  I cant imagine what sort of damage a late exploding dud would cause.

Spain is like that.  Ever have a desire to attempt to outrun a 1400 lbs bovine with big horns and a bad attitude?  Spaniards do it every year...

[Mac Kerr]

I love the name drops since i know all those guys.  Ben Krum is actually on here [Hi Ben!].  I think Brian Bednar may lurk here at times as well.  The other B's [Billy and "Bob"] are also old DC guys that i've spent a good bit of 'quality time' with.

There was at least one moderator of these forums (not me) who was in Times Square for NYE, as well as several days in advance, running the comms system that would cue the ball drop.

Mac

[Pete Erskine]

There was at least one moderator of these forums (not me) who was in Times Square for NYE, as well as several days in advance, running the comms system that would cue the ball drop.

Mac

Yes, it was MEEEE.  We had 4 node Riedel system - International truck, Duffy sq stage PF stage and the Ball.  In addition on the stages we used RAD UV-1G comms for the stage managers and CrewCom 900MHz comms for audio had antennas over fiber at all nodes.  Best part of new years was the warmth.....

[Jeff Lelko]

Yes, it was MEEEE.

Very cool!  So for those of us (like me) who have zero experience or knowledge in that side of the industry, what exactly does all that mean?

[Benjamin Krumholz]

this neat video earlier today and wanted to share for anyone that might be interested.  I can't take any credit for either the video or the production, but did anyone here work on this? 

Hi All,
This was the first year in 6 that i was not working.. Recently had a child and wanted to spend the holiday week close to home.. I still worked a Xmas Eve Service and New Years Day for anyone taking notes!!!
So as stated the video was created by Steve Milner or DCSoundOP..https://www.facebook.com/dcsoundop
He does some great work and we appreciate the support.. He has plenty of cool product demos and lots of great content.
I would be happy to answer any questions about the build/ show if anyone has anything specific..
This is the second year that we have used the Focusrite Rednet products on the show.. here are a few pics of the Amp / Drive Rack Build.. Also one of the speaker pole aftermath..
Thanks for Enjoying..
Ben

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