Join us for this special joint event with the Indiana and Columbus, OH sections
Getting connected in professional audio through internships in the fields of corporate AV production or live performance theatre with industry professionals! Join our panel, including:
• Ted Chandler from Markey’s Rental & Staging – providers of audio and video services to corporate customers
• Lesley Ann Fogle, AES Columbus Section Chair, Music Tech Internship Coordinator
• Paul Kavicky from CAPA, Head of Audio and Video Production at the Ohio, Palace, and Southern Theatres
• Jay Dill, AES Indiana Section Chair, Moderator
Join us for a discussion revolving around building skills, making connections, and preparing yourself to get an internship or job to kick-start your career!
Attendees check out the anechoic chamber used for design validation and prototype testing at Klipsch World Headquarters in Indianapolis.
Meeting Topic: Tour of Klipsch World Headquarters
Moderator Name: Jay Dill
Speaker Name: Trevor Gibson, Klipsch; Gary Mielke, Tech Rep; Stan Stivers, Klipsch; Trey Cannon, Klipsch
Other business or activities at the meeting: Notes about upcoming virtual career panel, information about Klipsch internships, and information about AES membership.
Meeting Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA
Summary
The meeting opened with host Trevor Gibson from Klipsch providing some history and evolution of Klipsch, started by Lieutenant Colonel Paul W. Klipsch in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas while stationed at the Southwest Proving Grounds. Klipsch pioneered corner horn loudspeaker design (which is still manufactured today) and developed a reputation for being a design-driven company, with a focus on quality sound. At present, Klipsch boasts its position as the number one selling speaker company in both the US and Canada, with an export market that outpaces domestic sales, and includes a number of commercial partnerships. More recently, Klipsch has rebranded as Premium Audio Company, as they now serve as owner or importer for such brands as Jamo, Integra, Pioneer Elite, and Onkyo.
Following the opening presentation, the attendees split into three groups to rotate through different sections of the facilities. The first of these groups moved to an outdoor courtyard area to view and listen to a three-speaker landscape loudspeaker system produced by Klipsch, featuring a half-buried subwoofer (unburied for the demo) and a network-controlled amplifier and DSP unit with 110° coverage area.
The second station took attendees back in the building for a look inside the prototyping and engineering facilities. The prototyping lab provides engineers with a full array of 3D printing and CNC capabilities for realizing models and testing novel designs in the adjacent testing facilities. The premiere testing room is the in-house anechoic chamber, built from a separate slab and resting on a coil-spring suspension. The room boasts a 24dB C noise floor, despite being mere hundreds of feet from a busy interstate highway. The room also features a unique door design with a corner entry via a four-sided spinning door mounted on an axil. This allows for differing conditions including hard boundary and anechoic conditions, all sealed with inflatable O- and C-rings.
The final station brought attendees to the listening lab where a set of Klipsch Forte three-way loudspeakers powered by tube-based monoblock amps, providing an exciting listening experience to round out the evening.
Indiana Section members discuss the design and construction of the acoustic diffusion designed into the exterior of Grand Junction Plaza’s cafe building with park superintendent Chris McConnell.
Meeting Topic: Technical Tour of Westfield’s Grand Junction Plaza
Moderator Name: Jay Dill
Speaker Name: Russ Hopple, IMEG Corp; David Wright, IMEG Corp; Brian McCullagh, New Era Technologies; Chris McConnell, Westfield Parks & Rec
Other business or activities at the meeting: Brief announcements were made about membership, membership levels (associate vs. full member) and the change in name to the Indiana Section was officially announced.
Meeting Location: Grand Junction Plaza, Westfield, IN, USA
Summary
The Indiana Section toured Grand Junction Plaza, a unique, new six-acre park in Westfield with multiple zone-based audio systems and a number of performance venues, all with integrated wireless control. Russ Hopple and David Wright from the local engineering firm on the project opened our tour with a discussion of the planning and design of the park. The park was envisaged with an ice rink, a smaller amphitheater adjacent to a creek running through the park, a permanent structure for a café, and a large amphitheater with a band shell. The ability to use the park for a variety of events, or consolidate all technical functionality to support a single large concert was considered from the outset, along with maintaining a semblance of acoustic support from the surrounding buildings. In particular, special consideration was taken with the exterior design of the café situated opposite from the main stage, which features a faceted exterior stone wall facing the amphitheater to provide diffusion. Chris McConnell, the park superintendent, joined the discussion and explained that the park opted to purchase all audio systems, with the main stage featuring L-Acoustic line arrays with smaller center hangs and front fills, with Danley and Renkus-Heinz all-weather speakers distributed throughout the park. The system is managed via a Q-SYS platform for day-to-day operation, and Yamaha CL3 connected via Dante serves for larger shows, along with a full complement of analog lines. The FOH position is connected through subterranean conduit terminated in a buried cement electrical vault, which in turn houses a stainless steel outdoor electrical box populated with Neutrik weather-resistant connectors.
The constraints of municipal funding necessitated value engineering during the design phase. The most impactful change was the decision to defer construction of the band shell. The shell included an enclosed area which housed the central machine room for network and audio infrastructure across the park. Brian McCullagh from the audio integrator on the projected described the changes to cable runs, including increased distances, caused by the move of the machine room to the adjacent green room building. Knowing that the rack room may be relocated when the band shell is completed, the installers left cabling to allow wiring to be pulled back to the original location. Likewise, rigging for the center array was converted to a temporary solution due to the band shell change. The tour concluded with listening to the main amphitheater sound system.
The 6 acre Plaza just opened to the public in Spring of 2022. Featuring multiple venues with audio systems permanently installed outdoors, the main attraction is the Stage Pavilion and Amphitheatre Lawn.
Representatives of the audio design team at IMEG Corp will be on hand to discuss the processes of the design challenges, as well as representatives from New Era Technologies for their part in the installation. We’ll also hear from the Westfield Parks and Rec’s as to the day to day usages.
This should be a very fun and informational event providing attendees with view points from the design, implementation and owner/usage at one of the regions newest event venues!
Indiana Section - Audio Engineering Society 