John McEuen, Bill Cosby, and The Diz!

September 8, 2011 in Updates

Thanks again to show friend and music legend John McEuen!  Here’s another story he’s sent us to share.   This one involves show business legends Bill Cosby and Dizzy Gillespie.  Check it out – in John’s own words:

Carnegie Hall!  Finally got far enough out of Orange County to get to Carnegie. For our first time (of 4) there we were co-billed with Mr. Cosby, in the middle of a two-week tour with him. Bill knew music, and would open for us for 10 minutes , and then bring the band out for our show before his real set. To do this smoothly, he asked that I show him how to saw a simple bowing pattern on the fiddle, just on two open strings. He’d pick up my fiddle and do the bow sawing to kick off Jambalaya, and it worked great. “Hey boys, welcome to the stage.. here.. let me get you started” and he would exit, giving the audience a nice segue into something they likely did not want to see. (I always figure that with most audiences only _ of the people want to see what is on stage.. and they brought the other _).

 

But this night, our first big and most important NYC show, he had this friend…  he wanted him to sit in with us.

Barely out of the box as a band, our big night was already enough for us to handle. After sound check, Cosby came in to the dressing room to add fuel to the fidgets:

“If you boys don’t mind, I’d like to have an old friend sit in on a song with you.”
“No problem. What’s the song?” I asked.
“Just a regular 12 bar blues type of song, and he’ll fit right in… probably in the key of E.”
Thinking it would be good if his friend was a better player than him, I inquired:
“Who is it?”
“Dizzy Gillespie. He’ll do fine.” Yes, Bill, he’ll do fine.

It was one of those evenings that sounds like a fake story, a fabrication, like my whole life seems at times. I often drive through small mid-west towns and am positive the people walking around them are actors, set up to portray small town life. Even in the Big Apple it seems there are roles cast and people filling them:
The guy playing drumsticks on the sidewalk at midnight.
Three-card monte game on a cardboard box, the dealer harvesting the green from those who are green.
The guys who run the Going Out of Business! store in Times Square for the past 15 years.
The waitress at the Stage Deli who barely has the time to take an order, doesn’t write it down, and the food comes before you know it.

Bill did his intro, brought us out, and after Jambalaya, he came back out and then introduced Dizzy… as the horn man walked out, the crowd went nuts, and we hadn’t even played a note with him yet. I had not yet felt the impact of what it was like to be around someone with a longtime national career, and never forgot this reaction. Standing up there dizzy in Dizzy’s applause, I have never forgotten. It seemed we were in an old faded black and white photo with yellowing edges from some old showbiz agent’s desk, some forgotten show where the famous horn man sat in with some unknown band (‘… yeah, buddy.. that was a great night…shoulda been there..”)… and I was the out of focus guy.

As I remember, it seemed difficult to remember what an E chord looked like when those puffy cheeks were blowing his historic notes right beside me. But, ‘we’ went over great.

Wow and thanks again John for sharing your innermost thoughts with us!    Check back here for more stories from John McEuen soon!

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Laura Clapp Davidson Rocks The Voice!!

August 25, 2011 in Updates

Laura ClappPeeps! Check out and vote for Laura Clapp (now known at Laura Clapp Davidson)!  She’s in the running to be on The Voice TV show.  One of the most pleasing and listenable voices we’ve heard, you can check out her singing and vote for her (free!) by clicking on this link – www.wkyc.com/thevoice

NAMM 2008 Photo by Verophoto.comShe has been a friend of the show and a customer of Kenny Kenny’s for a long time and is Marketing Manager and a vocal products specialist for TC Electronic.   Sweetwater’s been blessed by many performances of Laura’s when she’s been demonstrating the TC Electronic vocal effects processors (more on those here later!) and we think her great stage presence and wonderful voice are a big reason that the TC stuff is such a hit!  (OK> Besides the fact that they are amazing vocal processors too!)

Also you can check her out on her homepage too by clicking here – http://www.lauraclapp.com

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University of Miami MMI 240 Music Technology

August 3, 2011 in Updates

Hey, with special cooperation we have secured a killer deal for all University of Miami Music Technology students!  It’s the gear bundle that’s required for MMI 240 and the whole bundle is only $332, including Free Shipping and full technical support!  (Requires current Student ID.)

Just call Kenny Kenny at Sweetwater at 800 222 47000, ext 1270, or Matt Wood at 800 222 4700, ext. 1259 and they will fill you in on the details.  Or Click Here to see the full deal and enjoy!

Also Good Luck in your class,  Dr. Marsh is a great teacher, and you must LISTEN to Learn!  :)

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SurgeX takes over TheK2BShow studios!

June 14, 2011 in Updates

The SurgeX SX1115RT, Protection You Can Count On!

We are SO excited!  TheK2BShow studios are located in NE Indiana and man, do we have a lot of lightning storms.  Every time one looms large on the horizon our hearts sink a little bit worrying about the multiple surges that are inevitable with thunderstorms.  We’ll never forget the time we had to replace the 46″ LED flat-panel TV because the ‘surge suppressor’ we had on it as well as the UPS we had in line failed and allowed a lightning-induced surge to flow freely into the TV, thereby frying it.  We never understood why that happened, until we found out about sacrificial MOVs.  Through Sweetwater, we have stumbled onto a new solution so we don’t have to worry anymore about all our great (and sometimes irreplaceable) sensitive electronic gear and computers and hard drives.

A new player to the musician’s market SurgeX® is a company that makes superior power protection and also power sequencers.  The main point with these devices is that they are NON-sacrificial.  That is to say that the units do not ‘fry themselves’ to protect the gear downstream.  The SurgeX® products take the power surges and, instead of using (like most of the other products in this category) self-sacrificing M.O.V.s (Metal Oxide Varistors) the SurgeX® units literally absorb the surge into its patented circuitry, using “Series Mode” (in their words, they “block and contain” surges).  See more about the damage and problems of sacrificial (MOV) power protection on the SurgeX site by clicking here.

Series Mode® protection is used in every SurgeX® power protection product.  Also click here to read the white paper about Series Mode® power protection used by SurgeX®, written by Andy Benton, Director of Engineering at New Frontier Electronics, Inc.

The 'I've Already Got A Surge Suppressor In My Rack' solution SA15

If you are like us and already own several ‘power protector’ rack units for your live and studio racks, have no fear – you don’t have to sell, donate or throw them away.  Use them for power distros in your rack, downstream from one of these SA15 babies (or downstream from a SX1115).  The SA15 contains the same great non-sacrificial power protection as the SX1115 units and it’s in a form factor that mounts nicely in the bottom back or side of a rack.  Then all you do is plug in your former power protection (the MOVs in it may already already fried, but you don’t know it!) into the SA15, turning your existing unit from a potentially non-functional power protector into a power distributor that boasts complete and fully functional power protection that only SurgeX® can provide!

SurgeX® feels so confident in their power protection that they have guaranteed each unit for 11 years!  ELEVEN YEARS!!!  (It says 10 years on their website and that will be updated and it does say 11 years in the manual that comes in the box.)

So Now For The Really Great Part!

TheK2BShow has acquired enough SurgeX® to power protect all around the studios so we can test out the theory of non-sacrificial protection for ourselves!

We’ll be incorporating the SurgeX® SX1115RT, SX1115, and SA15 into the studios, superceding the more traditional old-style MOV self-sacrificing devices that we had in place prior to our discovering SurgeX®.  We’ll be doing a video shoot of the whole process and posting it here so you can see what’s involved and also the results, so check back for that.  Since we’ll be using the older pre-existing units as power distros, any audio filtering and AC-line cleanup that they provide will still be active.  Pretty slick, eh?  Since the existing units we have are using MOV sacrificial technology, we can’t really tell if they are providing good surge protection or not. Read more about how ordinary MOVs work (when they haven’t been sacrificed) by clicking here.

SurgeX® is the leader in the industrial, commerical and residential power protection markets.  They provide protection for Warner Bros., MTV, Clair Brothers, NASA, Library of Congress, MGM Grand, Harvard, FBI, Carnegie Hall, United Airlines and on and on and on.  All the smart people are using SurgeX® and are sleeping well!  :)  You owe it to your gear to check it out!   Click here to check out all the smart people using SurgeX®.

The XF2 - a slim flat panel solution from the Residential line.

About the company – in 1995, SurgeX® introduced the new type of surge protection technology called Series Mode®,which blocked and contained surge energy without the use of any sacrificial or diversionary components and did not contaminate the safety ground. (See more in-depth info about Series Mode in the link above).  Improving upon the original technology, Advanced Series Mode with zero let-through technology was introduced in 2005. This, along with other proprietary technologies such as Impedance Tolerant® EMI/RFI filtering, SurgeX ICE®, and COUVS® Catastrophic Over/Under Voltage Shutdown, differentiate SurgeX products from all other power conditioning products.  Click here to learn more about the company itself.

OK!  Now you know, now you CAN truly protect your gear from surges.  And only with SurgeX®!

A word to the wise – If you are doing new or remodeling construction, commercial or residential, ask your contractor to install SurgeX at the infrastructure-level.  You’ll be glad you did!

Also, they have provided a really cool (and well-needed) white paper on general studio electricity fundamentals and grounding, written by Jim Brown of Audio Systems Group, as well as a ton of other really useful articles and charts about power protection.  Here’s a listing of them, clickable. -

Document Title – HTML Download PDF
Power Conditioning Glossary PowerConditioningGlossary.pdf – 26K
Power and Grounding for Audio and Audio/Video Systems
A White Paper for the Real World written by Jim Brown of Audio Systems Group, Inc
PowerGround.pdf – 497K
What is True Series Mode® Surge Protection?
Explains the differences between True Series Mode surge protectors and other types of surge protectors, with emphasis on the problems that will be encountered if the wrong type of surge protector is used on a branch circuit.
10001.pdf – 181K
SURGEX Product Selection Guide
This chart provides a complete listing of SurgeX models, features, voltage and amperage to help you select the right SurgeX product for your particular application.
10003.pdf – 74K
Surge & Transient Protection for Telephone, CATV & Satellite Services
This application brief outlines how telephone, cable, & satellite services enter a building and how these services should be properly installed and connected to protect connected equipment from lightning & man-made surge and transient damage.
12002.pdf – 298K
Global Voltage Chart
Worldwide voltage reference chart – for your convenience
10002.pdf – 121K
SURGEX Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 11002.pdf – 12K
How Ordinary Surge Protectors Work
Diagram showing a typical MOV based surge suppressor
22001.pdf – 42K
SURGEX Series Mode Technology
Considers the different type of equipment that can benefit from SurgeX protection
82001.pdf – 174K
The Truth About MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistors)
Lists the facts about MOVs
92001.pdf – 206K
Why Shunt Powerline Surge Suppressors Don’t Work
Technical discussion and computer simulation showing why shunt-mode surge suppressors don’t protect switching power supplies
23001.pdf – 189K
Will My Surge Suppressor Work?
Discusses in detail the testing and classification of surge protectors
33001.pdf – 1,235K
SURGEX ICE® Inrush Current Elimination®
SurgeXICE solves an old problem and also provides an innovative new approach to power control for large systems
10001_ICE.pdf – 50K

SurgeX products are available at Sweetwater now!

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Omigosh! New Focal SM9 monitors RAWK! (while being accurate!)

June 1, 2011 in Gear, Music, Updates

The Focal SM9 is the only monitor we know of that is designed to be a loud, ultra-accurate and musical sounding 3-way monitor with an additional 2-way monitor built in.

In the 3-way mode (which also has an 11″ passive radiating woofer on it’s top side – similar to the $15K/pair SM11s) the cleanliness and detail are stunning, all the way to the 108 db that we heard them at!  Really!  The published specs (in and of itself a revolution in published specs for studio monitors!) max the volume at 116db, but honestly at 108 db (in a beautifully-treated acoustic space) it was already too darn loud for our ears, although we detected zero distortion.  Totally amazing to hear that kind of clarity and freshness at that kind of volume.  Focal demoed them for the Sweetwater sales engineers on Tuesday morning and all were blown away.  Also at nominal and low levels the perspicuity is still amazing as expected from a Focal.   And now you know a new word too!  :)
The 2-way switch disables the powered woofer and turns the Focal into an alternative monitor that is similar to other small powered 2-ways.  Also, the wattage changes at that point from 600 watts total in the 3-way config. to 200 watts per each 2-way speaker.  The design and construction are such that the stereo imaging maintains integrity between the 3-way and 2-way monitoring as well.  In the 2-way mode, we heard a considerable lessening of the volume (ok, that’s reasonable 600 watts and 3 speakers vs. 200 watts and 2 speakers) and the passive radiator did not move hardly at all.  The 2-way mode gives an excellent reference for small speaker systems and consumer systems.

OK and the bass!  That’s where the ‘Omigosh!’ comes from really.  To hear the full richness of the 11″ radiator in harmony with the 3-way powered speakers is a joy to behold.

ALSO these two features (2- / 3- way and passive radiator) really reduce the footprint normally required to produce this kind of sound.  Really one would have to have two sets of monitors and a subwoofer to accomplish this prior to the SM9s.  Now, all one needs is the SM9s, which is a huge benefit to most home and project studios (and many commercial studios too) that just don’t have the room for multiple speaker setups.

What a deal at only $3595 each?  Well, yes, they are not cheap but not really that bad when you add up two speaker sets (one set of world-class monitors and one set of  not so world-class but not horrible), a subwoofer, and monitor contoller-switch.   Another cool studio monitor from Focal, keep up the great work!

Here’s a link to the full specs data – click here!

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Anybody Remember Sedelia? John McEuen Does For Us!

May 17, 2011 in Music, Updates

Another in a series of great road stories about the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, penned by founding member and friend of TheK2BShow, John McEuen.  Thanks John, we are all richer due to these stories!

A lot of us missed Woodstock, including some who were there. It has been said that if all those who say they were there had been there, it would have been more like 5 million people. The premise of the 1974 Sedalia concert was to recapture that show’s legendary vibe… just like the big time, only… smaller. Well, it started that way, ‘smaller’..  The word was that although it was doubtful the hyped for 40,000 people would show up, it would be a great time, like we’d all heard Woodstock was for many. Only this time there was money in it for all. Then it grew.

First, finding out a week or so before that yes, there were 50,000 ticket buyers so far. … (Tickets were selling faster than expected, as it grew close). Then, finding out people were arriving, showing up mid-week already, and the 3-day show hadn’t started yet. By mid-week of the show over were 75,000 sold, half of them were there, and already there was nowhere to park in the town, so they parked everywhere. VW’s with hippie signage, pickups, buses, campers… anything that would classify as a rolling party showed up.
Then
another 25-50,000 showed up the first show day in addition to the pre-sold; then McDonald’s closed because it ran out of food. This closing shook up even the hippies, like the navy running out of sailors would an admiral. The very basis of one’s existence -food- was compromised, and it made one subliminally  uneasy with the rest of the day. (McDonald’s ran out of food? Wow.. cool. Really?  hmmm.. how are we gonna eat? what does this mean.. well, cool.. we’ll find food.) But it was HOT. Remember, this was when people didn’t complain about McDonald’s, but felt lucky to find one. As they say, back in the day. Back when people said things like “I really got fried last night”, before they said, as they do now, “I can’t eat that, it’s fried”.

One official count on Saturday of 184,000 people was a shock to all. (some later said it was more like 240,000)

It became mandatory: chopper-to-stage if you wanted to get to work. Even the politically protesting musician hippies started to appreciate the Vietnam chopper vets in a way they’d never imagined, as street traffic made it impossible to drive to the stage. The only way to rock and roll was to fly in low and fast. Like a MASH run, bands picked up at the hotel were ferried to the backstage landing spot for R & R, then they’d take the band that just finished back to the hotel for a different R & R … and S.. and D. You can figure that out. The good news on the Saturday we played was that the Hell’s Angels had taken over backstage security…that was the good news, but they were doing a fine job. And it was HOT.

We were preceded by guitar great Leo Kottke, so when he finished we were to set up – while the Ozark Mt. Daredevils played on the other half of the stage. I arrived early to see Kottke, well before he went on, and decided to go out and be ‘with the people’ I had just flown over. I wanted to see what it was like in the middle of 184,000 people who, from the stage, looked like a field of basketballs with long hair. I swam through the crowd to the sound mix scaffolding, and surveyed the sea of hair, all crammed on to the fairgrounds racetrack as Kottke started playing.

(I was wondering why Leo had covered his guitars with towels, thinking that must help the sound on this huge stage.. or maybe he was sweating too much. I was to find out soon why.)

Wolfman Jack, America’s D.J. of the time, was introducing the next act. We had known Jack a while, done his TV. show (Midnight Special) many times, and I wanted to see what it was like to see him in front of a live audience. Well… from the sound mix position he was about 1” tall, and that basso saw blade voice of his sounded like it was coming from someone’s car speakers across the field.
The sound was set up for 50,000 or so people, but there were now 3 _ times that many.. but it was o.k. once the bands kicked in.

As the NG Dirt Band had 3 recent top-40 hits (Mr. Bojangles, House at Pooh Corner, Some of Shelley’s Blues) and the …Circle… album had recently been released, we were anxious to do our set. This was once place, Missouri, where we knew we could hold our own up against the others like REO, Skynyrd, the Tucker boys, and the Eagles.  I headed back to get my stuff set up and felt like I was preparing to get on the Titanic knowing what I know now. It was an ‘edgy’ feeling, knowing there were simply too many fish in the bowl and we were getting ready to throw out a few crumbs.

We started off with Shelley’s Blues, a banjo led song – and being the first banjo on this hot stage in the heart of the baking Ozarks helped get some new heat from this sweltering audience. Our set was hot all the way through, and this was truly one of our best shows of that year. Did I say it was hot.. and so was the weather?  This region was, after all, where most of the training for Vietnam was going on. It was reportedly 110˚ onstage – that was the air that was moving -  the reflected heat from all the metal light trusses, road cases, equipment, added to the plywood stage heat reflection made it feel like we were in a giant chicken rotisserie and about 125˚.

The third song, Cosmic Cowboy, I was to play my lap steel guitar. I vividly remember picking up the sun drenched metal slide bar and dropping it as fast as I could – it was about 140˚.. I poured water on it to cool it enough to hold on to it, and then made the mistake of putting my lap steel on my lap and touching the strings. NOW THAT was hotter! It had been absorbing the direct sun and, well… the song was going to start so I took a bottle of water and dumped it on it, and glad it still worked. I understood Kottke now.

The cosmic long-hairs’ anthem started and brought the biggest hoot we had ever heard (the lyric:I just want to ride… and rope…. and hoooo…t”) right on cue. Closing with Battle of New Orleans, we had won the battle to stay alive, and left to a standing ovation from the 183,000 people.

It’s good for  ‘ego reality’ to keep in mind that they were standing all day long, though.. It wasn’t possible to sit down in that crowd. I think the cumulative weight the band lost in our hour was about 28 lbs., and we left a couple of choppers later. Had to catch REO first. They were great. Overall, reflecting back over the NGDB’s 40 years on the road, Sedalia was one of the top 10 for us. Maybe it had something to do with the previous time we played the same fairgrounds (1972) was we opened for the Jackson 5. This Sedalia show was, in spite of heated adjectives above, a lot cooler.

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Check Out Some Road Stories From John McEuen of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band!

May 12, 2011 in Updates

Seminal folk musician and founding member of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band John McEuen has sent TheK2BShow some great stories!  AND, they are all true!  Yes, we believe you John, nobody could make this stuff up!

Aside from producing and playing on Grammy-Award winning records, like 2010′s  Grammy winner for Bluegrass (Steve Martin’s ‘The Crow’), he’s compiling his wild and crazy experiences on the road and on the stage throughout the years.  As a great friend of  TheK2BShow (believe it or not!) he’s agreed to let us serialize some of his stories from his forthcoming book.  When it’s out we’ll publish a link to it so you can have his complete collection, but until then, TheK2BShow is possibly the only place on the planet to read these until the book comes out!

John does have stories online at his website and you can see those by Clicking here to go to  John McEuen’s homepage.  BUT he’s been so gracious as to provide TheK2BShow with exclusive stories not yet published anywhere else!  We are so honored and you should feel as special to read these as we do to blog them.

Thanks so much John, you are the best!  (So affirms Steve Martin, who finally admitted that John was a “valuable contributor to my education on the banjo”)   Also John is part of a cool news website called The Syndicated News and check that out by clicking here – The Syndicated News.net.

Here’s the first story, involving NGDB and the daughter of one of TheK2BShow’s heros – Henry Mancini -

(printed by permission of John McEuen)

Send Henry’s Daughter Home!

With any of the recreational things at her disposal a family-rich 21-year-old chick could have in early ’70s Aspen, it was a real surprise when roadie Gary told us that Monica Mancini was riding with him in the equipment van to Walla Walla Washington, to “hang out”.   With the name ‘Mancini,’ she could do whatever she wanted… and usually did.

We musicians flew in to Spokane after our 10-day gig in the ski town, took our time driving the 100 miles to the college gig, stopping for a leisurely lunch.  Then ambled to an arbitrarily chosen motel around 2:00, I walked into my arbitrary hotel room choice to be welcomed by the ringing phone.   We hardly knew where we were yet, so when I answered, I was surprised that anyone else did. It wasn’t the front desk.

“Hello… This is Henry Mancini. Where’s my daughter?”

“Monica?” I asked.   “They should be here soon.  She’s with our roadie in the truck. Can I help you with something? What’s the problem?”  Usually good on my feet in a tight situation, right then words were failing me.  I could sense that the end of my life in show biz could be near.

“Well, let’s start with transporting a 17-year-old across two state lines. “

I could see our music career dying in the flames of our roadie’s burning lust (Monica was a babe).

I told him all I could; told him the age that she had told us (21), and let him in on how well she fit in with all her activities, as discreetly as possible.   She would be taken care of; I tried to assure him… I didn’t tell him how my knees were shaking.

“You have her call me when she arrives. Good   -   bye!”

Speculating how the press release would be written  – about how we landed in jail for trekking this juvenile celebrity babe across the country into a Patty Hearst lifestyle – we awaited their arrival.   I was trying to think of various new things to do, now that the show business career was soon coming to a close…and of things one could make with prison food.

When the equipment van finally pulled up, she happily hopped out.

“Monica, your father called. He’s a bit upset about your current excursion, and wants you to call him… now” I announced.

“Oh, daddy!” she chirped.   “I can take care of him. He just worries too much, andI know how to handle him<.  Everything will be just fine.  He just hates that I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

“Call now!” was repeated.

She made the call, dialing … waiting … and he answered.

“Hi, daddy. This is Monica…say daddy, I was going to call you and….”   She was obviously silenced.  I imagined his following fatherly talk covered soon-to-be-ex trust funds, vanishing free rooms and ski passes in Aspen, to whom he would now leave the Jaguar, the beauty of working her own way through school, and how he was going to send us up Moon River.

About every 15 seconds she dutifully responded,  “Yes daddy….. yes, daddy…. yes, daddy… yes, dad-dy,” a bit lower with each “yes”, and slower with each “daddy.”

She hung the phone up, turned to us and said  “Will someone please take me to the nearest airport?”

As she shipped off, one could almost feel music maven Mancini’s potential curse lifted; we never knew if he did anything to us, but I think Monica was reinstated.

Awesome John!  And no one was arrested!  (That time.)  Check back here for more of John’s amazing road stories, Can’t Wait!

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Fort Wayne Business Weekly Profiles KennyKenny!

April 26, 2011 in Updates

Check it out!  The Show is getting some more attention!  Besides LA, the great metropolis of  Fort Wayne, Indiana is starting to recognize TheK2BShow and it’s founder, KennyKenny Bergle.   The venerable publication Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly recently posted a profile of him on their webzine and magazine.  Click here to see the article,  it’s a subscription service, you can see the first part of the article for free.

Could they pick a more pompous and/or corny picture?  Fake corkboard wall covering went out in 19-something…OR DID IT?!?!?!?!?!

They quote KennyKenny on being a ‘fanatic’ – Really?  Kenny?  KennyKenny??? Hmmm…….

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We Love LA!!! KennyKenny invades Hollywood!

April 5, 2011 in Photos, Updates

Quick personal note from KennyKenny Bergle, our illustrious host, direct from LA where he’s moderating a panel at the MEIEA.org 2011 International Conference at the Sheraton Universal in the heart of the studio world. (click here to check out www.MEIEA.org) Thanks to MEIEA for inviting us and treating us so well at the Conference.  Also a quick shout out to Cutler Armstrong, Professor of Communications in Media Arts at Butler Univ., for personally getting TheK2BShow involved.

OK< I need to pinch myself now.   A quick inventory of the day.  Let’s see, I’m in a rehearsal room of the Rickey Minor Band where they are prepping for the night’s Tonight Show.  My friend (current Tonight Show Band musician and former Backstreet Boys/ American Idol guitarist and keyboardist) David Delhomme got me in on literally on an hour’s notice.

Turns out the musical guest is Mary Mary and I meet their producer Warryn Campbell who needs some gear for his studio .  In the middle of the rehearsal I get a call on the cell from rock great Dave Mason and that call is interrupted by Hassan Khan (who taught his ex-wife, Chaka Khan, to sing!) and then Travis Rogers, Stanley Clarke’s soundman, rings in.  While this is happening, I run into Jay Leno backstage and he talks to me about his original Model A or Model T that he ‘uses just to get around town’.  Then Kim and Khloe Kardashian arrive as they are guests on the show tonight.  They both looked like different versions of modern-day Cleopatras and Jay Leno made the comment (to them) that there must be some sort of a ‘cleavage competition’ going on.  Kim K waves at me and makes a heart symbol with her hands.  I think she confused me with one of her good-looking Armenian uncles or something.   (I’m 1/4 Armenian.)   I wave back and smile.   After all, I’m married and no need to get the girl’s hopes up!  Uh, yeah, right.

The atmosphere of LA is energetic and exciting.  Slightly different than good ol’ Fort Wayne.  My hotel room looks out over the beautiful San Fernando valley and across to the mountains.   Every day there’s a different shoot or event going on in and around the hotel.  A TV pilot, a reality show, a TV commercial, a large Jewish wedding, and other small film and TV projects were being shot in just the 3 days I was there. Not sure how those directors missed me and my talent, just lucky I guess!

OK, will post another blog about our fun time in LA, that’s all the time we have now.  Just one tease – an amazing reflexology massage for $20!  Only in LA…

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Neumann Speakers! Really? Wow!

March 29, 2011 in Gear, Updates

Well, the title says it all and mostly – Wow!

The recent acquisition of Klein&Hummel (2009) speaker company by Sennheiser/Neumann made this possible.  K&H is a brand known world-wide for the highest quality audio monitors and speakers, and similar to Sennheiser and Neumann, they’ve been doing it since 1945.   Neumann is committed to maintaining the highest level of quality and continuing the K&H tradition of producing the ultimate in studio monitors.
The first Neumann offering – the KH120 – is a great example of how they are doing it.  We were lucky enough to be at Sweetwater when Neumann unveiled and demonstrated the new KH120 – amazing!  In a theater that seats 250, a pair of the KH120 literally rocked the house with musically accurate and beautifully precise imaging. (OK, full disclosure time – the Sweetwater Performance Theater is one of the most beautiful 250-seat acoustic spaces on the planet. Click here for a pictorial tour of the Sweetwater Theater.)
Besides musically accurate sound and the hugest sweet spot we’ve heard in a near-field studio monitor (is ‘hugest’ a word?) click here for more cool features embedded in web flash. If you are even considering new studio monitors - you’ll be glad you checked them out and feel free to click here to buy them at Sweetwater.

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