Hello From Cleveland, Ohio!

[tastybunns]

Hi guys,
My name is Jake, I am 17, I am a Junior in High School, and I am an aspiring Hockey Player, Pyrotechnic, and Architect. Me being from Cleveland, does not give me real room to shoot because there is no real privacy, including the insane police patrol. We don't have a relatively big property, but when I graduate High School next year, we might move south where there is actual room and property to waste and have fun with. With bigger property means no neighbors, and ability to shoot without complaint. We have negligent neighbors if you couldn't tell, but I cant blame ourselves on our negligence. They are who they were since we've moved in, and we joke about them with our own sense of satire.

Once I turn 21, I will be able to acquire a Type 54 ATF license, but I still gotta enjoy the glory days; am I right? Well, if it goes well in my career path I will be able to purchase 1.3 Display Fireworks. I hope. But I also wish to go into business with pyrotechnics here in Ohio closer to Cleveland, because all of the 1.3 pyro distributors are in the deep south of Ohio, and who wants to drive through 7 hours of corn to buy a carload of fireworks? If I were to buy 1.3 fireworks my closest options would be Lynch's or Kellner's. But if there is no closer alternative, then I guess I could be.

I do make my own firework simulations using Finale|Fireworks, and I also make my own Audio using a program called Audacity. If you need audio you can PM or Inbox me for your needs. It may take a while for me to respond, but thats probably because I'm not on these forums that often, so if you want some audio, please be patient.

I understand this wasn't such a quick hello. Anyways, I have been here since 2014, so this account is already a year old, but I never posted anything so I thought I'd give it a shot and introduce myself. I guess I had the time to do it now, but it was nice sharing my info with you guys, I hope you guys have great success with your yearnings, and realistic projects. Good luck and adieu!

[jknepp1954]

Jake - first of all welcome to Pyro Talk.
Sounds like you have your goals set on the big boys - but before you do - start out learning the 1.4 end first. you got like 2 or so clubs you can join that takes care of that area. you will meet pros and hobbyists alike - and LEARN from them.
You have NEOPG - northeast ohio club basically in your back yard. PM me for details
Aslo you have the Pa Pyro Artists = we have a few members from the NE ohiio area.
Also look for OPEN SHOOT opotunities. Al from Fire Art on this forum has one coming up on Oct 10
We at Kneppy's fireworks have our demo and OPEN shoot early May. bring your dad along and enjoy a great pyro weekend.

[CTPYRO]

Hockey Player here as well Jake... and I've been in fireworks ever since I was a kid. Like Joe said.. get your feet in with a club.. best way to learn about fireworks and safety

Scott

[tastybunns]

Sounds like a Great Opportunity to come out and learn, but hockey season is starting up this month, and I dont have an accurate or a full schedule as of now. I hope to be out there with you guys, but I have no clue based on the hidden season. Thank you for the info, I will keep it in mind for when i get older.

[displayfireworks1]

Jake thanks for commenting, I often hear from fireworks enthusiast that watched my videos when they were younger and tell me years later that is how they learned about fireworks. Perhaps one day I can ask you to make me music track for a fireworks display. I do not have much experience putting together music. If you ever create something using finale and want to post it on the forums that will be great to see. Being this is September and you are 17, make your first priority school.

[tastybunns]

Oh you wont believe how first priority school is right now. Its actually more intense than ever, and I need to keep up, but I find my own time to do things, and I believe I can come up with a short simulation by the end of tomorrow which is Labor Day. Huge homework break.

Yeah Dave, don't be afraid to ask me for work. I'm not sure if I can give you a full plan off of Finale|Fireworks because I only have the $49 edition from a couple of years ago. But I'll see what I can do for the time being. For now I can only Audio Edit, and it is something that comes extremely natural to me. So if you need a track, don't feel afraid to Inbox me. If you want a track to custom music of your choice, I would like the list of music you would like me to work with. I don't care if its from Johnny Cash to some kind of Electronic Artist. I can always make it work. If you want to manually fire to it you can make a plan for what you would like to fire to each song. I'll make things work to where you do not really have to worry about quick cues or anything too fast. Just give me a heads up and a plan and I'll work on it. I can give you an audio example of what I can do by tomorrow also.

It is true that I have learned most of my firework intellect from you. Thank you for teaching me the ropes, with safety, along with things that can go wrong. I am aware of what can happen, and I am actually pretty anxious to shoot when I get my BATF 54 License in a few years. Thank you for the response!

[Shooter]

Jake,
Welcome to the forums. I see you use Audacity for music editing. I recently downloaded that program, myself, and I can honestly say I haven't figured it out. You younger guys amaze me with your tech know- how. If you can give me some pointers, you can PM me. I'm in the process of trying to design and choreograph a consumer display for next year's 4th of July.

[tastybunns]

I wouldn't mind helping. It takes a bit of fiddling around with but once you have the right idea of what to do, but if you really have an idea of what you are doing with it you can produce audio like a machine.

[tastybunns]

I have prepared an 18 minute audio file for example of what I can manage to spit out. This took about an hour and a half to complete. I hope you enjoy. I may upload a Finale Fireworks Edit if you guys would like, but that one would have to go onto my youtube to be viewed. Here's the audio.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zr59hp4xh590bg8/Pyrotalk%20Audio%20Sample.mp3?dl=0

[displayfireworks1]

That is great how you have it we can just download it and listen to it. If you have a youtube video of your Finale Fireworks video please feel free to post it here from YouTube. I have the full Finale program and never seem to be able to find time to use it. I also have the Cobra Show Creator and never find time to use that either. Maybe as the season slows a little I may try it.
I have a CD of sport stadium music I would like to get a fireworks music track made with. I know I heard Zambelli use these same sport songs in pyro-musicals and the audience loved it.

[tastybunns]

Sounds great! Stadium songs are useful at some times, but sometimes its hard to mish-mash a wanted effect without repeating it several times throughout the show. You may want to mix it up a bit before you just begin and end with stadium music.
If you ever need a project done you can give me plans on how you want the show's audio to sound, if you want any extra effects like the rocket launch I added at the beginning of the example track, or if you want any dialogue say like an interview of Paul McCarthy, don't feel afraid to ask or Inbox me. It really doesn't take much to whip up a track like the example. Granted it takes time, but it takes little to no effort to produce.
I would like to try this, but maybe if I could make a Finale|Fireworks show for you, maybe you could be able to rip the module plans, and show plans for the entire show. I don't know if it would work on two separate versions of FF, but its worth a try.
I will try to have the FF simulation uploaded possibly by next Sunday, because those take actual effort and time to produce. If not I will probably have it by next Sunday depending on my workload from school these next two weeks.
Thank you for the response Dave! Please do experiment with FF. It is a really easy to use software, and the more you actually play with it, you will see it will get easier the next time, and the faster you will be able to whip up a simulation. Start out with one song at a time and eventually grow to full on pyromusical simulations. Practice makes perfect!

[Wholesale Fireworks]

Welcome to Pyro Talk Jake.
It's great to see the younger generation getting so excited about fireworks. I agree with all of the above. Keep school first and the pyro will fall into place when its time. I also completely agree with Joyce in the fact you should get involved with clubs in the area. NEOPG is a great group and right in your area and we work with them a lot with consumer 1.4g product.
We too are a little backwards when it comes to all the technical audio and video stuff, but what we do know is consumer fireworks. Check us out sometime if you get a chance and please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions. You can PM me as well and I can get you in touch with the NEOPG crew. (We work with clubs all over the country so please don't take it personal if I didn't mention your club)

[Northern Sky]

Welcome to the forum.

[tastybunns]

If it weren't for Dave, I don't think I would have the knowledge, and quite the passion that I have for fireworks today, because he showed all of the different fireworks and what different kinds of things you can do with them along with different techniques to help with prep, efficiency, and safety. I wouldn't have the knowledge of WFBoom, American Fireworks, Zambelli, IPI, Kellner's, Lynch's, etc. etc.... But because of him I know where the major firework companies show and distribute their product in neighboring states. I like how if I were to get 1.3 product, I would have to travel 6-9 hours in every direction away from my location up here in Northeastern Ohio to grab up a single carload of 1.3 regarding on my ATF license. Its great to see different inventories with every show he does, and it really teaches you how to be such an efficient and safe Pyrotechnician. Keep it up Dave! You are one of my favorite peoples in this world.

[displayfireworks1]

You summarized that knowledge in one paragraph, I admire your writing skills. Thank you for those comments. And thanks to all those business companies you mentioned (and others) for wanting to be a part of my passion. Without their help and support along the way it may not have happened. I may have said it before, the negative voices always come across as the loudest in our lives when we do something, so when I hear comments like yours it helps balance it out to those in the field trying to stop me. Thanks, I need that from time to time.

[tastybunns]

Thanks Dave, and no problem at all! I just believe there should always be some sort of positive justifications from time to time, but the accusations and negative comments come across as the loudest to allow you to show improvement next time. Its kind of like schooling. Schooling is designed to allow your child to fail, but he/she will not fail unless he/she puts in an effort for the grade. Maybe from time to time too much improvement can be an issue, like setting higher standards that you cannot reach next time around. I mean if you want more boom in the show then you've got to add more boom to see the boom, but if you add too much boom, things get expensive and risky. Just add the work to see the results, and safely reside while the mal-things happen. I have been going through some hard times with recently with my ever deteriorating health, but i'm slowly getting better and I am hoping that there is a philosophy class to take next year, because I have been thinking about life and how things worked for quite a bit. I don't think my writing skills are that great compared to the smarter people in AP English class, but atleast i'm up to their level.

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