The RHYTHM Pyro Podcast

#18 Brandon Williams - Sky Wars 2023 1.4 Unlimited Show Designer

Bo and Jamie sit down with Blind Pyro veteran and hobbyist show designer Brandon Williams to chat past experiences, blind pyro beginnings, and his debut onto the Sky Wars main stage with 2023's 1.4 Unlimited show.

#17 Mike Allen - 1.4 Hobbyist Designer/Sky Wars 2022 PRO-AM Champion

Bo and Jamie sit down SKY WARS 2022 1.4 Pro-AM Champion Mike Allen from Glasglow, KY to rap on his pyro origins, inspirations, show theme's, and his return to the fighting pits for SKY WARS 2023's 1.4 Pro-AM Champion of Champions category. 
Mike is a relatively new designer with a masterful command of the entirety of the pyromusical experience.  His approach to an all-encompassing and engaging pyromusical spawns from origins that most amateur and professional designers forget about entirely.  The use of themes and stories in pyromusical designs and how impactful they can be in generating a sense of familiarity, shared experience, and cohesiveness that creates a rock-solid foundation to build a visual experience on.

#16 Fireworks Inventory Management (Product)

Bear ye witness as team RHYTHM's Jamie and Bo bewilderingly look into the elusive face of product inventory management.  May you experience a hearty chortle as these two stare blinkingly at spreadsheets in hopes that the the plethora of 1.4 product will count itself.
 
The guys chat about how they manage their inventory, what inventory management systems they wish existed in the consumer space, and put out a call to action to the community to share their systems.

#15 Paul Burcham - 1.4G Pyromusical Designer (PGI, Sky Wars)

Bo and Jamie rap with Las Vegas native, and fellow 1.4 amateur competition show designer Paul Burcham (PGI, Sky Wars) on his pyro journey, the creative use of 1.4, safety whilst executing creative uses of 1.4, and some unique product to differentiate your shows.

#14 Brian Craig - CraigCo LLC & Boomville Fireworks (Brookville, PA)

Bo, AJ, and Jamie chat with long-time pyro amigo and fireworks industry innovator Brian Craig (owner of Craig Co llc & Boomville Fireworks in Brookville, PA) on the storied start behind CraigCo, the flagship MinCom single shot rack, and his newest venture into the wholesale and retail world, Boomville Fireworks.

#13 Launch Position Field & Effects Spacing...It Matters...

You spent months (dare we say years) in design and execution of your fireworks show or pyromusical only to walk away with both pieces of the 18R2 you snapped in half mumbling something under your breath along the lines of "wtf...that doesn't look anything like it did in my sim"
Keep that chin up and go find a pen and your favorite stack of post-it notes.  Bozie, AJ, and Jamie talk about different types of effects, their places within the pyromusical site picture, and the MONSTER importance of understanding HOW they behave so you can nail your site layout and create sims that arn't lying to you when you get to your site.
#Fireworks, #Pyromusical, #1.3G, #1.4G, #Finale3D, #ShowSim, #FWsim, #Depence R3

#12 Product Quality PSA (MJG, Dominator)

Fireworks hobbyists spend more money on pyro in a lifetime than they'd ever care to admit.  That being the case...We are "the consumer" first and foremost.  Product quality has been a mixed bag over the last couple years, particularly in the legacy 1.4 pro-lines.  The largest manufacturers who traditionally found themselves in a market made up only by a few players, now have new competitors to keep them honest.  In this episode, the guys discuss some potentially problematic current season quality woes with MJG's Firewire Initiators and some oddly performing Dominator product.

#11 What We Learned (4th of July ”Hell Week” 2023)

Every year, the 4th of July season leaves fireworks show designers and pyrotechnicians soar, broken, bloodied, exhausted, and God willing...victorious in their quest to raise the pyromusical bar.   Through the success (or failure) of any fireworks show, there's valuable lessons to be learned as students of the art of show design and execution.  Bo (Light Up The Lake 2023), AJ (Wouldn't you like to know), and Jamie (Potts Farm 2023) reflect on what they took away from their most involved shows of hell week 2023.

#10 Pyro Community Q&A #1

We're only a few days away from the 4th, and there's LOADS of questions getting tossed around on community pyro forums & groups.  This week AJ, Jamie, and Bo answer some of those community questions.

#9 The State of 1.4 Pro (Articles Pyrotechnic)

Joined by 2020 Sky Wars Pro-AM Champion Scott Smith; Bo, AJ, and Jamie dive in on the state of 1.4 pro lines (Articles Pyrotechnic).
The previously classified UN0431 pro-lines were the lifeblood of hobbyist pyromusicals...and all signs are pointing toward the qualified, trained, and competent hobbyist pro-sumer user being denied access to this product. 
The "perfect storm" surrounding this product has finally made landfall...Commercial special interests within the industry lobbied for the molestation of this product class (by pressing for it's pyrotechnic material limitations to be increased to 1k grams and to include flash, all while flying under the banner of 1.4 pro in an effort to reduce costs and get out from under the burden that comes along with the 1.3 classification.  This coupled with the accidents in China that forced the UN0431 product classification to migrate to the standard consumer UN0336 (with and asterisk) and now the ATF has officially asked the chief regulatory body overseeing our industry (the American Pyrotechnics Association) for a clarification on what defines a "professional".
Who sits on these sub-committees?  Who's interests do they really have top of mind?  Have hobbyists even been recognized, considered, and represented as in these discussions as a shooter sub-classification?