What better way to launch a groundbreaking audio product that to highlight it with a glittering display from state-of-the-art lighting products! That was the thinking of Martin Audio when it called upon a collection of ÉPIX and Nexus fixtures to add extra glitter to an already dazzling launch event for its revolutionary CDD installation series of loudspeakers.
Held at the Kap Europa Conference Centre during Prolight + Sound, the event marked the first live demo of Martin’s CDD series products, which combine distinctive curved enclosures with unique Coaxial Differential Dispersion technology to deliver ultimate coverage consistency from a stylish enclosure. Guests at the event had the opportunity to walk the coverage pattern of a singular CDD12. A bar room set up at the event allowed visitors to listen to the smaller enclosures, and a specially constructed nightclub zone provided an opportunity to appreciate the more full-on sound, with the CDD15 and the double 18 subs (CSX218).
Contributing to the club-like atmosphere of the event were the high output CHAUVET Professional fixtures, which were arranged on the same trussing that held the loudspeakers. A total of 33 ÉPIX Bar 2.0 pixel mappable tri-color SMD LED bars and seven Nexus Aw 7×7 warm white LED panels were used at the event. The vivid pixelated colors of the ÉPIX dressed the trussing around the Martin loudspeakers; whilst the sharp narrow beams of the Nexus Aw 7×7 created a blinder effect to enhance the nightclub atmosphere.
The performance of the CHAUVET Professional fixtures created a positive impression on James King, Marketing Director of Martin Audio. “The relationship with CHAUVET Professional kicked off at ISE when they helped us with our inaugural demo this year, and so when it came to the pivotal launch event for CDD, we were delighted to have their support once again,” he said. “CHAUVET Professional always gives that extra dimension to our presentations and demonstrations and the CDD event was a total success, with many saying it was the best event Martin Audio had ever laid on.”
We started a great event on the West Coast for the students in the region to come by the Burbank Showroom, rock and roll with a real rig of excellent CHAUVET Professional touring fixtures and equipment, and mingle with industry leaders in the region. So far, it’s been a success twice! Did you come this year?
BURBANK, CA – (For Immediate Release) – Vividly dynamic lightshows weren’t the only thing only on display at the Second Annual Student Lighting Showcase. Also shining brightly was the creative bond that connects generations with a shared passion for lighting, as students from four colleges got the incredible opportunity to have their designs evaluated by some of the most respected LDs in the industry.
Held at the CHAUVET Professional Showroom in Burbank, the one-day event drew students from California Institute of the Arts, the University of California Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, LACC Theatre Academy, and the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Groups of two or three students from each school collaborated on designing a lightshow for one song chosen by them. Lighting designer Joe Spangler programmed the one-song shows for the students.
When the student lightshows were completed, they were shown to guest lighting designers, an esteemed group that included such luminaries as Lee Rose, Joshua Hutchings, Martin Phillips, Steve Young and Ian Peacock. The LDs then provided the students with feedback on the shows, answered questions and shared ideas about lighting, providing them with an educational experience that will last a lifetime.
“This was really an experience, not a competition,” said DeAnna Padgett, National Sales Manager for CHAUVET Professional, one of the driving forces behind the event. “We don’t score the students’ designs, so there’s no one who comes in first place or anything like that. There’s a very relaxed atmosphere at the event with drinks and appetizers and a lot of mingling. It’s really all about some of the leading designers from one generation passing their lighting insights onto aspiring designers from the next. Everyone from both generations really likes the experience.”
Like all successful events, the Second Annual Student Lighting Showcase was the result of a lot of dedicated people pulling together. In addition to the guest lighting designers, college students and internal Chauvet team members, Padgett singled out the educators from the four schools for their help in making this student showcase special.
“In doing this event, I am just very fortunate to work with people like Anne Militello from CalArts, Jim Moody of LACC, Tom Ontiveros from USC and Lonnie Alvarez with UC Irvine,” said Padgett. “There are so many things they did to make this a success, not the least of which is the amazing job they did preparing their students. The four of them have a genuine love of lighting design. They know how special this industry is, and they’re dedicated to passing that passion down to the next generation.”
There’s nothing quite like having a backstage tour of a great show — and we like to deliver here at CHAUVET Professional! Here’s a great video of the band ALL THAT REMAINS as they were on Behind the Scenes. Check it out!
Up and coming LD Matt Collier from Arizona-based jam band Brothers Gow is in the blog today, talking about light, inspiration, and rock and roll with our Customer Engagement and Education Manager, Jim Hutchison. Check it out!
Jim: Tell me about Matt Collier the lighting designer. How’d you get started with Brothers Gow, and how has the journey taken you?
Matt Collier: Well, Brothers Gow was founded in 2007 in Flagstaff, AZ and I started out helping them on shows more for the free drink tab than anything else haha. But honestly, they started the band in September of that year right after the college school year started. In the beginning I just took pictures and helped load in and out. After we got to the point of having too many sound channels to run from stage, I learned the basics of sound, which spurred my interest in working in live music production.
Thats right about when I saw Phish live for the first time and Chris Kuroda’s show blew me away. I’ll never forget my first show at the Gorge in ’09, and after that I’ve been all about lighting. The feeling that I got when a deep blue would wash over me when they went into a slow section or the beautiful scenes he created that seemed to match the music and intensity of the show perfectly. Those feelings were really my inspiration to be a Lighting Designer. I wanted to be the one to bridge that gap between performer and audience member and put my artistic spin on how I hear music.
Lighting has become my life and I love it. Being able to run lights for my band Brothers Gow every show still is just as fun as it was in 2009. In addition to BG, I’ve also got to run lights for some of my favorite acts, like Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Galactic, Particle, Greyboy All-Stars and Nahko and Medicine for the People. Lighting just suits me I think because I’m very much a hard working, logical based guy (which is good for troubleshooting and rigging/staging) but I also have a creative mind from my photography background. All in all, the journey has been great so far.
What has pushed you to develop new looks while lighting Brothers Gow? Where do you draw your artistic inspiration?
Being creative in this business is critical to push yourself to become a better LD. In my opinion, finding new looks is important especially when working a lot of shows like I do with Brothers Gow. Switching it up and keeping your design fresh also allows you to see your rig from a different perspective and discover cool new ideas. I watch a lot of lighting videos from many different artists and genre’s, but my influences are Chris Kuroda, Saxton Waller, Luke Stratton and Jefferson Waful. All of those guys run lights for bands that are similar to Brothers Gow so seeing how they interact with the changes in the music inspire some looks or chases I use. Lots of tempo changes, deep grooves and intense climactic moments so being quick on the music changes is crucial.
I like to pull design ideas from all over the place but mostly its cool architecture or art. Im very big on symmetry as are most designers but I just like how it looks when you have everything set perfectly and all the scenes move together fluidly. Its seems to be more organized than an asymmetrical look and I’m more of an organized person I guess. I’ve become a better designer trying to emulate the looks and programming that Phish and Umphrey’s [McGee] have for their live shows. Not trying to copy or steal what they do, but rather teach myself how to create looks like the professionals and run a show like a professional. They must be doing something right if they’re in that FOH position.
What control surface do you use? When you started out with the band, what was your controller then?
I currently use the Martin M-PC for my controller. I love it and don’t plan on switching anytime soon. I’m pretty inexperienced in running anything other than M-PC so I can’t gauge how much I like other control platforms. Martin M-PC does everything I need as of right now and I’m planning on going up to LA on our time off this summer to take a course and further my programming knowledge. Originally, we started with 6 scanners and a Chauvet Obey-50 DMX512 controller so we have come a long way since then but I’ve stuck with our Chauvet roots cause they continue to evolve and push the limits, just like my lighting and the band.
Can you tell me a bit about how the energy of the crowd impacts your show, be it positively or negatively? What’s the crowd vibe do for you as an LD?
Being the LD in a packed room is unlike anything I can describe, and definitely takes the show to another level. The trick is still having that same energy when the show isnt very busy. Putting forth the effort to still run a good show is important even if there isnt a full house because the bands feeds off your energy and lighting and the people in the house still deserve the best show possible for coming out to see the show. If the show isnt too busy I like to try out new FX and color schemes too… but NOTHING compares to a hot sweaty packed house of dancing fools!!
What’s the next technological tool you want to incorporate into the Brothers Gow lighting rig?
Martin just recently release a touch console called the M-Touch that is very affordable at under $1000 dollars. Right now I run my show with a mouse and external monitor so it would be nice to upgrade to a small console but in all reality, Im sure I will be buying more Chauvet Rogue R1’s next. Just ran my first couple shows with them and am very, very stoked on how well they perform.
Check out this second set video from Brothers Gow’s set at the Orpheum Theatre in Flagstaff, AZ:
For more on Matt Collier and Brothers Gow, check out:
To know Butch Allen is to love Butch Allen, and beyond that, there isn’t much that’s left out of his May 2015 Lighting Insights interview! Check it out!
For a fun TV show on Puerto Rico’s Wapa channel, “Risas en Combo,” Lighting Designer Juan Carlos Gonzalez used the award-winning Nexus 4×4, Q-Wash 560-Z LED wash lights, COLORado Batten 72 Tour LED battens and Ovation C-640FC cyc lights. Richard Vicens served as Lighting Programmer and Technical Support, while the gear was supplied by Musique Xpress Lighting in Puerto Rico.
PHOENIX – Scottsdale is some 260 miles from Las Vegas, but for four nights in early February, visitors to this Phoenix suburb could have thought they were on the Vegas Strip; at least if they were among the 8,000 fans who turned out for The Coors Light Birds Nest. A four day festival held in conjunction with the Waste Management Open, Birds Nest is one of the most eagerly anticipated 19th hole events on the PGA tour. This year’s edition didn’t disappoint, bringing in acts like Kid Rock, Capital Cities, Darius Rucker and Afrojack who performed in a 50,000 square foot tent shipped in from Germany that resembled a hot new Vegas club thanks in part to a dynamic lighting design from Creative Backstage using gear provided by Valley Production Services.
Creative Backstage set off the event’s DJ stage with a unique cross- hatched “birds nest” design made with pixel mapped EPIX 2.0 series fixtures from CHAUVET Professional. The one meter RGB LED linear fixtures flanked either side of the DJ stage and were pixel mapped to tie into other lights as well as a center stage video wall in front of and behind the DJ booth. Having pixel mapped images run through fixtures and video panels in the center and on the sides of the stage created a unified flowing look that extended the visual impact of the lightshow.
“The stage really made a powerful statement with the pixel mapping,” said Chris Brodman of Creative Backstage, who was the L1 programmer and operator at the event. “We created some tremendous looks. Jim Meredith from Valley Production Services, who was the L2 for show made a lot of great contributions. We were all really happy with the end result.”
Brodman says that the Birds Nest rig included 30 EPIX 2.0 Bars and 16 EPIX 2.0 strips. The EPIX units were run the throughout the entire four day program, which featured performances by Afrojack, Ronnie G and Aaron Taylor. “The bars and strips performed flawlessly throughout the show,” he said. “We drove content to the EPIX gear using the Avolites Titan pixel mapper on the Tiger Touch. The wiring of the EPIX gear was done one to one full control of each fixture over ArtNet. We used nine of the EPIX drive 642 node PSU’s; eight ran the 30 bars and the 16 strips ran off the ninth.”
Graphical patterns, such moving bars, dots, swirls and spirals were pixel mapped on the EPIX 2.0 bars and strips. Brodman used the layers within the pixel mapper to create varied colors and layered effects on the EPIX units. This added an extra level of depth to the temporary DJ stage, engendering great audience engagement inside the Birds Nest tent.
“We varied the pixel mapping to keep it interesting,” said Brodman. “Overall we used the EPIX products to give a sticks and nest feel to the stage design in keeping with the name of the event. The impact of the EPIX units was amazing! We utilized their shape to create an overlapping design as if it were sticks being used to build a bird’s nest. The intense output, vivid colors, pixel mapping and shape of the EPIX all worked in our favor, allowing us to create a design that reflected the theme of the show and captivated the audience at the same time.”
McAllen, TX – The Baptist Temple of McAllen opens its doors and hearts to all. This much is evident in the welcoming section of its website, which declares, “We are teachers, lawyers, bookbinders, skateboarders, painters, musicians, and bikers…” It’s also plain to see on the church’s large stage, which bustles with energy during services, thanks in part to its dynamic band and singers, as well as the vivid light from a plethora of CHAUVET Professional fixtures, including six Rogue R1 Spot moving heads.
“This is a very contemporary and dynamic house of worship,” said Doug Hood, president of Custom Sound Designs (Fort Wayne, IN), which designed and installed the church’s all-Chauvet lighting rig. “There’s a lot happening on the stage at this church, such as line array speakers, environmental projection, and video projection – so we had to work the lighting plan around this activity level. Moving heads work great in this type of church because of the dynamic visual element they bring to services. We needed a cost-effective moving light that was still a “real” mover. The Rogue fit the bill perfectly.”
According to Hood, the key to integrating moving fixtures successfully into a house of worship design is to understand the character of the church. “You have to know your church, its style of worship and its congregation, then take all of that into consideration when programming. Can moving lights be a distraction? YES! Can they be used as an effective tool to create an environment for worship? YES! It all hinges on the person creating the vision for the visual worship space. You must know your congregation and you must plan visuals that are appropriate to speak to that congregation.”
As important as the Rogue moving heads are, however, the foundation of Hood’s design is the warm white light from 16 Ovation fixtures. “We love the Ovation fixtures for key light; they give us an excellent natural white light at a great price point, and the motorized zoom on the Fresnel version is an added plus,” he said. “We started our design with them, and since that was our foundation it made sense to supplement the warm white light from the Ovations with other Chauvet fixtures for color and movement.
Hood used six Ovation F-165WW Fresnel’s for warm wash lighting and 10 Ovation E-190WW ellipsoidal fixtures for beam lighting. His design also included six COLORdash Accent compact washes, which he positioned in some of the church’s tight spaces, and six Legend 412 beams to coordinate with the Rogue R1 Spot fixtures, as well as two CHAUVET DJ products: SlimPAR Pro Tri LED wash lights and COLORband PIX RGB linear fixtures.
“The fixtures work well together to give the church a complete lighting package,” said Hood. “For example, the new Ovations give the church great key lighting; plus we work the Ovations with the RGB lighting to create some very attractive back lighting for video services. Ideas about what church lighting should do have come a long way. Churches want it to do more today, and with the right design and products we’re able to meet these expectations.”
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For more information on Custom Sound Design visit www.CSDus.com
AUSTIN, TX – Millwood Baptist is a church that emphasizes worshipper engagement. This much is evident in the live band that performs at its Sunday services, complete with piano, bass, drums, guitars and an occasional banjo. It’s also apparent in its many youth activities with names like “KidCity” and its variety of “Building Block” programs for adults.
So, when it was time to add a new lighting system to their 29-year-old building as part of a renovation project, church leaders understandably wanted something that could create a colorful contemporary look. Being practical, however, they also were seeking a system that was affordable and easy to control. They got both, thanks to a carefully planned design by Digerati Audio Video Systems, which includes a variety of fixtures from CHAUVET Professional.
“Millwood Baptist has been a client of ours for many years, so when the time came to renovate their worship center, they called us,” said Mark Tarbet, president of the Austin-based company. “The church wanted to update its look, and new theatrical lighting was certainly a big part the plan. At the same time, they also wanted lights that were easier to control, because their old fixtures kept hitting the projection screens with light at services. Of course, budget was an issue too.”
Tarbet credits his local CHAUVET Professional representative Brandon Bishop with helping to put together a lighting rig that allowed Digerati to meet the church’s diverse lighting needs. “The Chauvet fixtures and our local rep Brandon Bishop helped make this happen,” he said.
The Digerati team used eight COLORado 2-Quad Zoom VW Tour RGBW LED pars and 12 COLORado 1-Tri Tour RGB LED fixtures. “We used the 2-Quad ZOOM VWs for stage wash lighting in 3,000° color temperatures,” said Tarbet. “The Tri Tours were used for effects and color washes on the stage, walls and ceilings. Now the church is painting the room with these lights to create a mood that reflects different parts of a service.”
Tarbet notes that four of the COLORado 1-Tri Tour fixtures were positioned on each side of the stage on vertical powder coated pipes that blended with the church’s décor. The four other Tri Tour fixtures were installed on overhead pipe upstage to be used as back lighting and ceiling washes.
“Our goal was to provide Millwood Baptist with effective and controlled stage washes in zone coverage, with the ability to use color as additional highlight washes,” said Tarbet. “By using color on the ceilings, walls and stage, we increased the church’s creative options and have helped it engage worshippers on another level.”
Along with adding an extra “theatrical lighting” element to the church, the new system installed by the Digerati team also increased Millwood Baptist’s control over house lighting. “We tied the architectural lighting system into the theatrical so that house lights can be controlled from the lighting console, and vice versa, “said Tarbet. “This allows us to install button panels on the walls so that a user can push a button and bring up various combinations of house and theatrical lighting cues.”
Digerati designed the lighting system at Millwood Baptist and followed up with training for church volunteers. “The church is thrilled with the system,” said Tarbet. “They are using it in new ways as they learn more. At this point it’s only scratching the surface of what it will become.”
CHAUVET Professional’s Customer Engagement and Education Manager Jim Hutchison will be bringing his popular seminar, LED COLOR: The Physiological Experience, to the PLASA Focus Kansas City audience! Check it out!
The human eye contains millions of cone cells for detecting color — and Jim Hutchison hopes to tingle each and every one of them in his upcoming “LED Color: The Physiological Experience” seminar at PLASA Focus: Kansas City from 2-3pm, Wednesday, May 20. Hutchison, the customer engagement manager at Chauvet Professional and Iluminarc, will take visitors on a colorful tour showing the effect that different colors and combinations of colors have on human thought and emotion. Along the way, he will share some insights on ways lighting designers can utilize the influential power of color to create more impactful designs.
“I’ve geared this course to show lighting designers what it means to be able to use color on a level that gives their designs even more depth and a greater ability to convey the story they want to tell,” said Hutchison. “It’s obviously very important that, as designers, we spend time talking about the pixel pitch and batching of LED fixtures and look at their mathematical data and photo metrics, but that’s still only part of the equation. What we also need to do is put ourselves in the audience’s seat to see how we can better tell a story to them and suspend their disbelief more effectively. This course will offer advice on how you can do that by having your audience experience different colors of light.”
Some of the examples of color influence that the seminar will explore include the power of red to increase breathing and digestion rates, how heavy yellow hues evoke “an almost a blissful confusion,” and how blues and greens engender states of calmness. “Individual colors are potent influencers,” said Hutchison. “Then, when you use them in combination with one another, you pump up their power even further. Our seminar will cover some proven examples of this color synergy.”
Hutchison will be relying on a collection of Chauvet Professional COLORado Batten Quad-9 fixtures to provide vivid examples of LED rendered colors in action during the seminar. “We’re going to fill that room with heavy hues and induce some color fatigue in everyone’s cone cells for the sake of art,” he said. “It should be fun and I promise that anyone who attends will never see color in quite the same way.”
