Skip to content

Staging Free Concerts at the US Open of Surfing

Partitura generates visuals from music

Projection Lighting and Sound Come Closer Together

Lighting people have been trying to interpret sound for decades. Lately, they’ve been getting better at it. Visual artist Quayola, working with record producer and remixer Jamie xx, developed a software language that “translates” music into what they call Structures — computer-generated artwork, projected onto a pair of 56-inch projection screens, that modulate to the real-time music signals input to their host computers and described by Wired UK as “a unique immersive experience.”

Read More »

Chaos Visual Productions Provides Video Gear for Josh Groban Tour

LOS ANGELES — Chaos Visual Productions provided video support for the North American leg of Josh Groban’s 2011 Straight to You Tour in the form of four double stacks of 20K projectors projecting seamless, edge-blended imagery onto an 80-by-30-foot screen. The North American tour, with dates in North America from May 12 to Labor Day, will resume in October after making several stops in Europe. Peter Mensch, Cliff Burnstein and Tony Dicioccio of Q Prime-NYC are the tour managers.

Read More »

Stand Alone and Take Control!

An automated lighting programmer has many tools too choose from when deciding how to control fixtures.  Most applications require the use of a lighting console or computer-based software with specialized hardware.  However, many lighting manufacturers understand that there are situations where no controller is required.  For these situations, they have implemented “pre-set” or “stand-alone” control directly within the fixtures.  This allows you to program information and have the light be its own controller.  With further master/slave functionality or audio control, a complex show can be run without requiring a DMX controller.

Read More »
Jill Scott touring stage set

September in the Park with Bocelli; Light of the Sun tour; Incubating Incubus; Quick Cues and More

September in the Park with Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli, whose tenor tones loom as large as the venues he performs in, will spread his voice across New York’s Central Park in a free concert Sept. 15. A month ahead of the show, production designer Bruce Rodgers of Tribe describes the set vaguely, saying, “It will be impressive and as big as it can be and still stay between the two key trees — a 98-foot width — on the Great Lawn site. We are working with everyone to ensure that every part of the design is friendly to the weather elements, and we’re taking special precautions, as we always do, for a safe and amazing night.”

Read More »
Illustration by Andy Au

Designing Outside the Box

I got a call from a production manager friend last month. His band was looking to go in a new direction, and he was searching for a new production designer. He asked if I would like to submit a design for their world tour that starts next year. “Sure,” I say. “Gimme a few days with a thinking cap on.”

Read More »
Elation Opti Tri White LED Par

Elation Opti Tri White LED Par

Elation Professional’s Opti Tri White LED par features Tri White technology, which lets the LED par fixture produce white light in cool, warm and amber shades for precise lighting requirements in stage, theater, concert, video and display applications. All shades of white are also designed to be bright and flicker-free, making the fixtures well-suited to television and video production lighting.

Read More »