A little over 10 years ago researcher at the University of California, Berkley did a study involving 100 volunteers who spent hours on end listening to music from virtually every genre while playing with a 37-color palette wheel. Their conclusion: the human brain associates different colors with different types of songs.
Brian Courchine could have saved those researchers a lot of time and money. Like all lighting designers, the New Hampshire-based LD who is the designer at the well-known Northland Music and Arts Festival, has made a career out of studying the inexorable connection between music and color.
Courchine dove deeply into this knowledge recently when he designed the lightshow for a sold out concert at Infinity Hall in Hartford by Pink Talking Fish. Among the more successful and unique tribute bands anywhere, Pink Talking fish combines the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, and Phish, each evoking a different aura – and each lending itself to a different palette. Adding a little extra spice to this particular evening, was the healthy serving of Beatles songs thrown into the set.
Following the music with his color rendering skills, Courchine immersed each song in hues that fit it like a glove. “I try make a distinction between the three musical acts in the Pink Talking Fish show,” he explained. Talking heads is usually a more straight forward vibe. Although this band does jam out these songs, the palette I choose will stick within boundaries. On the other hand, Pink Floyd tunes can be a roller coaster. Some of their more epic songs can range anywhere from a single solo spot to an explosive, fill-the-room-with- bright-beautiful-gobos types of looks.
“Then again, they also have straight up rock n’ roll songs like ‘Young Lust,’ where I stick with the same vibe throughout,” continued Courchine. “With the Phish tunes I pretty much go on auto pilot. I’ve seen Chris Kuroda do lights for Phish so many times, I just think, ‘W.W.CK.D’ if he still only had 16 movers. The night in question also included a good amount of Beatles songs which I tried to keep a unified palette. Also, I realize everything I just said can fly out the window in the moment.”
Courchine called on the color rendering prowess of 32 CHAUVET Professional Rogue fixtures to create his multi-hued show. He had eight R1 Spots and eight R1 Washes in his floor package to complement the eight R2 Spot and eight R1 Wash units in the venue’s house rig.
“All my spots and washes usually end up in a line upstage,” said Courchine. “I try to keep them away from the backdrop for situations when I want to project gobos back on it. It’s helpful that PTF sets up across the downstage area, so I am never fighting for space.”
Courchine used the lighting fixtures in his rig to create a richly textured background of colorful aerial gobo patterns. “I’m not a big fan of video. I don’t want to choose the distinct image or feeling that an audience member is going to associate with a specific song,” he explained. “That being said, I have seen it done very, very well.
“I definitely use the backdrop sparingly. The song attached to the picture with the backdrop lit was ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ by The Beatles. It’s one of the more psychedelic songs I know by them, so I was going for that old school oil projection look by just swirling a few different gobos with a prism.”
At an earlier show, Courchine had intended to create the same kind of look for the same Beatles song, but he changed his mind when he was inspired to try another idea. “My plans sometimes fly out the window in the moment,” he explained… And when those design visions suddenly take flight, colors that fits the music will always be there with Courchine, ready to enjoy the flight.
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