MINNEAPOLIS – Party promoter Kind Beats was founded in 2001 by partners DJ Ville and John Vang to give Twin Cities dance venues a boost. Kind Beats incorporated Element Labs' Versa TILEs and Verse TUBEs into some events held recently at the Epic nightclub in downtown Minneapolis, with Ruehling Associates, Inc. provided Element Labs hardware and support. "We've always tried to stay a few steps ahead of the rest guys, so we could market ourselves as using top of the line staging and production equipment," said Vang, noting the use of digital scenery for the events. "No other local dance production or promoter companies were using these LED scenery products, so we knew we had a hit that would make our events unique."
Kind Beats designed different stage configurations for the two events. Ruehling Associates provided the LED displays, rigging hardware, design services, custom media development and on-site technical support and programming.
"First, we used the Versa TILEs with a Versa DRIVE C1 controller for our July 4th event," said Vang. "We made a backdrop with the tiles that was four units wide by three units tall. We also used them to decorate the front of our DJ booth on stage."
Ruehling Associates supplied a dozen 1-meter sections of Versa TILEs for the upstage display and three 1-meter sections of tiles for the fascia of the DJ booth. The layout created a unique look of a floating DJ area sandwiched by media flashing in front of and behind the performers.
"We were sold on the Versa TILEs when we saw the display system in the showroom at Ruehling Associates," says Vang. "They created amazing color effects. The fact that you could play movies on them was also great. It made the stage come alive and the crowd ate it up."
Custom media files were loaded into a Versa DRIVE C1 and triggered via an architectural button panel connected to the contact closures on the rear of the C1. Vang was impressed with how simple it was to create and playback content on the compact controller.
"If you know basic graphic programs like Photoshop, you can create content for the C1 controller," Vang said. "I love how it can read files off a compact flash card. It's very simple to use. Just press a button to go to the next clip/image. Easy as pie."
"For our November event, we used the Versa TUBEs with a media server," Vang added. "We hung the same custom-framed setup as we saw Ruehling's showroom for a backdrop," Vang added. "We then added with some Versa TUBEs in custom grids on the floor forming steps in front of our DJ booth."
For that project, Ruehling Associates provided 93 1-meter tubes and two 2-meter tubes. They were mounted on custom frames fabricated from uni-strut and angle iron. Six arrays of tubes were hung over head and five grids were placed on the floor in front of the DJ booth. Vang credited the Versa TUBEs for effects other LED products couldn't produce.
"There are a lot of basic LED tubes out there on the market, but the Versa TUBEs are something else," said Vang. "They make some incredible colors. We also liked the fact that the Versa TUBEs were able to show videos. We played clips of some blue lights slowly coming down that made it looked like it was raining. The effects we created were amazing."
Video clips and still images were played back via a HES/Barco Axon media server feeding a Versa DRIVE D2 video processor. The D2 mapped the media server content to the Versa TUBEs in real-time. Vang appreciated the enhanced control of feeding the D2 a live video signal.
"The media server played a vital role in the last show," Vang said. "Having live control of over the playback of content was definitely worth every penny."
Ruehling's digital media specialist Travis Slyter assisted with the design of media content for the initial project. Ruehling's rental manger Phil Berard loaded custom content on the media server and controlled the Axon via Hog iPC lighting console during the November event.
"Phil did all the hard work for us on the second show," said Vang. "He masterminded the graphics and movies and made our show glow!
Ruehling's owner and president Ron Ruehling assisted with the design and assembly of the two systems. According to Vang, both shows went off very smoothly.
"The set-up and tear down was simple," Vang said. "I thought it would be a pain to get the systems in and out. But there were no technical difficulties at all. It was very easy. The audience loved what we did! Not only did we deliver great shows musically, the audience also got great shows visually."
Kind Beats plans to incorporate Element Labs products in future shows.
"We are planning to incorporate both Versa TUBEs and Versa TILEs into the next show in March or July," Vang said. "We are going to be working with Ruehling Associates on creating a new stage setup to make the best use out of both of these amazing products."
For more information, please visit www.kindbeats.com, www.ruehlingassoc.com and www.elementlabs.com.
