Tom Schneider, an ETC tech and console trainer in the company's Hollywood office, has designed and operated EDM shows since he was old enough to sneak out of the house to light raves in warehouses. He believes that Eos is the perfect tool for the job - "What really sets this console apart from other high end consoles is the effects engine. It's pretty cool. The effects engine is programmable to anything I could possibly want."
While big US events like Electronic Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo and the Ultra Music Festival get much press, there are hundreds of hastily thrown together desert one offs and tours where the acts pick up sound and light in every city. While the heavy lifting is done by moving lights, Source Four PARs are used for audience blinders and the DJs are often lit by Source Four profiles.
Tom says, "I have rarely seen a lighting rider for these tours, so the local rental company can put together a rig of whatever is available in the budget, and the designer will make it work. That is why a fast, versatile console is so important."
In a show with cues firing with every eight or 16 measures of music, the designer has to set up timed fades - complex moving-light cues using additive and inhibitive command lines as well as dramatic colour shifts. With three ten-point native touchscreens and the ability to run three more through the TVI, the Eos Titanium (Eos Ti) desk has a tactile, immediate quality that works for EDM and rock and roll. Tom adds, "It's like being a jazz keyboard player. You get a feel for what is needed. I can go to my preset cues or I can improvise."
Another Cal Poly alumnus, Zak Suddjian is the lighting director of Bill Gaines Audio. He notes, "For the Nervo show, I used an Ion with a single touchscreen to drive a full moving light rig with a bunch of conventionals. Most EDM clients don't know what they want, but we recently did shows with Above & Beyond and they were very specific. At BGA we love these shows because you can put together a rig that fits the client's budget and we offer design services if they need that."
(Jim Evans)
