So, I went to this Deadmau5 show…
Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.
Up until the day of the show, I wasn’t even really sure I was going to go. I liked Deadmau5’s music enough to own his full-lengths, and I knew of Skrillex from his remix work. But, you know, it was a Tuesday night, tickets weren’t especially cheap, and I wasn’t sure if I ( Read more... )
"1) Unless you can do it on a pretty hefty scale like this, there’s no point to video and light shows. If the crowd has seen anything approaching this, they will not be impressed by a couple of pin spots."
...and it makes me just cringe!
Lighting is an art, and it has many different forms and uses. OK, let's take a look at Deadmaus - he's playing pre-recorded sets. There's no doubt about that. He may be tweeking some filters or something, but outside of that, he is not needed on stage to make his show happen. The synchronized video and lighting are programmed directly with the audio, the lighting operator is NOT improvising along with him.
If there wasn't a huge lighting show, nobody would go to see that show because who wants to stare at a guy doing nothing to prerecorded music?
So Null Device isn't that - you're performing on stage. Instruments are being utilized, microphones are sung into. Using Deadmaus style lighting would distract, rather than emphasize your craft.
That doesn't mean that lighting is pointless. The goal in lighting at act like yours is to enhance the ambiance and significance of the music, to provide a visual interpretation to the music. It doesn't need to call attention to itself. Think about the transition from verse to chorus in Travelogue; the music steps up the energy, the reverb kicks in majorly, the whole *mood* of the song changes. When you engage that with color, texture and contrast you engage the audience by bringing different parts of their brain into the equation.
Reply
You'll note I say light *shows* and not *lighting design*. There is a world of difference.
I'm not saying there isn't value in good lighting design. Or even, relatedly, in good video design. The point is when there are bands, especially at my level, trying to have a lighting "show" or a "video extravaganza" they're just going to look silly. I've harped on this time and time again, in my "less shtick, more practice" rants. If your video design is going to be projected on a bedhseet hanging behind the stage, or your fabulous light show is 5 blue gels over some cans, you're going to look like a fool, especially to anyone who's seen something like this.
And you're right, the Deadmau5 show was mostly preprogrammed and prerecorded. But that's awfully common. And HE could get away with it because his light show was kind of incredible. *I* on the other hand could not, because I cannot pay a team of video designers and light techs to rig something like that up. So I have to, you know, perform instead. But I've seen way, WAY too many bands who expect their fancy video and light shows to distract from the fact that they're pressing play and standing there for 45 minutes, and their multimedia experiences look sad and weak.
Of course you want lighting, but an indie band's need for a crazy-fancy vanload-of-lighting-gear is going to be low. I mean, certainly for me, I leave the lighting design to whoever runs the lights at the venue. I'm not about to try it myself.
Plus, what band at the sub-indie level has the time to set up a custom light rig and check it before every show? I can barely fit on most stages we play with our minimum of gear - I can't imagine trying to set up and tear down with a small scaffold of lights and projectors.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment