That's the Way COLORtube™ 3.0 EQ Likes It

July 27, 2011

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JACKSON, Tenn. – KC and the Sunshine Band put on their boogie shoes and performed with The Jackson Symphony as 48 COLORtube™ 3.0 EQ fixtures illuminated the orchestra’s music stands.

On April 9th, over 2,000 audience members gathered at the nostalgic Carl Perkins Civic Center in Tennessee to enjoy the legendary performance and hear classics such as “Get Down Tonight,” “Shake Your Booty,” and “That’s the Way (I Like It).”  The LED fixtures were specified by lighting designer Lenny Lindsey and were affixed to the stands with a custom Velcro mount designed and assembled by Rick Raymond, tour and production manager for KC and the Sunshine Band.  Raymond said they searched for glowing tubes of light that included color mixing and DMX capability to easily create a cohesive look between the orchestra’s lighting scheme and the stage wash.

COLORtube™ 3.0 EQ is a very unique LED fixture which includes a linear chase, static effect, real-time music visualizer and an EQ mode that allows guests to visualize music similar to the display on a graphic equalizer.

“We were looking for a way to highlight the orchestra, beyond just overhead lighting, without interfering with the musician’s ability to read their music,” said Raymond. “I saw the COLORtube™ 3.0 EQ at NAMM and immediately saw their potential for this project. These fixtures have about 270 degrees of glow visibility which would bring them out of the shadows and into the forefront so they would be visible by everyone in the audience.”

Raymond used four CT3EQ Controllers™ to control the colors and patterns into four separate pie-shaped fields around the orchestra. “The fixtures performed exactly how we hoped they would,” he said.

One major challenge Lindsey encountered while designing this project was mounting the fixtures to the music stands while trying to maintain user flexibility.

“The musicians needed to be able to raise, lower and tilt the stand while the COLORtube™ was attached,” Raymond said. “I used one-inch Velcro straps, a D ring, one-inch furniture sliders and a hard foam spacer to bring the fixture far enough off the stand to allow flexibility in movement.”

In addition to the COLORtube™ 3.0 EQ, COLORado™ 1 Tour fixtures were used to provide a static wash to the orchestra shell to the left and right side of the stage’s backdrop.

The audience had a fantastic reaction to every aspect of the unforgettable performance.  The bright and colorful atmosphere created by the lighting, combined with the energy of KC and the Sunshine Band and the full power of the symphony, kept the crowd on their feet for a majority of the performance.