Philips Strand Lighting at Skidmore College

	Photo credit: Andrez Pilarczyk

At Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, technical director Shawn DuBois, who oversees a full production schedule at the Arthur Zenkel Music Center using student technicians, and has opted for the Light Palette Live control console from Philips Strand Lighting.

"The Arthur Zenkel Music Center is home to the Skidmore College music programs and 90% of the performances we do are acoustic in nature and classically-based," began DuBois. "We have our house rig set up with general stage looks so that we don't necessarily have to go back and refocus or reprogram the board for each different performance. For these types of shows, we simply need to be able to turn it on and then decide which sub-masters to use based upon how many people are on stage and what they are doing all in a classical white light performance. But occasionally, there will be a jazz or rock performance where we need to be more creative with the lighting and this is where we get to have some fun."

DuBois faces a challenge in that his student technicians are music students and not from a theatre program. Because of this, he says he relies heavily on the ease of control offered by the Light Palette Live.

"It's the students who primarily run the board during the musical performances; it's not quite like the theatre department, where I would call them theatre electricians or technicians, because they're not quite at that level. But, with the Strand console, they don't have to be. The Light Palette Live is extremely intuitive. If the students have any PC experience, which they all do, they can run the console and understand its interface at the command line set-up to turn on a light, record a look to a sub-master, or even record a cue. It's that easy."

The full production season also includes a partnership with Carnegie Hall, providing a semester in residence at Skidmore for students of the Juilliard School. Each semester in residence comes with a new a diverse set of performers, and, many times, the premiere of a brand-new piece. They never know what the design needs might be; here DuBois has found additional value in the Light Palette Live.

"This summer, we purchased some new RGB LED lighting, and this was when I looked at the board and said, 'Wow, now I get what this is all about.' I basically just told the board I was hooking up some new lights and it auto-assigned them, knowing exactly which LED lights they were, it knew how to run them--and that was it; they were on. Very quickly I had full control and could bring up any color under the sun. Strand has done something really phenomenal with this console; this is amazing technology."

The Arthur Zenkel Music Center also uses Philips Strand Lighting Leko Lite luminaires to illuminate the performance area and C21 dimmer racks to power the lighting system.

"The back wall of the stage is a 30'-tall window wall that makes it a fantastically unique space," says DuBois. "The outside 'scenery' becomes an integral part of the ambiance of the performance, where, often I will incorporate a leaf break-up wash on stage and side walls to help visually reinforce the idea of the outside, or nature, being part of the performance space. For this and all of our front light, we use the Strand Leko Lite luminaires because they are dependable, easy to maintain, and provide a wonderful white light output."

"For our dimming, we have two C21 ninety-six-rack dimmer systems, with about 140 dimmers total; we haven't had any problems at all, and isn't that really what you want to say about a dimmer system? If they are working, then they are doing their job. I have been in situations or facilities where you had to pay close attention to power draw and how you are doing it and when you are doing it, but, with the C21 dimmers, I don't have to, because I know we will be fine.

"The original LightPalette and MiniPalette were the first computerized consoles that I ever worked on, and, with the LightPalette Live, Strand has truly created a no limitations console," he adds. "You can configure it to behave however you need for your particular situation and it's the ultimate flexibility that really sets it apart from other consoles on the market. This truly is a console for everyone."