ETC and EDM: when acronyms collide

This paper is available in Français too

EDM stands for Electronic Dance Music – the offspring of a musical orgy attended by disco, techno, house and reggae sometime in the late Eighties has emerged as the fastest growing sector of the live entertainment industry. EDM will be around long after the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac wrap up their very last (they promise) reunion tours.
So what’s ETC doing in this throbbing mix that has parents and stadium managers fearful? Could anything be further from the safe territory of huge installs in theatres worldwide? The answer is another three letter word – thankfully not an acronym – Eos®.

The Haunted Beach concert at the Avila Beach Resort in California, with lighting controlled by an Eos Ti. ©Nate Deack

EDM may appear like a lot of random flashing, but puts a lighting console through a stress test quite unlike any other. Without the luxury of a script or a set list, the EMD lighting designer has to create an infinite series of dramatic looks that match the feel of the music and support the strong video images that are another hallmark of the genre.
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.”

Haunted Beach Credit VTL and CLCTV

While big US EMD events 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, 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.”

To learn more about the ETC Eos family of lighting control, visit www.etcconnect.com