The Usher Experience Creating an art project for The UR Experience

Transcription

1 CONCERTS Copyright Lighting&Sound America January The Usher Experience Creating an art project for The UR Experience By: Sharon Stancavage 64 January 2015 Lighting&Sound America

2 Tasked with designing Usher s new tour, show director/production designer Baz Halpin, of Los Angeles-based Silent House Productions, says that he had a simple brief: Create something modern and flexible. Because he is creating new music all the time, and that music may or may not end up in the show, we needed something that was flexible enough so that we could continue to add new numbers to the show, Halpin says. That inspired some of the design elements. Levine, project manager at TAIT, the Lititz, Pennsylvaniabased scenic vendor. The Blade wall is angled, like everything in the set. Above the stage is an automated closedown. I wanted to be able to close the stage off from everybody else, and he wanted to be able to get on top of it, so we put a Tait 10' ziplift in there for the last song. I like the idea of being able to bring the roof down for the unplugged section, to make it feel more intimate. The asymmetrical V-shaped The show features a three-tiered design that includes Ayrton MagicPanel-R units, above, Video Equipment Rentals Blades in the automated closedown, and, below the stage, Ayrton MagicBlade-Rs. All photos: Todd Kaplan While many of his designs are obviously theatrical in nature, Halpin says he went in a different direction for Usher. We knew we weren t doing theatrical scenery, which you would do on a lot of pop tours this was more architectural, much more of an art project. Halpin and his partner, Chris Nyfield, started with a standard 60' x 40' stage. Halpin notes, As I looked at it, I rotated it around by 55 or so and made it slightly asymmetric. The set itself has three distinct areas: an LED-infused wall that includes side positions, a video wall, and upstage lighting ladders. The back wall is made up of 565 Revolution Display Blades [supplied by Video Equipment Rentals] and is 64' wide x 25' high, while each side is approximately 22' tall and 10' wide, explains Brian closedown also infused with Blades is 40' wide x 30' long x 7.5' high. There are two 7' wide x 18' long x 9' high ego ramps on stage right and left. All are fed by PRG Mbox media servers; Control Freak (CFS), the media control specialist, supplied a custom Blade server that allows for each of the 700-plus Blades to be treated as RGB units. The Mbox servers are an integral part of the CFS system, says Kirk Miller, of CFS. There are many audioreactive and musically timed elements in the show, making the latency of both content and cameras a deciding factor when designing the video system. The Mboxes and custom CFS servers, along with the IMAG feed and camera ISOs, all feed Barco Encores as their final show January

3 CONCERTS The automated chandelier, above, is, says lighting designer Eric Wade, his take on the Beamer spaceship seen in the TNT series Falling Skies. output. The Encores are controlled via Control Freak's Encore Bridge software. This allows for easy manipulation and layering of the incoming content and IMAG camera system. The pieces of this system are heavily integrated, with Mbox being the backbone. In the case of the custom Blade server developed by CFS, the MBox feeds the custom server and the faux-rgb LED strip feature is layered on top. That output then gets fed back into the MBox IO module, utilizing the fail-safe functions of the hardware. The heavy integration of all components offers a nice menu of artistic options when building a show. On stage, Halpin and Nyfield found a solution that is simultaneously high- and low-tech: eight 3' x 3' cubes with 10mm VER LEDs on the three sides. Halpin says, We chose the cubes because we needed levels and risers and seats and chairs and surfaces of different heights, but we didn t know what we would need them for, or when we would need them. Creating this matrix and array of lifts on stage gave us the ability to change the shape of the stage; they also become super low-tech prop pieces. The cubes can rise 8' above stage level. We have them in almost an X shape, and, again. they are uneven because everything is asymmetric, he adds. There s also another Tait lift upstage, for props and Usher s drum kit. The architectural look of the design includes a 26' x 24' Screenworks 7mm bi-parting video wall at upstage center, which is on a 160 angle. The video wall is moved using a Tait automated video track truss system, controlled via a Navigator automation system, says Levine. Award winning video director Chris Keating oversees the seven-camera IMAG package. I effectively do three different cuts throughout the show, he says. My main cut is for the side screens or IMAG. Then for the onstage LED screen, we ve got content for approximately two-thirds of the show; the other third is IMAG, which is either clean or treated with slight effects, via Control Freak. Keating understands the mindset of the fans in regards to IMAG. We don t want to mess around too much with the artist s image people want to see Usher. This cut is basically a television -style version employing wide shots and IMAG for the artist s viewing. It s something I started doing a while back, working with artists like Prince and Beyoncé, he says. It allows the artist to watch the show afterwards, to get a good overview of how it looked. I m using a Ross Synergy 3 M/E desk, which is a great console for cutting a live show. The camera guys are 66 January 2015 Lighting&Sound America

4 fantastic, I set the bar high and they ve really stepped up. Toward the end of the tour s US leg, Keating also directed a 12-camera live webcast of the concert, while simultaneously directing the live show. The video package is supplied by Screenworks NEP. They ve been really great to deal with, says Keating. Lighting The set doesn t end with the Blade wall; upstage of it, eight light ladders are revealed when the video wall parts. Levine explains, They re moved on Tait automated video track truss on a 160 angle and are suspended via Tait Nav hoists. The light ladders can also be viewed behind the Blade wall. Halpin says, When we designed the set, I also designed the size and location of the ladders, lighting trusses, and lighting pods. Because the placement of those trusses was so critical to the overall look of the set, it was important the lighting and set were on the same page. Eric [Marchwinski] then populated the trusses, pods, ladders etc., with a great choice of fixtures. Having Eric and Kirk Miller programming lighting and video really made this show something special. The light ladders, located behind the Blades, are a key part of the lighting rig. Lighting designer/director Eric Wade, of Rowlett, Texas-based FOH Show, says, The lighting ladders were like having an open canvas and we all knew we wanted to load them down with small moving lights; that ended up being the GLP X4 S, Wade says. I couldn t be happier. We have 216 of them mounted in groups of nine on all the ladders, in addition to mounting six [Solaris] Mozarts on the face of each ladder to give another subtle layer of light. I finished it off with Solaris Flares on the bottom of each ladder. Once the ladders were done, I happened to talk with Eric Loader, from Elation Professional, and he sent me some info about a new light of theirs, the Sniper 2R; we then added one to every ladder. The Elation Sniper 2R is a hybrid beam, scanner, and laser simulator. They are pretty good as unique effect lights they re nice and quick, notes Halpin. The Solaris Mozarts are another new piece of eye candy. Marchwinski, who is also associate lighting designer, says, It s a 6" x 6" LED brick that you can divide up into 16 segments; we re dividing it into four segments. It is a small, cost-effective unit that gives the show another layer of lighting, he notes: We can make them strobe, we can make them twinkle like stars; you can do all kinds of neat stuff with them it s the perfect light. The versatility of this light is refreshing. I knew they were going to perform well, so I added extra for those just-in-case moments. Above the stage are four pods controlled via a Tait Upstage of the action is a 7mm Screenworks LED wall. January

5 CONCERTS Above: The video cubes allow Halpin and Nyfield to change the stage set almost instantly. Opposite: The chandelier is comprised of MagicPanel-R units, Solaris Flares, and Martin Mac Viper AirFXs. Navigator comprised of Ayrton MagicPanel-Rs, Solaris Flares, and Martin MAC Viper AirFXs. Halpin says, We had this natural open shape in the center from the header, and I knew I wanted some sort of chandelier. Even from the very first render, we started having these pod-shaped arrays, and, as we got into it, we realized we wanted to be able to change the shape of it. The 9' x 9' pods break in the middle and stack, two-high, on rolling carts. They are skinned in a matte-black sheet metal and framed out internally to allow the clamps to be placed up inside them. MagicPanel-R units are prominent in the pods. I love the light, Wade says. The [MagicPanel] 602 is a 6 x 6 array of LEDs. This one is a 5 x 5, so you have 25 LEDs. I like the 5 x 5 because I end up with a center pixel, so it centers everything better. The Magic Panel-R also has continuous pan/tilt. When you re writing chases or looks, it s just amazing, he says. Marchwinski adds, We have 64 MagicPanel-Rs up in the pods; each one breaks down into 26 pieces. So your fixture count what you re managing with your programming is exponentially larger, but the effects you can get out of them are amazing. Below the front of the stage, under a Lexan floor, is another new Ayrton fixture: the MagicBlade-R, a linear LED. They re spaced 4' apart around the front of the deck, Wade says. With the under-stage location, Marchwinski adds, We re able to get away with letting the Blades do the infinity rotation because were don t mind lighting up the stage. Joining the MagicBlade-Rs under the stage are four Clay Paky Sharpy Washes. Also used are 60 Martin Professional Mac Viper AirFXs. Marchwinski says, It s by far the most artistically versatile instrument in this rig. Wade adds, This is my workhorse in the show: key light, wash, hard-edge, and many effects. This is the best all-around light on the market at this time, in my opinion. The rig also contains 60 Martin Mac 2000 XBs, seven Mac 700s, and 16 Mac Quantum Washes. Wade says, The Quantum is my primary band backwash. It s on all the time I have one for every band member. I love them. VER (Video Equipment Rentals) is the tour s lighting vendor. Programming done on a MA Lighting grandma2 was complex. The asymmetry has made it difficult for every department, Marchwinski says. Getting the deck and rig in the right place is vital to not having to update too much of the focus, because we don t have the time. Marchwinski adds, The hardest part about programming this show is that we have anywhere from January 2015 Lighting&Sound America

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7 CONCERTS to 22 people on stage at any one point, which is more difficult than dealing with asymmetry. You have to make sure that Usher doesn t get lost in the mix. The show is comprised of 52 universes not all of them full and is run on SMPTE, Marchwinski says: There are a few manual songs and moments but, for the most part, we took the show, which was not time-coded on the last tour, and locked it to time code. With this approach, you can get so many more details and so many more layers. Control is also a critical issue. Marchwinski explains, The data network is similar to what we had on Katy Perry it s a central ring redundant fiber-optic system where we have multiple protocols going down a managed switch. The control system also enables automatic movement tracking, when Usher is on the cubes, via PosiStageNet. It is an open protocol for on-stage live 3-D position streaming, which was also used on Perry s show. Control Freak provided that solution and we have hooked VER s lighting system into that back end backstage, as well as video, adds Marchwinski. Special effects Special effects, provided by Pyrotek s Las Vegas office, are also part of the production. Halpin explains, Usher likes pyro, so we have a lot of it and CO2 jets. Sixteen CO2 jets are located downstage. Pyro effects from both Le Maitre and Next FX are featured in the opener, My Way, as well as in the finale, Without You. Flames are featured prominently in You Make Me Wanna. Six Le Maitre Salamander Quad Pro flame projectors are located just upstage of the Lexan portion of the downstage edge. Halpin says, The most interesting thing we re doing with effects is the flame projectors that are built into the stage; they re quite cool. Sound Handling the mixing duties at the front of house is sound engineer Horace Ward, who s on a DiGiCo SD5. You use an SD5 if you want Waves to work properly, he says. Although Ward is on a digital desk, he finds that it has certain inherent limitations. On a digital console, when 70 January 2015 Lighting&Sound America

8 Opposite: The light ladders that flank the video wall are comprised of units from GLP, Solaris, and Elation Professional. Above: The video wall in bi-parted mode, with IMAG of Usher. you start summing on your left and right, they tend to be a little bit edgy, not as wide as they are supposed to be and not as dense, he notes. The digital summing alters the sound by aurally squashing it, which isn t acceptable, he says: I don t like the way that digital consoles sum to stereo; I much prefer analog summing. So Ward turned to an analog summing unit: Dangerous 2-Bus. It is a 16-in-analog-to-two-out. I go out on groups, into 2-Bus, which is analog, and I come back into the left and right. It gives me a lot more width, he says, adding that this practice is common in the studio: Whatever you do in a studio, you should be able to do out on the road. He adds, A lot of the mic pres on the consoles that we use aren t really up to the high-quality mic pres that we should be using. While at the Lititz, Pennsylvania home of Clair Global the tour s audio vendor Ward met up with the team from UK-based FocusRite, who introduced him to the company s microphone pre-amp. I tested it through an SD7, he says. I put a mic through the console and through the system that they had up, and then put it through the FocusRite mic pres, and it was like, okay, there is an extreme difference between your mic pres and the proprietary mic pres for the DiGiCo, he explains. Ward adds, FocusRite is famous for compressors and EQs. They ve developed a set of tools now for studios; their proprietary thing is that they re audio-over- Ethernet. Part of the audio-over-ethernet package that Ward has assembled for himself includes several pieces from FocusRite s RedNet line of products. First are RedNet 4 microphone pre-amps under the stage. He explains, Each RedNet 4 in the rack has Ethernet out that plugs into an Ethernet switch in the racks; out of the switches in both racks, you get two Ethernet lines (audio over Ethernet) that are run from the stage to a master Ethernet switch at FOH. Out of the main switch, you feed 96 channels of audio to the RedNet 5, which, via DigiLink, takes those 96 channels to Pro Tools. From the switch, you also feed 96 channels of audio to RedNet 6s, and that churns out the MADI that goes to the console. So it s giving you all the inputs to the console and Pro Tools. Situated at FOH is a laptop, which is your Dante controller, which enables Ward to control audio over Ethernet. You can see all the mic pres, RedNet 5, and RedNet 6, and you can control it all from the laptop because of Dante, he adds. It s a unique setup that suits Ward. I want the best sound, and this is the best way to get it, he asserts. As mentioned earlier, at any time there can be up to 22 people on stage. Ward says, I have so many open mics on stage that all that wash coming out of all those mics builds up and hinders what you re trying to do with the mix. So you have to take care of all that backwash and all those microphones to make it as accurate as possible. I January

9 CONCERTS Usher is on a Crown headset mic; he also has a custom gold-plated handheld mic. use EQs in Waves to clean up some of the backwash, say from background vocals mics that are standing right in front of the side fills. Between compressing certain things and EQ-ing other things, you work it out. For his PA, Ward is using a Clair i-5 system. It s a great system it s clean, and I know how to work it, he says. Sixteen i-5s per side constitute the front hang, with twelve i-3s for the side hang. Ward also has the new Clair CP 218 subs eight in the air and three on the floor per side. They are phenomenal, he says. The bow ties [BT-218s] were [Clair s] last subs and the CPs are two to three times more powerful; soundwise, they re a lot more efficient. Sitting in the audience, Usher s fans are well aware of the subs. It s supposed to be an audio-accurate show, encompassing low end that you can feel. You want to feel the low-end 808s, he notes. Ward uses a cornucopia of microphones: an Audio- Technica AE2500 on the kick, AT3000s on the toms, a Heil PR 31BW on top snare and ATM650 on snare bottom, AKG 414s on the overheads, Neumann KM 184s on hi-hat, ride, and center cymbals. As for Usher, he says, His headset mic is a Crown and his handheld is a Heil capsule over a Shure stick. When I came in, they had his mics done; they re plated gold. It seems to suit his voice, so I go with it. I m a Sennheiser guy, but they re not that bad. Harold Jones is the production manager for Usher s UR Experience; the tour finished its first leg last month. It arrives in Europe in February. 72 January 2015 Lighting&Sound America

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