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Sine of the Times at English Touring Opera
Combining tradition with technology is something that the performing arts does on a regular basis. But nowhere has this been better demonstrated than at English Touring Opera (ETO), where tradition has been coupled with cutting edge technology in the shape of three 48-way ETC Matrix sine wave dimming racks.
Sine wave is the very latest dimming technology, which ETC has been able to offer since its acquisition of Dutch company IES in June 2004. “We knew that IES had developed the technology in the right way, which is why we were very pleased to add their products to our portfolio,” said Mark White, ETC’s manager for UK and Ireland.
The ETO is the first major UK client to take advantage of ETC’s leap in technology. Production electrician Matt Haskins explained why they needed a new system: “Our existing dimming system was around 10-15 years old. It had become unreliable and it was clear that little could be done to improve the erratic dimming curves,” he said.
However, any replacement dimmers needed to fulfill a very demanding brief. “We needed a flexible system that would service two full tours a year, each with up to three operas in rep, plus a growing number of site specific projects and educational work, which demands smaller dimming/power distribution systems,” said Matt.
Matt saw IES sine wave dimmers at PLASA 2004 and, after consultation with fellow production electricians Mark Beasley, Ben Grashoff, outgoing production manager Dave Ferrier and incoming production manager Will Harding, realised that here was the solution.
“Sine wave gives us the ability to dim non-standard sources with a curve you'd expect from any generic theatre lantern,” said Matt. “We often need to dim fluorescents or low voltage/wattage units, like beamlights, which previously complained noisily - but now they are silent. The 'Lamp Tuning' function senses the source type and applies specific dimmer characteristics, giving a unified fade across the rig, irrespective of source type.”
“Low noise is a major benefit,” he continued. “We often have over 50 par cans in a rig. Running them at 30% results in complete silence, vital when presenting smaller chamber operas. The amount of ambient noise in our foldback system has also vastly improved.”
The system comprises three identical 48 way racks, with ETC’s ability to provide custom options, another major factor in the purchase, which allowed them to be configured to suit the ETO’s specific needs.
“The new dimmers allow us to reconfigure outputs as required; for example four 5kW outputs on each rack that can be switched from doubled 2.5kW dimmers,” said Matt. “It means we don’t need to tour a separate 5kW rack, because there simply isn't space for it within our full truck pack. The other advantage of doubling dimmers to make 5kW circuits is that we can offer a full complement of 2.5kW circuits if 5kW circuits are not used on a specific production. Previously we couldn’t do that.”
The system also has independent power to patch across all phases, from which the team powers moving lights, effects, hazers, prop table lights, foldback and conductor monitors. Two Socapex inserts also allow them to respond to a lighting designer's changes during the production process.
White Light’s Roger Hennigan has a long relationship with ETO and he was more than happy to provide all the assistance necessary when the requirement for new dimmers came up: “We’d been talking to ETO for a while about their dimming needs,” said Roger. “Silent dimming is obviously very attractive to them, because dimmers are often housed on the side of the stage for touring productions. And the flexibility that sine wave offers is another major advantage, because of the variety of different fixtures which ETO uses. We were also able to offer training and ‘out of the box’ functionality for the dimmers to go straight to work.”
Within a week of the dimmers being delivered, the ETO team received training at White Light and the new units were put to work on three operas: Mary Stuart, Cosi Fan Tutti and The (Little) Magic Flute.
Matt Haskins was delighted that ETO’s long-term relationship with White Light bore further fruit when the dimming requirement became apparent. “Roger Hennigan has been an ongoing support to us and, despite going to tender, I was confident that White Light would continue this beneficial relationship,” said Matt. “With IES now a brand of ETC, sine wave technology is more available to us and more cost effective against more traditional forms of dimming.”
Equally happy with the outcome is ETC’s Mark White, who added: “With opera, people are paying to hear the music, not walk out humming the lighting plot. Sine wave dimming is perfect for opera because of its silent operation, as well as ensuring that the lighting is of the highest possible quality. Other companies have been promising it, but we’re delivering it.”
29th April 2005
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