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School Amazed by ETC Congo Lighting Desk
Stuart Myles, technical manager of the Coade Hall theatre – part of the public Bryanston boarding school in Dorset – has declared himself “blown away” by their new ETC Congo desk, recently purchased through dealer Stage Electrics.
Stuart explains: “We looked at several desks within our price range and Congo was the only one that fitted our needs and requirements. It offered us the ability to run generic lights for theatrical shows in a traditional way, while also enabling us to bolt on the moving lights when we do rock concerts. We also really like the fact that the software updates, which ETC brings out on a regular basis, are free of charge, so as a growing school theatre, we were confident that Congo would grow with us.
“ETC’s Jeremy Roberts came to demonstrate the desk to us, and it was not long after we first took delivery that our 15 to 18 year old stage crew were flying around the desk at his speed, just wanting to know more and more about it, determined to push it to its limits.
“We are totally blown away by it. Every show we do, we discover more and more about the desk – it’s so powerful and the pupils like the fact that they can personalise it – there are so many ways to do the same things, which is great for training individual students. The Congo does it all and more!”
Board operator and programmer Tom, 15, says: “I like the fact that if you set up the palettes, you can easily light a rock concert without having to pre-program everything.” Meanwhile, 18 year old Ben, who is studying for his A-levels, adds that he likes the palettes on the direct selects, as well as smoother fading compared to their previous desk. “There is also the ease of setting up and using it for moving lights,” he says. “When we first got it, we only had it plugged in for about four days before we had to use it for the first big concert – we had to learn it from scratch. I just took the manual back to my room and learned it that way.”
The Coade Hall theatre hosts public and school performances, with everything from rock ‘n’ roll to opera, dance theatre to comedy and, of course, school musicals and plays.
22nd March 2007
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