Do you think there is anything lost with the onslaught of color mixing and intelligent fixtures? It looks like there was a lot of culture in choosing gels!
The options that they give to designers for physical movements and color fades are incredible. They allow looks and a
dynamic to the
stage that couldn't be achieved without them.
They've miss a lot of the
power and impact of a classic rock rig. Just have 4-6 colors to work with, and usually 96 dimmers for 120
par fixtures,
moles, acls, and specials, you were forced to work within those parameters, and a lot of really cool and interesting looks could be accomplished. You can physically feel it onstage and in the audience when someone is running 120+ 1000w
par cans, with
moles.
Color mixing has caused some designers to get lazy with their color selection, and basically just work with a standard
palette of primary and secondary (
RGB,
CMY) colors. Careful selection of a color
palette for a show/band/performance/event can be critical to setting the tone, and we need to use those millions of colors we have available. No different than sitting in the shop looking through the
swatch book deciding what should go in your
par rig. You're just doing it at the lighting
console while programming.
I would never want to go back! I love having the options at the fingertips, and the wide range of design choices to plan from that the new tools give us. A lot of designers do need to go back and watch videos of classic shows, and think about how those ideas can be incorporated into a modern rig. A lot of designers do thinks with a modern rig I'd never even dream of.