top of page
Baba OSC'ly
The University of Virginia
This piece, set to The Who's Baba O'riley, is part light show, part technology demonstration. The piece explores concert lighting aesthetic principles, with a twist. The LED fixtures on the upstage lighting ladders (both color and white) are not programmed into any lighting cues on the ETC EOS console. Instead, they are actuated by a different control scheme. A MIDI keyboard sends MIDI notes (via USB) to an iMac. An installed application called OSCulator translates these notes into specific OSC commands, different MIDI notes triggering different commands. The software then broadcasts said commands over a WLAN, where the EOS, connected via WiFi, picks them up. The commands in question trigger virtual "bump buttons" associated with pre-programmed submasters, instantly bringing a group of lights (one per ladder) to full intensity. This allows an operator to "play the lights" via the MIDI keyboard. In addition, the operator can record keystrokes in sequence using DAW software (Digital Performer in this case). By connecting said software to OSCulator via the Mac IAC driver, these prerecorded notes can trigger OSC commands to the console, allowing for recording, editing, and playback of complex sequences intuitively and simply.
Lighting Designer: Matthew Ishee
bottom of page