Ayrton Wildsun 500C illuminate Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band’s Wrecking Ball world tour
Ayrton is proud to announce that more than 65 Wildsun 500C automated LED luminaires were used by award-winning lighting designer, Jeff Ravitz, to light Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band on their Wrecking Ball 2012 world tour.
The Wildsun 500C fixtures were chosen primarily for their warm whites which afford Ravitz the ability to replicate the tungsten look favoured by Springsteen using LED sources.
“Our previous wash lights had tungsten lamps,” says Ravitz. “Bruce liked the warm, natural colour that they provided. I wanted an LED light that would offer a similar foundation of colour balance.”
Ravitz, of Intensity Advisors in Los Angeles and Morpheus Lights, the Las Vegas based lighting production company, selected the Wildsun 500C from Ayrton after extensive testing and comparisons to other automated LED fixtures.
When designing Wildsun 500C, Ayrton deliberately chose the white component of its thirty-one 13W LED modules to be at the centre of the spectrum (4000K) to offer a wide range of applications, particularly in the reproduction of warm shades.
The tour’s lighting director, Todd Ricci, lighting director, concurs, describing the Wildsun white as “a little warmer than that of most LED products” and giving “a white that is more halogen-like.” The result was a white tone that made the LED Wildsun source difficult to distinguish amongst all the other whites in the show.
Ravitz uses the Wildsun 500C fixtures to set the tone for the general stage lighting: “The Wildsuns are used to make a very strong, full-stage, colour statement that I can change quickly as the music or mood changes,” he says. “It’s the soft texture I use in counterpoint to the quality of the sharp, profile fixtures.” Ricci also notes that the LEDs light the audience well spreading superb saturation and colours across the crowds.
The Wildsun’s wide 45° flood is capable of covering a broad area with a smooth field of light, yet can narrow down to 11° degrees to give a very strong beam of bright, tight light. “During the show, I often change the zoom of the lights, as needed for any particular cue,” says Ravitz. “The Wildsun pans and tilts are extremely fast. Our movement effects, and the ability to quickly change focus from one location onstage to another, are now greatly improved.”
The Wildsun units are controlled in 24-channel mode despite the capability for more complex control. “I knew that we did not want to use a lot of parameters and therefore we did not immerse ourselves in the extended DMX mode,” explains Ricci. “We decided that 24 channels would be our basis, which allows for a certain flexibility.”
The Wildsun fixtures also proved themselves ideal for use under television and film conditions as, not only do they perform well on camera (Springsteen demands all his shows be recorded in high definition so he can review them post-show) but the fixtures look good too. “I am very happy with the general appearance of the sources,” says Ricci. “Everyone was immediately concerned about the LEDs and pixilation. But with the 4 in 1 chip (RGBW behind the same lens), this “pizza” effect is removed.”
The economic benefits of the Ayrton Wildsun 500C were also important considerations, combining a cost effective unit price (very important with 65 fixtures in the design) with the benefits of high output and low power consumption.
“I have been wanting to explore the use of a high quality LED fixture to replace our automated wash lights, because the new technology offers many advantages,” says Ravitz. “Lower power consumption and less maintenance are important issues, as well as the benefits of additive colour mixing and very fast colour changes.
« It’s a strikingly different look for our show – the warm white baseline, vivid colors, smooth movement, and remarkable intensity of the Wildsun 500C are truly unique.”
