Melbourne Recital Centre is an acclaimed music destination combining architectural innovation and acoustic perfection within its two world-class performance spaces to showcase the best live music from around Australia and the world.
With a diverse range of shows from traditional classical to jazz, pop, hip hop and rock taking to the stage, the lighting team lead by Head of Operations Jasja van Andel went looking to upgrade their lighting rig with new powerful fixtures that will enable them to create the big looks required for modern shows. After an extensive search for new fixtures based on the requirements needed, they came across the Chauvet Professional brand of fixtures and after a demonstration in the venue decided to acquire 12x Rogue R1 BeamWashes and 8x Maverick MK1 Hybrids.
The Rogue R1 BeamWash is a versatile and compact moving head that projects a punchy beam and wash. The compact unit features a custom-designed optical system with seven 40W RGBW LEDs and an expansive zoom range of 3.4 to 67.7 degrees that allows for it to project tight, solid beam effects at its most narrow and transforms the light source into a nice even wash with excellent colour blending as it expands.
“First thing we noticed was the size and weight of the fixture, it’s very compact and only weighs 5kg” stated Harrison Cope, senior lighting technician at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
“The pan and tilt movement is super quick, and despite their small size they are very punchy. The 3.7 to 67.7 degree zoom range gives them great versatility; we’ve used them as beam fixtures on a hip hop act, footlights for a dance performance and as a side wash on booms for general stage coverage. The colour spectrum is excellent, they are great fixtures.”
With COVID lockdowns impacting on audience capacity, like many venues the Recital Centre has increased the recording of shows for online viewing. The R1s have proven themselves invaluable in this role as well.
“We’re doing a lot of streaming these days, and it’s been great having the R1s available, they work well as eye candy pointing at the camera or we can use the wide zoom to highlight the stage and room architecture to create depth and interest behind the performers. They are flicker-free which has kept our video team very happy.” continued Harrison.
As part of the upgrade, Melbourne Recital Centre also acquired 8x Maverick MK1 Hybrids. The MK1 Hybrids has a world of options with advanced optics, overlapping 8 and 4-facet prisms, a versatile gobo package, a 3 – 18 degree zoom range in spot mode and 19 – 41 degree in wash mode, and a robust CMY colour system.
The MK1 Hybrid is powered by a 440 W Osram Sirius reflector lamp, allowing for a supercharged output to dazzle with stunning beams and aerial effects.
“The 440W Maverick MK1 Hybrid is used as both a spot and beam to create stunning aerial effects, in addition to decorating the stage with gobo patterns,” stated Harrison.
“Normally with a hybrid fixture there is a tradeoff between the spot, beam and wash features, but with the Maverick it does all three really well, from the super-tight beams you’d expect from a dedicated beam fixture to a nice smooth wash that can be used for front light. It’s also great to have a full animation wheel in the fixture, I’m a big fan of that type of effect so I’m glad Chauvet was able to fit one in with all the other features,” said Harrison.
“We’d like to thank the team at Showtools especially Lucas McIntyre for all the support and arranging demos of the fixtures, their service has been excellent”.
Thanks to the acquisition of these CHAUVET Professional fixtures, The Melbourne Recital Centre is now well equipped to create new exciting, vibrant and colourful looks for many concerts and events at the venue.
