GLP's JDC with Adriatique

	"The trusses are intended to mimic the organ pipes," Stoffels says. Photo: Jessica Gilbert

GLP's latest strobe/wash hybrid, the JDC Burst 1, made its UK debut when 96 of the compact fixtures were deployed at London's Royal Albert Hall by lighting designer Jelle Stoffels.

With its segmented, controllable white strobe line -- substantially brighter than its forbear, the JDC1 -- the JDC Burst 1 is also IP65-rated.

Upon learning that lighting vendor Siyan had taken delivery of the first 100 heads in the UK, Stoffels put the fixture's characteristics to the test with Swiss electronic house and techno DJ duo Adriatique (Adrian Shala and Adrian Schweizer). In particular, he was interested to see how having the two RGBW LED plates would enhance the show dynamic.

The catalyst in this unexpected realization was event production manager Matt Child from design and delivery company ARTDPT. Working with promoter Labyrinth Events, he had been privy to a demo of the new fixture and was impressed with the unit's color performance and cell control. His recommendation to upgrade the JDC1 to the JDC Burst 1 followed.

Stoffels recently joined Belgian design cooperative HangarCreates and was working for the first time with Adriatique, whose stage setup changes from show to show. He explains, "90% of the fixtures we are using will be there for only this production."

As for the JDC Burst 1, he says, "The specs looked impressive when compared with the JDC1; the fact that the plates have RGBW and better color reproduction is important for me as I use the JDCs in quite an unconventional way. I am personally not a big fan of strobe lights but with an RGBW fixture I try to mimic conventional lighting -- I'm always able to dim to amber, and then to CTO. I have more color reproduction options, but I mostly see the strobes and the cells as separate fixtures that can be used simultaneously."

For this design, he mounted the fixtures overhead on vertical trusses from the ceiling in such a way that in the zero position they shine towards each other, and tilt both fully towards the audience and fully back to the organ. "The trusses are intended to mimic the organ pipes," he says.

The baton then passed to the duo's long-term programmer and show director, Cedric Dure. Setting the fixtures in 227 DMX channel mode, he waited until an hour into the show, building the suspense before unleashing the JDC Bursts alongside 90 GLP impression X4 Bar 20 battens in vertical chasing strips. These did the early heavy lifting, accentuating the height of the auditorium and stunning Grand Organ backdrop. When the Bursts took over, the show went into overdrive.

Dure first saw the Bursts at the recent Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt "only to then realize we would have the first 96 of them in the UK on our show at the RAH," he adds. "They feel like a big upgrade from the legacy JDC1s -- I was able to create a much better color palette which is something very important to me. Also, the new DMX modes solve the issues I had with the legacy JDC1 profiles, which makes programming much easier and straightforward."

Adriatique shows are very pixel-oriented, he says, and always feature X4 Bars and JDCs in the design. "We use a mix of MA3, Resolume, and MadMapper [video mapping] to generate a variety of organic effects," he adds. "For the first-ever UK show with the new JDC Burst 1, it was a no-brainer for me to push them to their full capabilities, with 48 pixel segments on the plate."

To demonstrate the versatility of the fixture, when guest singer Delhia De France performed "Tremors" standing in front of the organ, he used the inner JDCs to highlight the organ, adding a layer of depth, while the remaining fixtures were directed towards the audience.

Summarizing the show, Stoffels says, "While one fixture provided brightness and glow -- creating silhouettes and lighting up the haze -- we were also able to have great beams shining over maximum distance through the Albert Hall."