Indie pop duo/couple Matt & Kim who hail from Brooklyn, New York, have just toured Australia as part of the Groovin’ The Moo festival. Lighting designer Ian Lyles uses a Jands Vista L5 console for the arena, club and theatre shows that the band play in America and so when he found out that he would be visiting Australia, Ian made calling into Jands HQ a priority. Ian was particularly keen to see the Vista M1 and S1 consoles.

“We were interested in trying out the Vista S1 as we’re thinking of buying an M1 or S1 for our small Catalyst rig in the US,” said Ian. “We run bullet security cameras as iMag along with content running on Resolume from our playbacks rack. I was also intrigued to see if I could run a larger show, such as an arena show, on a smaller console like the Vista S1.”

Jands kindly lent Ian a Vista S1 console for the Groovin’ The Moo tour and Ian also had the opportunity to use it on a couple of theatre-size shows to see just how versatile it could be.

“I loved it!” he declared. “I can take the show from the Vista L5 and rearrange it to fit comfortably onto the Vista S1. The work flow is the same in fact you can bounce around between all of the Vista consoles very easily. It’s compact size means it is portable and I could carry it onto a plane which is rather convenient for summer fly dates.”

Ian believes the wide range of Vista hardware options a great benefit offering a very flexible, powerful and customisable solution, all running the same reliable software.

“The Vista consoles are intuitive, easy to set up and quick to program,” he added. “You can have a show up and running very fast if need be. As for adapting larger shows day to day, I really like the ease of use for cloning and cue editing. It’s unpretentious and straightforward.”

The Vista S1 delivers five playbacks, including faders and flash buttons, a complete programming section with three encoder wheels, a rotary master fader, two LCD displays and lots more to make controlling your show a breeze.

Iain Reed, managing director of 32 Hundred Lighting, was one of the first to see the potential of the Jands Stage CL describing it as an ideal console for the stand alone market.

Although LED fixtures are increasingly being used as a cost-effective and flexible lighting solution, there was an absence of a suitable console for LED fixtures that would give direct control of their colour and intensity. That is until Jands saw the gap in the market and produced the Stage CL console which gives you all the manual controls and automation you need to get the most out of your LEDs.

With twelve direct fixture control channels, powerful yet simple recording function and a touch screen interface in a compact and elegant chassis, the Stage CL can be carried in one hand.

Iain Reed, managing director of 32 Hundred Lighting, was one of the first to see the potential of the Jands Stage CL describing it as an ideal console for the stand alone market.

“It’s really cool and great not to have to send a large console out on small job,” he added. “We use it for small corporate jobs as well as domestic jobs. We just set it up and leave it with the audio person to run it! You can pre-program your console with standard looks and special effects suitable for any occasion, and the console is so easy to use, just about anyone can operate it.”

Packed with features for users to get the most out of their LED lights, the Stage CL console is designed for simple operation enabling even a novice to operate comfortably. The console addresses the unique needs of venues that do not have a dedicated lighting operator by enabling people with little or no knowledge of lighting to still create an impressive visual impact.

“However, Stage CL’s simple controls also make it easy to operate shows on-the-fly,” noted Iain. “It has a very simple, intuitive interface and so far, our Stage CL has performed perfectly. It does its job and I view it as a Stage 12 for LED’s – excellent!”

Designed with smaller venues and operators in mind, the Stage CL is ideal for rental applications, audio-visual suppliers, clubs, karaoke bars, retail spaces, schools and houses of worship.

Photo: Iain Reed and Martin Bevz