Visual design
Lesson time: (7min 59sec)
Sister Bliss explains how lighting and visual design shape a live electronic show, and why a strong lighting and production team matters.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Studio to Stage: How Faithless Created Their Live Sound
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Creating an Engaging Show: Lighting, Visuals, and Music
So now you've got yourself all rehearsed, and the music is sounding really good. It's time to create a show around this.
Collaborating with Professionals
Hopefully, you'll have started this at the beginning of rehearsals, ensuring you have a lighting designer or show designer on board, someone who understands what you're trying to say with your show. Consider the following aspects:
- Structure: Does the show have a beginning, a middle, and an end?
- Development: Does the show grow over time?
- Energy: Are you going all out from the start, or is there a sense of buildup?
Importance of a Production Team
A lighting designer and a production manager are crucial. They hold your tour in their hands, knowing each venue and its specifications. Key points to consider:
- Venue Specifications: They understand the height of the venue, available trusses, and what you can do with your rigging since your lights are suspended from a truss.
- Travel Logistics: If you're touring globally, ensure that your show is easy to break down and transport.
Visuals in Your Show
Often, you'll have a lighting designer as well as a VJ who manipulates visuals or creates a backdrop while you're on stage. If you have an ethos or philosophy about your show, you want your lighting designer to bring that to life through the mood they create with lights. It's incredibly powerful what lighting can do, it completely alters the way one listens to music.
Flexibility in Design
When booking for festivals:
- Consider Limitations: Sometimes, the extensive lighting package you've spent hundreds of thousands on can't be used because it's daytime.
- Budget Constraints: It's essential to have a versatile and flexible setup that works within your budget.
A Simple Yet Effective Approach
If you're a band just starting out, you can keep things simple. For instance, we once performed on a television show called Jules Holland. They made a backdrop out of our second album cover titled "Sunday 8pm," which we took worldwide. This backdrop looked amazing and was cost-effective.
Digital Age and Visual Packages
In today's digital era, going on stage without visuals, screens, or LEDs can make you appear somewhat bare. Remember, while the music is central, the visual experience enhances the performance.
- The Impact of Darkness: When darkness falls, electronic music often shines. A captivating visual package elevates the audience's excitement.
- Laser Shows: Personally, I love shows drenched in lasers. During our last tour, we created an architectural design with lasers on stage, referencing both the future and our rave heritage.
The Balance of Artistry and Production
Lighting can set the mood and energy of a show. Innovative artists, like Eric Pridz, have taken lighting and stage shows into new realms with holographic experiences. However, the challenge lies in balance, ensuring that the show doesn't overshadow the artist.
Finding the Right Designer
You should aim to have someone on board who can pitch for the job. It's not just about hiring one lighting designer; you may want to explore different visions from multiple people who understand your music and ethos.
- Style Considerations: Is your show a pop show, a jazz show, or a banging house set? The lighting package must align with the style of music you are presenting.
Budgeting for Equipment
It's crucial to stick to your budget. Understand how many shows you're doing and allocate your funds accordingly. For example, I once had a bespoke couture outfit made with programmable lighting elements, which cost £20,000. While this seems extravagant, when spread across 200 shows, it became manageable.
Production Costs and Collaboration
Your production manager will help ensure that you agree on a budget that's appropriate for the types of shows you're performing. Consider this:
- Essential Needs: If you're playing for a smaller crowd, extravagant lighting isn't necessary, basic colored lights can suffice.
- Scaling Up: When headlining larger stages, aim to create something exciting, experimental, and memorable that harnesses the emotion of the music.
The Importance of Timing and Coordination
Lighting plays a significant role in live performances. Poor lighting can detract from the song's mood.
- Personal Experience: I recall a performance at Coachella where our lighting designer overslept, resulting in everything being lit in pink for half the show. It disrupted the show's intensity and didn't match the profound lyrics being sung.
Lessons Learned
When things go awry, ensure you have multiple alarms set for key events, whether it's getting to the stage or the airport. With a large team, it's vital to move as one cohesive unit; if one person falters, it can jeopardize the entire performance.
In conclusion, lighting and visuals are integral to creating an engaging experience for your audience. Make it a key part of your show!
About the instructor
'Sister Bliss never stopped writing music. She's an accomplished composer for film and TV, a club DJ, and an advocate for the creative industries'. Billboard One of the most successful British dance music artists of the past 25 years, Ayalah Bentovim AKA Sister Bliss is the musical force behind Faithless. Together with iconic front man Maxi Jazz and producer Rollo Armstrong, she formed Faithless: one of the most successful electronic acts of their generation, with a career spanning more than two decades that included 8 albums (3 at number 1) and six top 10 singles. To date, Faithless have sold in excess of 15 million records worldwide and have played live to millions across the world, headlining festivals, stadiums and arenas. The band have collaborated with artists such as Jazzie B, Boy George, Cat Power and Dido, never conforming and moving effortlessly across an eclectic range of genres. Over a 25-year career that took her from the underground UK club scene to sold-out arena shows and festival headline slots around the globe, Sister Bliss has become one of British dance music's longest-standing and most influential female electronic artists. She comes off the back of releasing Faithless' first studio album in ten years, the highly anticipated 'All Blessed' - Faithless' love letter to electronic music that presents them at their very best. The album reached number 6 in the charts and the singles, along with their premiere remixes, garnered extensive support across BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 and BBC 6 as well as Kiss FM and Capital. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, she has also scored numerous TV, film and theatre productions. Credits include 2012's film Knife Fight starring Rob Lowe and directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag, commissions for Sex & The City 2, Chasing Amy, Danny Boyle's The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary, acclaimed British film The Hide, Crossing The Line and the BAFTA-winning TV dramas Life Begins (ITV) and The Poison Tree (ITV). For theatre, Bliss has written music for The Black Album and The Emperor Jones at The National Theatre in London, as well as composing an original piece for the London Sinfonietta, which was performed at Fuse Festival, UK. She recently had a lead role in major prime time BBC1 show 'This is My Song', mentoring the contributors and producing their final recordings. She released a new collaborative album with Rollo and Dido in 2019 under the moniker 'R PLUS' - 'The Last Summer', following a jam-packed summer of festival headline DJ sets throughout the world including sets at Bestival, Exit Festival, Glastonbury, Creamfields, Ibiza and beyond. Her hugely successful weekly radio show and podcast 'Sister Bliss in Session' is syndicated to over 100 stations and 43 countries worldwide. She recently guest presented Gilles Peterson's acclaimed show on BBC 6 Music and regularly stands in for Ana Matronic on the Dance Devotion show on BBC Radio 2. She has also presented a 5-part series on Bauer Media's Scala Radio station joining the dots between classical and electronic music, which won the Bronze prize at the New York Festival Radio Awards, competing against 30 countries. She currently teaches at Tileyard Studios' Masters MA course, including modules on songwriting, production and writing to commercial brief, and mentors individual Masters students - the same hands-on knowledge she shares in Studio to Stage, breaking down exactly how Faithless turned their records into a stadium-filling live show. read more