i-Pix for Oasis

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Lighting designer Rob Gawler is using 42 i-Pix BB4s and 7 BB7s on the current Oasis "Dig Out Your Soul" world tour.

Thirty of the BB4s - 6 per truss - are rigged horizontally onto 5 steeply raked upstage/downstage ‘finger' trusses via custom brackets fabricated by lighting suppliers PRG.

Gawler needed a colour changing wash light offering a nice, even spread of high quality light, not too beamy and that was a less energy-hungry alternative to conventional 4-lite fixtures. He looked at several options before deciding to go with the i-Pix products, which are used for a general stage wash.

The geometric positioning of the units also compliments the spatial elegance of the stage architecture which is created with the fingers.

The other 12 BB4s are mounted on six 4ft high vertical poles, 3 of which are positioned either side of the stage in boom positions, shooting directly across the band. "The low profile of the BB4 means they are nicely concealed in these positions," comments Gawler.

The BB7s are all on the front truss doing a stage wash. Gawler says they are ideal for this because, the band dislike follow spots and the BB7 can be used like a Beam Light to produce a much subtler effect. He also uses them between songs so everyone can see what they're doing.

"They are reliable, efficient and make good colours. I also really like the homogeneity of the light sources and the smooth and even output," he states. This feature eliminates the visibility of the individual different coloured LEDs, so they all appear as one unified point-source.

He's also impressed with the good CTO-like tint that can mimic a PAR bulb without the heat, cabling issues, dimmers and excessive electricity!

The BBs, along with all the other lights on the rig including 80 Martin Professional moving lights - are controlled from a WholeHog 3 console, which is also driving a Catalyst digital media server running the video (supplied by XL Video).

The Oasis tour started in the US and has just kicked off its first UK leg. It is currently scheduled to run for at least a year.