When consulting on a lighting system for a worship center, one of the most important recommendations I make is which console to choose to control the stage lighting. The lighting console is the core component of a stage lighting system. Everything the lighting system is capable of doing is controlled by the operator through the lighting console. Not only does the lighting console have to possess the power to control the entire system, the user interface must match the capabilities of the lighting programmers as well as the lighting console operators.
Primarily, the lighting console must fit the needs of the worship experience. Should the console be primarily a prerecorded/playback device, or should it cater to live production where the operator has much more creative control? With so many considerations, choosing a lighting console could either lead to a lighting system that deftly responds to the operator's wishes, or it could become a very expensive piece of lighting equipment that no one on the staff can understand or control.
Lighting Control Through the Lens of History
The past half-century has brought dramatic technological changes in how we control the stage lighting fixtures and store the lighting cues. When I first started my career in lighting design, the way we controlled the intensity of the stage lighting was with manually controlled dimmers. These resistance and autotransformer light boards were huge, heavy, and difficult to manage. Long handles attached to the dimmers were manually moved to bring up and down the intensity of the lights. It usually took several people to manipulate these dimmers. Not only were fast lighting cues difficult or impossible to perform, the human element of manipulating these handles created inconsistent lighting transitions and levels. These limitations created a significant barrier in achieving the designers’ artistic lighting visions.
Preset boards soon followed, allowing the lighting board operator a much easier lighting control surface. Multiple lighting cues could be preset on several sets of control faders, and the faders were not physically attached to the dimmers, allowing the lighting operator to be remotely located so that they could clearly see the stage. However, since the faders were still manually set and moved, human mistakes were still made, creating inconsistent and undependable lighting cues.
When memory boards made their way into theaters in the late 1970s (thanks to Tharon Musser and her groundbreaking lighting design for “A Chorus Line”), human error was no longer an issue. Lighting cues and transition times were pre-recorded and stored in memory. This ensured that the lighting levels and transition times were consistent for every performance. All the lighting board operator had to do was push the “Go” button to execute the cue. The lighting console would also transmit lighting intensities to the dimmers through a digital protocol called “DMX512.” This standardized protocol also made sure that any lighting console could communicate with any dimmer, or any other device like a color scroller or strobe light.
With the advent of moving lights in the 1980s, specialized lighting consoles were developed for the multi-channel demands of each manufacturer and model of moving light. Vari-Lite’s Artisan console was great for controlling Vari-Lite [fixtures], but not so great for controlling conventional fixtures and moving lights made by other manufacturers. This sometimes required that two lighting consoles be used on productions: one for the moving lights, and another for controlling the conventional dimmers and fixtures.
It was not until the mid 1980s that manufacturers decided to create hybrid control consoles that could control both conventional and automated lighting with simple user interfaces. One of the first and most popular was the ETC Expression. This console allowed you to call up individual channels as well as assign moving light attributes to control wheels, perfect for pan, tilt, spinning gobos, and other attributes. The Expression also had an easy-to-learn syntax for controlling such lights. Soon, many companies followed with their own hybrid automated lighting controllers and programming syntax. The fact is that most every lighting desk made today is a hybrid controller.
A Surge in Power & Creativity
As moving lights became more sophisticated with additional control channels and capabilities, lighting console manufacturers had to keep up. As the competition increased, they designed into their consoles sophisticated color selection tools, advanced effects generators, updatable instrument profiles, advanced tracking capabilities, and media server control. These powerful lighting consoles brought great power and flexibility to the stage lighting designer, as well. Since many of these consoles were designed specifically for the live concert industry, a great deal of hands-on manual lighting control was also designed into the user interfaces. This allows the lighting operator to manipulate the lighting in real time, a necessity for live rock n’ roll and many worship applications.
Unfortunately, many of these full-sized lighting consoles cost $15,000 and up. This is far beyond the reach of many modestly budgeted theaters and worship spaces. Realizing that the market is huge for medium-priced lighting consoles with many of the features of full-sized desks, manufacturers ported their lighting control software into smaller control surfaces, and sometimes to Windows and Linux PCs (and in some cases, into your laptop). These smaller “medium budget” consoles sell for between $4,000 and $10,000.
Now what?
So what type of lighting console is suitable for your church? I would first consider what type of lighting design you desire for your style of worship. For churches that have simple lighting systems with scripted services that only require atmosphere changes from moment to moment, a simple memory playback controller would be suitable. You can find such consoles from all the manufacturers. They will record and play back lighting cues, and offer basic automated lighting control (for churches with only a handful of moving lights). Such lighting controllers as Strand’s 250 ML, ETC’s SmartFade and Jands Stage CL Compact only cost a few thousand dollars … quite affordable for such quality lighting consoles.
If your rig has six or more moving lights and you want more hands-on lighting control for improvisational lighting design, then a larger and more powerful console would be required. This is where the medium budget consoles come in. These lighting desks are powerful enough to control medium-sized lighting rigs with enough manual control buttons, faders, and knobs to allow a more improvised worship experience. Many of these consoles can also control external video media servers (and some have media servers built in). They also have more powerful effects generators for sophisticated chases, flashes, and other effects. The ETC Ion, MA onPC, Avolites Titan Mobile, Jands Vista S1 and the High End HedgeHog are among the leading sellers in this range of affordable lighting consoles.
Finally, if you belong to a mega-church with a lighting rig that rivals the latest Rolling Stones tour, then one of the full-sized lighting desks would be required. These include the Vari-Lite Virtuoso, Avolites Tiger Touch II, High End Hog, Jands Vista L5, Strand Neo, MA Lighting GrandMA, and the ETC EOS. Although expensive, these consoles have enough power to control the largest lighting rigs, and offer amazing hands-on control surfaces for the most busy-handed lighting operator.
So you see, the choices are many. The crucial first step is to consult a lighting professional who can assess your needs and recommend the appropriate lighting console for your church. The right lighting console will be a seamless conduit for the creative abilities of the lighting artists in your congregation.
