For Orchestra

Every year during Christmas I always see these light shows, in which the most famous one is the “Winter of the Wizards” Video by the Trans Siberian Orchestra. I used to study lighting, but will refrain from getting technical (for those who care its referred to as DMX 512).

I always compare these light shows to orchestrating my music. In the video below you’ll notice there are 5 or so “sections”. Similarly, there are 5 or so sections in an orchestra (winds, brass, strings, percussion, chorus, etc.). So assign each light section as an instrument section. When either section is playing you have them ‘perform’. Its much more complicated than that, but the arrangement is the same idea. It also helps to have dynamics and to start with a song that is arranged well.

I like the idea of how something like this can be uploaded onto Youtube, and then find its way into a Suberbowl commercial. This helped explode the idea of arranging lights to music – and everyone knows I’m a big fan of inter arts (combining more than one art form together).

The reason I say that dynamics are important are because the power is in the peaks and valleys. Good art tells a story, and every good story takes you on a journey of highs and lows. Notice how there are times when only one light is ‘playing’ to create the sense of one instrument playing, etc.

The lightshow ‘arranger’ creates a perfect visual interpretation of a piece of music – saving the climactic moment for the very end. You can’t have all the lights on at once – you need build up – just like a piece of music. So there you have it – Arranging is like dancing Christmas lights.

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