Aug 7, 2016
Walking the tightrope - that's what show control is all about. Whether you are creating lighting scenes, working with live projection or live video gen, this isn't something that you can practice ahead of time. As a result, I find the work that show control people do to be both fascinating and completely unnerving.
Take the craziness of show control, add programming chops and the willingness to go anywhere in the world - and you have David Butler. David has been developing show control tools for himself in Max and Java; given his comfort with large-scale control systems, he's able to put together programming that is able to handle massive data streams.
I was really looking forward to a chat with David because he manages the balance between technical skills and artistic vision. He does this professionally, but he does it for fun, too - and that's something I can definitely relate with. He's also into sharing both his perspectives and his work, and is working on some code that he'll be providing for other interested parties.
This is a great look at a completely different side of the performing world, and also gives you a glimpse at the levels of detail and complexity required to handle large performance system. It's also a chance to hear from a guy that is totally comfortable with the tightrope walk that is show control management. You can find out more about David's work at his website: The Impersonal Stereo.
Enjoy!