Janowitz chooses Ayrton Mistral-S for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams posted: 22/02/2021
Marc Janowitz, of e26 design, chose 30 Mistral-S - Ayrton's highly compact, lightweight and powerful LED spot fixtures - as key features of his lighting design for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams. The 8-week virtual residency' was live-streamed weekly from New York's historic Beacon Theatre throughout October and November 2020.
In an unusual twist, since no audience was present, the filming took place on stage in a reverse set-up, with the musicians facing the back wall and the auditorium acting as a backdrop. The jam sessions were aimed specifically at the home audience, for which we wanted to create an intimate connection that felt like we brought a series of music sessions into the viewers' own home, explains Janowitz. The reverse angle gave us something more like a studio environment into which Mistral fitted beautifully - it was very much in keeping with the look we were trying to create.
Janowitz needed a fixture that was light enough to mount on rolling C-stands and small enough to integrate into the performance area, yet full of features and with a great output: Mistral was small enough - and pretty enough - to tuck into all the nooks and crannies between the artists, and gave all the output - and the looks - that I needed, he says.
Eighteen Mistrals on C-stands were sited on stage to form a total wrap-around' that defined the space and gave a bespoke look to the own room' performances. We could locate them perfectly in the small spaces between the musicians and instruments from where we used them mainly as backlight and sidelight, as eye candy, and to create beautiful flares behind the performers, says Janowitz. They were particularly useful in the reverse set-up to fill the void on camera over the artists' shoulders.
The Mistral gave a natural lens flare which is very camera-friendly, and they appeared in virtually every shot. Mistral's precise movement allowed me to make small, live adjustments to its position to guarantee that flare in-camera from every perspective.
Mistral's small size and versatility also suited the film and television-style lighting of the live performances. The power-draw is so low we could put the Mistrals anywhere and simply loop them together very quickly. Being LED sourced, we were also able to set up the perfect refresh rate for the cameras.
With different looks to generate for 20+ songs each week over the 8-week residency, with no repetition, Janowitz made full use of Mistral's gobo and colour palettes. Mistral has a wide gobo selection which opened up a lot of freedom - I had all the textures I needed, he says. It wasn't so much about tight beam architecture as the aerial textures I achieved by shooting through the stage set and the band. I could get really morphy' with the gobos and the colour, particularly in the stage-level fixtures which I then mimicked in the Mistrals overhead.
Although Janowitz originally purposed Mistral as key in creating the near-stage' picture, he soon incorporated 12 more Mistral fixtures overhead on the Beacon Theatre's two-ton' pipe to act as high backlight. I knew they would be great at 12ft but realised they were also great at 30ft! From here I was able to use one or two on each musician as a consistent place for the camera to return to between songs. It also meant my nearside, reverse and close overhead lighting were all from the same fixture type, which homogenised how I was able to use colour, texture and intensity and gave a beautiful balance.
Janowitz was also delighted with Mistral's 6.7 - 53 zoom ratio: That's a really great feature. It was narrow enough to light the musicians from overhead without any spill, yet wide enough to light them fully at stage level - without any heat issues - even when placed in close proximity to the artists. That's no mean feat in such a tightly packed stage and demonstrates exceptional versatility.
Trey Anastasio's Beacon Jams marks Janowitz's first use of Mistral and he was impressed. Mistral is a great light to keep in my tool box: it's small and nimble, full of features, with wide dispersion, texture and intensity. Paul Hoffman and Mikey Cummings of Pulse Lighting (lighting supplier for The Beacon Jams) recommended I try out Mistral on many occasions - it really fills the gap in the market for a small bodied, full-featured, punchy fixture. It also looks attractive. As both production and lighting designer, the over-all look of the stage is important, and Mistral is definitely something I welcomed on the set and in the stage design. Those sleek curves and that distinctly French design go a long way! Having used Mistral, I'm keen to check out its bigger Ayrton cousins to see how they scale up.
All proceeds from The Beacon Jams went to Phish's The WaterWheel Foundation and its new Divided Sky Fund which was set up by Anastasio to help those affected by addiction and alcoholism, and help further plans to open a treatment centre in Vermont.
About Ayrton:
AYRTON is specialized in developing intelligent LED light products for Entertainment and Architectural applications.
Based south of Paris, France, the AYRTON Headquarters and Research & Development centre combine and organize the highest competence in engineering, software, electronics and optics, with the aim to create highly innovative fixtures.
AYRTON fixtures are created to answer any demanding installation and criteria, and are distributed through devoted and exclusive worldwide teams. AYRTON uses reliable, flexible and avant-garde technologies linked to innovative design, to provide AYRTON customers with a wide range of pioneer lighting solutions for installation in Stages, TV Studios, Sh
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
14/11/2026
Marcelo Dai's Live Session Captured with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
Artist takes viewers on an immersive journe...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
Janowitz chooses Ayrton Mistral-S for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams posted: 22/02/2021 
