Client

The National Parks

Date

March 2021 to present · first show at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City

Role

Lighting Design · Fabrication · Show Control

Overview

For The National Parks we designed and built a set of eight glowing cactus fixtures the band could take on tour and run themselves. The first show was March 20, 2021 at what was then Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, played to a limited, socially distanced crowd in the first weeks that concerts were allowed back. The same system then went out on the road for years, sometimes as the full ring of eight around an arena stage, sometimes as two or three cacti at a backyard show. We worked directly with the band, who are some of the nicest people in the Utah music scene.

Two neon cactus fixtures glowing blue-white on either side of the stage, a drummer at left and a violinist at center under purple and green lighting
Two of the cacti flanking the stage.

The Fixtures

Each cactus is five feet tall and carries a single five-meter run of neon flex LED, 300 pixels, tracing the outline of the body and arms. Lit, they read as a row of neon cacti. Unlit, they disappear: the frames are painted black so that on a dark stage all you see is the light.

We drew the frames in Fusion 360 and cut them on a CNC router. The LED runs are zip-tied to the frame on purpose, so a damaged run can be swapped in a green room with a bag of zip ties and no help from us. Waterproof xConnect connectors keep dust, dirt and spilled drinks out of the electronics. One Advatek PixLite 16 pixel controller powers and drives all eight.

Running It Without a Lighting Designer

The band tours without a lighting operator, so the cacti had to run off what they already carry: an Ableton playback rig. We gave them a virtual instrument inside their Ableton sessions. Notes on that instrument trigger different video looks in TouchDesigner, and the LEDs sample their color from whatever video is playing. That means the band can make their own looks, change timing, or add a new song without touching the lighting software or getting technical.

Later we added a synced video output from the same system for venues with LED walls. Years of touring on, it has needed very little maintenance from us, and we're now talking with the band about what the next tour could look like.

Technical Specifications

Fixtures
8 cacti, 5 ft tall
LED
5 m neon flex per cactus, 300 pixels
Frames
Designed in Fusion 360, CNC-cut, painted black
Control
Advatek PixLite 16 pixel controller
Software
Custom TouchDesigner system, LEDs sample from video looks
Triggering
Virtual instrument in the band's Ableton Live sessions
Connectors
Waterproof xConnect
Later addition
Synced video output for venues with LED walls
First show
March 20, 2021 · Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City

More Views

A CNC-cut plywood cactus frame standing in the workshop before paint, with a channel routed around its outline for the LED The CNC router mid-cut, following the cactus outline in a sheet of MDF A single cactus fixture lit cyan against a dark background, with a blue glow on the floor beneath it Guitarist singing under a red spotlight with a neon cactus glowing blue behind him Low, close view looking up at rows of neon cactus fixtures and truss-mounted moving-head lights above a stage

What Else Is Possible

Custom fixtures plus a control system the band already owns is a good fit for any artist who wants a look that's theirs and doesn't want to hire a lighting operator for every show. The shape can be anything that fits the record, and the same Ableton trigger approach works for LED walls, projection, and conventional fixtures over DMX.

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