Noise Ensemble goes bright green with Martin.

Following an extensive European tour in 2006, the hit percussion spectacular Noise Ensemble has just embarked on a second UK tour with a remarkable and worthy eco-slant to its new lighting rig. Using the new generation of the Martin MAC 250 fixtures and some low voltage LED effects, the show has reduced its energy consumption by a whopping 60%.

Although reducing CO2 emissions has become the most pressing issue for our times, it is still one that can often generate more headlines than actual concerted efforts to change. It is a major challenge facing our industry; how do we reduce our carbon footprint while maintaining the spectacular lighting our audiences have come to expect?

LD Ben M Rogers who put the lighting design together for Noise Ensemble has taken the green issue to heart.

"It seems to be an endless debate in the industry about how we can be greener and more energy efficient, and it's a hard call. Ultimately we aim to produce the best creative work, but we are constantly brow- beaten to try to achieve it at the right price for the producer, promoter and artist. Economics and ecology seem to rarely go hand in hand - especially with the relatively short time-frames involved in the live event industry.”

"When the second UK tour of Noise Ensemble was confirmed earlier this year, I wanted to take the opportunity to refresh the design. I had been touring another show with the MAC 250 Entour and Wash units, and was drawn to them for their relatively small size, easy rigging, and above all else - their sharp optics and excellent output.”

“When specifying the new rig, I was conscious of the smaller size and weight of the units and the lower power consumption than their predecessors. However, it wasn't until we actually metered the rig out that I realised what a substantial change we had achieved.”

“The previous touring rig used to run at around 54Amps per phase on a 240V 3-phase supply. Our new rig, with the same number of fixtures, now pulls about 18Amps per phase. As such we are using over 60% less power than the last tour.”

“In addition to the onsite power required, the packing weight of the moving heads has been reduced by over 30% from the older units, so that's less fuel required to keep the show on the road, (and less for the crew to load in and out at each venue - which on a nightly touring show is always a bonus!)”

"I have always been confident in the exceptional build quality and long term touring reliability of the Martin Professional equipment. The MAC 250 series really are superb fixtures. With the Entour the optics are sharp and the gobo selection provides an excellent hybrid between rock'n'roll and theatrical palettes. The 250 Washes offer truly fantastic colour mixing - I now get saturated reds on a magenta/yellow mix that would have been 'tango' orange on the older fixtures and the variable frost allows for both nice stage washes and strong beam air looks.”

"I'm not sure we'll ever get carbon neutral, but it's certainly good to know that we have gone some way to reducing the CO2 footprint of this particular show whilst retaining the artistic values and quality of the production. The industry awareness of global issues will undoubtedly push the manufactures to consider all aspects and implications of equipment use. The new SmartMAC design for example, with its fan-less operation and low power consumption looks very promising for the future."

The rig for the UK leg of the tour is supplied by Paul Need at 10 out of 10 Productions. Noise Ensemble continues its UK tour until the end of November.