Drums on Fire

Drummer Tyler Williams of the Beau Hodges Band taps, rolls and grooves in a ring of fire. FirePixels from LiveSpark are flame effects that can be choreographed to every touch of the drumstick. From the slightest brush to the hardest hits, every nuance of his performance is reflected in a circle of flames that surround him.

Each drum is connected to a MIDI trigger, capable of sensing how hard and where it was hit. The LiveSpark Controller maps these inputs to FirePixel display patterns: kick drum on the left, snare on the right, high hat at the top, toms alternating flames, and the rim shot driving the LiveSpark AfterBurner in the middle.

Each FirePixel is capable of 256 different flame heights providing a 1" - 40" flame height that can be varied in real-time as rapidly as 6ms. The AfterBurner extends the range of the FirePixel to create a flame anywhere from 1" - 120" (10 feet) tall with 512 height options to create a flame of any intermediate size, varied in real-time.

Fifteen FirePixels and one AfterBurner were used for this performance. All units were fueled by propane, the FirePixels at 25PSI and the AfterBurner at 75PSI. A single 100LB propane tank was more than enough to supply all 15 FirePixels and a second 100LB propane tank supplied the AfterBurner. One 5Gal propane accumulator was used on each of the supply cylinders and the FirePixel / AfterBurner manifolds with 1/2" LPG hose outputs.

The LiveSpark Controller provides DMX, MIDI and Ethernet inputs and LiveSpark's free Ableton Live Plugin allows integration with popular DJ software compatible with Mac and Windows.

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