ADJ Lighting Provides Cost Effective And Versatile Solution For New York City Music Venue

Established in 2003, Ulysses’ Folk House is an Irish pub situated between historic Stone Street and Pearl Street in New York City’s financial district. Hosting live music at least three nights each and every week, the venue’s music room hosts a varied line-up of local regulars and visiting acts, playing both covers and original music. The venue features everything from acoustic solo artists to large multipiece bands and has even hosted a concert by the legendary Beach Boys!

Trading nearby in downtown Manhattan since 1977, Canal Sound & Light is a well-known supplier and integrator of entertainment lighting, audio, truss, and DJ equipment. The company retails to the general public from a 2000 square foot showroom on Canal Street, while also offering installation services and production rentals for projects throughout the New York City area. The Canal Sound & Light team had already supplied Ulysses’ Folk House with its stage, PA system and digital audio mixer, which made them the obvious choice when the venue’s management wanted to add lighting to their music room.

“Because they host all kinds of music, they wanted a flexible system,” explains Canal Sound and Light’s owner, Jeffrey Kwan, “but they also didn’t want anything too flashy or complicated, as the Sound Engineer has to operate the lighting. Other considerations were the low ceiling height – which meant compact fixtures – and a limited budget. So, we had to come up with a setup that was simple but effective; small and affordable yet tough enough to last in a busy venue, which is exactly what we were able to deliver using ADJ fixtures.”

To wash the room’s stage, Canal Sound and Light supplied four of ADJ’s COB Cannon Wash LED-powered wide angle wash fixtures. Ideal for projects such as this where space is at a premium, the fixture utilizes a potent 150-Watt COB (Chip On Board) color mixing LED light engine which combines red, green, blue and amber LED chips to offer a wide output palette with no color shadows. It offers an extremely wide native beam angle of 80-degrees but is also supplied with 40-degree and 50-degree lens options for applications where narrower washes are required. At Ulysses’ Folk House just four fixtures – two providing front wash and two adding side fill – are enough to fill the whole stage with vibrant color washes.

“The COB Cannon Wash was the perfect fixture for this project,” explains Jeff, “as it is compact, rugged, versatile and has a very wide beam angle with a nice soft edge. If we had used traditional pars we’d have had to put in at least twice as many fixtures, but just four of these can cover the relatively large stage beautifully. They can wash the stage in literally any color, including warm white, and can also be strobed when required, to highlight the most exciting points of songs. Because their output is so even, they are also easy on the eyes of performers and, with LED engines rated at 50,000 hours, they are low maintenance, which is always an important consideration for integration projects.”

To complement the COB Cannon Wash fixtures, Canal Sound & Light also supplied and installed three of ADJ’s Ikon Profile LED-powered spotlights. These are setup to hit centerstage, stage left and stage right, and allow performers to be highlighted in white while the rest of the stage is washed in color. Powered by a bright 32-Watt cool white (7500K) LED source, the Ikon Profile offers an adjustable beam angle of 15-30 degrees. This compact fixture also features manual framing shutters as well as a GOBO slot and color frame, which Jeff and his team utilized at Ulysses’ Folk House to add a light amber gel for a warm white output.

“The Ikon Profiles allow dramatic spotting of different areas of the stage, which works well in conjunction with the wide wash of the COB Camon Wash STs,” states Jeff. “At the moment they are using an ADJ DMX Operator 384 to control the system, which I’ve programmed and labeled to make it easy for the Sound Engineer to make use of the color options, strobing and spotlighting. However, later this year I’m hoping to upgrade them to a WMX1 (USA only!), which would make the operation of the lights even more simple and flexible. It’s a very powerful and well-built controller that is incredibly easy to use, so perfect for any venue which doesn’t have a dedicated lighting operator. Overall, the management of Ulysses’ Folk House are very pleased with the lighting. It is a compact setup that was economical to install but does a great job of washing the stage and lighting the performers, so exactly what they were looking for!”

Venue
Ulysses’ Folk House

ADJ Dealer
Canal Sound & Light
www.canalsoundlight.com 

Lighting Designer
Jeffrey Kwan

Photography
Brian J. Dowdle