Dutch Design Week 2023 – Multimedia designer Lucien Nicou relies on Cameo THUNDER WASH

Lucien Nicou is a wanderer between worlds. The French designer experiments with light, sound, space and electronics to create innovative multimedia experiences. At this year’s Dutch Design Week from October 19 to 27 in Eindhoven, Lucien Nicou presented his latest project “Tour de Contrôle” – a live performance instrument whose shape resembles a mixing console and whose sound is played back via an eight-channel monitoring speaker system with integrated spotlights. As a long-time Cameo user, the designer chose the THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW to wow visitors at Dutch Design Week with colourful flashes of light and other effects, creating an unforgettable multimedia experience.

Cameo THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW Strobe Light Designer Lucien Nicou Dutch Design Week Tour de Controle Light Show — © Jakob Rieper

In this interview, Lucien reveals how the idea for the Tour de Contrôle came about and what reactions the All-In-One Sculptural Desk provoked at DDW.

How did you become a designer and what fascinates you about it?

Lucien Nicou: Even as a child, I took things apart because I wanted to understand how they worked. I then gradually constructed my own things and tried to improve objects and give them a personal touch. I also love the combination of sound and light and try to give the user a special, extraordinary experience with my objects and installations.

How did the idea for your new project “Tour de Contrôle” come about?

Lucien Nicou: I developed Tour de Contrôle to combine my research on sound and its effect on the human body (in combination with the other senses) into one system. I have been working with the visualisation and translation of sound for a number of years, so I wanted to create an instrument that would allow artists to explore a new way of creating sound. While the artists play the instrument, the sound moves through the room and is translated into light in real time. The system enables a new way of perceiving sound – both for the artist and for the audience.

What inspired you? Are there comparable systems on the market?

Lucien Nicou: Of course, there are numerous audiovisual installations that also go in this direction. Nevertheless, I see the Tour de Contrôle as something new, as it is a stand-alone device that already contains all the elements and can be used as it is on a stage, at a gallery or in the middle of a crowd. In addition, the sound as a control medium is not pre-programmed or controlled via a time code – the artist plays the instrument in real time and has creative control over the overall experience at all times.

“The audience was overwhelmed, many could hardly believe what they had experienced.”
Lucien Nicou

You were recently at Dutch Design Week with the Tour de Contrôle. What were the reactions?

Lucien Nicou: Every day I invited new artists to play the Tour de Contrôle. Each artist had an individual approach to using the system, which always led to new, unique experiences. The audience was overwhelmed, many could hardly believe what they had experienced. There were many very intense moments that the visitors, the artists and myself will remember for a long time.

You’re using the Cameo THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW for the installation. Where are the spotlights positioned and why did you choose this model?

Lucien Nicou: As a lighting technician, I have become familiar with various LED strobes over the years. Regardless of the setup – placed behind a DJ creating sharp silhouette or hanging over the crowd creating immersive wide angle washes – the THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW has always impressed me. Eight identical totems are used for the Tour de Contrôle installation, arranged in a large circle and oriented towards the centre of the circle. Each totem consists of a monitoring speaker, a THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW at chest height and a blinder directly above the floor. This is why not only the light quality, but also the low weight, compact dimensions and flexible DMX control modes play a decisive role.

How is the DMX data generated and what exactly is controlled with it?

I use custom software that allows the artists to manipulate the sound in the room. Depending on where the sound comes from and where it is played back in the room, the level is analysed and converted into a DMX signal. If the sound comes from the live analogue inputs, it is converted into analogic (tungsten) light; if it comes from the eight loopers, it is converted into LED light with the THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW.

To assign a different colour to each looper, I assign the amplitude to specific groups of RGBW channels. In this way, the artist can influence the RGBW value of the samples played using four controllers. Thanks to the fast and precise colour curve of the THUNDER WASH 600 RGBW, flickering effects similar to a stroboscope can be created by changing the colour channels.