A lighting desk is what is used the
majority of the time to
control lights for a
play,
concert, or other type of
show. (The alternative being to use a
computer which has the capability of providing a
DMX-512 output to
control the
lights)
There are loads of different makes of lighting desk - one of the more popular makes being Strand (everything from the tiny 6-channel
control box (it's too small to call a desk) to something
huge and
complex that I've never seen, and don't know what it's called). The
majority of desks will have
memories, which enable you to store a set number of
cues in the desk. These can be
traversed through with the simple
press of the
go button during a
show. The
sequential memory functions of a desk are more often used in
plays, rather than
concerts.
For
concerts, the lighting desk is often laid out slightly differently. Rather than just have a
sequence of
cues, there will be a number of
groups of
presets. Each one, for example, will have a number of
presets for it, which the
lighting operator can change between (or have more than one on at once) using
flash buttons. This can be a lot more useful during a
concert when the
lights need to be timed to the
music, and where it couldn't be an exact
sequence of
cues.
If you're after any other theatre tech information, then do take a look at '
Everything you ever wanted to know about theatre tech, but were afraid to ask'