Live music combined with an LED light show lets us see the music in color using water as a transmitter honoring the Cherokee culture.
The show Seeing Sound: A Musical Journey of Water and Light is the new multimedia production of the Bardo Arts Center that opens on Oct. 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m.
The show will take place inside the performance hall of the BAC. All guests must wear a mask inside the building, including during the performance. Tickets are on sale now.
Multiple organizations and groups worked on the creation of the show. Among them is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who inspired the performance to be a celebration of the phenomenon of water.
Zay Jarrett, the audio engineer of the production, shared about the challenges of the production. Jarrett explained how the production started his sophomore year when Leo Lei, the lighting interpreter of the show, came up to him with the idea.
At first, the idea was to have it outside with tents, 10 pans of water, 10 lights, and 10 musicians. However, there were multiple issues with the show being outside, so they decided to move indoors.
Jarrett laughed and said, “You prepare, and another element gets added.”
Since then, the show has expanded to a full orchestra and five vocalists from the Cherokee Chambers. Instead of separate water pans, the orchestra pit is covered with two inches of water and mirrors underneath. The whole pit is surrounded by speakers and 16 lights.
“It is the most complex show I have had to have done,” Jarrett said.
As Jarrett spoke about his role of being the audio engineer, he shared that there were two soundboards when there is normally only one. For this production, there is one soundboard controlling the lights of the show and one sound doing what it is made to do, control the sound.
Each sound an instrument makes affects the color and motion of the water. The production’s vision is to have the experience of seeing sounds through the ripple motion of the water in reaction to the sounds.
Annie Watsic, a theater technician at BAC, commented on the strenuous technical work done to ensure the performance captures the culture and sensational experience perfectly. She is blown away at the difficulty of the lighting and is excited about opening night.
For more information on the show go to BAC’s website.
