Conference 7.286::digital

1474.0. "A bit of DEC history/trivia" by DCVAX::DOYLE (A monk, a clone, and a Ferrengi....) Fri May 17 1991 09:34

    From LIGHTING DIMENSIONS magazing, May/June 1991
    
    			COMPUTER MUSEUM
    
    	When lighting designer Tharon Musser accepted a Tony Award for
    "A Chorus Line" in 1976, she said she never could have achieved the
    precision and brilliance of lighting without Sam. 
    
    	Sam, a PDP-8 minicomputer, is part of a permanent exhibition, 
    "People and Computers: Milestones of a Revolution", at the 
    Computer Museum in Boston, to open June 29. 
    
    	As the first computerized control board on Broadway, the LS-8
    could flash lights faster than any engineer -- and with absolute
    clarity and predictability. Designed by Gordon Perlmand and built
    by Electronics Diversified, the LS-8 was a Digital Equipment
    Corporation PDP-8 minicomputer hooked up to a button keyboard control
    panel, VT8E, and digital to analog converter. 
    
    	In a dance show, lighting is crucial. "A Chorus Line" had 17
    principal dancers and 127 cues. Until 1975 on Broadway, 
    "people were still using mechanical dimmers and changing lights
    by hand," recalls Perlman. With the LS-8, the show needed
    one electrician, not eight, to manage its 120 dimmers.
    
    	"Today, shows have 1,000 dimmers and 2,000 cues," says Perlman.
    The size of an office desk, Sam cost $100,000. Today's computerized
    board is no bigger than a keyboard, has three times the capability,
    and costs $2,000. 
    
    	When Sam (so named by Tharon Musser) was retired in 1987, after
    12 and a half years of service,  Musser reportedly said "I shed
    a tear as it went out the door and said, "Rest easy." "
    

    I had two words for the PDP-6 that tried to electrocute me but I don't
    recall them being "rest easy".
    
    Ken

    re: .0
    
    >> In a dance show, lighting is crucial. "A Chorus Line" had 17
    >> principal dancers and 127 cues. Until 1975 on Broadway, 
    >> "people were still using mechanical dimmers and changing lights
    >> by hand," recalls Perlman. With the LS-8, the show needed
    >> one electrician, not eight, to manage its 120 dimmers.
    
    Marvelous!  Now, if we can only teach the computer to dance,
    we can get rid of all those pesky dancers, too!
    
    Chris

    The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco was using a PDP8
    about 12 years ago.  The Company that built them is in Berkeley, CA.
    and the last time I checked, had migrated to PDP11s.  That was over
    three years ago and they were considering the move to VAX at that time.
    
    You might also want to check the innards of that Audio Mixing board. 
    The Grass Valley Group in Grass Valley, CA. used to put PDP11s in those
    also.
    
    Larry
    

    
    Re .2 
    
    	Maybe at first glance the "electricians are obsolete." But
    when you can use 10 times more lights than before, you need a
    lot more electricans to put the show up than before! 
    
    	And as for the "craft" part of it, the computer allows
    the artist (lighting designer) much greater freedom to be
    creative. There is no danger of replacing the "creative
    staff" (cast, director, designers, etc.) with computers;
    computers simply augment their abilities. My husband,
    a professional lighting designer, certainly doesn't
    wish for the "bad old days" before computerized boards!