Studio Tanta, the newest and largest recording studio in Tokyo which opened in the Shibuya district in May 2018, chose Ayrton lighting products for its rehearsal studios. The successful installation includes 10 Ayrton NandoBeam S3 units, 6 WildBeam R fixtures and 4 Arcaline 2 100 battens which were permanently installed in Rehearsal Studio-C.
Studio Tanta is an impressive 7-storey building which took five years to build from planning to completion. It has two recording studios, a rehearsal studio, two artists’ rooms, and a restaurant. Hibino Lighting Inc., Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for Japan, was responsible for the supply and installation of the Ayrton fixtures and a lighting console.
Takahisa Hasegawa, the owner and CEO of Studio Tanta, explains how he came to choose Ayrton products: “It has always been my long-term goal to build a large-scale studio in Tokyo so, before designing Tanta, we went on a study trip to visit famous studios in the USA. Because I invested a lot of time and effort in Tanta, I wanted to be sure to choose great equipment for my studios. When Hibino Lighting introduced Ayrton products to me, I felt that they would be the perfect match.”
As Studio Tanta is used for a wide variety of purposes, including live concerts, rehearsals, parties, events and as a recording studio, a lighting system was required that could handle all these types of entertainment. Hibino Lighting therefore suggested installing Ayrton’s Wildbeam-R for special effects, and the Nandobeam-S3 for easy spotlighting of the masters of ceremonies, and for musicians who like to move around a lot!
NandoBeam-S3 is a powerful and ultra-fast moving-head in a compact housing. Its advanced and highly efficient proprietary optical system, coupled with state-of-the-art, 15W RGBW LED emitters, delivers an 8° narrow beam as well as 40° wide coverage with a 4,000-lumen output across its full beam range.
WildBeam-R is a highly compact, lightweight, super-fast and powerful fixture, fitted with seven 15W Osram Ostar RGBW LED sources, each paired with high yield 67mm 4.5° collimated optics. Together these provide a 2,500 lumen shaft of light with a centre beam intensity of 262,500 Candela. With a power consumption of only 130W and a record-breaking 90% efficiency, WildBeam-R is an especially efficient compact LED luminaire.
Both NandoBeam-S3 and WildBeam-R are equipped with three-phase stepper motors that allow quick and precise movement. These extremely compact motors fit perfectly into the minimalist design of the luminaires.
As Studio Tanta is also used for recording, it was imperative that any moving light fixtures must be extremely quiet. “Because Ayrton’s moving light fixtures are quieter and have smoother movement than other similar fixtures, they are perfect for this environment,” said Hibino Lighting’s Yukitoshi Watanabe.
Also within the rehearsal studio, Hibino Lighting installed four Arcaline 2 100 fixtures to enhance and highlight the intricate patterns of the textured wood of the back wall with beautiful colour washes.
“From the first demonstration of the Ayrton fixtures, I was very impressed at the brilliance and sophistication of the colours,” commented Hasagewa. “And because of their compactness and high performance, I was able to save both space and budget. When I open another studio in the future, I will definitely choose Ayrton products again.”
“It was such a great honour to be part of Studio Tanta’s opening,” confirmed Watanabe. “Hibino Lighting imports sells and installs various foreign products in Japan, but Ayrton is one of the most important brands for Hibino Lighting, so I was pleased when Hasegawa chose us for Tanta.”
“Permanent installations for venues, halls, theatres, live music clubs, as well as music studios are an important business sector for Hibino Lighting. Japan has a large population with limited space to build new facilities, so saving space as well as budget are high requirements.
Concluded Watanabe: “Ayrton products are very compact with high performance, so more and more facilities adopt them nowadays. Because of that, I think we have huge potential to expand the permanent installation business sector with Ayrton products.”
