CD / System CD (1956)
Strand
200 channel Strand system CD/W Civic Theatre Gothenburg
Electro-mechanical remote control (120 channel)
The first System CD went into the Palace Theatre, at the same time as the last Light Console was being installed in Warsaw. Brian Legge was involved in the installation of both.
The first theatre to use System CD outside the West End of London was the Sunderland Empire (1959/60).
The final System CD installation was at the rebuilt Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
Notes by Brian Legge:
This is the Strand Electric Console Preset (System CD) remote lighting control, the type installed between 1956 and 1966 in virtually all the major theatres, and most of the first ITV Studios.
The remote power handling dimmers were magnetic clutch driven resistance or transformer dimmers.
Essentially this console was used only to change the lighting and such changes were limited to those control channels which had been selected to change by selecting the associated stopkey, either manually or magnetically by the internal 3-dimensional latching memory preset and recalled by the group of 15 round push buttons at the right hand side.
It is not surprising it looks like an organ because all except the fader levers were manufactured for Strand by John Compton Organ Company - crafted would be a better word because each was made by just one man who started by choosing the timber, made the very intricate memory boxes and did all the interconnection wiring, and signed it internally.
The first one was for the Palace Theatre, London, the last for the rebuilt Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
The forerunner was the Light Console, employing similar technology, but without fader levers to preset precise intermediate intensity levels - this had an organ-type keyboard, but with 12 keys to an 'octave'. These keys were in effect submasters for same coloured stopkeys. As such it was ideal for fast, broad effects. The most famous of the previous generation was at the London Palladium where it was in full view at the end of the circle.
It was the introduction of Thyristor Dimmers, variable load and far more compact but requiring a continuous control signal that marked the end of this type of selective control. Dimmer intensity memory was the solution but today we tend to forget how expensive bit-memory was initially.
Related Venues:
- ABC Cinema Blackpool
- Adelphi Theatre, London
- Aldwych Theatre, London
- Apollo Theatre, London
- Cambridge Theatre, London
- Harold Pinter Theatre
- Lyric Theatre, London
- Palace Theatre, London
- Piccadilly Theatre
- The Noel Coward Theatre
- Novello Theatre
- Sondheim Theatre, London
- Sunderland Empire
- Savoy Theatre
- Shaftesbury Theatre, London
- Wyndhams Theatre
- Sadlers Wells Theatre
- The Peacock Theatre
- Capitol Theatre, Manchester
Related Shows
See also:
Documents
Photo: System CD - Console Preset - Cambridge
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[522kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD - Console Preset - Sadlers Wells
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[491kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD - Savoy Theatre Console
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[502kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD Console at Adelphi Theatre, London - Rear
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[644kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD Console for Palace
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[365kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD Console for Palace - Close-up
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[741kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD Console with Philip Sheridan
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[596kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD for Aldwych featuring Paul Weston
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[2.3Mb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD for Miskolc, Hungary
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[438kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV adjacent installations at Wembley Studio 5
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[547kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV at Wembley 5
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[548kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV at Wembley Studio 5
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[608kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV for Glasgow TV
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[368kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV for Granada TV, Manchester
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[355kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV for Wembley Studio 5
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[458kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV suite for Hamburg
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[357kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV suite for Hamburg with M Wooderson
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[457kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/TV suite in use at Hamburg
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[487kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/W for Birmingham Alexandra Theatre
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[357kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/W for Gothenburg
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[550kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/W for Gothenburg (with M Wooderson)
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[513kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/W for Gothenburg - centre console
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[461kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Photo: System CD/W for Gothenburg - rear wiring
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[603kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
System CD - Console Preset - Cambridge
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[713kb JPEG]
From Frederick Brown Collection
Strand Electric quote for System CD for Sadlers Wells (July 1956)
[400kb PDF]
From David Bertenshaw Collection
Letter from Fred Bentham about System CD for Adelphi for Blitz (February 1962)
[472kb PDF]
From David Bertenshaw Collection
Exhibits in the Backstage Heritage Collection
Catalogue & Journal Entries for CD / System CD in the Backstage Heritage Collection
Back to Control - Manual (Strand)
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