Most Illuminating: The Inspiring Lights at BB4

You don’t need spider sense to get inspired at BB4 – just open your eyes.

Our clients confirm that a creative vibe pervades every inch of our tracking/mixing/mastering facility in Williamsburg, spurred on by some subtle assists that are positively affecting the space: We were as careful about the lighting as we were about the acoustics in the gear here, a detail that keeps on paying off.

Look closely when you’re in session, and you see that there’s LED light fixtures everywhere – 12 total in our control room, tracking room, and lounge/tracking space. Just ask, and they can transform along with your mood from white light to yellow, green, blue, red, purple, and violet, with a plethora of presentations. They can melt gently into each other, flash, speed up, slow down, plus some patterns we haven’t even played with yet.

But these artistic optical sources were no add-ons. They were planned early on, an asset that was recommended early by our acoustical fabricator Ken Capton of Solar2Studios, then integrated from the ground up by BB4 designer Christos Tsantilis. From the ceiling tracks to inside our diffusors, our LEDs are easy on the eyes starting with the design.  

“From the first time we turned them on, we saw how these lights instantly change the creative possibilities in a session,” says BB4 founder Rafael Planten. “Turning to a specific color has the power to switch up a song and change the energy - for example the color red has been used in three different sessions, each time to promote a different feel. Once for intensity, another for the club-like atmosphere, and another session for the ethereal mellow laid-back vibe."

“We applied that same thinking by placing LEDs in the tracking room. We’ve seen how they can make the space more intimate so an artist can really go for it, jump into character, and pump up their performance.”

Whether it’s harmonious tranquility, a nightclub jolt, or tapping the psychedelic side, the versatility of BB4’s LED lights bring an extra dimension to making music. They’re also ideal for another of our specialties, using BB4 as a location for video productions -- beatbox champ Kaila Mullady made maximum use of our lights during a recent shoot.

The fact that LED’s lower power draw make them environmentally friendly is also important to us. It all adds up to a visual element that’s bigger than just a bonus -- we can’t imagine BB4 without them. “The lights get everyone into that creative headpsace that much faster -- including me!” Planten says. “They’re part of the dynamic environment we’re nurturing to make music flow.”