Quebecois singer and songwriter, Raphaël Pepin, delivered an amazing performance of Muse’s Starlight at the Théâtre Léonard-St-Laurent in Sherbrooke, Quebec. For the visual aesthetic, Raphaël used 24 CHAUVET DJ Freedom Sticks. The most impressive part? He controls the lights using the latest sensor movement technology.

We sat down with him to chat about his experience. He is trained in classical piano and cello, hesitated for a long time between a career as a musician or in computer science. Nowadays, he is a full-time piano teacher in a music program in a public high school. He’s been playing solo using computers and different controllers for the last ten years, always incorporating the latest technologies to his classical background.

When the MiMU gloves became available, it was clear to him that this was the opportunity to push further. The gloves come with a software called Glover that lets you program any posture, direction, movement or hit to a midi or OSC message. “From the start of this project, I knew that I wanted to transfer my movement into not only music but lighting as well. The lighting technician I’m working with introduced me to the Freedom Sticks, and it was a perfect match!” Pepin mentioned.

The sticks are the most important part of his stage set and when asked what he likes the most about them, he mentioned the fact that he can bring them easily from show to show in his small car. At times he uses one or two colors per song to create a very distinct atmosphere from one piece to the other. However, he also uses the Freedom Sticks to produce astonishing effects that mimic an aurora borealis or patterns only seen in big shows in arenas. “Even though the Freedom Sticks are wireless, they respond so quickly to my hand movement, this helps create the magic for the spectators”, he added.

Watch Raphaël Pepin covering the song Starlight by Muse at the Théâtre Léonard-St-Laurent in Sherbrooke, Quebec!