A tour of deadmau5’s visually stunning cube stage set reveals a complex instrument that is played live by the musician. The set is a result of hours of work over multiple iterations to arrive at version 3.0, an interactive, moveable design that came from a deadmau5 team member during a flight. | article | video |

There were so many versions of the monstrous set that Deadmau5, aka Joel Zimmerman, thinks the current version should be referred to as 7.0 instead. It’s more like the seventh version, he tells his friend Sam Sheffer in a video that looks behind the scenes into the very complex object that seems like it should be orbiting the Earth in any of its various iterations.

There was a motorized version with large moving panels, and one with three massive exploding robots underneath it. Some versions had minor changes to the structure. At one point it was shaped like a stealth fighter plane because it had “six panels missing.” They decided to fill in the missing spaces, which transformed the object into a cube – with one side open.

After adding the panels, deadmau5 moved his deck from the top of the structure to the inside of the cube so not to obscure his performance from the audience. Now he controls everything from inside cube v3. The band’s 2020 Navy Pier cube 3.0 show features the stage set. You can re-live the concert during the deadmau5 watch party for launch of their mau5trap TV portal on August 1.

The idea for the rotating version of the cube came from a crew member named Collins, says Zimmerman. “We should just one day just buy six extra panels and just fill it, and they were like, Yeah, but then it would obscure your view from where you stand atop the cube and I’m like, Then why don’t I go in it? … Then Collins blurted it out. And, we’ll make it rotate and tilt, for cheap!” 

Everyone was eager but their manager had concerns about the cost associated with the project. It’s one thing to build a static cube but it’s another thing to attach loads of motors and robotics to make it do crazy things, so there was some face palming and there were some high fives on that flight, says Zimmerman.

Obviously, they went ahead with the plan to make the cube rotate and tilt. It is a major feat of engineering, especially for a stage set. The cube is controlled by two hydraulic pistons and a motor. The massive black box looks like it weighs a ton but is made from carbon fibre, so it’s actually very light. There is a panel that Zimmerman says you can lift with one finger. Cube 3.0 was modeled in 3D then went through a rigorous review process by engineers to make sure it was intact, workable and safe. The structure lights up and rotates 180 degrees, has a 3D image projection wall and an LED wall on one side. 

Merging audio, visuals and movement in design

deadmau5 can control the synchronization of the music with the visuals, lights, and the movement of the box. He times everything perfectly by computer from inside the cube. Some parts are live and some components have to be done ahead of a live show.

Visuals are created on Touch Designer software, a visual and data creation suite that does things in real time, says Zimmerman. He can draw a rectangle that just pulses, set the pulse speed, and match the speed on the MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) controller. Movements on the computer generate video information in real time as it’s happening. It produces super high-quality resolution and tight imagery. The show runs from two Quadro RTX 8000 graphics cards. All technology is connected to and accessed through a computer.

Although, deadmau5 pre-programs some of this before the show, some components are happening in real time. In this sense the visuals are like an instrument being played live on stage. Deadmau5 is at once the composer, programmer, instrument player, conductor and DJ — not just a guy on stage who pushes a spacebar as he jokes about in the video.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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