Nothing annoys performers and audience members more than the sound of microphone interference or silence when microphones cut out, a problem Park has had in the past, according to production director Jodi Hatzenbeller.

Hatzenbeller said additional money in the budget allows for an update in technology, specifically a digital soundboard and new microphones.

“The new soundboard is going to be digital and have more capabilities than the old soundboard,” Hatzenbeller said. “We will be able to run it from outside the sound booth on an iPad.”

According to senior sound engineer Garrett Wells, the process of installing the new equipment has stretched out over two months because some parts were backordered. He said this past week, the parts have slowly been coming in.

“We have two new monitors in right now and a new tower where all of our attachments are,” Wells said. “The new board should be coming in next week.”

Wells said the digital board will have less wires than the old one and the ability to interface with an iPad, which will allow him to fine tune the volume in different parts of the auditorium instead of in the sound booth.

Hatzenbeller said consistent problems with microphone interference was the main reason for updating the soundboard and microphones instead of other aspects of the auditorium.

“Hopefully, this will lead to less interference and less microphones cutting out during presentations,” Hatzenbeller said.

Sophomore production member Lukas Levin said he thinks the new equipment will make the production smoother and more organized.

“Right now we have to wait for people in the booth to set up sound to get moving and sometimes it takes a while,” Levin said. “It’s a clunky system now, but with more digital technology it will move along quicker.”

Overall, Levin said the installation of the equipment hasn’t affected the production much and thinks going digital will help reduce the amount of random sounds during a production.

Wells said he thinks the iPad integration will be the most helpful.

“Orchestra concerts will use microphones, and with the iPad, I won’t have to be running back and forth to fix them,” Wells said.