Amphitheatre gets a sonic upgrade

Complaints about the sound at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre may soon be a thing of the past. The theater has just completed a 1 1/2-year-long, $150,000 upgrade of its sound system, which includes the speakers that the audience hears, the stage sound system that performers use to hear one another, the mixing console that controls it all and the microphones and cables the technicians use.

“We’ve done a major upgrade on the quality and amount of all the equipment,” said Dave Pier, the Ford’s managing director. “There are actually multiple sound systems, different for dance or world music or jazz or classical music.”

The upgrade was part of routine efforts over the past few years to improve the facility, including repainting and rewiring the theater. The “stacked” parking situation is another that could use improvement, Pier acknowledged.

The sound upgrade was underwritten by a $50,000 Ahmanson Foundation grant and a $15,000 Weingart Foundation grant. The remainder came from the theater itself.

“One of the things we have here is a kind of double-edged sword,” Pier said. “Now we have all this capacity. We have to count on the artists to use it to the best advantage. That’s also a learning curve we’re going through. Normally, they don’t have access to equipment of this caliber.”

-- Chris Pasles