Historically, Marietta Public Schools has had – and continues to have – one of the nicest auditoriums in south-central Oklahoma. In past years, the facility has received new seating and other cosmetic improvements, which made the auditorium look great, but left technology lagging.
Currently, the district is in the process of making some additions to sound and lighting that will make the whole building top of the line. Band director Eric Gallaway, who’s been with the district for almost 30 years, said the old lighting system was – in a word – hot.
“Each one of the canister lights on stage was 500 watts, and some of the house lights pointing toward the stage were 1,000 watts,” he explained. “Regardless of the season, the stage was too warm. We’ve had Christmas programs where it was 20 degrees outside, but the temperature on stage was well over 100 degrees.”
To remedy that problem, LED lighting is being installed. LED lights last longer than incandescent bulbs and don’t put off anywhere near as much heat, which will result in a much more comfortable experience for those on, or even near, the stage. Additionally, the color and focus of the lights can be changed with a touch of a switch. “When we have done productions in the past, to change the color of a light meant climbing a ladder way above the stage,” stated Gallaway. “When you got to the top of the ladder, you put in a special, colored gel to affect to color of that light, and then used some oven mitts to twist, turn, and force the direction of that particular light. Then climb down, move the ladder, and repeat that procedure over and over again.”
With the new lights, not only can the color be changed with a switch, but each light can be controlled and rotated, and the size of each spot can be changed from roughly 18 inches to 10 feet.
“Color is important because people tend to look washed out on stage, so adding color for warmth is good,” Gallaway said. “We will also be able to have several pre-sets, so we could go from full stage, bright lighting, to a single spot, back to full stage – and we can do that anywhere on stage for various solos or monologues.”
A new, state-of-the-art sound system is also being installed. According to Gallaway, the current sound system has always created “dead” spots in the auditorium, places where sound did not reach as it should’ve.
“We are installing correct and appropriate sound for an auditorium our size, with the goal of there not being a bad seat in the house from a sound perspective,” commented Gallaway. Additionally, new microphones – including body mics – will make for better sound for everything from choir concerts to speech, and guest speakers to plays. The old, analog sound board is being replaced by a new, digital one.
“The problem with analog is that we dial in one group, but then someone else uses the auditorium and we lose those settings,” explained Gallaway. “The new board will allow us to have more than 100 pre-sets.” That means each group, whether that’s show choir, full choir, ensembles, speech and debate, and all the other many groups who routinely use the auditorium, can have as many settings as they need.
The projector is also being upgraded, and the new system will include multiple cameras mounted throughout the building to stream from different angles. The project should be completed by the end of November. “In my time here at Marietta, I have been in most of the auditoriums in Oklahoma and North Texas, and we have one of the best auditoriums around – even better than several colleges,” said Gallaway. “With these enhancements we will be second to almost none.”