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Photo by Angela Shoemaker

JASON CZAJA Audio supervisor, Actors Theatre of Louisville. One of the biggest changes in sound technology over recent years has been the shift from analog to digital recording and mixing equipment. One obvious and huge advantage is that many devices can fit into one unit.“The attempt is to make things as similar to the old analog equipment as possible, while still incorporating all the advantages of the flexible digital structure,” said Jason Czaja of ATL. “We’re incorporating racks full of old equipment into one place: equalization, compressors, reverb units, delay, all of that is going into a single digital console, and it’s really just programs.”For more than a decade, Czaja utilized a bevy of programs for sound creation. Digital sound editing allows for pinpoint sound calibration for each instrument and voice, he said, which changes the entire editing and mixing processes that go into making sounds. After sound technicians round the learning curve for digital mixing programs, they command a much more controlled, infinitely more versatile tool.