A half-mile in and seven levels below ground, a 15-by-15 dark tunnel awaits the brave souls who dare to enter. The Quincy Mine’s annual haunted tour is Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 25-27. This is the second year Michigan Technological University students in sound design and audio production and technology programs have collaborated on the project.
This year, Huskies are taking the event to the next level, with a full, scripted production that involves the entire Michigan Tech Visual and Performing Arts department, says Josh Loar, a professor of practice in VPA. From costumes to staging, students are getting in on the act, including theatre and entertainment technology and theatre and electronic media performance majors.
Working remotely presents challenges student sound designers don’t face when operating on campus. “This year my math says we need about 2,535 feet of speaker cable,” says Henry Sendek, a fourth-year audio production and technology major.
“We have to use about 1,000 feet of microphone cable, we have to get power everywhere,” says Sendek. “To get signal to the speakers I have to run network lines so I can control it, and put it all in amp racks, and that has to be waterproofed.”
Annual Haunted Mine Tours, which close out visitor season, are a fundraiser for Quincy Mine Hoist Association. Tours begin every 45 minutes starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Call 906-482-3101 for ticket info.
To learn more about the production, read “Technological Tricks and Sound Design Treats at Haunted Mine” on Michigan Tech News.