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Copyright RBI Sound 2020 Site Last Updated: 6/13/2021
Richard Ingraham brings over 25 years of experience as a Sound Designer and
Technician, Audiovisual Systems Designer, Consultant and educator to his
projects. His experience includes work for regional theatres, higher education,
cruise ship and themed entertainment venues and product development and
support for software and hardware products tailored to the needs of the
entertainment industry.
Richard began his professional career after attending Cleveland State University
at The Cleveland Play House, where he worked his way up after completing his
internship in sound to eventually become their Resident Sound Designer and
Engineer. In that position he oversaw the audio needs for all of the company’s
productions as well as all the audio system infrastructure and equipment. Not
long after starting at CPH, Richard was offered the position of Resident Sound
Designer at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland Michigan, a seasonal
position he held from the 1996 through 2012 season. Richard left his position at
The Cleveland Play House in 2001 and began working as a freelance Sound
Designer at several venues within the Cleveland area as well as around the
country, which he continues to do to this day. Shortly after starting his freelance
work Richard was asked to work with Stage Research where helped with the
development of SFX, which was the predominant software used for audio
playback and show control in theatre venues at the time. He also worked on
product development and customer support training for Richmond Sound
Design which primarily created audio and show control products for theme
parks, attractions and cruise ship entertainment venues. In the spring of 2012,
Richard designed the sound for Sondheim on Sondheim in the Hanna Theatre at
Playhouse Square in Cleveland. Sondheim on Sondheim was a co-production
between Great Lakes Theater and Playhouse Square. Working on this
production eventually lead to Richard becoming the audio supervisor for Great
Lake Theater as well as their sister company Idaho Shakespeare Festival, located
in Boise ID, a position he held through the fall of 2014. This experience with a
wide variety of venue types and organizational structures allows Richard to
bring vast amounts of industry knowledge and common practices to all his
projects.
Richard began his system design work as part of his work as a freelance sound
designer, overseeing the design and installation of new systems at several of the
venues that he worked for as sound designer on a regular basis, including
Shanklin Theatre at the University of Evansville. He began his formal work as a
consultant in 2014 as an Audiovisual Systems Designer at Westlake Reed
Leskosky (WRL) in Cleveland. In 2017 Richard moved to New York City to work in
the North American offices of Charcoalblue, a UK based theatre and acoustics
design and consulting firm as an Audiovisual Systems designer. While at
Charcoalblue Richard has had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of
theatre venues from those with modest budgets to very large projects.
Richard has taught sound design, show control and related course work at
Carnegie Mellon University, The University of Evansville and Cleveland State
University. He is a long-time member of the United State Institute of Theatre
Technology’s Sound Commission (USITT) and has participated in leading several
seminars at USITT regional and national conventions.
Principle Designer: Richard B. Ingraham