GC Pro and Metric Halo Sale

– Up to 25% off Metric Halo's Full Product Line December 10-25th, 2012! –
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, December 10, 2012 – GC Pro is proud to team up with Metric Halo by treating GC Pro and Guitar Center pro audio and recording musician customers to deep discounts on Metric Halo’s full hardware and software line, just in time for the holidays. Metric Halo’s award-winning product line is used by countless numbers of Grammy® award-winning and nominated producers and recording engineers. Classical record label and long-time Metric Halo user, Sono Luminus, has just been nominated for seven 2013 Grammy® awards, for five different recordings, all recorded with Metric Halo ULN-8 interfaces!

"We are so honored to have received seven Grammy nominations, two of which are in technical fields. One of the key elements to the sound of all of these records is the Metric Halo ULN-8. Since the very first time we heard the transparency of both the preamps and converters in the units, we knew that they would be the perfect match for our approach to recording classical music, capturing the sound of the performers in the room, not the gear! The ease of use, portability, and rock solid consistency of the MH record panel makes them the perfect choice for us in the studio and on the road. All of these albums were recorded with the ULN-8s." Daniel Shores, Managing Director, Sono Luminus (pictured above, on right, with Sono Luminus and their Metric Halo ULN-8 Interfaces).

You can join the ranks of Metric Halo’s award-winning user community and take advantage of big savings during the 2012 Winter Sale! Here are just some of the deals you can enjoy, as of Monday, December 10th:

ULN-8 -- List $5,995, Sale Price $4,496
TEC Award-winning LIO-8 -- List $3,995, Sale Price $2,996
2882 -- List $1,895, Sale Price $1,610
ULN-2 -- List $1,695, Sale Price $1,440
+DSP license (2d Card Required) -- List $699, Sale Price $524
SpectraFoo -- List $400, Sale Price $300
SpectraFoo Complete -- List $800, Sale Price $600
Production Bundle (Mac AU & Win/Mac AAX) -- List $699, Sale Price $524
Individual Mac AU & Win/Mac AAX Plug-ins -- List $199, Sale Price $149
Plus, hardware upgrades, and more…

But you must act quickly! These amazing discounted prices are available in-store only, at any Guitar Center, GC Pro, or affiliate locations, and will only stick around till December 25th. Orders received after December 20th will ship on or after January 2nd, and these discounts cannot be combined with any other Metric Halo offers, including educational accounts.

For more information about this sale or Metric Halo’s product line, please contact your local GC Pro or Guitar Center sales associate, or call GC Pro at 877-704-2776.

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About Metric Halo
Based in the sunny city of Safety Harbor, Florida, Metric Halo provides the world with high-resolution metering, analysis, recording and processing solutions with award-winning software and future-proof hardware.

About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro and HARMAN Professional Team Up

Boston eatery the Salty Pig, recently upgraded with a new sound system featuring components from HARMAN Professional brands JBL, Crown and dbx, all sourced through GC Pro.

— Boston-area eateries The Salty Pig, Canary Square and Trade get new indoor and outdoor sound systems specified and sourced by GC Pro to assure maximum integrated performance —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, December 5, 2012 — In today’s “foodie” culture, every new restaurant needs to immediately establish its own distinct look and feel, but also ensure that the customer experience there will be top notch. Where can three very different kinds of restaurants go to make certain that they have the best AV system design and components for their specific styles? Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, was able to answer that question definitively for a trio of new establishments in the Boston area. GC Pro drew upon its depth of resources, such as access to the full array of audio systems solutions from HARMAN Professional, to supply these three restaurants with sound systems that perfectly match their particular styles and are helping them each make their mark with their unique audiences.

At the Salty Pig, GC Pro Senior Account Executive PK Pandey designed a sound system that provides full-range music reproduction and intelligible paging with no compromises for either task. “The challenge here was the many hard, highly reflective surfaces, including wood and tiled floors and table tops,” explains Pandey, who assembled a system that uses seven JBL Control Series C67P/T pendant-type speakers, two JBL SB210 subwoofers, five JBL Control 24C ceiling speakers, along with a JBL CBT 50LA columnar line array on the restaurant’s outdoor patio, powered by Crown XLS 2000 and XLS 1000 amplifiers, and managed by a dbx 1260m zone controller. As critical as the audio equipment components was the Auralex acoustical treatment that Pandey also sourced for the design. “In addition to the highly directional speakers we used, we needed a lot of absorption around the dining areas to enable the sound be present and very clear,” he explains. “The results were excellent.”

Boston eatery Canary Square, recently upgraded with a new sound system featuring components from HARMAN Professional brands JBL, Crown and dbx, all sourced through GC Pro. Pictured is JBL C67 P/T pendant speaker.

Boston eatery Trade Boston, recently upgraded with a new sound system featuring components from HARMAN Professional brands JBL, Crown and dbx, all sourced through GC Pro.
In fact, the sound was so good that the Salty Pig’s owners asked GC Pro to work their same magic for their other restaurant, Canary Square, where Pandey redesigned the sound systems to include a dozen JBL C67 P/T pendants and four CBT 50LA line arrays on the outdoor dining patio, powered by Crown XLS 2000 and XLS 1000 amplifiers, and managed by a dbx ZonePro 1261m controller with ZC9 and ZC1 remotes. “The problems they were having at Canary Square were volume level and intelligibility – the same issues we were able to successfully tackle at the Salty Pig,” says Pandey, who also used carefully-aligned acoustical treatment panels to minimize reflections and maximize intelligibility, allowing the music to be present without being overpowering.

Trade, another trendy Boston-area eatery, called on GC Pro after experiencing the exceptional sound of the Salty Pig. “The owners of Trade liked the way we used the speakers to enhance the architectural/aesthetic appearance at the other restaurants,” Pandey says. “This was of primary importance to them, as well as great sound. We worked closely with the architect on the project to achieve both goals.” For Trade, GC Pro specified 10 JBL C67 P/T pendant speakers, eight JBL 226C/T ceiling speakers and a JBL SB210 sub, powered by Crown CTs 3000 and XLS 1500 amplifiers and managed by six dbx ZonePro 1261m controllers with ZC9 and ZC1 remotes.

These are just three of the numerous, recent restaurant projects where GC Pro has been able to help deliver great sound in challenging situations. “We can offer them what no one else can – access to great equipment, like the technology from HARMAN Professional, as well as system designs that are within the client’s budget, flexible installation options and project management from start to finish,” says Pandey. “We understand what our clients are attempting to accomplish, and we become their partners in helping to achieve it.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

Morehouse College at the Cutting Edge of Sound

— GC Pro’s Atlanta office has been the key resource for one of America’s most prestigious African-American colleges, as they have equipped the college’s Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and King Chapel with live sound technology —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, December 3, 2012 — Morehouse College, a beacon of men’s liberal-arts education, particularly for African Americans, has given the country its share of Rhodes Scholars, ministers, economists and doctors, but it seems to have a special affinity for the arts. Graduates include filmmaker Spike Lee, actor Samuel L. Jackson, and rapper Lil Jon. So not surprisingly, the college has tried to keep its performance venues, including the King Chapel and the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building, at the cutting edge of live-sound technology. Helping them do just that is Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, which has become the first-call provider of live-sound equipment and advice for Morehouse College over the last several years.

Most recently, GC Pro’s Atlanta office provided a dB Technologies DVA T4 line array sound system for the college’s King Chapel, which regularly hosts musical performances in addition to religious events and ceremonies. The system is configured into two six-box hangs on either side of the stage. And last year, GC Pro was the resource to which the college turned to upgrade the sound for the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building, a $20-million, 76,000-square-foot facility built in 2010. There, GC Pro provided a new Avid Venue D-Show FOH console with an integrated Avid Pro Tools HD multitrack recording system with FOH and stage racks as well as a large selection of microphones. GC Pro also outfitted the Center’s recording studio with a new SSL AWS 900 analog recording and mix console. Whatever the college’s needs when it comes to pro audio technology and products, GC Pro has been there with the resources, prices and advice that they needed.

“We pointed out to the college that they could save a considerable amount of money by buying a new PA system for King Chapel rather then continuing to rent systems, as they had been doing,” explains Eugene McNair, Jr., Account Manager for the Atlanta GC Pro office, who has had a close relationship with Morehouse College for years. “They were familiar with the dB Technologies system so we went with that one. We also sold them cases for the system, which lets them take it down as needed and store it, which gives them that much more flexibility with the system.”

McNair says this sale underscores the kind of relationship that GC Pro has developed with Morehouse College, and with many of its institutional customers. “They’re sensitive to price, of course, but anyone can offer a better price,” he says. “What Morehouse College is most interested in is service from someone who understands their needs and the technologies and products that can best fulfill those needs. They want service, honesty, knowledge, and even some personality. It’s not just about the sale – it’s about the relationship. I’m local, we’re local, we’re here for them when they need us.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

The Studio at the Palms

Studio X at the Las Vegas-based Studio at the Palms, recently upgraded with a new Avid Pro Tools HDX system, sourced and supplied through GC Pro.

— GC Pro continues to be the first call for The Studio at the Palms for its
professional audio technology needs —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 29, 2012 — Las Vegas-based Studio at the Palms, located at the fabulous Palms Casino Resort and which has hosted such artists as Lady Gaga, Ne-Yo, The Killers, LMFAO and others, recently upgraded with three new Avid Pro Tools HDX systems. The new systems were installed in Studio X and Studio Y, along with a “floater” system that lets any space in the studio become a fully compatible recording environment. The HDX systems, sourced and supplied through Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, join the other gear that GC Pro has sourced for the facility over the years.

“We really pride ourselves on being state-of-the-art here and always ready at a moment’s notice to serve our clients,” says Studio at the Palms Director Zoe Thrall, noting that artists working on long-term projects or just passing through Las Vegas for performances or for awards shows often use some of their time there to record new tracks or finish up existing ones. “They expect the best from us, and that’s what we strive to deliver.”

Thrall, one of the most respected studio managers in the entire industry (prior to coming to the Studio at the Palms, she supervised operations for The Hit Factory and Avatar Studios in New York City), says GC Pro has been an invaluable resource in keeping her studios at the cutting edge of music technology. “They really know their stuff, and they can get me what I need quickly and cost-effectively,” she says, noting that she’s purchased DSP and software system through GC Pro, as well as used them as a portal to the vast inventory of musical instruments and equipment available at Guitar Center itself. “My relationship with GC Pro goes back to the New York days, and wherever I’ve worked with GC Pro, it’s always been a great experience,” she adds.

Las Vegas-based GC Pro Sales Associate Don Hartley, who handles the Studio at the Palms account, says that clients at that level need the kind of attention only a full-service, high-end pro-dealer can offer. “We give a facility like Studio at the Palms a concierge level of service, because that’s what they require in order to serve that caliber of clientele,” says Hartley, who will often personally bring equipment to the studio on short notice when necessary. “The Studio at the Palms has a huge inventory of great equipment, and a fantastic tech specialist in Brent Spear, who did the entire installation of the new Pro Tools HDX systems himself. But GC Pro is always here to fill in any gaps they may encounter – from a console to a guitar stand – any day, any time.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps Pentecostal Church Assembly of God

— Growing church had to move to larger quarters across the street, and GC Pro made sure that it was ready for them when it came to sound —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 16, 2012 — The Pentecostal Church Assembly of God in Trenton, New Jersey, had the kind of problem many churches pray for: they just keep on growing. Fortunately for this congregation, a former house of worship became available right across the street. Having also been used as a school, the main sanctuary had been converted into a gymnasium, and Assembly of God ventured to convert it back into a worship space. This was certainly a blessing for the church’s membership, but a lot more space to fill in terms of sound. That’s when they called on Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, which brought to bear the huge range of services that only GC Pro can offer.

With GC Pro Senior Account Manager Billy Walker coordinating the effort, JBL Professional engineers were called upon to provide analysis and design based on drawings by Malvicino Design Group, a Forest Hills, New York-based GC Pro Affiliate Services Program member. Working with GC Pro personnel, the JBL Professional engineers created several sound system designs for the church’s executive board to consider. Then, GC Pro called upon Horacio Malvicino, Managing Director of the Malvicino Design Group, for further design consultation and to install and tune the JBL VerTec and VRX line array PA systems, as well as the Midas Pro 2 FOH console, that the church had decided upon. The project was finished in August 2012.

Deciding on a complex and costly new sound system can be a trying proposition for any church, and GC Pro has as much or more experience in the HOW sector of pro audio than any other retailer in the world. Knowing how crucial this decision would be for the church, Walker arranged with local JBL rep firm Sigmet Corp. to host a demo of the JBL VerTec system at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in nearby York, Pennsylvania, so the church leaders could see, hear and experience the systems first hand.

“PA systems aren’t just about the sound, though that’s their most important aspect,” Walker explains. “They also have to have certain visual elements -- they have to be able to blend in well with the rest of the church’s interior, and when they are seen they have to look good. Bob Reuther at Sigmet arranged for us to have a night at the Strand to ourselves, and the church could get all the time they needed seeing and hearing the JBL PA systems, until they felt comfortable with them.”

And they did. After the church made its decision, the Malvicino Design Group began the installation process, using the VerTec enclosures for the two main line array hangs and the VRX boxes for delay fills for the rear of the new larger church. “That’s the kind of comprehensive service we can bring to the HOW market,” says Walker. “We have the ability to source systems from many manufacturers, help churches pick the ones that are best for their needs, and even provide installation and integration services in a seamless, one-stop manner. It’s the best way to make the customer comfortable for a big purchase like this.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps Southwestern Oklahoma State University

The auditorium at Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Fine Arts Center, recently outfitted with new lighting technologies from GC Pro.

— Lighting products from brands including Martin, Elation and Lightronics are
part of a large upgrade package sourced by GC Pro that will help keep this theater
a versatile hub for the community and the state —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 13, 2012 — Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Fine Arts Center has become one of the cultural hubs of the region around Oklahoma City. Intended primarily for the support of university-sponsored activities, the auditorium is designed to serve not only as an instructional facility, but also as a cultural center for the development of quality activities for Western Oklahoma, providing, as its mission statement proclaims, “…diversity in cultural experiences, and developing awareness of and appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of the region.” But the Center’s lighting grew less-than-adequate over the years, failing to keep pace with the changes in lighting technology, such as the introduction of LED light fixtures over the last decade. However, that situation has been entirely remedied, thanks to new equipment and technologies sourced by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users.

Among the new systems purchased by the University from GC Pro are an MA grandMA2 ultra-light lighting console, 20 Martin Stagebar 2 Long RGBW fixtures, 12 Elation Platinum Wash ZFX PRO fixtures, three Lightronics AC-1109 8-scene push-button scene remote stations, eight Lightronics RA-122 12-channel 2400-watt dimmers, and a Tripp-Lite SR42UB Smart Rack. It’s a lighting systems array that will light up the Center’s performances, which range from the school’s ballet and dance companies to touring theatrical productions and other performance arts. “The old lighting systems just bit the dust,” says Kyle Bartel, Director of the Fine Arts Center. “It was time to upgrade, and GC Pro had what we needed.”

David Almanza, Sales at GC Pro’s office in Oklahoma City, says the Center’s wish list included a new grandMA console, which several regional suppliers simply couldn’t source in time for the University’s needs, with new shows scheduled for the start of the new school year. Almanza called dozens of vendors around the country, seeking both availability and price. And the console was originally supposed to take weeks if not months to get. “We had one on the way here in less then a week,” he says. The same applied to other products. For instance, the manufacturer said that Elation’s moving-head fixtures were back-ordered for as much as two months, but Almanza was able to call on his supply chain to get them delivered within two days. “GC Pro has huge resources,” he explains. “That results not only in competitive pricing but also the ability to obtain a breadth of products that is second to none. That’s why customers come to us and stay with us.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps the James Burton Foundation

— Students at the Recording Studios Program, a component of the James Burton Foundation’s multiple approaches to bringing music and music education to those in need, now can work on an SSL AWS900 console and a complete complement of high-end gear —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, November 1, 2012 — The James Burton Foundation, founded by its namesake Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-member guitarist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley, supports music education for those in need through guitar donations and music instruction to schools, hospitals and community service organizations. The Foundation is currently expanding its outreach programs, including taking the organization’s recording education agenda to the next level. That initiative was moved substantially forward recently with a package of studio technology sourced through Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, including a new SSL AWS948 recording console, an Aviom studio cue system, new Mojave studio microphones and an array of outboard equipment. This acquisition, custom-tailored by GC Pro’s Nashville-based Senior Account Manager Chad Evans to exactly match the Foundation’s needs and budget, will help the Foundation continue to provide free-of-charge music and technical education opportunities to students and the community in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Foundation has given thousands of guitars to schools and children’s and veteran’s hospitals, and they continue music education outreach through programs such as the James Burton Foundation Museum and Performing Arts Stage, the Music Education Program, an Oral History Program and the Recording Studios Program, as well as events such as the James Burton International Guitar Festival.

What GC Pro was able to do for the James Burton Foundation comes about from GC Pro’s long history of helping both education and non-profit institutions. For instance, GC Pro works with technical and media arts schools including SAE and the Art Institutes facilities in locations across the U.S., and in Nashville it has sourced equipment and provided advice to music technology programs at schools including Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Belmont University, Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University.

“To effectively service educational institutions, you have to be able to put yourself in the place of the teacher and the student,” explains Chad Evans, Senior Account Executive for GC Pro in Nashville, who guided the James Burton Foundation through this acquisition process, providing consultation on which products and platforms would best help its students and teachers. “We’ve worked with schools and non-profits often in the past, so we’ve developed a good sense about which products are a good fit for each institution’s needs. And we’re very aware of how important budgets are to these kinds of clients. They need to know that their money is being spent wisely and effectively. We’re able to offer them the best possible advice that also fits their budgetary needs and allows them to further their missions without compromising. That’s why so many institutions like the James Burton Foundation partner with us.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps First Baptist Church

First Baptist Church of Sebring, Florida, recently renovated and featuring a new sound system sourced through GC Pro.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 30, 2012 — The First Baptist Church of Sebring, Florida, was founded in 1922. A lot has changed in the intervening 90 years, including the church’s move to its current location in 1987. Since then, the church has continued to expand its campus, adding a Fellowship Hall, kitchen, elevator, children's department, and the "ROC" (Recreation Outreach Center) for athletic events, social gatherings, and youth activities. One of the things that didn’t change as quickly, however, was the church sanctuary’s sound system, which was both old and ill-designed for the church’s dimensions, which are wider than long, causing many sound problems (for instance, the 60-person choir would miss many of the weekly sermons due to lack of intelligibility through the PA system). A change needed to happen, so the church reached out to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, for help. Today, everyone in First Baptist of Sebring can hear every word spoken by the Pastor and every note of music sung by the choir and played by the worship band.

GC Pro’s team assessed the church’s needs carefully, noting in particular the specification for a sound system with excellent horizontal dispersion characteristics, to address the building’s interior dimensions and lack of acoustical treatments. Commuting from GC Pro’s Tampa office, GC Pro Account Manager Mick Hall spent hours at the church, figuring out the best systems for its needs. These included a JBL VRX928 line array system configured as a center cluster, with two VRX dual-15-inch subwoofers.

“The old systems left a number of dead spots throughout the church,” Hall explains. “It simply didn’t have the reach, and as a result intelligibility suffered. Rooms with these kinds of dimensions need very specific kinds of system solutions.”

The new PA system was rounded out with a new Yamaha LS9 FOH console, Aviom in-ear wireless monitoring for the band, an Ashly NE24.24M matrix processor, a Sennheiser Evolution wireless microphone system, and a pair of JBL CBT 70 mini-arrays for the choir’s monitors. Hall also specified two Mitsubishi 8100 video projectors. “The big picture was to get even and consistent sound coverage for the entire sanctuary, which is something the church had never had,” says Hall.

GC Pro was chosen as the partner on this project based on the comprehensiveness of their approach, which included detailed design and consultation services and installation availability through its Approved Vendor Program, in addition to competitive pricing. “We let them know we would be their partners in this project, not just a vendor selling equipment,” says Hall. “That’s how GC Pro does it.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

FALL 2012: Amazing Avid Deals!

From now through December 14, GC Pro has some incredible savings to pass on to you from Avid! Whether you're getting your first Pro Tools system or are already a Pro Tools owner, take advantage of these deals now... contact your GC Pro rep today!

• Purchase Mbox or Mbox Mini (includes Pro Tools Express) and get Eleven and the Moogerfooger Bundle at no cost!
• Purchase the full version of Pro Tools 10 software and get Reverb One and Tel-Ray Variable at no cost!
• Crossgrade from Pro Tools Express to Pro Tools 10 and get Reverb One and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!
• Purchase Mbox or Mbox Mini (includes Pro Tools Express) and a Pro Tools 10 crossgrade and get Eleven, the Moogerfooger Bundle, Reverb One, and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!
• Purchase Mbox Pro, Mbox Pro Artist Bundle, or Eleven Rack (all include Pro Tools 10) and get Eleven, the Moogerfooger Bundle, Reverb One, and Tel-Ray Variable Delay at no cost!

As if that wasn't enough, current Pro Tools|HDX and Pro Tools|HD Native owners can get limited-time special pricing on a must-have collection of 18 superior-sounding, studio-essential Pro Tools® AAX* plug-ins that will not only help you capture brilliant performances, but also give your mixes that special presence and polish you crave.

• Avid ReVibe®
• Avid Tel-Ray® Variable Delay
• Brainworx bx_limiter†
• Brainworx bx_XL V2†
• Crane Song Phoenix II
• DUY MagicEQ
• elysia alpha compressor†
• Kush Audio UBK-1
• Maag EQ4†
• McDSP 4040 Retro Limiter
• Metric Halo Character
• Metric Halo HaloVerb
• Pro Audio DSP Dynamic Spectrum Mapper V2†
• SPL TwinTube†
• Softube Bass Amp Room
• Softube Passive-Active Pack
• Softube Summit Audio TLA-100A
• Sonnox Inflator

* This offer is only available to registered Pro Tools|HDX and Pro Tools|HD Native owners, and requires Pro Tools 10 software.
† Please note that these plug-in licenses (sold as part of the AAX Pack) are non-transferrable and do not include AU or VST versions. Once purchased, customers will need to register these plug-ins on the Plugin Alliance website to activate.

Remember, these Avid deals end on December 14, so don't delay. Contact GC Pro right now and get your Pro Tools system rocking!

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps Braza Dancante Restaurant

— Unique perspective of Omnicoustics LLC Owner shows how GC Pro has become the
single most comprehensive resource for AV technology and its installation —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 19, 2012 — When Braza Dancante, an authentic Brazilian churrascaria presenting the finest Brazilian cuisine to guests in Allen, Texas, opened last year, its menu drew from traditional South Brazilian churrascarias (similar to steakhouses), but its sound, lighting and video systems called for the most up-to-date AV technology. The restaurant’s PA and distributed audio systems feature components from Bose Professional Systems Division, a truss system was loaded with Chauvet Professional lighting products for the music stage and wash mood lighting, and a Key Digital video distribution system was put in place for televisions and digital signage.

The entirety of the system was sourced by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, and the installation and systems integration was handled by Omnicoustics LLC, a member of GC Pro’s expanding Affiliate Program. The Braza Dancante project illustrates how GC Pro has become the premier resource for AV systems integration projects, and how its Affiliate Program has grown into a principal source of installation and related services.

“Working with GC Pro is the simplest, most straightforward way to get a project done and done right,” says Adrian Gamez, Owner of Omnicoustics, the two-year-old AV systems integrator that installed, among other systems, the following Bose Professional Systems products: ControlSpace® ESP-88 engineered sound processor, FreeSpace® DS 100SE Loudspeaker, Panaray® MA12EX Full-Range Modular Line Array and MB24 Modular Bass Loudspeaker at Braza Dancante. “Even though we faced some challenges on the project, working around the general contractor, we always had every piece of equipment and product we needed exactly on time, thanks to GC Pro.”

Gamez should know how well GC Pro services projects like these – prior to opening his integration company, Gamez worked for the same GC Pro office in the Dallas area that serviced the Braza Dancante project. “I know what GC Pro can accomplish because I worked there,” he says. “They can get just about any piece of equipment you can think of, from a $30,000 audio console to a $3 connector, and have it all there on time for the job. When I worked for GC Pro, we prided ourselves on how well we could service AV systems integrators. Today, as one of those integrators and as part of the GC Pro Affiliate Program, I can really appreciate how well they do that. They have a great workflow.”

Jeffery McDaniel, GC Pro Senior Account Manager, stated, “This was a great project to work on because we were able to work with the customer from the conceptual blueprint stages all the way through the construction and final installation stages of the project, and we were able to make sure everything was perfect for their needs. It was also a pleasure to work with one of our affiliates, Omnicoustics LLC, throughout all of these stages, resulting in a project that exceeded the customer’s expectations at every step of the way. This is what it’s all about.”

Gamez also appreciates the fact that the Affiliate Program has also helped his company grow, allowing him to bid on and spec more projects than he could have on his own. “I’ve been on both sides of the fence with GC Pro – selling products and now buying them,” he says. “And from that perspective you can really see how good GC Pro is at what they do.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Extends Tech Support Group to Nashville

— GC Pro continues to expand this acclaimed service with the addition of technical support personnel in Nashville, which joins GC Pro’s location in Hollywood to offer access to complex systems design, installation and integration services —

— The initiative will also be fully integrated with GC Pro’s acclaimed Affiliate Services Program to create a truly comprehensive turnkey system solution —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 22, 2012 — As part of its continuing effort to add useful and valuable services and products to its client offerings, Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, today announced the extension of its successful new Technical Support Group initiative to the Nashville professional audio market. The program, which provides a number of technical support services, including customized Macintosh®-based audio systems solutions for clients in all of the market sectors it serves (recording studios, post production facilities and installed A/V), will now benefit Nashville’s music recording and production community. The Technical Support Group was initially launched in May 2011 at GC Pro’s Hollywood, California location. Additional personnel for the Technical Support Group are planned for other GC Pro locations in the U.S. in the future.

In the newly opened Nashville location, GC Pro Technical Services Technician Frantz Verna says that key services have already been provided for a range of professional clients there, such as loading and authorizing customers’ plug-in packages and integrating key applications including AVID’s Pro Tools® HD systems and others, and designing and building Mac-based audio systems equipped to the customers’ specifications for hard drives, video cards, RAM and other parameters. Such clients include producer/drummer Mike Marsh of the band Dashboard Confessional, legendary vocalist/composer/actress Bonnie Bramlett and Sound Emporium Recording Studios.

Verna says that many of these tasks, such as loading and authorizing software, are time- and labor-intensive, and pull music professionals away from their real work. “Musicians in Nashville definitely have better things to do with their time,” he says. “The advantage we bring to them, that they cannot get at a computer store, is that GC Pro understands how to optimize and maximize computer hardware, software and peripherals for music applications and integrate computers with their outboard equipment. We know how a computer best fits into a professional audio system. We’re able to give our clients a computer that’s ready to plug and play, which is exactly what they want and what no computer store could ever offer.” And all systems from the Technical Support Group will also be available for integration by members of GC Pro’s acclaimed Affiliate Services Program, which offers the services of certified studio designers, acousticians, systems integrators and other technical services to all GC Pro customers. No other professional audio retailer can offer such a comprehensive package of high-end products and programs.

“We are proud to expand our Technical Support Group endeavors to the rich market of Nashville,” stated Rick Plushner, GC Pro Vice President. “Nashville’s music community is growing larger and larger every day, and with such a large concentration of artists, players, composers, producers, engineers and post-production professionals, it is the type of market that can clearly benefit from the services of our Technical Support Group.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

Santa Monica Place Mall Gets Top-Flight Sound

Santa Monica Place’s new stage and extensive sound system and lighting truss, all supplied by GC Pro.

— Upscale mall adds live music and event capability with technology supplied by GC Pro —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 17, 2012 — The Santa Monica Place has the stores, the views, the food and the fresh, open-air design – a shopping and dining destination that’s just right for this iconic beach city. Included are a custom-designed Bloomingdale’s made for the beach-chic lifestyle, a brand new Nordstrom, and a collection of A-list retail names, topped by a rooftop Dining Deck with six chef-driven restaurants and gorgeous views of the city, the mountains and the Pacific. And now Santa Monica Place has one more aspect that will draw and entertain shoppers: A new stage with an extensive sound system and lighting truss, all supplied by Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users.

GC Pro provided just about everything that Santa Monica Place needed to make its atrium into a performance venue. That included a JBL VRX line array system with 12 VRX932 enclosures and two MRX518S single-18 subwoofers and an MRX528S dual-18 subwoofer, four Crown XTi power amplifiers, a Soundcraft Vi1 console, AKG IVM4500 in-ear monitoring systems and dbx DriveRack® 4800 system processor. The Global Truss 24' x 16' stage and truss system has its own runway for fashion shows, with a Lex Pagoda power distribution system. A Telex BTR-24 multichannel radio communications system with eight headsets and beltpacks keeps everyone in the loop.

Santa Monica Place’s new Soundcraft Vi1 console, sourced through GC Pro.
The entire collection of equipment, including the stage, is designed to be stored when not in use and set up as needed. This, says GC Pro Account Manager Josh Dawkins, who specified the products and handled the sale, gives the mall’s operation management more flexibility and offers them the opportunity to recoup some of the capital cost of the equipment through rentals. “They can rent the space and the sound system as a package, which makes it very attractive to potential users,” he says.

Dawkins says that HARMAN’s sales representatives were very helpful in choosing which systems and products best fit the needs of the mall’s management. “That’s one of the things that GC Pro brings to customers like this,” says Dawkins. “We have such depth of resources throughout the pro audio, lighting, video and staging industries that we can count on being able to access all of the expertise that the brands we represent can offer. That’s something that a commercial client like Santa Monica Place really appreciated.”

Mike Schoen, National Accounts Sales Manager, Harman Professional Group, stated, “We are very pleased that GC Pro chose a wide selection of Harman Professional products for the Santa Monica Place Mall. Working closely with Josh Dawkins, we were able to put together a comprehensive package that suited the venue’s needs.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

New State-of-the-Art Space at Hollywood Location

The control room at GC Pro’s new custom recording/listening demo facility at the Hollywood Guitar Center location on Sunset Boulevard, which also houses GC Pro’s home offices.

— New facility features a Neve Genesys console, Ocean Way monitors and more —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, October 11, 2012 — Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, announces that it has opened a new custom recording/listening demo facility at the Hollywood Guitar Center location on Sunset Boulevard, which also houses GC Pro’s home offices. Open to the public, GC Pro affiliate partners and manufacturers alike, the facility is equipped with some of the most sought-after gear from GC Pro’s extensive inventory, including a Neve Genesys console and custom Ocean Way monitors tuned by creator Allen Sides himself – both products distributed in the U.S. exclusively by GC Pro. Additionally, the facility features studio monitors from companies like Genelec, ADAM, Focal and others – all high-end monitoring options – along with custom-designed photo-embedded acoustic treatment from Auralex (who also worked with GC Pro to tune the room), and racks and racks of outboard gear both vintage and new. The sound quality in the room is superb, and the gear provides the full range of options for today’s producer, engineer, artist or musician. This state-of-the-art recording/listening studio also features a signature look different from any other facility in the GC Pro organization.

“This new facility opens up a number of opportunities for GC Pro, for both demonstrating music and recording it,” stated GC Pro Vice President Rick Plushner. “The Hollywood location also houses our custom-built live sound stage, which is used to tape our acclaimed GC Sessions video series, and with the addition of the recording room, a fully-integrated facility is emerging – bridging the worlds of live sound, recording and AV production. The patch bays have been fully customized, designed by the Malvicino Design Group (one of our GC Pro Affiliates), and we can now fully track GC Sessions performances and other events, with the full arsenal of modern studio wizardry at our fingertips, including editing, effects and overdubs. We are raising the bar for what we can accomplish production-wise, and we will be passing that content onto the audio community at large.”

Other different kinds of programs based on the room are in the works, to further expand GC Pro’s reach and offer enrichment sessions/classes for the audio community. Manufacturer/vendors will be invited to participate in demonstrations, providing expert perspective – presentations that will be taped and posted on GC Pro’s website.

Allen Sides, GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer, producer and mixer who founded Ocean Way Recording, stated, “It’s great to have a room where you can actually hear what gear sounds like. We were excited to be involved with the acoustics and design of this great space, and to also provide a set of our new Ocean Way AS1 monitors. Critical listening is the only way to judge what gear sounds like, and in most retail environments you haven’t a clue until you get it home. This is a wonderful addition to GC Pro Hollywood.”

David Fischer, CEO of Auralex, added, “We are thrilled to have been chosen as the acoustical treatment of choice for GC Pro’s new high-tech facility. This state-of-the-art facility is an exciting development for GC Pro, and our involvement continues to strengthen the long-term relationship between Auralex and GC Pro.”

Horacio Malvicino of the Malvicino Design Group noted, “Installation of the new audio demo room at GC Pro was handled with the same approach we take with a regular studio installation. The console is fully wired to a total of four Audio Accessories TT 96 point patch bays, which allow access to all of the console features. We also added a sixteen-tie line panel in the control room to allow for quick interface of external gear, as well as a sixteen-input mic panel with Ethercon ports to interface a multi fold-back system.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro and Greenhill School

The gymnasium at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, pictured with QSC WideLine line array modules sourced through GC Pro and installed by integrator Trinity Group International.

— Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, needed a sound system makeover quickly for a 9/11 observance ceremony, and GC Pro was able to do the job right, quickly and efficiently —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 24, 2012 — Greenhill School, founded in 1950 and whose 14 buildings are situated on 75 acres in Addison, Texas, places a good deal of emphasis on both athletics and civics, so a scheduled memorial ceremony for the anniversary of 9/11 was important to students, teachers and parents. However, the sound system in the school’s gymnasium wasn’t up to the task anymore. But Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, was able to fix that, and quickly, too. Once GC Pro’s team had evaluated the situation, made their recommendations and bid, and brought in a member of their GC Pro Affiliate Services Program as the systems integrator, the new sound system was put up and in place within a single day, ready for the observance ceremony. Integrator Trinity Group International installed a GC Pro-provided QSC WideLine line array sound system consisting of two hangs each with subs attached below.

“The show went off without a hitch, in part because the installation was done so quickly and so well,” recalls Jeffery McDaniel, Senior Account Manager based at the GC Pro office in Dallas, Texas. McDaniel notes that Trinity’s installers were able to access the school a day earlier to run cabling and establish hang points, prepping the job site for what would be a record-time one-day installation of the entire sound system. “It’s a pretty big system, but as soon as the purchase order came through, we and Trinity were on it, because we knew how important this event was going to be for them.”

McDaniel says that Greenhill School received several bids on the project, and ultimately awarded the job to GC Pro. The school’s IT director made the decision to go with GC Pro because, as McDaniel puts it, “They simply had more faith in us, that we could do it in time and with the right equipment that would last them a long time into the future. I’d say they made the right decision.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Part of Texas Church’s Ongoing Upgrades

Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day near Cisco, Texas, featuring upgraded AV sourced through GC Pro and installed by Affiliate Program member Malvicino Design Group.

— GC Pro has been regularly working with the Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day near Cisco, Texas, and after providing systems and installation services for the church’s most recent AV upgrades, it’s now in the plans to build a dedicated recording studio —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 20, 2012 — The last three years have been busy ones for the Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day near Cisco, Texas, and the Dallas-area office of Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. In that time, GC Pro has helped the church and its pastor, Farris Wilks, and his family build a recording studio at the Wilks’ home in Cisco and significantly upgrade the church’s AV. In 2011, after initial plans, GC Pro contracted Horacio Malvicino, Managing Director of the Malvicino Design Group, a Forest Hills, New York-based GC Pro Affiliate Services Program member, for design and construction of the studio. GC Pro sourced and supplied technology including a 32-channel Neve Genesys digitally controlled analog console, an Avid D-Command, a Pro Tools HD system and an Ocean Way HR2 monitoring system. After the studio was finished, GC Pro then was asked to update the church’s AV systems.

In 2012, GC Pro brought in GC Pro Affiliate Services Program member Omnicoustics, based in McKinney, Texas, to install new Robe and Chauvet lighting systems; Panasonic video cameras and live-video switcher; a NewTek Tricaster video switcher for recorded video content for post production applications; and Eiki video projectors.

Jeffery McDaniel, GC Pro Senior Account Manager, says this is the second major systems upgrade that GC Pro has done for Assembly of Yahweh 7th Day – In 2010, GC Pro upgraded the church’s sound system with a JBL Array Series system paired with an Avid VENUE SC48 digital live sound console and an Avid Pro Tools LE system, as well as a new complement of microphones, a new Aviom in-ear monitor system for the church band, and other related equipment -- and it underscores the kind of relationship that GC Pro has with many of its customers. “We come to know our customers pretty well, because so many of them are repeat customers,” he says. “We have a pretty good idea of what their needs are and how best to meet them.”

Another reason that GC Pro clients are so loyal is the lengths the GC Pro staff is willing to go for them. When it turned out that the dongle sourced for the new lighting system didn’t have the right amount of channels, McDaniel set out to find one that did, working under an extreme deadline. The only vendor who had what they needed was in Canada. As the event for which the lighting controller would be critical drew near, McDaniel told the Canadian supplier to use FedEx’s premium same-day delivery service – the supplier got the new dongle to their local airport at 11 a.m. the same day, and it arrived at FedEx’s freight station at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport that same evening. McDaniel then drove it the three hours to Cisco, arriving at 11 p.m., and had it ready to use for the church’s worship service the next morning. McDaniel also helped participate in their first service, running their newly purchased computer program to display the music’s lyrics. “Whatever it takes to make it work for the customer, that’s what we’re willing to do to make it happen,” says McDaniel.

That same philosophy will apply to the new recording studio, named Seven Pillars Studios, that GC Pro will help design, build and equip, for a planned opening in 2013. Much of the equipment that GC Pro provided for the Wilks’ home studio will migrate to the new facility, which is also being designed and commissioned by the Malvicino Design Group, and which will feature two control rooms around a single large tracking room, with an SSL AWS948 console in the B studio. “We really get to know our clients,” says McDaniel. “And they really get to know us, which means they know we’ll be there for them year in and year out.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

Metro South Church in the Detroit Area

D.A.S. Aero 12A powered two-way, mid-high line array modules, sourced through GC Pro, at Metro South Church in the Detroit area. Photo credit: Jamie Mink.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 18, 2012 — Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, was recently contracted to design and install a new sound system at Metro South Church in the Detroit area. The church, a non-denominational Christian church located in the suburbs south of Detroit, is a growing and vibrant congregation that serves more than 1,500 people each weekend. Recognizing the importance of delivering their message in a clear and appealing manner, church management recently elected to install a robust sound reinforcement system. After careful evaluation, the decision was made to deploy a new loudspeaker setup drawn from the Aero Series 2 catalog of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

GC Pro Account Manager Paul Johnson, working in conjunction with Guitar Center Sales Associate Paul Long and D.A.S. Audio Regional Sales Manager Steve Trimble, oversaw the project. Ultimately, the new sound system included a sizeable contingent of D.A.S. Aero 12A powered two-way, mid-high line array modules along with LX-215A and LX-218CA sub bass enclosures.

Johnson discussed the project: “Metro South Church is a very modern organization with a contemporary worship experience that really engages the congregation,” Johnson explained. “Music plays a vital role in their worship services because it’s a great way to be relevant to their congregants. They have a praise band—Alive—that reaches out to hundreds of high school students. The sanctuary is approximately 124 feet wide by 124 feet deep, has a 22 foot high ceiling, and seats roughly 850 people, so it’s not a small space. In order to deliver a high level of speech intelligibility and first-rate music reproduction capability, we determined that a line array system, augmented by multiple subwoofers, would be the most effective means of providing coverage. After coordinating three product demonstrations, the decision was made to go with the D.A.S. equipment.”

The house mains for Metro South Church’s new sound system consist of an LCR loudspeaker configuration. The system comprises fifteen D.A.S. Audio Aero 12A enclosures, with six elements each on the left and right hangs and a center fill cluster consisting of three modules. Low frequency support is provided by a combination of two D.A.S. LX-215A powered band-pass subwoofers and eight LX-218CA high performance powered subwoofers. “We stacked the subs on both sides of the stage, and this was done in a cardioid setup with some sub enclosures turned around in order to reduce standing bass on the stage,” Johnson said.

In discussing the challenges of the project, Johnson noted that D.A.S. Audio was competing against a number of prominent loudspeaker manufacturers and, that in the end, the decision came down to sound quality, design, and value. “Our client was looking for a system that delivered incredible sound and presented a clean, unobstructed view of the stage area so as not to be distracting. Given the self-powered nature of the D.A.S. system, we were able to accomplish this at a very competitive price point. By going with a self-powered system, we eliminated the requirement of having to house a rack of power amps, and since the power is integral to the enclosures, it’s optimized for each loudspeaker model. As a result, each of the three loudspeaker clusters was able to run on a single 15-amp circuit, making this a very efficient setup.”

With any project of this nature, quality customer and technical support services are critical and, in this regard, Johnson gives D.A.S. Audio high marks. “D.A.S. was very patient with what turned out to be a somewhat time-consuming project,” he said. “We actually started system demonstrations during the construction phase. In an unprecedented move, D.A.S. sent us the entire system and allowed us to keep it on site for three full demos during different stages of the build out. This was key to closing the sale. In the end, they flew in Ramon Franco, their systems specialist, and tuned the room so we could have the most accurate representation of the system. Both the client and all of us at GC Pro were very impressed.”

Johnson adds that, since being placed into service, the system has impressed the client: “Church management is very happy with the new system. Everyone we’ve spoken with believes they now have one of the best sounding worship services in southeastern Michigan. They are very proud of their new D.A.S. system. Equally important, D.A.S. has become a valued business partner. I expect to be working with D.A.S. for many jobs to come. It was an overall pleasure, and I’m glad to have had the experience.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Lends a Hand to Stonehand Studio

Engineer/producer Chris Jones at his Florence, Kentucky-based Stonehand Studio, pictured with some of the gear he has acquired through GC Pro.

— New music facility in northern Kentucky aims for an organic sound with carefully chosen technology, sourced and installed by GC Pro —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 12, 2012 — When Chris Jones does something, he doesn’t do it halfway. The engineer/producer is about to open his own music studio in Florence, Kentucky, near Cincinnati, and he spent considerable time and effort researching how to achieve what he wanted in the way of sound. Jones’ wish list was long and detailed, but it was just what Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, loves to do: help audio professionals bring their visions to life.

Stonehand Studio, which will open in the fall of 2012, is conceived by Jones as a natural-sounding space where acoustics and technology combine to create a wholly organic ambient environment for music recording. “I want it to be a place where people will enjoy taking their time, choosing microphones and picking mic placements to get exactly the sounds they’re looking for,” he explains. Stonehand’s equipment list was put together to help achieve what the studio’s acoustics will bring about naturally, and Jones has a clear rationale behind each piece. For instance, he says he selected the Vintech 473 4-channel mic preamplifier because it approximates the sound of vintage Neve pre amps, and the API 3124+ 4-channel mic pre for what it brings to drums, guitar amps and vocals. Jones researched these and other specific pieces of gear, looking for the combinations that would give him the kind of sonic sensibilities he wanted, but he also consulted with the GC Pro office in Cincinnati, where Account Manager Jim Kinney helped Jones narrow his choices, sourced products and helped him get competitive prices.

And when the time came, they also helped commission the studio, too. Marcin Nowak with GC Pro Technical Services handled the Pro Tools 10 software and Universal Audio Nevana software installations, PCIE card installation, Apogee Symphony installation, RAM upgrades and Apple Mac Pro computer set-up and registrations. GC Pro’s Pres Maxson was invaluable behind the scenes, making sure all the pieces were ordered correctly and arrived on time.

“GC Pro has an awesome team mentality, and it really shows when we get to work on a project,” says Kinney. “Chris was willing to do whatever he could to get the highest performance for his budget from every aspect of the gear. He had clear goals for himself and wanted expert help getting there. We spent a lot of time discussing many options and he seemed to value my input and considered my advice in his equipment decisions.” Jones agrees. “When I started researching, I talked to a number of retailers, including GC Pro,” he says. “But as it went along and the project grew, I found myself talking more and more to Jim at GC Pro. He was always on the job, always there when we had a question, and he always had an answer – they were very, very knowledgeable. GC Pro understood what I was going for, what I was trying to achieve, where I wanted to go with the studio. Those guys have been there themselves, so they know how to help me get where I want to go.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Outfits Mother of Perpetual Help

DAS Aero 8A Line Array Boxes, part of a new sound system at Mother of Perpetual Help Parish Church in Garland, Texas, outfitted/installed by GC Pro and Affiliate Program member DJ Sound & Lighting

— GC Pro’s unmatched inventory translates into a full sound system design adapted exactly for the customer’s needs, and installation from one of GC Pro’s Affiliate Program integrator partners results in another successful project —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 10, 2012— Mother of Perpetual Help Parish Church in Garland, Texas, serves the vibrant Vietnamese Catholic community in the Dallas and Ft. Worth areas. The church recently constructed a new auditorium with a multi-purpose mission: as a place to hold conferences and seminars, and as the venue for the elaborate wedding ceremonies and receptions that are part of Vietnamese culture. And all of these applications would require sound that could accommodate the full frequency range of music and the high intelligibility demands of spoken word. That’s why the church turned to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, to fulfill this multi-part mission. Working with a budget typical for non-profit organizations like houses of worship, the Dallas GC Pro office was able to draw from a wide range of vendors that could not only provide cost-effective equipment and technology solutions but also offer design capability that would assure the system perfectly fit the specific needs of the church. The project also drew upon the deep installation base offered through GC Pro’s acclaimed Affiliate Program of highly qualified AV systems integrators to execute the design.

Kevin Deal, Account Manager at the Dallas GC Pro office, brought an understanding of the church’s needs to the table, as well as a long relationship with Kahn Nguyen, the church’s music consultant, who is responsible for operation and maintenance of the church’s sound systems. “We listened to what they were looking for, and we also were aware that the church was considering other bids,” Deal recalls. “But we knew that we had a much broader range of options we could choose between, from which we could put together a system that would both fit their budget but also perfectly fit the needs of the room and the applications.”

GC Pro presented a solution that used a DAS sound system consisting of 15 DAS Aero 8A Line Array Boxes, 6 DAS Avant 118A Subwoofers and a DAS DSP 4080 Processor. On the stage, eight DAS Avant 112A floor monitors would be managed by DBX 220i loudspeaker processors. Live sound is mixed through an Allen & Heath iLive T112 large-format analog console with an Allen & Heath IDR48 mix rack. Zoned sound is provided through DAS Arctec 26T speakers managed by a DBX ZonePro® 640 and powered by QSC CX108V amplifiers. DAS agreed to provide a detailed design plan for the system that precisely covered the entire auditorium, and it was all expertly installed by GC Pro Affiliate DJ Sound & Lighting.

Deal points out that the competing bid would have used a more expensive system that, based on the church’s budget, would have resulted in some areas insufficiently covered for sound. “The church had given us the CAD drawings of the auditorium and DAS worked from those, so there was a custom system perfectly suited for this project before they had even spent a penny,” Deal says. “That gave the church an enormous amount of confidence and gave us a huge competitive advantage.”

DAS and GC Pro arranged for a DAS systems specialist to fly in to tune the PA system after it was installed, to maximize its performance, at no additional cost to the customer. Kahn Nguyen was more than pleased with the entire project. “Myself and the church have been customers of Guitar Center for a long time, so we knew to expect the utmost from GC Pro,” he says. “And it's been great so far. Kevin has been very professional and knowledgeable.”

That kind of service – intimate understanding of the needs of a client through patient listening, the ability to source that widely for cost-effective solutions offering both products and services such as design, and the capability to bring installation as part of a turnkey package would be considered above and beyond the call of duty for any other pro audio retailer. But for GC Pro, “’Above and beyond,’” says Deal, “is what we do every day.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

GC Pro Helps the Bridgeway Community Church

The FOH position at Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland. Bridgeway has been relying on GC Pro for its wireless systems and related products.

— Substantial changes in the ways wireless spectrum is allocated have led to upheaval in how wireless microphone systems are used, and GC Pro helps its clients find their way through the new reality —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 4, 2012 — The “White Space” issue has changed the way the wireless world works. As a result of the transition to digital broadcasting over the last three years, the region of the RF spectrum where wireless microphones have worked – mostly between the 700 MHz to 800 MHz range (aka the “White Spaces” between analog channels) is no longer available. That’s meant that wireless microphone users have had to replace their systems with new ones that comply with the newly constricted spectra available to them, beginning at 470 MHz up to about 698 MHz, and a small band above 900 MHz. House-of-worship users have been particularly affected, as many churches today rely on wireless audio for everything from worship services to theatrical and music performances. That was the case at the Bridgeway Community Church in Columbia, Maryland, a nondenominational, multicultural house of worship that puts an emphasis on dramatic presentations and music concerts and uses up to 24 channels of wireless for them. So when the new regulations governing the RF spectrum came into being, the church turned to their long-time collaborator for keeping its AV systems working at peak performance: Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Working with Mitchell Shaivitz, Account Manager at the GC Pro Baltimore area office, the church’s Technical Director Derwent “D” Williamson was able to source all of the wireless systems and products he needed to keep the church’s productions at the cutting edge of technology and regulation.

“We do a very wide range of performances here,” says Williamson, noting that the church’s location in a suburb of Baltimore means that it has to be acutely aware of changes to frequency allocation rules that particularly affect large urban areas that have a lot of sports, broadcast and entertainment venues that use substantial amounts of RF. “We’ve often had as many as twelve wireless channels going at once on stage, between actors and musicians. We need our wireless to be as reliable as possible.”

In the past, says Williamson, the church has had problems with dropouts, and the arrival of new regulations regarding wireless spectrum allocation meant it was time for an upgrade across the board. Working through GC Pro, the church purchased 14 channels of new Shure ULX-D wireless, including handheld transmitter and bodypacks, plus Shure PSM900 in-ear system and a Shure PA821A 8-channel antenna combiner.

The system was delivered in time for Williamson and his staff of technically astute volunteers to install it for the church’s annual Easter stage event. “We took a bit of a risk in putting such a new system to work on such a high-profile event on short notice,” Williamson says. “But on the other hand, we’ve been customers of GC Pro for seventeen years now, and we know that there’s a level of reliability and trust that would let us feel good about something like that. They helped us decide on what we needed, provided extremely competitive pricing and made sure they were delivered on time,” including most recently a TOA line array system and a Behringer X32 digital mixer for a multi-purpose room. “It’s a great feeling to know you have that kind of support behind you.”

For more information, please visit www.gcpro.com.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.

New Avid Pro Tools|HD Native Thunderbolt

GC Pro is happy to offer you the brand new ProTools|HD Native Thunderbolt, a new generation of Pro Tools|HD system that enables you to compose, record, edit, and mix music and/or sound for picture with great speed and ease. Consisting of an HD Native Thunderbolt interface or PCIe core card, Pro Tools HD software, and Pro Tools HD Series interface, Pro Tools|HD Native harnesses the power of your Mac or PC to deliver pristine sound, incredible performance, and the lowest latency of any host-based DAW.

Choice of HD Native Thunderbolt interface or PCIe card
Unlike USB- or FireWire-based DAWs, which are inherently prone to latency, Pro Tools|HD Native employs either a high-speed Thunderbolt interface or PCIe core card to connect Pro Tools HD Series interfaces with your laptop or desktop computer. By eliminating distracting monitor latency while recording, increasing your I/O capabilities, and providing 64-bit floating-point processing for more headroom and a higher mix resolution, you get a professional native solution that meets the highest audio standards.

You can now choose an Avid Pro Tools|HD Thunderbolt interface that's best for your application... PCIe card for desktop systems, or the new Native Thunderbolt interface (perfect for laptop and mobile systems).

Pro Tools HD software
Award-winning Pro Tools software has been the industry-standard digital audio production platform for years. The software tightly integrates your HD Native hardware and computer together as one, delivering exceptional performance and reliability—even with large mixes. And it comes with all the tools, advanced workflows, virtual instruments, and plug-ins you need to compose, record, edit, and mix music and/or sound for picture.

One or more Pro Tools HD Series interfaces
Capture and play back audio in stunning clarity and easily work with a wide range of analog and digital gear. Whether you want to streamline your setup with an all-in-one interface, provide mic or MADI connectivity, or need a tightly integrated, flexible system that can handle complex productions with up to 64 channels of I/O, there’s a Pro Tools HD Series interface that’s right for you—choose one or more to complete your system and customize it for your needs.

GC Pro: Your Pro Tools Experts
For over a decade, GC Pro's reps have received special training in specifying the perfect Pro Tools system for your needs. From project studios to commercial rooms, post-production facilities, and more, Pro Tools is now more flexible and powerful than ever before.

Visit www.gcpro.com or call 877-704-2776 to find your local GC Pro representative and order your new Avid HD Native system today!

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
Founded in 2001, Guitar Center Professional is the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users. Its clientele includes recording studios, audio engineers, producers, recording and touring musicians, live sound venues, post production facilities and more. Emphasizing extraordinary individualized service via local account managers, GC Pro offers expert consultation and a comprehensive selection of the world’s finest equipment for music and audio professionals. More information on GC Pro can be found by visiting www.gcpro.com.