Mic Choice and Techniques for Live Sound

Live sound venues and events can be a chaotic environment where things that seem to work just fine in one place don’t work at all the next night in another venue (or ten minutes after sound check in the same venue). Having a number of microphones and techniques for using them in your bag of tricks can prevent a whole lot of panic when you need immediate solutions.

The overall goals of miking techniques for live sound are easy enough to understand: get a good sound on the source that you’re miking, avoid picking up other sound sources in close proximity and prevent feedback. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? It turns out that choosing and using microphones is both an art and a science that can take years to fully master. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Choosing the Right Mics
Choosing microphones for live sound has different criteria than that you’d use for studio recording. Your first big choice is the main classes of microphone types: dynamic versus condenser. Dynamic mics are more rugged and more likely to handle the rigors of live use. They also handle higher SPL (sound pressure level, a.k.a. the loudness of the signal) better than condenser mics. However, condenser mics as a whole provide a much higher degree of sensitivity and fidelity to the original signal, along with extended high-frequency response.

The most classic live sound reinforcement microphones are the Shure SM58 and SM57. Used on everything from lead vocals to snare drums to guitar amplifier cabinets, nearly every venue, live band, and touring company has a good number of these relatively inexpensive, reliable tools for live sound.

Giving Direction
Each microphone has a specific sensitivity to sound coming from various directions, known as the mic’s polar pattern. In most mics, this is permanently built into its design, while in others, different types of directionality can be selected on the microphone itself.

The main types are omnidirectional (which pick up sound equally in a 360-degree radius) and unidirectional (which pick up sounds from certain directions while rejecting others). These mics have polar patterns like cardioid, super-cardioid and hyper-cardioid. This can be tremendously useful in a stage setting. Let’s say you’re miking a horn section, but the guitar amp is nearby. Simply using a mic with a cardioid polar pattern instead of an omni mic will help reject the guitar from bleeding into the horn signal.

This graphic, courtesy of Shure, shows a 3-D representation of omni, cardioid, and hypercardioid polar patterns. You can see the direction from where each pattern picks up and rejects signals.

Pad It Down, Roll It Off
Some mics have a built-in attenuator (“pad”) that allows you to instantly lower the signal by a preset amount, which is handy when dealing with loud sources like kick drum. Some mics may also have a low-frequency filter which helps to reduce the inevitable background noises—feet stomping on stages, wind, audience sounds and more. Pads and filters can really come in handy in a live setting.

Danger Zones
There are some common problems in live sound that are based on the way you use microphones. One is proximity effect, where a mic behaves differently when positioned very close to the source. When you do a sound check with lead singers, make sure they are using the mic just as they do during the performance.

Another caution area is using multiple mics. Unless you have a good understanding of mic placement, you may run into audible issues like phase cancellation and comb filtering. Problems generally occur when two or more mics are placed on the same source at different distances. Use only the mics you need. Learn the “3-to-1 rule,” which says that the distance between the mics should be three times the distance to the source.

General Good Ideas
First, never point a microphone in the direction of a PA or monitor speaker, which is the fastest way to cause feedback. Second, use directional microphones whenever possible, since you can orient them toward the source, helping to get a good signal, reject leakage from other sound sources and avoid feedback.

Perhaps the most important concept for live sound miking is that even a slight repositioning of a microphone can make a big difference. Don’t be afraid to experiment by moving the mics slightly to solve issues.

Quick Mic Choice and Technique Guide

Vocals: Dynamic mics are still the most popular choice here, and there are a wide variety of impressive handheld vocal mics from manufacturers like Sennheiser, Neumann, Electro-Voice, Beyerdynamic, Audix and Blue, in addition to the ubiquitous Shure SM58. Since every vocalist's voice and mic technique is different, it's good to keep a variety of mics available.

Some live sound vocal mics include the Beyerdynamic TG V96c, Sennheiser e965, Shure KSM8, Audix OM11, Blue enCORE 300, and Electro-Voice RE16.

Drums: While kits can be miked effectively with as few as three mics, you'll get better control over the overall sound with a pair of condenser mics as overheads, and closely placed dynamic mics for the rest of the kit. The kick drum needs a mic that can stand up to very high SPL. The snare mic is the one most likely to be inadvertently hit by the drummer, so make sure it's something especially sturdy, like a Shure SM57. Usually the snare mic picks up enough of the high hat, but you can supplement that with a small-diaphragm condenser for extra sizzle.

Choices in drum mics include kick drum mics like the AKG D12VR and the Heil PR48. A longtime go-to mic for toms is the Sennheiser MD421.

Some snare and tom microphones can be easily mounted to the drum shell or other convenient attachment point, like the Sennheiser e604, CAD TSM411, Audix D2, snd Audio-Technica ATM230.

Guitars: For electric guitars, a unidirectional dynamic mic placed 1–4" from the grill is standard. Close to the center of the cone gives you more highs, and you can mellow a "spiky" amp by moving the mic towards the edge of the speaker or using a modern, sturdy ribbon mic. For acoustic guitars without built-in preamp/pickup systems, try a small-diaphragm condenser about 6" from the sound hole, slanted towards the top edge of the fretboard. Bass guitars are frequently covered with a D.I. (direct injection) box, but if miked, the same type of mic used for kick drum would be preferred.

There are many mics that can be used for miking guitar amplifier speaker cabinets, like the Royer R-122 MKIIL and the Sennheiser e906. Miking live acoustic guitars is a little more challenging; try out the Shure SM81, Neumann KM 184, or the Mojave Audio MA-101fet.

Piano: To cover the full range of a grand or upright piano, you need a pair of mics, usually small-diaphragm omnidirectional condensers. Best placement is inside the lid, about a foot from the strings and about the same distance away from the hammers, one covering the bass strings and the other handling the treble strings. Remember the "3-to-1 rule" when placing these mics.

The final tip is to use your ears and adjust mic positions to try and solve problems before resorting to EQs or plug-ins. The better you get it to sound without adding processing, the better the final sound will be.

Signal Processing for Stage: Dynamics

This "Application Series" article gives advice toward the specific areas of business serviced by Guitar Center Professional, including studio recording/film sound, live sound, house of worship, clubs/restaurants, business sound/lighting systems, and more.

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The proper use of signal processing in many settings can be confusing even for experienced engineers. To be clear, there are creative uses of signal processing with effects like reverbs, delays and more, but we won’t be getting into that here. Instead, we’re taking a look at one type of signal processing that’s necessary for a positive audience experience (and the safety of your sound system) -- dynamics processing.

Getting Dynamic with Compressors
The easiest way to understand what a compressor does is to imagine a tiny little audio engineer who lives in a box. His or her sole job is very clear: to keep the perceived volume (loudness or quietness) within a certain range. Our imaginary little engineer has incredibly fast fingers that are always on a fader, and can react faster than any real human to adjust the signal up or down, keeping it within a range that sounds good for the overall performance.

Let’s look at a specific example. In a rock band, not all sounds are created equally. A bass player can be thumping along and then decide to start slapping in the chorus, creating a much higher perceived volume. A singer can be practically whispering throughout a verse, and then start screaming his way through the bridge. You get the idea. Music itself is dynamic, and we agree that using a full dynamic range is a good practice! However, we’ve all been through the unpleasant experience of hearing a poorly-mixed band, where the drums overwhelm the rest of the music, or the vocals can’t be heard at all over a feisty guitar player. What compression does is help even out the volumes of these individual sources so that the live sound experience is a little bit closer to the smoothness of recorded music.

Compressors are the key to creating this professional live sound presentation. They are particularly important for sources that have the highest levels, such as kick drums and bass. They are also crucial for sources with the widest range of dynamics, like the human voice. Please be aware that a compressor is not just a limiter, which is a device that stops audio signals from going above a certain range. Compressors also can raise the level of quieter sources so they, too, can be heard clearly.

Finally, from a practical point of view for live sound, compressors can be crucial to protecting the rest of your live sound system. A sudden burst of a very loud signal can damage everything from your console or mixing surface to your entire main PA and stage monitoring system, as well as having a deleterious affect on the audience’s ears. It’s very important to use compression for this reason, if no other.

Under Control
One interesting thing about dynamics processing: if a high-quality compressor is set correctly, you shouldn’t hear it working. It will just do its job, and everyone will appreciate its work (whether they notice it or not). Let’s take a look at what kind of controls are offered on a typical compressor, and how they work together.

“Threshold" allows you to tell the compressor the level at which it can start reducing the amplitude of a signal. “Ratio" lets you set the gain reduction with a ratio. Example: a 3:1 ratio means that if the signal is 3dB over the threshold you set earlier, the output will be 1dB over the threshold. "Attack and Release” lets you control how quickly the gain reduction starts and stops working. “Knee” allows you to choose how the compressor responds to signals that cross the threshold. Finally, "Output Gain” or "Makeup Gain” takes the compressed signal and boosts it so you have the right amount of volume to fit into the mix.

The dbx 166XS, an affordable dynamics processor that's popular in live sound, shows many of the common controls of a compressor including threshold, ratio, attack, release, and output gain.

Plug It In, Plug It In
For a long time, live sound was an area where only hardware devices were trusted for their essential purposes. However, like most other areas of professional audio, software-based plug-ins have made their foray into live sound in recent years. Technology such as Avid’s VENUE live sound systems have allowed performers and engineers to take advantage of the software-based signal processing that they use in studios while playing live. Companies such as Waves, McDSP and others have created software-based dynamics processing plug-ins that work exceptionally well.

Recommended Dynamics Processors

A Designs HM2 Compressor Nail

BBE MaxCom

Behringer Multicom

Dangerous Music Compressor

Drawmer 1960

Elysia Mpressor

Empirical Labs Distressor

Manley SLAM!

Millennia TCL-2

Tube-Tech LCA 2B

Universal Audio 1176LN Limiting Amplifier

Software-Based Live Sound Processing Bundles

McDSP Everything Pack HD

Waves Live Bundle

FAQ

Can’t I just have a single compressor that covers the entire mix?
While it’s important to have a compressor available for the complete mix as needed, each source is different in terms of its need for compression. Some instruments and vocalists might not need any compression at all. Others (kick drum, bass, often vocals) need their own types of compressors, each with their own settings, for a professional stage sound presentation. Also, different players tend to play… differently. Some hit the drums or strings harder; others don’t. It’s a wise plan to have compression available based on the style of the player, rather than an overall plan based only on the types on sound sources.

I once used a compressor and it made everything sound terrible!
As we said above, compression is perhaps the most misunderstood tool in the audio engineer’s arsenal. Two things can cause a compressor to do more harm than good: the use of a poorly-made, cheap compressor which doesn’t have enough quality in its parts or design to meet your needs, or (more likely) having an inexperienced engineer who doesn’t understand how to best set a compressor for each source and/or the mix itself. The most common way to mis-use a compressor is to overuse it. Be conservative with your approach to compression, and it will be your friend.

Can software-based dynamics processors really be trusted for live sound applications?
Live sound—both touring and fixed installations—was one of the last holdouts for use of software-based processing, especially for needs like compression. However, over the last decade or so, plug-ins have proven themselves in the largest venues and most high-profile tours. It’s safe to say that if you want to build a system that uses either software exclusively or in combination with hardware gear, you can trust these tools on your most important live sound jobs.

For more information on live sound processors, consult your GC Pro rep. Visit www.gcpro.com to find your local representative.

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Ocean County Vocational Technical School System

A student from the Audio Technology Program at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School System, in Lakehurst, NJ, works at a workstation comprising gear sourced through GC Pro.

— GC Pro has been the Ocean County Vocational Technical School Audio Technology program’s partner since its inception, providing it with the right products, platforms, systems, advice and support to enable it to expand and increase its accreditation —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, August 31, 2016 — The Audio Technology Program at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School System (OCVTS), in Lakehurst, NJ, provides a challenging academic curriculum for college-prep and adult courses, along with a major in audio production for full time students. The program is literally in its second generation: it was established in 1997 by the late Dennis Bourke, a noted studio owner and engineer in the region and since 2015 has been led by his son, Bill Bourke, along with Zack Slater, himself a graduate of the program and a former student of Dennis’. The mission of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School system is to prepare students for careers or further education, and to that end, the Audio Program has always strived to keep its curriculum and its equipment at the cutting edge, to ready students to enter careers in a fast-changing industry. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, has been its close partner for that entire time.

“GC Pro has been our go-to for equipment and expertise for years now, first for my father and now for me,” says Bill Bourke. “Most recently, they were here to upgrade our two Pro Tools systems to Pro Tools HD, which has enabled us to become an Avid Learning Partner and able to provide certifications for our graduates. But my dad was an old-school analog guy, and GC Pro had everything he needed, too. As we grow, they’re there for us.” That’s evident in TechFest, an annual live music festival, a fundraiser that provides scholarship money for the Audio Program. Its sixth edition was held last April in nearby Brick, NJ, and GC Pro provided most of the live-sound technology for the 20 local bands on two stages that operated by the Audio Program’s students. “Now, our students are learning audio for the studio and live, and GC Pro is a big part of that,” says Bourke. Slater adds, “We have always dreamed of giving our students the best real-world experience we can while they are still in high school. GC Pro has helped take our production to the next level and has really enabled us to achieve our goal.”

Students in the Audio Technology Program at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School System, in Lakehurst, NJ, get real-world experience in all aspects of audio engineering, including tracking live bands in an acoustically treated environment with gear sourced through GC Pro.

The Audio Program’s growth has been considerable: the two-year, fulltime day course is offered to high school and post-secondary students who can now receive college credit for taking the course. In 2017 it’s scheduled to expand to a four-year full-time academy through the OCVTS Performing Arts Academy. Rick Rivera, GC Pro Account Manager based in East Brunswick, NJ, says it’s been a pleasure to have served the program for so long and watch it grow. “Their TechFest is a great event — the music is great and it helps provide scholarship money for the students, so we’ve been contributing gift certificates and other things to help it along,” says Rivera. “We have more than just a sales and buyer relationship — we care about what they’re trying to do, which is give students a first-class audio technology education that really prepares them for a career in music or theater or live sound or whatever they want to pursue.”

The Audio Technology Program at the Ocean County Vocational Technical School has one very unique aspect that students won’t find anywhere else: This campus of the school is located in Hangar One on the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, the very hangar where the ill-fated Hindenburg zeppelin crashed on landing in 1937 (historically seen on the cover of the Led Zeppelin II album). That disaster took place nearly 80 years ago, but what it left behind is intriguing: a massive hangar whose walls produce incredible reverb effects that Bourke has been sampling over the years, using microphones and systems purchased through GC Pro. “We’re talking about ten-second reverb times,” he marvels. “It would make an amazing plug-in — we’ll call it the Hindenverb.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Keyboardist Peter Levin

Peter Levin. Photo credit: Vernon Webb © 2012.

— Best known for his studio and live work with Gregg Allman, Levin’s links with GC Pro’s Judd Goldrich were forged decades ago —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, August 16, 2016 — Peter Levin’s discography is both lengthy and deep. The keyboard wizard is known for his piano and clavinet work that offsets the Hammond played by Gregg Allman in his current band, which Levin tours and records with. But his history also includes a genre-busting who’s-who of music: Allen Toussaint, Aaron Neville, Levon Helm, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bernard Purdie, Lou Reed, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Christian McBride, God Street Wine, Merl Saunders, Phil Lesh and Jackie Green, Vassar Clements and the Oak Ridge Boys, along with session work for Korn, Train, Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. When not on tour with Allman, he has his own gig with the band Moon Palace Revival. He also finds time to work in his personal Brooklyn studio, also dubbed Moon Palace. Another thread running through Levin’s career is Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, which has been part of Levin’s story for years. GC Pro Account and Artist Relations Manager Judd Goldrich has a personal relationship with Levin going back decades, to when Goldrich was a younger man but still a fixture in the NYC M.I. scene.

The two formed a long-lasting bond that transcended just a transactional relationship. “When I got serious as a touring and studio musician, Judd was the guy I went to when I needed instruments or equipment of just good advice,” Levin recalls. That relationship was strengthened in recent years, when Levin was playing with Gregg Allman on the Mississippi coast and a fierce gulf storm raged through. The storm wiped out a stage, taking with it all four of Levin’s keyboards. “I called Judd, who was then at Guitar Center, and he had a new Yamaha CP-300 piano — the focal point of my rig — and some Moog pedals on the way to me immediately,” he says. “It’s been that way ever since. Whether I need gear for touring or for my studio, I call Judd and GC Pro and it’s taken care of.”

Most recently, Levin bought a Sequential Prophet-6 synthesizer at GC Pro and a Fender silver-face reissue Vibrolux amplifier that he’s using for his clavinet and Wurlitzer electric piano. When he realized that the Vibrolux’s two 10-inch speakers couldn’t deliver enough low end, GC Pro’s specialists suggested a Vibro-King 2x12 closed-back extension cabinet that did the trick. “Anywhere I am in the country, I call GC Pro or go into a store, they have what I need when I need it,” he says. “GC Pro is just the best.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Stage Monitoring for House of Worship

This "Application Series" article gives advice toward the specific areas of business serviced by Guitar Center Professional, including studio recording/film sound, live sound, house of worship, clubs/restaurants, business sound/lighting systems, and more.

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Unless you’ve spent some time onstage playing in bands of the spiritual or secular variety, the whole concept of stage monitoring might be hard to understand. The most simple way to get it is that if a musician or speaker can’t hear themselves (or other members of their band or choir) while onstage, it’s terribly difficult to put on a top-notch presentation or performance. Therefore, you need a solution in your house of worship that allows musical performances or spoken word presentations to be heard onstage as well as in the audience.

There are two general categories of stage monitoring systems: speaker monitors (also known as floor wedges) and in-ear monitors (IEMs, sometimes called personal monitors). Traditional stage monitors are wedge-shaped speakers that are placed toward the front of the stage, facing back toward the performers. In-ear monitors are exactly as the name implies: like the ear buds in an iPod, they fit into the external ear canals of the person addressing or performing for the audience.

Some worship facilities use a combination of traditional floor wedge stage monitors along with in-ear monitors for the best of both worlds. St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (Newport Beach, CA).

Houses of worship that opt for in-ear monitors (IEMs) over stage wedges enjoy a clear, uncluttered stage that can be an advantage for both performers and audiences. Grace Family Church (Lutz, FL).

Wedges vs IEMs
Floor wedges have been around for decades and are very simple in design; they are merely speakers that connect via audio cables to a mixing surface. There is an inherent level of reliability with this low-tech (but time-proven) solution. In choosing between floor wedges and IEMs, be aware that some performers simply don’t like the aspect of having things tucked into their ears while they play. They might find it too isolating from the natural acoustics of the stage and the room as a whole.

But in today’s world, it’s hard to pose an argument against in-ear monitoring. Using them, the performer gets a level of control of volume, panning, and other elements that is simply not possible in wedge monitors. In-ear monitors will never be a cause of feedback, which is always a danger when you have live speakers on stage that can direct sound back into open microphones. Finally, since most IEM systems are wireless, those performers can move about the stage more freely, since their mix is always right there with them. This can be especially good for dramatic performances.

Guitar Center Professional’s account representatives are experts at specifying monitoring systems for houses of worship. In many cases, they can even visit your place of worship to determine what will work best for you.

FAQ
How many floor wedges or IEM systems will our house of worship need?
The answer is dependent on several factors, including the size of the stage and the number of performers/presenters that will using them at once. With wedge monitors, each monitor will disperse sound over a certain area of the stage. In a typical worship band-type music event, it’s a good idea to have at least three wedges at the front of the stage for singers and instrumentalists, and more near the back for drummers, keyboardists, backing vocalists and the like. With in-ear monitors, the answer is more simple: each performer will require his or her own set of IEMs.

Is it complicated to set up and use a wireless IEM system?
No. It can be set up quickly and easily. However, making the most of an IEM system’s advantages (like setting up personalized levels and other settings for each performer) requires a level of aquired skill. In the professional live sound world, there’s a role called a “monitor mixer” whose sole job is to do just this. Your GC Pro rep can assist you in getting your IEM system set up and ready for use.

If we’re building a new facility from the ground up, is it important to take stage monitoring into consideration?
Stage monitoring is of vital importance to the quality of the performance or presentation, and therefore impacts the experience of the audience as well. It should be thought of on an equal degree of importance as your facility’s main PA system, lighting, and more.

What if we can’t afford our stage monitoring system all at once?
First, Guitar Center Professional has excellent financing programs tailor-made for houses of worship. Second, with both wedge speakers and IEMs, your monitoring system can be built and then added to as your budget permits.

Suggested Products

Yamaha CM15V 15” 2-Way Club Concert Series Monitor Speakers

Electro-Voice TX1122FM Tour-X Floor Monitor

Shure PSM 300 Wireless Personal Monitoring System

Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G3 In-Ear Wireless Monitor System

Audio-Technica M2 In-Ear Wireless Monitor System

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Sound Designer Travis Powers

Travis Powers

— From commissioning workstation platforms like Pro Tools HD, to acoustical treatments and monitoring, GC Pro has been Travis Powers’ trusted partner as he works on classic shows like The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The PJs, Dilbert and other major animated hits —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, July 21, 2016 — Arguably, the toughest balancing act in audio isn’t in the final mix — it’s in achieving equilibrium between the creative power and the technical complexity of pro audio technology. That’s an equation that Travis Powers has always encountered, first as a musician programming samplers and processing gear, and then later applying the same digital techniques as Sound Designer, Supervising Sound Effects Editor and/or Composer for hit animated television series including The Simpsons, Futurama, Dilbert, The PJs, The Critic, The Tracey Ullman Show and King of the Hill. Powers’ sound effects work has received multiple awards, including a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing, for The Simpsons’ episode “Treehouse of Horror VIII.” For years now, he has turned to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, for gear and technical expertise. “I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about the technical side of the equipment in my studio, ”You want to deliver really well-prepared material to the final mix, because on the stage it is about merging the dialogue, music and effects, not spending time cleaning up, balancing or modulating the tracks. The high track count, powerful design plugins and sonic clarity of the system Ziv put together for me gives me the confidence that what I’m hearing in my studio translates to what will be heard on the screen. That’s why I’ve been happy for years to leave the technical side to GC Pro.”

GC Pro’s West L.A. location has been Powers’ go-to resource for a long time. There, dedicated personnel such as Ziv Gross (Account Manager) and Derek Snyder (Manager, Strategic Development) have been helping clients pick the right gear for their needs and getting them up and running on it as quickly and transparently as possible. “Travis has been working with Derek and I for quite a while now; we try to anticipate his needs and get him comfortable with new equipment as easily as possible,” explains Account Manager Ziv Gross, who set Powers up with his new Avid Pro Tools HD system and Genelec 8330 SAM® Monitoring System in 2.1. And GC Pro will be part of expanding that system to full 5.1 in the very near future.

Gross recalls, “When we handled the new Pro Tools HD system for him, we also transferred all of his plugins and sound libraries from the old computer, so that he was up and running without having to wait for the process. It was plug and play within just a few hours. My rep from Genelec and I came over to his studio to set up the new system and tune the monitors to the room. No other retailer does all that.”

Powers agrees: “These guys are always on top of it,” he says. “Recommendations for new equipment, new acoustical treatments, letting me know about upgrades — they always keep me up to date. My work never stops, and neither do they.”

Powers’ close relationship with GC Pro, and the gear and setup they’ve assembled together over the years, has helped with the blossoming of an entirely new career – that of Travis’ daughter Veronica Powers, an up-and-coming performer in her own right. As a singer-songwriter and actress in her teens, Veronica has recently broken out with high-profile live performances and her brand new single and video “You’ve Got Something.” Travis notes, “I’ve never put any pressure on her at all to enter show business; it was all organic and natural for her, but growing up in a household with a recording studio certainly an influence, I believe! Getting started years ago, we were able to produce music and videos for Veronica in-house, thanks to the gear setup I’ve been lucky to put together – not to mention the guitar we got her from Guitar Center. Now the opportunities are stacking up, with several producers interested in her moving forward – she co-wrote ‘You’ve Got Something’ with Francci Richard (songwriter for Fergie, Keyshia Cole, Patti LaBelle, JoJo). She is currently writing a song with pop star Pixie Lott, produced Barry Blue, and is managed by vocal coach and talent consultant CeCe Sammy (Pop Idol, S Club Search, The X Factor). I am beyond proud. I guess it’s like a veteran quarterback getting to see their kid grow up into a great football player all their own.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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 Guides Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

The AV control center at the Houston-area Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, featuring a Studer Vista 1 console.

— Large Houston church acquires two Studer digital audio consoles with GC Pro managing a complex transaction from initial planning through installation and commissioning —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, June 30, 2016 — The Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church has been among the Houston area’s largest houses of worship for over 60 years. However, through most of that time, it was also a very analog institution, with a pair of analog consoles used for front-of-house mixing and to route audio to congregation overflow and post-production areas. As of this year, however, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church has entered its own digital age, with the acquisition of two Studer digital consoles, purchased through Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts. GC Pro managed the sale of a Studer Vista 1 desk, which was installed earlier this year, used to route audio to a number of locations around the church campus. A Studer Vista V console intended as the church’s new FOH console was also installed and commissioned at the beginning of the summer. GC Pro’s Houston-based team of account managers and sales associates handled both transactions.

“I knew what I wanted for this,” says Lennon Allison, AV Production & Design Engineer at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, of the church’s transition to digital audio technology. “I spent a lot of time researching and even taking training on a number of consoles, to make sure I found exactly the right one for us. Acquisition of equipment is a part of my job, and GC pro is my first choice when it comes to price point and ease of transaction.”

Allison had worked in the past with GC Pro Account Manager Troy Hanchett, including the purchase of the church’s Avid Pro Tools HD and Control 24 control surface for the church’s post-production department. While he had done his homework, Allison still depended upon GC Pro to make sure he got expert help in managing the transition to digital for the church’s key audio platforms. “Troy set up the conference calls between me and Studer, which made sure that we have everything planned out ahead of time,” he recalls. “He’s had a great working relationship with the church even before I took this position three years ago, so he knows our facility and its needs. We really depend on that.”

The first console has already made an impact on the church’s media operations. The audio is always split three ways – to FOH, a broadcast stream and Pro Tools. The church’s “tricaster” stream, which is always uploaded to the church’s website and for a campus-wide broadcast, generally sync’ed the “broadcast” video with the Pro Tools audio – in the past, processed with dynamics and EQ. “But now with the Vista 1,” notes Allison, “the audio being sent to the tricaster is so pristine that we no longer need to do any post-production of audio before posting the video, which means no post-production of audio required at all.” Another issue was inconsistent volume for a video-over-Ethernet signal, which goes straight to TVs in the church’s overflow area. “But now, the Vista 1's accurate metering and exceptional dynamics has made our levels consistent and tackled the problem of music vs. spoken word volume differences,” adds Allison.

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

WheelPower Studio Biking Fitness Center (Deerfield, IL)

WheelPower Studio in Deerfield, Illinois, featuring audio and lighting systems sourced through Guitar Center Professional. Photo courtesy of Evie Steege.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, June 15, 2016 — Fitness centers may not be the first thing people associate with Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, but in fact GC Pro has supplied audio and lighting systems to several exercise facilities, for instance, through its long-standing working relationship with Atlanta-based Indoor Cycle Design. The company specializes in creating and outfitting indoor biking studios, including one of its latest projects, the just-completed WheelPower Studio in Deerfield, Illinois.

Tracy Chudnow, “chief sweat officer” of WheelPower worked hand in hand with Barbara Chancey Hoots of Indoor Cycle Design, Ryan Nigh and Jonah Joffe (Account Managers at GC Pro) and Mike Love of GC Pro’s Affiliates Program partner Accutronics LLC, in bringing the project to the finish line. WheelPower is GC Pro’s first fitness-center installation in the Chicago area. It has a unique interior design with a main exercise room that features tiered banks of indoor cycles in a stadium-seating arrangement, complemented by a sound system that Nigh points out “can rock the house with more SPL than most nightclubs and bars,” programmable LED lighting along the ceiling perimeter and two video screens.

“Chudnow and Hoots wanted to create an exciting, adrenaline-pumping atmosphere that had more in common with a rock concert or dance club than your typical static gym environment,” said Nigh. “The instructor can instantly tailor the music and lighting and the video screens can display the performance of the cyclists in real time.”

WheelPower’s four zones of distributed audio and lighting – main “cycle stadium” room, strength-training room, locker room and reception area – are all controlled by a unique custom instructor’s podium at the center of the cycle stadium, designed and built by systems integrator and acoustical consultant Accutronics.

The podium houses all the audio and lighting control gear and enables the instructor to operate all audio and video sources and lighting via laptop. “The podium is completely custom,” noted Nigh. “Mike Love had it custom built. It’s really a functional work of art.” In addition, wall controllers mounted throughout the facility enable adjustment of volume and source selection.

WheelPower Studio in Deerfield, Illinois, featuring audio and lighting systems sourced through Guitar Center Professional. Photo courtesy of Evie Steege.

At the heart of the installation is a Rane HAL DSP platform for distributed audio, paging and room combining. The system’s HAL 1X multiprocessor utilizes Cat5 cable to send audio and control signals over long distances.

A total of 17 QSC AD-S10T (2-way 10-inch), AD-S8T (2-way 8-inch) and AD-S6T (2-way 6-inch) surface-mount loudspeakers are mounted on ceiling brackets throughout the facility, and the speakers in the main room are angled at the tiered rows of cycles to provide smooth, even coverage for every rider. The speakers are driven by QSC PLD4.3, PLD 4.2 and GX5 power amps. A QSC KW181 18-inch, 1,000-watt subwoofer can deliver up to 135dB peak SPL of low-frequency impact to the main room and a QSC AD-S112SW sub handles the bass for the strength-training room.

20 Chauvet COLORband3 IRC strip lights are mounted along the ceiling, providing striking lighting effects including RGB color mixing and three control zones that can be synced to the system’s Elation DR-PRO RACK DRP665 DMX lighting controller. A Shure BLX14/SM31 headworn wireless mic system ensures that the instructor can be heard over the sound system.

To say that everyone was under pressure during the project would be like pointing out that the Tour de France is an important bike race. “The irony that we were racing against time to get a cycle studio completed was not lost on anyone,” Nigh said. “The installation simply had to get done by WheelPower’s April grand opening.” Love and the Accutronics crew had to work after hours so that the other contractors could complete their work during the day. “If any of them delayed, that cut into our allotted time,” Love pointed out. “We wound up working 16 to 18-hour days.”

Adding to the challenge, WheelPower Studio is located in a strip mall in between a hair salon… and a mattress store. Love noted, “If you’ve ever been to a mattress store you know it has to be dead-quiet – and here we were installing a system that could hit a high volume! Ryan did a great job with specifying the acoustic treatment in the wall – you can put your hand on the wall and not even feel the slightest vibration.”

“Considering all the challenges, in particular having to conform to the extremely strict Illinois electrical codes and the acoustical requirements, the actual installation itself went very smoothly,” Love said. “The Cat5 connectivity of the Rane components really saved time and labor and they worked exactly as specified, the QSC speakers could not have been easier to mount and GC Pro was top-notch in recommending the right products for the job and making sure we got them on time.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Hit Songwriter Skylar Grey

Recording artist, songwriter and composer Skylar Grey, whose touring and recording activities have been expanding, thanks in part to gear and support from Guitar Center Professional.

— Skylar Grey, who co-wrote the hugely successful “Love the Way You Lie” for Eminem and Rihanna, is making moves, and GC Pro is there for her, on the road and in the studio —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, May 17, 2016 — “Love The Way You Lie” entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the number-two position in July 2010 and then spent the next seven weeks at number one. For Skylar Grey, the co-writer of the career-milestone hit for Eminem and Rihanna that ultimately garnered five GRAMMY® nominations and won a Teen Choice® Award for top Rap/Hip-Hop Track, it was a defining moment. Since then, the award-wining composer has set her sights on new career highs, and for her technical needs to make that happen, Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, has been there for her.

With more hit tracks written for and with top artists – and as a guest vocalist on such tracks as Dr. Dre's “I Need a Doctor,” Fort Minor's “Where'd You Go,” Diddy's “Coming Home,” T.I.'s “New National Anthem” and Nicki Minaj's “Bed of Lies” – the Park City, Utah resident has been helping make hits for years. She’s already on tour in 2016, and much of the backline her band uses was sourced through Guitar Center, while GC Pro has been her go-to resource for professional live gear, such as the Shure in-ear monitors she and the band use, along with the Behringer X-32 console used to mix them, as well as an Akai sampler and a MOTU interface.

On the recording side, GC Pro has sourced items such as Focal loudspeakers for her needs. “Skylar started at Guitar Center for instruments, such as the custom Gretsch drum kit and road cases she got there, but as their professional audio needs grew, GC Pro stepped into the picture for them,” explains Jud Powell, GC Pro Account Manager based at the Salt Lake City GC Pro office. “Skylar is an amazing songwriter and singer, and she’s been expanding the scope of her career, with touring and with a vocal studio for her home, which we helped design and build. As her career continues to develop, GC Pro will be there for her.”

Todd Mandel, President of the Mandel Music Group, Grey’s management company, says GC Pro has become integral to their workflow. “Since relocating to Park City from Los Angeles, it was imperative that we found someone who worked on the pro level for both studio recording and touring,” Mandel explains. “Jud has such an amazing understanding of gear and has been able to fulfill all of our needs. We have been able to get gear in a short notice with a quick turnaround, which is helpful in our situation. As Skylar continues to grow, her needs will only become greater. With GC Pro being in every city, we will always rely on them to get us what we need for both recording and touring.” This, says Powell, provides the perfect example of how GC Pro can address all of the needs of the professional client and build a relationship that helps build careers. “We’re there for sales and service, as a technology guide and, in the long run, as friends,” he says.

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Springsteen Associate Toby Scott

Audio veteran Toby Scott.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, May 9, 2016 — Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, fosters close relationships with many of the music industry’s top artists and their engineers, producers, management and other key staff. One of these individuals is audio veteran Toby Scott, whose resume includes credits on records from such varied acts as Bob Dylan, Robert Palmer, Blue Öyster Cult, The Replacements, Booker T. & the MG’s, and dozens more – mostly as an engineer or mixer, but also as a production coordinator, musician, or tending to any number of other details. His most notable association, since the late 1970s or so, has been as part of Bruce Springsteen’s inner circle – Scott has a credit on nearly every one of Bruce’s releases (and there have been many) since The River and also on the re-masters of the earlier classic albums.

Although his official title in the organization is hard to pin down (“‘Primary Recording Engineer,’ or ‘Production Supervisor,’ or something else entirely, depending on the project. I’m a man of many hats,” he notes), his status as Springsteen’s chief archivist has been emphasized in recent years, with the release of retrospective box sets The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story and The Ties That Bind: The River Collection; re-masters of the first seven albums; and the ongoing Bruce Springsteen Archives live album series – all projects released to nearly universal acclaim from fans and critics alike. The Archives series has become a particular treat for fans – considering Springsteen’s legendary status as one of the greatest performers of all time, relatively few official live releases existed until a few years ago when the series kicked off in 2014 with Apollo Theater 3/09/12, available as a download or a CD set from Springsteen’s website. Since then, Scott has prepared releases from 1975, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 2005, 2013.

In the studio with Springsteen, Scott’s job is “whatever’s necessary to keep the ball rolling. I make sure the studio is working and everything’s up to snuff, and all the equipment and the guitars and everything are in order.” For decades, he has relied on Guitar Center and GC Pro for a variety of things. He recalls a particular story where GC Pro went above and beyond: “There was a beautiful Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar that I owned for many years, and I gave it to Bruce for Christmas in 1988, and he used it a lot. That guitar eventually ended up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum. Well, when it came time to record again, we were really missing that guitar. I contacted GC Pro, and an Account Manager hooked us up with two or three replacement guitars to try out – two J-45s and a J-50. We actually ended up liking the J-50 more than the J-45, so we got it, and now that’s one of our go-to guitars for recording. GC Pro’s service was so customized that they knew what we wanted better than we did! And I’ve gotten so many other vintage instruments from Guitar Center over the years. GC Pro is a great tool for delegating certain tasks – I mean, I could personally track down vintage instruments across the country, but I don’t have time for that; it’s so much simpler to have an Account Manager handle it for us, and that’s the kind of customer service they’re there for.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Customized Service for Top Broadway Plays and Musicals

John Miller, Music Coordinator for over 100 Broadway and touring shows.

— GC Pro’s Manhattan office is the go-to portal for music coordinators on hit Broadway shows such as Beautiful, Waitress, American Psycho, Hamilton, School of Rock and Finding Neverland for anything from computers to guitar strings —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, May 2, 2016 — It takes a lot to keep Broadway running. America’s theatrical capital, in and around Midtown New York, has 40 official venues, most of them hosting incredibly successful shows with nationally renowned actors. Keeping those shows going requires the right equipment, large and small, and customized service and support. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, has become the go-to resource for Broadway’s league of music coordinators, assuring them that they’ll have exactly the gear they need, when they need it, and within budget. Guitar Center’s East Coast Artist Relations Account Manager Judd Goldrich, based at the flagship 14th Street Manhattan store, serves as the primary contact for many of these shows, serving their needs with expertise and enthusiasm.

John Miller, Music Coordinator for over 100 Broadway and touring shows, including Waitress, American Psycho and Beautiful, each of which need a wide range of items for the orchestra pit, as well as “tons” of cabling, notes, “The goal is always to find the one-stop vendor for everything — the place that can get what you need, deliver it on time when you need it, and do it at the right price. All of the decisions I have to make about equipment have to be based around finding what the conductor and the composer, as well as the sound designer and synthesizer programmer, feel the most comfortable with. You’re looking for the perfect fit for each group of people for each particular show. GC Pro has been that one-stop for me. They’re able to make appropriate suggestions and give me options that let me better suit each person’s and each show’s needs. They also give me the confidence that the gear will be delivered on time and for the right price. And with people like Judd there, I know I’ll always have someone I can work with if there’s a problem. Broadway works on an intense schedule, and if one thing goes wrong it starts a kind of domino effect. I want to know that when there’s a problem that I can count on GC Pro to take care of it, and they do.”

Michael Aarons, the Associate Music Coordinator on the huge hit shows Hamilton, The Color Purple and School of Rock, and who partners with Michael Keller in theatrical music coordination company M2, says that GC Pro has been instrumental in securing the exact right mix of products and instruments for his shows. “School of Rock is a complicated show — they needed three types of drum kits, all very specific, all very different,” says Aarons, enumerating a conventional trap kit for the pit, an electronic kit for a classroom scene and a kit with triggers for another scene on stage. Judd at GC Pro was great at finding exactly what we needed, right down to the colors they wanted,” he says. “GC Pro was amazing — I was throwing new stuff at them every day, and they came back with personal service. You can’t get what Broadway needs from a conventional store — there are returns and custom orders. GC Pro always went above and beyond for us, every time.”

Michael Aarons, the Associate Music Coordinator on the huge hit shows Hamilton, The Color Purple and School of Rock.

And when Hamilton makes its way to Chicago and the West Coast later this year, Aaron’s not concerned — there’ll be a GC support everywhere the show goes. “They’re just a great local and national resource,” he says. “When you need them, they’re there.”

“Guitar Center and GC Pro are glad to be a primary resource for the professional audio and M.I. needs of these high-profile theatrical productions,” stated Goldrich. “With two locations in the Big Apple, including our Times Square store, right at the doorstep of the theater district, we are able to customize our service on time and on spec for these complicated shows.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.

Video and Audio Systems for Anastasia Baptist Church

The Christian Life Center, a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary holding up to 1,200 worshipers, at Anastasia Baptist Church in St. Augustine, Florida, featuring new video and lighting systems sourced through Guitar Center Professional.

— Working with GC Pro Affiliate AV integrator Sound System Engineering, GC Pro continues assisting the church in refining its media systems and enhancing its ability to communicate its message —
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, April 14, 2016 — The St. Augustine Lighthouse has been a beacon for Florida mariners since it was built in 1874. Similarly, the Anastasia Baptist Church, also located in what is the oldest city in the United States, describes itself as “a spiritual lighthouse” for its members. Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, has been a partner with Anastasia Church for the last three years, helping it keep its message clear and articulate.

The church’s main campus houses its Christian Life Center, a 15,000-square-foot sanctuary holding up to 1,200 worshipers. To enhance the worship experience in the sanctuary, Eli Higginbotham, the church’s Technical Director, again sought GC Pro’s help, and GC Pro responded. Jeff Aldrich, GC Pro Account Manager of North Florida at GC Pro’s Jacksonville office, recommended a new video system consisting of four Sony EVIH100V HD cameras, a Sony RMBR300 EVI BRC PTZ VISCA remote control unit, and a Roland V-40HD multi-format video switcher integrated into the churches existing video platform. The project also saw two 80-inch Sharp LCD monitors installed in the main sanctuary as well as 60-inch Sony monitors in two classrooms on the campus. In addition, a second, smaller sanctuary that seats 600 for more traditional worship services, had a JBL CWT128 8-inch 2-way loudspeaker system suspended above the orchestra area. Sound System Engineering (SSE) was the approved GC Pro AV system integration Affiliate that assisted in the systems’ design and performed the installation.

To illustrate the church’s 2016 sermon theme around mountains, the church suggested a custom LED lighting strip that would outline a mountain background lining the rear of the stage in the Christian Life Center. Lighting was addressed in a unique way for this systems upgrade: the installation of a 400-foot run of Aspect LED RGBW strip lighting tape to line the mountaintops that were designed and built by Doug Brown, Florida School of the Arts Technical Director.

“The church wanted to enhance their media capabilities and the overall worship experience,” Aldrich explains. “We’ve been working with them for the past two years, helping them do exactly that for all of their AVL needs.” Each and every component of the systems that GC Pro recommended was tailored to the church’s specific needs. For instance, the 180-degree dispersion pattern of the JBL CWT128 was what Aldrich calls “a phenomenal fit” with its programmable wave pattern. “One speaker for the entire choir and orchestra monitoring system,” he says.

The smaller sanctuary at Anastasia Baptist Church in St. Augustine, Florida, which seats 600 for more traditional worship services, featuring a JBL CWT128 8-inch 2-way loudspeaker system sourced through Guitar Center Professional.

Higginbotham notes that the relationship between himself and Aldrich goes back nearly a decade, to a time when Higginbotham worked as a manager for several Guitar Center store locations in the Southeast. “Jeff was one of my reps, and he was one of the best, so it was natural for us to continue this relationship when I came to the church,” he explains. Higginbotham says Aldrich’s astuteness is characteristic of GC Pro’s approach to dealing with clients, starting with the installation of new video cameras at the church two years ago, the results of which he described as “spectacular.” “They took care of everything then just as Jeff did with this most recent project, including sourcing the electrical contractor for the new lighting,” he says. “The great thing about working with GC Pro is, you never have to go anywhere else. They have it all.”

And as good as the technology has been for the church, it was the reaffirmation of the relationship that will be most enduring, and of the most benefit to the client. “The intangibility of a trusting relationship is really what GC Pro customers are experiencing,” says Aldrich. “I’ll always be there for them, and that means that GC Pro, with its huge depth of resources and its pricing power, will always be there for them. No one else offers that level of support.”

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

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About Guitar Center Professional/Guitar Center
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.