Morehouse College 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 dBTechnologies 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.
Last year the college turned to GC Pro when it was time 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.”
