home


Photo Files
(Click for high-res
JPG images)


GCPro_Education_StPaulsEpiscopalNO_72.jpg
Pictured L-R: Chris Chopin, Director of Technology at St. Paul's Episcopal, and Sime Restovic, Account Manager for GC Pro in New Orleans, in front of the Digidesign D-Command Worksurface in the  school's new recording studio, outfitted by GC Pro.







PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Clyne Media, Inc.
Tel: (615) 662-1616
Fax: (615) 662-1636

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


GC PRO INSTALLATIONS DESIGNS, INSTALLS AND COMMISSIONS
NEW RECORDING AND POST-PRODUCTION STUDIO AT
NEW ORLEANS’ ST. PAUL’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

— GC Pro Installations’ technology sales and system design employs gear from Digidesign, Avalon, Universal Audio and Sennheiser, resulting in a studio complex on  par with those found at college-level multimedia programs —

— New studio marks latest round of post-Katrina rebuilding for the school,
thanks in large part to a turnkey solution from GC Pro Installations —

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA, September 21, 2009 — As part of its System and Products Installation Initiative, Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the outside sales division of Guitar Center that focuses on the needs of professional users, is pleased to announce the completion of the latest project in this ongoing program.

Like many area schools, St. Paul’s Episcopal School was devastated when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. However, like the other resilient residents of one of America’s leading cultural centers, St. Paul’s has come back better than ever, now including a professional-level recording and post-production studio that was designed, built and equipped, and whose staff was trained, by GC Pro.

The studio, which was commissioned in September, just in time for the new school year, was designed by Sime Restovic, Account Manager for GC Pro in New Orleans, with system integration by Sound Bites Productions LLC. Restovic took a former computer lab at the school and designed a control room, tracking room and green-screen video suite to be built on that site. GC Pro specified and supplied all of the equipment used in the studio, including a Digidesign D-Command® Worksurface, Pro Tools recording and mixing software, Apple Mac® Pro 8-core 3.0-GHz 4 x 500-GB HD RAID with four GB of RAM, Apple 30-inch Cinema Display flat panel monitor, JBL LSR Series monitoring, mic pre's from Neve, SSL and Avalon, microphones from Shure and Sennheiser, and an assortment of M.I. gear from the New Orleans Guitar Center store. The new studio also fits well with the state’s active campaign to attract film and video production to Louisiana and New Orleans, and in that way is further contributing to the renaissance of the city.

“We wanted to do something unique, and we accomplished that,” says Restovic, noting that GC Pro helped the St. Paul’s staff envision the project from start to finish, outlining the design, constructing the studios, and specifying, installing and commissioning the equipment. GC Pro Installations even provided training for the teachers who would use the studio. “There is simply nothing like this level of equipment I know of in an elementary school in the U.S.,” he said.

Chris Chopin, Director of Technology at St. Paul’s Episcopal, agrees, adding, “St. Paul’s wants to offer our students the best professional studio environment so that they may have access to and appreciate how far digital technology can actually take them.”

The studio is already being put to good use on many levels: in addition to exploring the technical media arts, students are also using it to create digital biographies as part of a story-telling class, and they are setting mathematics lessons to music in ways that enhance the learning experience.

As for Chopin, he says his experience working with GC Pro was as fulfilling as it was uncomplicated. “They took care of everything, start to finish, even sourcing esoteric equipment, like the green-screen technology,” he says. “Katrina gave us the chance to start over and do something innovative and unique -- from something terrible we were able to make something wonderful. And GC Pro was the way we did it.”

GC Pro Director Rick Plushner stated, “I’m very proud of the latest GC Pro Installations project. In this case we delivered a complete turnkey system – design, construction, gear, installation and training all under our meticulous quality control. We ultimately insured the customer’s full satisfaction. Sime, in coordination with our headquarters staff, did a great job for the client.”

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


Photo File: GCPro_Education_StPaulsEpiscopal.JPG
Photo Caption: Pictured L-R: Chris Chopin, Director of Technology at St. Paul’s Episcopal School, and Sime Restovic, Account Manager for GC Pro in New Orleans, in front of the Digidesign D-Command® Worksurface in the school’s new recording studio, outfitted by GC Pro.


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.

Guitar Center is the leading United States retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates more than 200 Guitar Center stores across the U.S. In addition, our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician’s Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company’s Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.


The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.


MEDIA CONTACT: Robert Clyne, Clyne Media, Inc. at (615) 662-1616



 


Copyright ©2009, Clyne Media, Inc.,
All Rights Reserved.