Gordon Systems

Sometimes everything just falls into place, and it's fun being a part of it. It's even cooler when it's your neighbor. But that doesn't happen without quality partnerships.

Interdenominational Church of God (ICOG) is right across the street from our office. Their projector setup was old and not quite right for the space. They also had their 50th anniversary celebration coming up and had to work within some budget limitations. The initial goal was to get them set up with some new projectors and screens with some future-proofed 4k infrastructure. The longer-term goal was DvLED video walls to fully modernize the space, but the time and budget constraints meant that we couldn't go straight to DvLED.

Generally speaking we aren't fans of stop-gap measures. Paying for something that's not what you want so that you can pay for what you do want later might mean more sales for us, but it's not a service to our clients.

So we got creative.

Our vendor relationships are an incredibly important part of what we do. It's much more than just a place to go shopping for equipment - the service that we offer our clients is reflected in the service that our partners offer. So we called our friends over at ATS-Pro to see if there was anything they had that might help the church. As it happens, they had stock of their Taylorleds WS Pro product in stock and were eager to send it out. Because it was in stock, the lead time was a matter of days (not normal for this kind of tech). And because they were eager to send it out, we were able to get the whole system to fit into the budget of the church. It was a win all around!

Ultimately we installed the screens (11.5' x 6.6') with weeks to spare before the 50th anniversary, leaving plenty of time for testing. The end result is amazing. But this would not have happened without some support all the way through the process. It's a good reminder that your partners are an important part of what you do, and it's worth the time to develop those relationships. So thanks again to the team at ICOG for bringing us in and helping us coordinate the install, and to ATS-Pro for helping us find a solution for our client.

When we say we build a better experience, this is what we mean.

Mt Hebron High School in Ellicott City has a fantastic performing arts program. Unfortunately they did not have the sound system in their auditorium to match. Between dead zones, hot zones, and intelligibility issues, they regularly had to supplement their PA system just to handle a performance. Our friend Luke at Greffen Audio Visual helped them get the most they could out of it, but it was time for a change. That's when he brought us in.

After meeting with the team at the school, we were able to prioritize their needs based on their budget and got straight to work designing a system. We decided on a point-source system with multiple delay boxes to make sure that all the corners were covered. Fulcrum Acoustic DX12 boxes provided the front coverage, with three CCX8's providing the back fill. A QSC CX-Q amp provides the power with a Core8Flex working as the DSP and control. Sixteen Sennheiser EW-D lav mic sets with RF Venue antenna distribution and Radial Engineering Ltd. Power-1 power conditioners were installed for use in theater productions. We also integrated the existing ALLEN & HEATH SQ-6 in to the system with added stage boxes.

One function that was added to the space was a heavy dose of user control. This space is often used by external groups for lectures and events. The school wanted to give these groups the ability to control the part of the system that they were using without affecting the settings for school productions - enter the Core8 Flex. Using the Q-SYS control programming, TSC controller, and a QIO peripheral, we were able provide a Lecture Mode that gives access to the computer input and two stage mics, along with volume control for the speakers, while bypassing the mixing console. Now an outside group has the control they need while the school can keep their settings exactly the way they want!

In the end the system sounds great and all the users are happy. Huge thanks to all of our vendors and partners, as well as the team at Mt. Hebron High Theatre Department and Greffen AV.

Here is where all those wireless lav mics went! We got a request for some custom portable lav mic boxes for four high schools in Howard County. These will be used primarily for theater productions in their fine arts programs. Key requirements were reliability, durability, portability, and cost. Each one has a slightly different design, whether it's the number of microphones or the style of antenna attachment. Components include the new Radial Power-1 PDU, Sennheiser EW-D ME2 wireless lav mics, the RFVenue DISTRO4 antenna distribution unit, and K&M and Stage Ninja stands and clips for the antennas, all in some very cool Gator Cases lightweight rolling rack cases with lockable drawers. Assembled, tested, and delivered. Thanks to all of our partners and vendors for making some awesome equipment. , , , , we hope you like your new gear!

If this looks like a solution you could use, give us a call or shoot us a message. We'd love to get creative to help you build a better experience!