Replacing an Avid Pro Controller, Chicago’s Earhole Studios has installed a D-Command recording and mix console in Studio B.

Having provided much of the equipment that has gone into Earhole’s main location’s three mix rooms – as well as satellite studios in Los Angeles and Detroit (and even the staff’s own personal studios) – Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro) knows the facility and its needs well. But this was no simple operation…

‘The D-Command needed to go in and be up and running over what amounted to a long weekend, which was no simple task,’ says Eric Lambert, composer and Creative Director at Earhole Studios. ‘What made it happen was that the guys we’ve worked with at GC Pro for years, Dan Scalpone and Javier Briseno, not only got us the equipment we needed but also helped us pre-plan the entire transition from one console to the other.

‘The trick to successfully pulling off a major installation like this is to plan it out in as much detail as possible in advance, in order to keep the amount of downtime for the studio to a minimum, and that’s something that Dan and Javier were incredibly adept at.’

Earhole Studios has been part of Chicago’s thriving commercial music and audio business since 1990, currently serving clients including UPS, Chrysler, Sprite, Motorola and BP.

GC Pro made sure its crew was available for Earhole staffers throughout the weekend of the installation, ready for any last-minute requests. Then there’s what Lambert calls the ‘last five per cent’ – the items that almost no amount of planning can allow for until the job is nearly finished: ‘GC Pro was there for that, too,’ he says. ‘Whatever we needed, whenever we needed it, it was there for us.’

Looking over the studio, Lambert estimates that at least half of the equipment there was procured through GC Pro, including every piece of Avid gear in all of the facilities. Calling on his years of experience in advertising, Lambert offhandedly composes what could be the GC Pro mantra: ‘Always available, always knowledgeable, always helpful, always there,’ he says. ‘What else could you ask for?’

More: www.gcpro.com
More: www.avid.com