Gordon Systems

06/13/2024

Thanks to RCF USA for a great demonstration of their GTX speaker system in a real world application on Fremont St! Contact us if you need some audio assistance. We are passionate about sound reinforcement and strive to help artists spread their content.

06/13/2024

Thanks to CHAUVET Professional for a wonderful reception and insights into new lighting technologies. Contact us if you need assistance with your next lighting project. We are eager to share our creativity!

06/11/2024

How about some outdoor AV?

In 2021 the Olney Cropdusters Baseball team was formed in the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League. This year their home field at the OBGC - Olney Boys & Girls Community Sports Association saw major renovations in order to accommodate the team. Along with lighting, stands, and a press box, the Boys and Girls Club wanted to install a new AV system. Gordon Systems was brought in to design and build an AV system that would provide professional PA within the budget of the Club.

While most of our installations are indoors, we are also quite familiar with outdoor AV installations and the special challenges they pose. From using appropriate weather-resistant speakers, to coordinating with contractors for long underground cable runs, to mounting the speakers while maintaining the waterproof barrier on the press box, every detail had to be just right.

For the speakers we used the Fulcrum Acoustic CCX line with the weather resistant upgrade. Polar Focus Audio Rigging provided the mounts for the light poles, specifically engineered for the weight of the speakers and the effects of wind. Inside the press box you will find a QSC equipment, including a Core, touchscreen control, and amp to power the speakers. Sennheiser mics, wireless and wired, will capture the play-by-play, anthem, and announcements. Radial Engineering came through with the auxiliary audio inputs, making sure the players' walkup music got them fully pumped up. A Netgear switch and Middle Atlantic Products rack made for a nice, clean install.

Our thanks go out to all of our supplier partners as well as the folks at Dalton Electric and Grandstand Design Enterprises, Inc. for their work coordinating the install. And of course a huge thanks to the Olney Boys & Girls Club and the Olney Cropdusters for trusting us with this big step forward. If you want to see the full transformation check out the before and after pictures below.

05/20/2024

Another great church AV job done!

This is Our Lady of Lourdes in Bethesda. We were referred to them because their processor broke and they wanted to revamp the whole system. They weren't getting the intelligibility and reliability they wanted, so these were the priorities.

We started with RCF USA VSA digitally-steerable column speakers. Combined with some Compact M08's for the choir loft, these did a great job filling the sanctuary with sound. We upgraded some mics with Shure ULXD wireless, replaced the podium mic, and added a stereo mic to the piano. QSC Core, amp, and touchscreen round out the processing and control. For an added layer of safety, we set them up on a service plan that includes 24/7 system alerts, remote monitoring and troubleshooting, and scheduled preventative maintenance.

Thanks to the folks at the church (particularly Dcn. Dylan and Mrs. Amparo Acevedo) and to our vendors for making this a success.

04/19/2024

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.

03/26/2024

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.

01/23/2024

Collective Church in Frederick has been growing a lot lately - so much, in fact, that they needed to expand their worship space and update their AV system. We were brought in to help, and the results are amazing. The new line-array speakers are super clear and fill the larger space perfectly. Mounting two new larger projectors and screens on the sides means that you can see them from anywhere, and a custom wide screen in the middle is great for verses, lyrics, and background. It's bigger space without feeling like you're a mile away. Thanks to our friends at Collective for letting us help them with their system.

If you are looking for help with your AV needs, give us a call or shoot us a message.

01/02/2024

10/10/2023

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!

09/22/2023

I bet you’re wondering what all these wireless mics are for. Stay tuned.

08/29/2023

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”
― Chuck Close

08/15/2023

AV...L?
We often talk about the "AV" part of our business, but did you know there is an "L" there too? Lighting is an important part of the full-scale service that Gordon Systems provides. Whether you are designing a small podcast studio, a stage in an event space, or a full-size auditorium, we can design, install, and maintain a lighting system for you. With products from CHAUVET Professional, Lightronics, and more, we are your local AVL integrator. Give us a call or send us a message to learn more.