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GC Pro Helps Sound Designer Travis Powers

Guitar Center Professional Keeps the Technology Transparent so Sound Designer Travis Powers Can Focus on the Creative for 'The Simpsons' and Other Programs

For years, Travis Powers (pictured) has turned to Guitar Center Professional (GC Pro), the business-to-business (B2B) division of Guitar Center providing highly customized service for professional accounts, for gear and technical expertise.

Powers began his career as a musician programming samplers and processing gear, and then later applied the same digital techniques as Sound Designer, Supervising Sound Effects Editor and composer for hit animated television series including The Simpsons, Futurama, Dilbert, The PJs, The Critic, The Tracey Ullman Show and King of the Hill. Powers’ sound effects work has received multiple awards, including an MPSE Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing, for The Simpsons’ episode “Treehouse of Horror VIII.”

GC Pro’s West L.A. location has been Powers’ go-to resource for a long time. There, dedicated personnel such as Ziv Gross (Account Manager) and Derek Snyder (Manager, Strategic Development) have been helping clients pick the right gear for their needs and getting them up and running on it as quickly and transparently as possible.

“I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about the technical side of the equipment in my studio,” Powers says. “You want to deliver really well-prepared material to the final mix, because on the stage it is about merging the dialog, music and effects, not spending time cleaning up, balancing or modulating the tracks. The high track count, powerful design plugins and sonic clarity of the system Ziv put together for me gives me the confidence that what I’m hearing in my studio translates to what will be heard on the screen. That’s why I’ve been happy for years to leave the technical side to GC Pro.” 

“Travis has been working with Derek and I for quite a while now; we try to anticipate his needs and get him comfortable with new equipment as easily as possible,” explains GC Pro Account Manager Ziv Gross, who set Powers up with his new Avid Pro Tools HD system and Genelec 8330 SAM Monitoring System in 2.1. And GC Pro will be part of expanding that system to full 5.1 in the very near future.

Gross recalls, “When we handled the new Pro Tools HD system for him, we also transferred all of his plugins and sound libraries from the old computer, so that he was up and running without having to wait for the process. It was plug and play within just a few hours. My rep from Genelec and I came over to his studio to set up the new system and tune the monitors to the room. No other retailer does all that.”  

Powers agrees: “These guys are always on top of it,” he says. “Recommendations for new equipment, new acoustical treatments, letting me know about upgrades—they always keep me up to date. My work never stops, and neither do they.” 

Powers’ close relationship with GC Pro, and the gear and setup they’ve assembled together over the years, has helped with the blossoming of an entirely new career: that of Travis’ daughter Veronica Powers, an up-and-coming performer in her own right. As a singer-songwriter and actress in her teens, Veronica Powers has recently broken out with high-profile live performances and her brand new single and video “You’ve Got Something.”

“I’ve never put any pressure on her at all to enter show business,” notes Travis Powers. “It was all organic and natural for her, but growing up in a household with a recording studio certainly an influence, I believe! Getting started years ago, we were able to produce music and videos for Veronica in-house, thanks to the gear setup I’ve been lucky to put together, not to mention the guitar we got her from Guitar Center. Now the opportunities are stacking up, with several producers interested in her moving forward. She co-wrote ‘You’ve Got Something’ with Francci Richard [songwriter for Fergie, Keyshia Cole, Patti LaBelle, JoJo]. She is currently writing a song with pop star Pixie Lott, produced Barry Blue, and is managed by vocal coach and talent consultant CeCe Sammy [Pop Idol, S Club Search, The X Factor]. I am beyond proud. I guess it’s like a veteran quarterback getting to see their kid grow up into a great football player all their own.”

Visit GC Pro at www.guitarcenter.com/GC-Pro.

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