The sound of success

Can you give us some background to your company?

Lewis:GSL Professional was established four years ago in the United Arab Emirates by Fouad and Faegh Fowzi. GSL Professional began working with Harman Pro in 2004 as the exclusive distributer for the group’s nine brands – AKG (microphones and headphones), BSS (signal processors and distribution), dbx (processors and effects), Crown (amplifiers), HiQnet (Harman software), JBL (speakers), Lexicon (recording and effects), Soundcraft (mixing consoles) and Studer (high end consoles).

Since the partnership began in 2004, GSL Professional and Harman Pro have grown significantly year-on-year, almost doubling the sales from the previous year on some brands and with an overall growth last year of 35%. This is the result of an increasingly stronger share of the region’s pro audio market (in both event and rental as well as the installation sector).

Hetal Vadodaria:We are systems integrators, providing audio-visual systems, security systems, telecom and IT solutions – the full package.

Sound systems are a [large] part of what we do; it is basically everything to do with audio-visuals. What kind of presence do you have in the region?

Lewis:We have three warehouses and a working showroom. We also keep a huge inventory of stock on hand at all times. For hotels we get involved with the systems integrators. We work with a BOQ [bill of quantities] and sometimes we help with design.

Basically the systems integrators – people like Zio Technologies or Bond – give us a list to specify what they need for the hotel, and we marry our products up with the specification required and provide them with a quotation to buy the package from GSL. What are the demand trends from hotels at the moment?

Lewis:Our main products for hotels are ceiling speakers from JBL and BSS signal processors, which enable control. Crown amplifiers are also used quite a lot, which drive the sound systems.

The installed systems are for BGM [background music]. You don’t really notice them when you are in a hotel, but obviously they have a large speaker system – every hotel has it throughout, but you they are very discreet.

GSL’s role is not to go to site, we just work with what the systems integrators provide us with and if they need assistance with design. Because we have more product knowledge, we may recommend that they use a certain product.

Parag Vadodaria:Now hotels are asking for music service. They are not happy to just play CDs, they want a very structured music source where music is programmed to play from a central area and each area can use a programmed channel. For example, in the morning between 9am and 12pm we have the morning channel, then the afternoon is a softer channel, then the evening is different music again.

If the music planner is not there or is absent then the music quality will suffer. What this [automated system] does is make sure that the music is planned for a month – or two months – and time zoning automatically changes the music according to the hotel’s records.

Are hotels choosing similar set-ups?Lewis:The systems basics are that you have speakers and sub-woofers in the ceilings throughout. You have a control rack-room [back-of-house] that will house all the amplifiers and signal processors, so there is a central point where you can control the volume of the music by the swimming pool and turn off the music in the restaurant, for example.For hotels it is fairly standard. They obviously use different quantities [of equipment] depending on the size of the venue, but the basics for a background music system is the same. They are just buying a lot of speakers and amps to drive it and signal processors to control it.

Parag Vadodaria:When we talk about hotels there are a lot of areas to be covered with sound. The first and most important are the common areas like lobbies, foyers and toilets. The next most important areas are the restaurants.

Every restaurant is normally a theme restaurant and therefore every restaurant has unique requirements. Many times there are no proper locations to install speakers and sound equipment and we work out solutions with them. For example, in [an outlet at Fairmont Dubai] there was no place to put speakers, so what we did was put speakers in the light fittings because there was no [accessible] ceiling.

So we work with our principals and we provide a solution. Especially after GSL has taken over Harman product distribution we are working very closely with GSL because they are a one-stop shop for a complete sound solution.

How does the partnership between GSL and Zio Technologies work?

Lewis:Where we will work with people like Zio, for example, is when they approach us and say that they are working on a project or they are submitting a tender on a project. [If they] win the project then they will buy the equipment required from us, and if they have any issues we have a service centre in Dubai as well.

This is where GSL are strong distributors – we don’t just sell a box and walk away, we do have a service centre and we do have after-sales support.

Parag Vadodaria:They provide us with speakers, amplifiers, sound processors, distribution systems, microphones, and mixers. Before GSL [was in the market], we had to call the distributor and go to one company for speakers, a second company for amplifiers, a third company for digital sound systems and sometimes there were a lot of problems synchronising the equipment.

Now because GSL are providing a complete solution it makes things much more easier and effective. What are the important areas of the hotel for a sound system to be installed? Are there any special considerations for each area?

Parag Vadodaria:Each restaurant has their own theme. Some restaurants only require ambient background system, some are lively outlets, which is almost a pop-culture type system where the sound quality has to be very high. So we have to mix and match with each area that a unique.

The design needs to be unique and it is a challenge. We have to match the finish exactly so that the speakers are camouflaged. Secondly, normally you don’t find flat surfaces like feature walls, they are very artistic, so to fit our speakers it is very challenging within complex ceiling and wall design.

The third thing to consider is the acoustic quality of the restaurants. If you have a very good speaker and you put it in your house where you have a very nice sofa and curtains and the sound quality is excellent, you will enjoy listening to the sound quality.

If you bring the same speaker into a room with glass and marble surfaces and play it you will not like it. So we have to take into consideration the acoustic quality of the area that we are going to install in.

Then we have to work on how many zones [are required by the hotel]. What happens is that there are often several zones in a restaurant, for example ground floor, mezzanine, outdoor area and terrace area.

Each area needs to be programmed and fine-tuned to ensure the sound is uniform. When you have outdoor sound, the sound levels need to be higher because it is outdoors, but inside that would be too loud.

Sometimes the client wants different music in a different zone. Sometimes they have a party area where customers should be able to come in and plug in their own music system. Sometimes there are also wireless microphones required. Every project has some uniqueness and requires a lot of planning. And what about hotel guest rooms – what sort of systems are being installed there?

Parag Vadodaria:In a guest room the most important system has integrated touch panels and control panels. These control panels are integrated with all audio visual devices; TVs, DVD players and sound systems.

The control panels are then connected with your lighting systems and curtains. On top of that it has got WiFi, so the same panel is used for connecting to the internet and HITV (hotel interactive television) system by which you can do your room service, you can call for a cab, or call the concierge.

All the formalities that you can do by telephone, you can do on the room management control system panels.