By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Though most of us don’t exactly know the science behind it, it’s a well-known fact that sound travels.
As a mobile disc jockey, Jack Calderon used to drive his sound around to parties and events throughout the Puget Sound region. Sixteen years later, Calderon and his partner Mark Bellesiles head up Commercial Sound, a sound and video company that supports 20 employees and makes what he calls “permanent installs” in many high-profile venues around Washington.
In business since 1998, Commercial Sound recently completed the installation of all the audio and video systems in the new downtown Seattle Library that opened to rave reviews in May of 2004.
“We do a project of this scope of work on a daily basis,” said Calderon, who studied math and chemistry at Seattle Pacific University and earned an education certificate from University of Washington. “We were able to utilize the latest and greatest in technology in a great building.”
Bellesiles, who moved to Seattle to work for YESCO Systems, a Seattle-based foreground music company, is an accomplished classical guitarist who projects his love for music onto his work in the audio-visual industry. He met Calderon when they both worked for a company called Electrocom. Their partnership blossomed from there.
“We just completed 18 new high-tech courthouses at the new federal U.S. Courthouse,” said Calderon. “Other projects we’ve done are The Museum of Glass in Tacoma; the Elliott Grand Hyatt Hotel; The [new] Tacoma Convention Center; Princess Hotels in Alaska; The Westin in downtown Seattle; Sea-Tac Marriott; Sea-Tac Hilton and the Four Seasons-Olympic.”
Because a construction project like the downtown Seattle Public Library can take up to five years or more to complete and the price of sound technology can drop dramatically from one year to the next, the artful building designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas was nearly 60 percent constructed when Commercial Sound began their work. Their paths never crossed.
“No, I didn’t know about him at all,” Calderon said. “We never got to talk with them. We were three steps removed. That’s usually how it is.”
Although he can’t say for sure, the Seward Park native and Franklin High School graduate thinks there were about four other vendors vying for the downtown library project. Calderon believes Commercial Sound was awarded the project because they skillfully chose the right components.
Throughout the library, Commercial Sound installed monolith-like walls of sound systems, projectors, large projection screens and other audio-visual components whose controls were then integrated into unified control panels that can be operated by the most novice user.
A speaker, teacher or presenter in any of the library’s theaters, classrooms or presentation rooms has a “one-touch” control panel at his or her fingertips that will select and operate one or all the complex web of electronic components installed behind the scenes.
“If you make a presentation, even a basic PowerPoint presentation, in a classroom or in the theatre,” said Calderon, “it’s a one-touch proposition. All a presenter has to do is walk up to the podium and press a button and all of the options come up for them.”
And no matter what room you use for your presentation, all the equipment operates with same simplicity.
“Each room has an integrated control podium,” he added. “They can bring their own laptop and plug in or they can come in and use a PC that’s already there. They can bring up a DVD or a video. It’s all integrated. They control it. They can also control the lights from the podium.”
Calderon went on to explain what he called “a video conferencing system for far-end video interaction.”
“A presenter can teach to the library or to the world,” he said. “The system can tie them into a Japanese teacher and Japanese translator who can translate simultaneously.”
The original specifications for the building’s audio-visual systems were designed around IED products, a widely recognized sound system company, Calderon explained, but by substituting less costly systems of equal quality – Peavy Media Matrix and AMX equipment – Commercial Sound saved the city about $30,000.
Though aiming for simplicity, the systems throughout are actually quite complex. Throughout the structure, Commercial Sound also installed the computer labs, computer presentation systems, a building-wide paging system, a boardroom audio conferencing system, Digital Signal Processing Systems with 13 paging zones, and computer-controlled audio processing.
Five portable audio-visual presentation carts with 42” plasma screens, DVDs, laptop presentation capability and wireless audio-visual control panels allow smaller groups to convert any room into a presentation area.
“Presenters can use these portable carts if they need to present in a small conference room,” said Calderon. “They just don’t have the video conferencing capability with these carts.”
Calderon says they’re very happy with business right now and wants to perfect the operation at its current level. He says he built the business from his expertise and a focus on one-on-one relationships – but mostly on a dream.
“I love what I do and to be able to take care of my family with an occupation that I truly love- I think its great,” said Calderon. “In high school I was the A.V. geek. Today I get paid to be an A.V. geek. I love it.”