Bret Dowlen has spent more than 30 years building sound systems, creating synergy between components and generally making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
"It doesn't matter if you hire us to do one show, a tour, or an entire sound system installation, you will always receive the same level of engineering and attention to detail that I've built this company's reputation on," he notes.
But as far as his list is concerned, it's item number two – tours – which he and his team are most focused on as they look to build on a strong reputation as a regional sound company to a national one. A critical part of that plan is recent investment in new gear, especially Outline Pro Audio speakers.
Beginnings
Dowlen's story is not that different from many others who have spent a career on the business side of a sound console. In his Lakewood, CO high school, he was a drummer in a band and already building mixers and speakers for his group and others. When his band broke up, he took the sound system and starting doing audio in the community. He continued to build systems, and in 1978, actually sold an advanced system he built to the marching band while still in school.
He started getting Dynaco audio kits and putting them together and went out with one of on tour with popular cover band called Hit City. "I toured with them for five years, and that was good for me, because about that time I started configuring another bigger system involving JBL 4560 cabinets." It was during this period he discovered McCauley Tone Drivers, which could "throw quite a way." [Spoiler alert: throwing sound far would become a key component to his success.] He would build nearly 100 boxes that were put to use, thus securing his career.
"In 1979, I opened up a checking account at a local bank – and I still have that account!" he laughs. He would do "little things around town" – parades, etc. Early on at a typical festival event, the client wanted people in the beer tent to hear the music from the stage. "But the stage was more than a football field away." Dowlen managed to build a PA that threw the distance.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
A big break came in 1984, when he was asked to provide sound for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, CO, 15 miles west of Denver. He would also start doing sound for a symphony. "It was especially difficult getting those jobs because of my [young] age," Dowlen says. A kid in his early 20s didn't have much credibility – a challenge he would have to overcome by his persistence and, more importantly, his ability to get the job done.
He learned some hard lessons during the early years, too. "One of my first outings with the Mormon Choir was educational. At the end, I was finishing up with cable while the union guys were loading my truck at the end of the night. As they were running cases into my rented U-Haul, they would hit the truck and the casters would just peel off. That was my education to make things union proof and road worthy."
Another early break was in 1987, when he did a Beastie Boys/Run DMC show. Other highlights include several shows at Mile High Stadium before it was torn down. "The first one was for Tommy James and the Shondells. It sold out, and when I stood there, watching 80,000 people dance to the music coming out of my system, it was something else." For 10 years, Dowlen also supported performances by the late John Denver whenever he played in the area.
Persistence Pays Off
In 2003, Dowlen started getting a lot of emails from one Eric Satre. "I nagged him a good year before he let me come up to Red Rocks" and watch him do a show, Satre says. Satre, interested in the technical aspect of live events since high school, zeroed in on Dowlen since his company was one of the bigger operations in the region. "I helped him for two summers! I made no money, but I enjoyed it." His persistence paid off: Today he is the company's sales executive.
Dowlen Sound enjoys a long relationship with the Colorado Symphony, which often plays at Red Rocks, which offers concert-goers and sound providers a blend of visual beauty and sonic challenges. "Getting sound to the top of the rock is always tough, and the first time I did it was with John Denver in the late 1980s," Dowlen says.
Today, Dowlen Sound employs six people year-round. In spring, summer and fall, the total roster of employees expands to 16.
Outline of a Growing Company
Most recently, Dowlen Sound has set its sights beyond their region, making progress toward becoming a national operation. Tours so far include Harry Bellefonte and Big Head Todd & The Monsters. (Dowlen supported one of the latter band's first public shows, at a Battle of the Bands event staged at Columbine High School.)
A key part of the plan to go national is Dowlen Sound's recent acquisition of gear from Italy-based Outline, including that company's GTO System. Outline, established in 1973, has over 50 distributors on five continents. Their speakers are used within more than 4,000 venues worldwide. Although they are not that well known in the U.S. – yet – Dowlen Sound intends to play a key role changing that.
"Their system is the best thing I've ever experienced," Dowlen says. "There's nothing else that throws as far and as loud and still sounds as good. The folks in Italy worked a long time to make it that way, and the engineering is second to none. They are big in Europe, and they'll be big here."
Dowlen has taken the system to Red Rocks, the ultimate test, and "this system has what it takes to play in any difficult space. Through the GTOs, the level drop at the top is only 3 to 4 dB down from the level at the mix position."
Outline pursued Dowlen and got him to come to their factory in April. Once he saw firsthand how they were built and tried them out on his own terms, he bought 48 boxes and has plans to buy more. He says it's generating interest and turning heads. "One guy who worked with our GTO for Leann Rimes couldn't get over how good it sounded. We did a corporate event with Bon Jovi that really left them impressed, too."
"At last year's Mile High Music Festival, where we premiered the GTOs, we put them up in an open field, and they sounded great 1,000 feet away – we did not have to worry about delay," adds Satre. "They also have a rig called the Butterfly, which we take out on smaller events. It has a 1,000 lb. point and it's great in a ballroom."
Besides being bullish on Outline, Dowlen Sound's warehouse is filled with "everything from the antique to the current," Dowlen says. This includes Paragon P40s and P2 consoles, two Gamble consoles and Yamaha PM5000s, among other gear.
Taking it Indoors As Well
Dowlen Sound isn't all about Red Rocks, however – the company stays busy indoors as well. Fifteen rooms in the Denver area feature their installation work, including the Boulder Theater, where they installed a new system from McCauley Sound.
For installation work, Dowlen and his team take an individual approach and will walk into any room without preconceived notions. "You have to look at the room and decide if it's a good fit for a line array or a conventional box," he says. "You have to understand what it's going to be used for … is it used for new bands? Then you don't want analog, because their music will sound different than the album, which was likely made with Pro Tools. We specialize in taking the best attributes of whatever is available and fit it into the application. Some amps do better in the high end, some in the low end, so you have to figure out how a particular piece of gear is really going to be used to get the best results." He must do this fairly well, because the Boulder Fox Theater still sounds great 20 years after he did an installation there. "They have the same speakers, just re-coned a few times, and that place is still rocking."
And so is Dowlen Sound.
