Designer Music was one of Ipoh’s longtime suppliers of audio visual equipment for small or big events in the city. They were located along Kampar Road.
For many, it was a place where you bought your first guitar, keyboard, flute or even your drum set.
With more than 35 years of involvement in the sound and light industry, CG Ang is surely a person to be reckoned with. Ang was the founding partners at Designer Music.
Hailing from Ipoh, Perak, Ang is now the founder of FineSPL International which has interests in China, Malaysia, Malaysia, China, USA, Turkey, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Lebanon and Thailand
His company and his team now specialises in System Designer & Application, Event Management, Manufacturing Technologies, Production & QC control, Music Instructor/ Arranger, Product Branding & Sourcing, Engineering & Specification and System Training.
We caught up with Ang at the first Northern Audio Visual Penang showcase held in Georgetown, Penang.
Q) Brief background on how you started Designer Music and products offered there ?
A) I started my career as a one-man band (organist for event and wedding function) while teaching organ lessons privately. Since I had to rent a sound system for every event I was doing, I decided to buy and package my shows with the sound system and my one-man band service to all events I was contracted to. Then we opened a shop selling musical instruments and sound systems. Among the products we offered were all types of musical instruments including Malay and Indian traditional instruments. Other services we offered were, event management and equipment provider. Later on we moved to project design and installation.
Q) Who were your customers back then ?
A) They were mostly government sectors, corporate organizations, places of worship including churches and mosques. To-date I have designed and installed more than 150 churches in Malaysia and other countries. Were the only sound equipment provider for royal banquets in Istana Kuala Kangsar including visits of Queen Elizabeth, Emperor of Japan and Spain and others .
Q) Why did you move operations to China?
A) Actually we were invited to China for a sound seminar talk for an audio society in China around the year 2002. There were more than 170 A class sound contractors and companies attending the seminar. At this gathering, I found out that China has a better and bigger market for my profession and thus I moved to China for sound consultation work for good.
Q) What are the new products you are dealing with now ?
A) Other than my main professional audio products, which cover from stadium to church
applications, I started to go into the HiFi market recently. HiFi is another very different market to
deal with compared to professional audio. The pandemic has also contributed to people going into hi-fi equipment for their homes.
Q) You also mentioned your own line of products, what are these and their brand names ?
A) Presently my own line of products are the FineSPL and Point Source, Pd (Precision Device)
Q) Who are your clients now ?
A) Even now, my main clients are Church and other venues like school hall, public sound alarms and evacuation systems for tunnels and any othe venue for acoustic and noise treatment. We now cover countries like Malaysia, China, Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Lebanon, Turkey and also Thailand.
Q) How is the music and light industry during and after pandemic?
A) Definitely during the pandemic, the professional sound & light industry was facing adversity
to go through but for me during the hard time I still have enough contracts to work with as during that time a lot of designing paper work which has now been carried forward.
Now, since the international doors are open, the industry is picking up very fast and more and more work is coming.
Q) Do you plan to set up a demo office in Ipoh as the city is fast growing?
A) I am not planning to open in Ipoh, however, there are plans to open in Penang and Butterworth. We already have a warehouse in Kuala Lumpur but have yet to open a demo room yet. We may work with some other parties who are keen to carry our HiFi products in KL or other states.
Q) Any other information you might want to share?
A) Being in the sound & music industry from my Yamaha Music as an organ teacher and brass & woodwind instructor for more than 35 years, I wish to pass my knowledge to the younger
generation who are keen in this industry with the “right direction” of the audio world.
Currently, there are a lot of people claiming to be offering great sounds but they cannot back up with the right data and info. Some one may tell you what is what by word of mouth but no proof ato back up their statements.