Scott Lang Video Shoot

This evening Mike and Dan were at Marcos De Niza with Leadership Speaker Scott Lang to shoot footage for his upcomming DVD.

The event was 2 camera shoot that involved Scott and about 85 High School Band students. The workshop is geared to bring everyone in to a leadership role, not only in band but in life. As always his session was well recieved and the students got some great material out of it.

Over the next few weeks, Mike will edit the material as we work to an upcomming DVD release.

www.scottlang.net

Temple Dedicated

Today Dan spent the morning with Amish working on various aspects of the Phoenix Indian Temple dedication. First there was a parade at 8am down a quiet neighborhood with a speaker and amplifier in the back of Amish’s Yukon…..and several hundred Indians singing clapping and hitting all kinds of things.

Following the parade it was back to the tent where we had 2 separate sound systems setup, one for the musicians and another near the ceremonial temple foundation.

The dedication was a cool event to be a part of, in fact event Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon was there for part of the festivities.

Whew - Temple Dedication

Dan has been busy all weekend long helping Amish Amin with many different live sound tasks for an Indian Temple dedication in South Phoenix.

With multiple sessions at multiple locations things are always on the move.

So far this has been an interesting experience. As setup was taking place, we heard the United States National Anthem being sung….by an girl of (eastern) Indian decent. In one respect it was odd since this was a dedication for a Indian Temple where people came from as far as California to celebrate, on the other hand it was very cool to see them hang the American Flag just below their own and hang it with a flare of glitter as it flew up the flag pole.

Later that same evening, at a dinner and dance event, the religious leader spoke, and in another surprise identified the problems with communications. In India, if I am correct there are 17 different languages, when they move here they also learn English since it is the way of the land. Anyway he spoke of the problems in speaking and not being able to speak in a single language that everyone understands, he ended by acknowledging English as being the language of the land and the language that they will use to communicate with.

Working with the people and groups from India is always a great cultural experience. We are contently impressed with how nice and accepting everyone in the community is, many lessons in humanity are learned.

Scott Youngs begins tracking

This morning, Dan met with All Saint’s Director Scott Youngs at his Phoenix home to setup for a piano tracking session. We normally find Scott in front of the Choir at All Saints, however this time Scott is taking on a recording project featuring his own talents as a pianist.

For this recording, Scott will be recording with:

Royer Labs R-122 (Matched Stereo Pair)
Millennia Media HV-3D Microphone Pre-amplifier
Apogee AD-16x Analog to Digital Converter
Tascam CD-RW

Over the next week Scott will be tracking on his own beautiful Hamberg Steinway, as he performs J.S. Bach’s The Goldberg Variations.

Navatri comes to a close

Today was day 9 of the Navatri celebrations for the GCA. As you can see Dan took it a step further by not only dressing the part, but with his Fiancé by his side. Fun was had by all, even for those who got to watch Dan try and dance!!!!!

Navratri Day 3

This evening Dan was at Greenway High School with the Gujarati Cultural Association (GCA) of Arizona for the 3rd Navratri event of the season.

This event featured music from Bombay's Masti Diwali. It is always interesting too see what is going to happen. It is rare that we get a list of exactly what instruments to expect. Usually you can bet on a Dohl, an Octopad (Roland) and a keyboard. This evening performers featured 2 Dohl's an Octopad and a Keyboard along with 4 vocalists. Somewhat conservative compared to some of the past performers. In fact back in 2002 we had a performer who tours with 22 percussionists!!!!

We will be back again tomorrow for Saturday’s performance.

Also, a quick plug......wanna know who does all of Mouse Recording's Dry Cleaning? Amish from the GCA's council owns Diamondback Cleaners in Tempe, Chandler and Mesa. If you need dry cleaning, they do fantastic work.

Navratri Day 2

This evening Dan is once again at Marcos De Niza High School with GCA for day 2 of the Navratri celebrations.

We really need to start taking language lessons; it would be much easier if we understood what was being said....although it is fun and a great experience working with language barriers. Although that is nto the only things that set’s these events apart from more “traditional” American celebrations…..these events go until 3am-4am and everyone is dancing the entire time.

Navratri 2007

This evening Dan was at Marcos De Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona with the Gujarati Curtural Association for this years Navratri (9 Days) celebration. This evening featured Artists King of Navratri, Latit Sodha & Bombay Masti from India.

Downey Auditions

Today Mike was on-location at ASU recording a demo for artist/vocalist/actor Ryan Downey.

DHS - A Fall Preview

This evening Dan was on-location at Dobson High School capturing the first performances of their concert band season. This season marks our 5th year working with the Dobson performing arts and as always we have come to expect great things.

This event is particularly exciting as Dobson introduces a Jazz program to their already acclaimed programs. Under the direction of Jon Gomez, the Jazz band gave an impressive opening show. Stay on the lookout; you will certainly hear more about this program in the future.

This evening’s performances also featured the Dobson Concert Band, Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Concert Bands.

Yet another exciting year awaits, if you have the opportunity, check them out:

http://www.dobsonmusic.com/