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Strong Island Youth Community Studio Produces PSAs with Help from Johnny “Juice� Rosado & Studio Projects Mics

GARDENA, Calif.─The Energetic Enterprise Youth Community Studio, Inc. (EEYCS), under the auspice of the Uniondale Community Council (Uniondale, Nassau County, Long Island), is a thriving music program for residents of the Uniondale School District, ages 13 – 20.

Under Executive Director, Paul Massey, and with instruction and support from Johnny “Juice� Rosado, 25 students are getting the opportunity to learn skills in songwriting, engineering, singing, and D.J. artistry. They also learn to put their skills together to create PSAs for radio and online broadcast: one on the importance of HIV testing, and another accepted for local broadcast by Planned Parenthood for their TAP (Teen Advocate Program) aimed at reducing teen pregnancy.

Johnny “Juice� Rosado brings his 20+ years of experience in the music business as a “producer/composer/ arranger/musician/engineer/consultant as well as turntablist, b-boy, graf writer and MC� (according to his MySpace page) to the Youth Community program. In addition to his experience and teaching skills, Rosado also brought along a large complement of products from PMI Audio Group—Studio Projects microphones and a Studio Projects mic pre, and Joemeek mics—that he donated for the program’s use.

“When I first started teaching in the program about two years ago,� says Rosado, “they had a bunch of old handheld dynamic mics. Through a mutual friend, bass player John Montalbano, I met Alan Hyatt [PMI Audio Group president] and showed him what we were doing here. Alan decided to support us and provided us with a box of microphones.�

For the Planned Parenthood of Nassau County TAP PSA (Teen Advocate Project), the students used a djembe drum with multiple vocals. “I miked them up with a couple of [Studio Projects] C1’s, a B1 on the djembe, and a couple of Joemeek condenser mics [JM27’s] for overheads. The students usually perform this piece live. They tried to record it in another studio, but using only a single mic. I was able to spotlight the specific voices as well as overhead miking the whole group.�

Planned Parenthood approved the PSA (named, “The 411 on HIV�) for local performance, community outreach and Health Education and are having it synced to video. The PSA can be heard on www.myspace.com/sexamacation.

The Youth Community center operates out of two side-by-side houses it owns that share a backyard large enough to use for community events. The recording studio setups use two PC’s with Sonar recording software and Project5 music creation software. “We have a couple of DJ set-ups,� says Rosado, “a couple of turntable set-ups, a battle set-up with two Technics turntables and a Rane mixer, a more traditional DJ set-up with Gemini turntables and a mixer with effects, and a couple of digital pianos for elementary piano lessons.�

“We start kids off using a Street Box from Zoom, learning about timing, beats and bars, and measures,� he says. “Kids get writing assignments—a song, a beat, lyrics—with a specific time frame for completion.� They are encouraged to collaborate with each other to the point of having to use a beat created by another student in their own project. “All of the students have to learn the recording software,� says Rosado.

The Youth Community Studio tries to give young people a creative alternative to gang membership and influence, as well as to fill a gap left by recent school district cutbacks, especially in music and other extracurricular programs.

-END-

About PMI Audio Group:
Established in 1995, PMI Audio Group is a professional audio distribution company located in Gardena, California specializing in the distribution of professional audio products for recording, video, post, film, broadcast, and the fixed installation markets. Current brands of distribution include Studio Projects, Joemeek, Toft Audio Designs, and Stephen Paul Audio.

PHOTO CAPTIONS
Onisha – EEYCStudio.jpg
Energetic Enterprise Youth Community Studio, Uniondale, NY. E.E.Y.C.S. student, Onisha Nichols, with a Studio Projects C Series mic. Students used Studio Projects and Joemeek products to record a PSA for Planned Parenthood of Nassau County TAP (Teen Advocate Project).

Rosado-Massey EECYStudio.jpg
Energetic Enterprise Youth Community Studio, Uniondale, NY. E.E.Y.C.S. head instructor, Johnny “Juice” Rosado (L), and Executive Director, Paul Daquan Massey, assisted in recording a student-produced PSA for Planned Parenthood of Nassau County TAP (Teen Advocate Project). Studio Projects C Series mics, an 8-channel mic pre (SPS828), both seen here, plus Joemeek mics were used in the recording.

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