Hiram in Singapore

Just a quick note to let you know that one of the major players here at Ring Records is in Asia! Hiram Ring recently was accepted to a PhD program in Language Documentation at Nanyang Technological University. It’s a 3-5 year program and he will be studying in Singapore for a year, and then spending a year in northeast India learning an undocumented language, then returning to Singapore to write up a grammar of the language. He’ll be continuing to write (hymns, songs, essays) and possibly record with a studio there, but for now is simply settling in to his new life in Singapore. Your prayers are appreciated.

You can follow some of his adventures by visiting his blog: http://themadafrican.blogspot.com

Pageant Music

A small label that we partner with often is called ‘Pageant Music’, founded and run mainly by Matthew Monticchio. Matt is the music director at a local church, where he makes good use of his BA in jazz piano performance and MA in classical composition. He teaches locally in Lancaster, PA and plays jazz around town. If you drive around with him you may hear on his car stereo any number of obscure classical composers, jazz, funk, or his other favorites Bjork, Sigur Ros, The Cure, Genesis and others, including much of the new indie music. Suffice it to say that his musical taste is wide and varied.

Our partnership with Matt has been fruitful and engaging. We have learned from him and learned with him in our pursuit of creating excellent music. We first met when Hiram and Matt played a joint CD-release party in March of 2007. That October, Hiram, Matt and David Green formed a partnership to write and record music for a Christmas album. The album, titled “Word >>> Flesh” was completed in 3 weeks (from initial recording to physical CD), received local radio airplay on WJTL/Lancaster, and sold over 600 copies in the first two weeks.

To check out more of Matthew Monticchio’s music or learn more about Pageant Music, check out his website: http://www.matthewmonticchio.com

More Recording

Hiram and Matthew Monticchio recently recorded with their friend Dan Kirby for the upcoming album of sacred music tentatively titled ’12 Gates’. This will be the first album of twelve songs intended for churches and individuals to use as a liturgical element throughout the year, based on the ancient church calendar. This album will be available digitally in early 2010. The second album of twelve songs will be titled ’12 Pearls’, and will be released with the first as a physical album of 24 tracks toward the end of 2010. We will keep you posted on developments here – for now you can take a look at the video below for a sneak preview of some of the songs.

Forgotten Genre Productions

Tony (Anthony) Guyer is the owner and operator of Forgotten Genre Productions, a skilled recording and mixing engineer with years of experience in live sound and road management. He grew up in the Lancaster area but spent a significant amount of time in Papua New Guinea, where his parents work for Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Early in his life Tony was involved in live sound productions for local Lancaster bands (Rainchildren, Jawbone Hill) and then took a series of jobs working on tours for Nashville-based acts such as The Waiting, The Normals, Big Tent Revival, and Sixpence None the Richer, for whom he worked as Road Manager.

We met Tony when he had moved back to the area and began working with Hiram Ring in 2006 to record an EP. Tony currently records/mixes local musicians/bands, works in pro-audio sales for Guitar Center, and keeps a blog (http://www.forgottengenre.com) where he catalogs and comments on current trends in recording, shares thoughts on culture, and touches on music-related topics. His advice, knowledge and abilities have been invaluable over the last few years.