"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do." (Aristotle)
David playing live, 2005.
Read the new "Garage Vox" interview with David HERE.
Read the Lexington Herald-Leadr article about David's YMCA guitar program (sponsored by Gibson Guitars) HERE.
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David in studio, 2002.
David at photo/video shoot for Aur'a-Sen, 1991.
David's "Guitar Clinic", 1987.
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* EmploymentAbout David The Greeks called it Areté ("ar-eh-tay" or "er-ayt"). It has been translated as virtue and quality and many other things, but it is nothing other than the striving for excellence. I have found throughout my life that whenever I ignore it, everything in my life is diminished. When I keep it at the center of every waking moment, my life is enhanced.
The below is an answer to the inevitable questions the resume-ist asks when writing your bio or CV or resume, but it is, in my view, little more than a laundry list without a deeper philosophy of excellence. Whatever you do, do it well!
"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands." (Robert M. Pirsig)Past
"David M. McLean has been a recording engineer since 1987 and a working musician since 1984. He has performed and recorded with bands of numerous styles on stage and in studios (Vice, Pharaoh, Aur'a-Sen, Menage a Trios, Somebody's Ghost, etc.), composed, performed, & recorded music for a variety of medium (web-based projects, radio, TV, live theater, etc.), and worked as production liaison for Mr. Rick Reynolds (of Nirvana and Beholder fame) at ToonTown, Kiva, and Ardent Studios....."This is how my official bio kicked off. Fact is, I've had a blast over the years as a guitarist (from dump gigs in the worst parts of towns to my 15 seconds of fame on MTV to session work in various studios), engineer (running lines & capturing sounds & mixing & editing dozens of talented bands & other projects), producer (not only for bands, but for gobs of commercial projects, including my "Joe Maco" character for ETR Seafood), composer (from quasi-classical music for jewelry store radio ads to screaming rock for Arlington International Raceway to country twang for Robinson Sausage to thumpin' techno for Lievio Technologies, to a challenging array of styles for several video & computer games), and guitar & percussion instructor (from cutting my teeth with 3 students to constructing a fast-learn method for both individual & group settings to conducting clinics & workshops...in 2004, I taught well over 400 people from ages 5 to 84 in 1-on-1, group, & clinic environments, and that number has grown steadily in the years since).
As a writer, I've been published as a free-lance arts columnist (Richmond Register, LCP, etc.) to a one-off for Guitar for the Practicing Musician to staff columnist at the short-lived Provider Magazine to essays & books ("The Art of Scalar Magic" and"The Complete Book of Scales" [w/ W. Siddiqui]) to conducting the "Guitar Gods" interview series for Tinfoil Music and writing a monthly column for Insane Guitar, Guitar-Guitar, & a few other cool web-sites.
I've had the pleasure to talk about my experiences as a working musician with professional groups, college clubs, high school, middle school, and elementary school students, covering topics from music business to music theory to just playing guitar.
“If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.” (Guatama the Buddha)
Present
2008: I currently play guitar as a solo artist, clinician, studio gun, & as half of the duo Alien Blue, and percussion as instructor and part of the Skinny Devil Percussion Ensemble. Upon occasion, I compose for commercial projects, which finds me acting as both engineer & producer in my personal studio. As a guitar instructor, I have a student roster of over 100 students in both individual & group settings (which usually settles down to about 70 in the summer) and, as a writer & educator, am proud to see that hits for both my on-line lessons & the "Guitar Gods" series receive thousands of hits every month. In addition, as of April 2008, my instructor network consists of several part-time & full-time guitar instructors in the Lexington area (Lexington, Richmond, Georgetown, Nicholasville) and another 15 or so pending instructors across several states and 5 countries across the globe. I might add that Gibson Guitar's Gibson Foundation is now sponsoring the non-profit segment of our instructional program!With the help of my "...imposing arsenal of gifted performers...", I am currently completing work on both the follow-up to "An Alien Blue" as well as my first solo electric guitar-centric work "Hunger"., and have begun demo-ing concepts for my second set of children's songs...and more!
“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.” (Thomas Jefferson)Future
In addition to 2 or 3 proposed projects for my screaming electric guitar work, I'll be gigging with Alien Blue and as a clinician locally & regionally. We hope to kick off Skinny Devil TV by mid-year to take things to a wider audience. Lots of other projects (instructional books & videos, instructor program, certificates of merit & web awards, etc.) are spoken of elsewhere on the site, but my primary concern is in offering opportunities to other aspiring musicians & engineers & young entrepreneurs (see: "Employment").How?
1) By opening a small studio that will act as both a training facility and an affordable commercial studio. (UP-DATE: Done!)
2) By constructing a teacher network where qualified instructors using my teaching method will be empowered to earn a living wage with little oversight but plenty of moral & instructional support. (UP-DATE: Has grown from 3 to 8 instructors, and looks like we'll have over 15 instructors in over 10 states in the US by 2009)
3) By offering commission-based opportunities for young business-minded individuals to learn about all aspects of the music industry (from studio management to PR & marketing to bookings to distro to billing & collections, etc.) where their pay will reflect their efforts & where they can enable themselves to take the next step up the "the big leagues". (UP-DATE: Growing - see "employment" page)
4) By starting a very small record label that will allow artists to exert control over myriad aspects of their careers and enable them to pursue their goals either independently or via traditional means.
“Build up virtue, and you master all.” (Lao-tzu)What else is in the works?Socially: Fighting for copyright reform by educating the public & legislators about the philosophy behind IP & copyright law...a reform that will see a return to the balance of rights between artists (who will be paid for their work), big biz who backs them (who will be compensated for their investments), & consumers (who will not be threatened with lawsuits & prison for sharing music they love in a non-commercial environment).
Artistically: To see the release of both the follow-up to "Alien Blue" and "Hunger" (which will raise money for a variety of homeless & hunger related charities), as well as my second solo release, tentatively titled "Liberty", and at least one of the several instructional books that are currently in poduction. We also have a rap/hip-hop project for kids and at least one percussion-based CD in the works!
“Let nothing be done in your life, which will cause you fear if it becomes known to your neighbor.” (Epicurus)
To support these & other projects, feel free to leave tip! Pay-Pal Tip-Jar
You can make donations in David's Pay-Pal tip-jar by using VISA, Mastercard, Discover, or other major credit cards; checking account; or a PayPal account. Just click the button below.All music on this site (c) 1999 - 2005, D. M. McLean; (P) Morgan Star Music, BMI.
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SDML web-site first published 1999; last up-date: 2005