Mt Madonna had wonderful graduation ceremony at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy for class of 23. We have done the last 4 celebrations but we did take two years off from Covid. Mt. Maddonna is so awesome to work with since they give us the schedule so its so easy to follow.  The amphitheater is a beautiful spot to hold a graduation. All you  need is two speakers to reach the whole audience.  The city runs the facility and all we do is make a phone call to get them to open up the  power  for us. It is nice to have that support. Such a beautiful place to walk the stage, grab a diploma, and share memories with loved ones! We provided the microphones, music and sound and made it memorable! We played a little background music as people settled in, the main song was Pomp and circumstance as the graduates walk in, rise up by Andrea day played in the back as students got up and shared a rose with someone who supported then along the way. Tomorrows people by Ziggy Marley played after every graduate had received their diploma. Final hits at the end of the day that were played were Celebration by Kool and the Gang can’t stop the feeling by Justin Timberlake, Firework by Katy Perry, Congratulations by Post Malone, 24K Magic by Bruno Mars, and many more fun songs were played that day. Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

I would usually do the sound for graduation for Mt. Madonna in Gilroy. I did it 2018 and 2019 then the world was closed for a bit. 2020 and 2021 there were no graduations for the public. This year we were now open and we had a nice graduation celebration in Gilroy. Students invited their guests to come to the celebration.

It was not too hot for this graduation. I brought two 15 inch speakers and it was enough sound for the amphitheater. I used my older 15-inch speakers since they can take a licking and keep on ticking. Even though I had the tanks working for me I had a few more speakers in reserve in my car. Back in 2018 the Gilroy heat took out one of my speakers. Luckily I had another that took its place for the event.

Thirty minutes before the graduation I play the preceremony music while the graduates are getting situated. This time around I went will old school that everyone knows and did something different. I threw in acoustics of songs that everyone knows. I was playing Ed Shereen songs and Rihanna covers.

I like the graduations at Mt Madonna since they have a rose dedication ceremony. The graduates give a rose to someone who was there for them. I play a 3 minutes song, which is plenty of time to find that special someone to give the rose to.

At the end the graduates officially graduate and its party time. I played a festive song and threw in a Spanish banger just to finish things off.

I remember seeing the cost to do the audio for the graduation ranging from 3k to 7k. Some schools have big classes so therefore there are more guests that come to the grand event. Some local school were posting their costs and I was blown away. For me, it was a lot since schools pay thousands of dollars (schools do a lot to raise the money) and do not get to keep the equipment.

There has to be a more economic way to have these services. One thought is since there are so many schools, the district can contract with 2 or 3 big av services to ensure a loyalty discount. 

Another consideration is maybe looking for a local amphitheater.  They are built to carry sound. You could rent audio gear for 300 to 700 dollar to take care of the sound. (Probably need 4 speakers depending how big the school is. I do a local high school and it only requires 2 speakers. 

Another thought is to do it in-house. At this local high school they installed (2) 15 inch speakers and put them on 30 foot poles. Also they installed wireless Shure microphone with a fin to cover more ground. Of course there is cost to install the system and  pay for the system but the past 3 graduations at that school here was 0 cost for audio services. Yes, it’s a smaller school but the idea still works.