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Tim Hughes
Seeing Love Shine Through
The Great Commission Worship Musician:
TC Electronic 'Tone Print' Guitar Effect Pedals & Morgan AC-20 Deluxe Amp
Product Reviews
MAY/JUNE 2011 Volume 9, Issue 3
Record Reviews
Glenn Packiam
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John Waller
Rebecca St. James
Aaron Gillespie
Josh Lopez
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A Few Moments With... Tom Kraeuter
Songchart "Counting on Your Name"
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Ch h Sound & M i T h l Church S d Music Technology G id Guide
The Best Technology for Worship
Worship Sound Pro features the right equipment for today's houses of worship — and we've thoroughly explained each piece to help you find what's right.
10 New Essential Guides
In-depth, down-to-earth articles help volunteers, pastors, and worship leaders to understand the ins and outs of the latest in worship sound technology.
Sweetwater-exclusive Brenton Brown Article
Brenton talks gear, monitor mixes, technical difficulties, and home recording, with a special sidebar Q&A session with Rusty Varenkamp, Brenton's engineer and co-producer on Our God Is Near.
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Yamaha's MSR-Series powered loudspeakers, to be exact… MSR100, MSR250, and MSR400. Subtle, professional appearance, high-performance drivers, stand mount/floor wedge capability, fly points, and unparalleled audio reproduction are shared by all. See each model's specifics detailed to the right. So, regardless of how critical your application, there's definitely an MSR model to more than meet the challenge. Stop by your favorite Yamaha Live Sound dealer for a wallet-opening demonstration.
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Editor's Corner
Guitar Show Church
44 Camera By Craig Kelly The VO 46 Tips for Tight Teams By Sandy Hoffman One, Two, Three, Four (A Simple, Sample Song Arrangement!) Part 1 48 Lighting By Greg Sisley Powerful Worship Environments 54 A Few Moments With… By Tom Kraeuter Say What
Product Review By Matt Kees TC Electronic "Tone Print" Guitar Effect Pedals
Here I am at 30,000 feet in the air writing again. There is 8 something about traveling that sparks me to write. Maybe it is the sudden free time, flying far above the ground below (and above my world of deadlines) that clears my mind.
I'm flying home physically tired (with sore feet to boot) from Texas where I spent four days at the Dallas Guitar Show (it 10 From the Drummer's is the largest show of it's kind). The producer of the event Perspective is a man by the name of Jimmy Wallace, who also is a By Carl Albrecht believer. The last day of the guitar show falls on a Sunday, How Do You Get That Kick and before the doors open to the public, (a large crowd of Sound? guitar enthusiasts – my kind of people by the way), Jimmy hosts an informal church service with some of the exhibitors. There is a small group of 20 people or so who, although 12 Keyboard By Ed Kerr they are tired from two full days already of exhibiting and SFB late night music concerts, wake up early and head to guitar show church. This morning I got there with a few others before they even found the light switch in the workshop room where the service was held. Tommy Coombs, (well known and loved songwriter of worship songs and founding member of the early Jesus music days band Love Song), and classic rocker Rick Derringer were there to open the service with music. The air conditioner above was a noisy one and it was so early that there was not one sound person around to turn on the PA. In fact the mics had been removed from the stage the night before, so there we all sat on folding chairs straining to hear the musicians speak before they sang. Rick opened up with his Christian version of one of his big rock classics "Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo" (Read the Word and Live it Too). He sang with a scratchy voice (though in tune) and promised his voice would open up as the morning progressed. Usually it seems odd to me when someone takes a very well known song and changes the words (unless it is a parody of course), but if it is your own song and you want to change the words to reflect your faith - then that's
Continued on page 52
15 Bass By Gary Lunn Bass-ic Significance
16 Vocals By Sheri Gould Team/Choir Auditions: Part II 18 Product Review By Dwayne Larring Morgan AC-20 Deluxe Amp 26 Songchart "Counting on Your Name" 30 Record Reviews By Heidi Todd Glenn Packiam John Waller Rebecca St. James Aaron Gillespie Josh Lopez 34 FOH Engineer By John Mills Warm Up Your Sound: M7CL & LS9 Tricks - Part 2 36 Ministry + Artistry = Profitability? Creating your MAP™ By Scott A. Shuford Promotion: Public Relations or PR 38 Authentic Worship By Michael Gonzales The Meltdown Letdown 40 Guitar Grab Bag By Doug Doppler Sounding Off - Part 1 42 The Band By Tom Lane Discover Your Band
Interviews & Stories
20 Seeing "Love Shine Through" ...an Interview with Tim Hughes
4227 S. Meridian. Suite C PMB #275 Puyallup, Washington 98373-5963 Phone: 253.445.1973 Fax: 253.655.5001 Email: email@example.com Website: www.worshipmusicianmagazine.com Publisher/Editor: Bruce Adolph Vice President: Judy Adolph Customer Service: Brian Felix firstname.lastname@example.com Copyediting: Kevin Wilber, Toddie Downs Design Layout & Production: Matt Kees Advertising Sales: Bruce Adolph email@example.com • 253-445-1973 Worship Musician! is published bi-monthly by The Adolph Agency, Inc.
50 The Great Commission Worship Musician: Musicianary By Mitch Bohannon
By Matt Kees
TC Electronic 'Tone Print' Guitar Effect Pedals
I'm a fan of guitar toys, for sure. There are so many options available to guitarists these days. From wellknown brands to custom pedals, even do-it-yourself kits. So what sets one pedal apart from the next? We look at a variety of features across the board that each pedal should offer… clean audio signal, sturdy construction, ease of use, etc. Affordability also comes into play; we want something that will give us a little more at a comparable price. TC Electronic has developed a series of pedals under the moniker "Tone Print" that offer something new in addition to the standard features that we look for in all of our pedals. This new line of pedals allows you to connect via USB to your computer and download sounds for specific pedals created by some well-known guitarists. These aren't just sounds modeled after these guitar players' sound, but actually created by them. This is a pretty cool feature for a relatively inexpensive pedal. Up until now, your best option to capture the sounds of your favorite guitarists was to get a modeling rack mount or floor pedal board size device, which may cost more, or not be as rugged as a die-cast metal foot pedal. In addition to this cool feature, these are some great sounding pedals that give the user many options to customize and tweak their tone. I happen to be a fan of delay and reverb. As are all the Tone Print pedals, the Flashback delay is a compact, pedalboard-friendly stompbox unit. This delay pedal features 10 delay types, plus a 40-second looper. Having 10 delay types to choose from is pretty incredible for the price point of this unit ($169). This delay includes the original TC Electronic 2290 delay, made famous by The Edge. It also features several other styles, including analog, tape, lo-fi, modulating, ping-pong, dynamic,
slapback and reverse delay…so many cool options! For me, an important feature in a delay pedal is to have some sort of Tap feature to sync up to the tempo of the song I'm playing. The Flashback pedal lets you set the tempo by strumming your guitar using the Audio Tapping feature. Pushing and holding the pedal down will send it into a bypass mode that lets the pedal 'hear' the tempo of your strum, but cuts the signal so people can't hear you. You can select one of three delay modes – quarter note, dotted eighth note, and both quarter and dotted eighth note together - which are independent from the delay style. Finally, with these TC Electronic pedals, the way it handles the dry signal is very distinctive, giving it an all-analog path which it blends with the affected signal. This ensures that your tone remains as clean as possible. These are well-built, great sounding pedals with the added bonus of the "Tone Print" sounds that you can download. For the price, you will certainly want to consider adding one to your pedal board. Pricing: Hall of Fame Reverb $204 MSRP, $149 MAP Flashback Delay & Looper $232, $169 Vortex Flanger $177, $129 Shaker Vibrato $177, $129 Corona Chorus $177, $129 Check them out at http://www.tcelectronic.com/toneprint
Matt Kees is the Director of the Christian Musician Summit conferences, as well as a songwriter and producer. Find out more online at www.mattkees.com or www.producedbymattkees.com
There's Only One Thing These Great Drummers Have in Common.
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By Carl Albrecht
How Do You Get That Kick Sound?
For this article I've added some pictures and a video link so you can see & hear the information, as well as read the article. I think a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm a visual learner, and I think that many of my fellow drummers are as well. http://carlalbrecht.com/category/ in-the-studio/ six-inch hole cut at 3 or 9 o'clock. Both heads are tuned really low, but not to the point of sounding like paper. If I hear the heads flutter, I'll tighten them a bit. I haven't changed this basic approach for years. Of course, I always make adjustments according to the request of people I work with. I pay close attention to the style of music I'm playing, or the music someone might reference as an idea for what they want the drums to sound like. As you gain experience you will become more aware of what adjustments need to be made for whatever musical situation you're dealing with. back it away, but not outside of the hole. A two-channel choice would be the Beta91 and the Subkick. The snap of the 91 is great, and the Subkick can be turned up just enough to create that really fat, punchy kick sound we all love. Of course, you could use the Beta91 inside and the Beta52 outside the hole, and create a similar effect. In most live settings, two channels of bass drum is probably all you want to deal with. But be as creative as you like. I also like to always keep the channels separate. I don't create a sub-group and just turn it up or down. That's my personal opinion of course. I like to stay aware of each part of a bass drum sound, and possibly adjust them according to a particular song. Finally, we must remember that the kick mallet has a huge impact on the sound of a bass drum. I usually choose a flat plastic beater. All of the drum companies have kick pedals with adjustable beaters. Normally, one side is a hard felt pad and the other is plastic. I like the extra attack that the plastic beater creates, but you still have plenty of tone or low end. That added 'smack' that you hear helps the sound of a kick drum cut through in a band setting. These ideas should help you get the sound you're looking for. Let me know how it works for you. I really want to know. We are all learning. Blessings, Carl
I'm excited to be able to interact with my readers at the FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions) of my NEW website, under "Drum Talk". Your thoughts and questions are important to me and are always welcome. They may inspire my next article. That's how this writing happened. Microphone choices are as varied www.CarlAlbrecht.com as the person you are talking to. Even Whether in the studio, or playing a when writing this article I searched concert, I'm often asked how I get the 'kick drum microphone options' on drums to sound the way I do. Today I the Internet. As you would imagine, will specifically talk about the kick drum. there are a lot of opinions. I personally I'm happy that these techniques seem to love the sound of Shure microphones. work so well. Using them as a starting But I will use whatever a producer or point has helped me to quickly get engineer prefers so they can get the drums to sound great in almost every sound they are accustomed to hearing. situation. It's pretty simple actually. No When I have the choice, I go with wild tricks. I'm just applying years of Shure.
learning from other players, great In the studio I've been using three engineers, and a lot of experimenting. channels for the kick drum. Inside the So here ya go! drum is a Beta91 just laying on the Keep in mind that music is art, and padding in the middle of the drum, there are endless options according about 4 to 5 inches from the batter to your personal taste and musical head. This microphone responds well situation. Always remember: serve the to the high end, or 'snap' of a kick. artist, producer, worship leader, band, Just outside the hole I use a Beta52. Be sure it's just far enough away from etc. the hole that you don't hear the head I use Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute flutter. It gives you that big fat sound that drums. I've always loved the sound you want from a bass drum, but doesn't of maple shells, and these drums, in have the 'tick' or snap of a Beta91. particular, have a lot of snap to them, In front of the kick, I love using the along with the typical big maple Yamaha Subkick for that super-low tone sound. The kick is 22" in diameter by you always want to add to your kick 16" deep. But this basic tuning and sound. The nice thing about using this miking approach is something I use setup is that you can dial in the sound on any size and make of kick drum. you like by adjusting the levels of each If the music requires a different sound I channel without using a lot of EQ. will adjust accordingly. I might tune the drum tighter or looser. I could also use If I had to use just one microphone more, or less padding. It all depends on the kick it would probably be the Beta52. In this case the mic would be on the music. inside the drum, close to the center For drumheads, I'll use an Evans EQ4 of the kick, and pointing towards the or an EQ3 on the batter side, along beater. I'll move it around in the drum to with a punch pad to protect the point adjust the sound. If I want more 'tick', or of impact. On the front of the kick, I'll 'punch', I'll move it closer to the beater. use a standard resonant head with a For more 'air', or a rounder sound, I'll
Carl Albrecht has been a professional drummer & percussionist for over 25 years. He has played on over 70 Integrity Music projects; Maranatha Praise Band recordings & numerous other Christian, Pop, Country, Jazz & commercial projects. He currently lives in Nashville doing recording sessions, producing, writing and continuing to do various tours & seminar events. Visit his website: www.carlalbrecht.com or send an e-mail to: email@example.com.
By Ed Kerr
Read Scripture much lately? There's a theme I'm seeing consistently these days. I've just done a few searches related to that theme. I discovered that the phrase "Be strong and courageous" occurs 11 times in the New International Version. The phrase "peace of God" appears 20 times. "Do not be afraid" is found 76 times. The word "rest" occurs 267 times. Hmm. Clearly God is aware that you and I will face situations in our lives that could provoke a response other than being strong, or at peace, or fearfree. He's loaded His Word to us with countless encouragements for us to trust in Him, lean on Him, and find refuge in Him. says that whenever David would take his harp and play, relief would come to Saul and he would feel better. Saul felt better. SFB. As big as they are though, the ship's rudders are relatively small. Yet that rudder determines the path the ship follows. The parallel for you and I is a significant one. The choices we make in how we spend our time impact where our lives go, just as the rudder turns the ship. For you and I, we have daily choices to make. In The Message, 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, "God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to Him." Wow! He's always watching for those who surrender everything to Him. Their time…their talent…their lives. God wants to minister His peace to His people. He wants to use musicians who are His to lead people into His rest. Are you totally committed? Am I? You're reading this magazine, so clearly you want to grow as a musician. Ask yourself what choice you could make today, what slight turn of the rudder, that could enable you to spend some time at your instrument, imitating a beautiful voicing you heard someone play on a recording, exploring new sounds on your keyboard that you haven't utilized, or experimenting with new ways you could play chord progressions that have become so familiar they seem to play themselves. I haven't suggested how you play a D2 or an Aadd4 in these paragraphs, but I hope I've struck a chord in you. SFB. Saul is in your congregation. Saul is on your worship team. Saul is in your heart, and mine. God knew that music would help Saul in his time of torment. He knows that it can help the lady going through chemo, and the guy who's recently unemployed. And you're the one at an instrument. Steer the ship. Turn the rudder. Let God equip you to minister His peace with the confidence He alone can give.
SFB. That's easy to remember. It's not as easy to incorporate into our worship times though. You may have become so focused on time constraints that you hesitate to build an instrumental section into a song's arrangement. The clock's ticking, and you're concerned your set will be too long if you just…play for a bit. You may hear a distracting voice in your head saying, "You're just drawing attention to the band during this solo; get back to singing." Or you might not be confident in your team's ability to Looked around your church lately? solo freely during such a section. Picture yourself with your worship team Consider what might have equipped on the stage or platform where your David to minister so powerfully in Saul's church meets. Picture the congregation. presence. We know that David was Those aren't the faces of strangers. You a shepherd. We know that this work know the circumstances of many. You meant that he had a lot of solitude. I see that Mom three rows back who's get that there were probably some fighting cancer. Treatments aren't going distracting smells, and lots of bleating well this week. That guy on the left of from the flock that David was caring for. the middle aisle just lost his job. The But the bottom line is that David had strain is obvious on his face. time to develop his playing skills. His It's very likely that you don't have to look beyond the stage to recognize people going through challenging situations. Marriages are being tested. Some are failing. Your personal situation might be tough right now. I don't mean to paint a relentlessly bleak picture here; I'm just really aware lately that many of God's people are living in times of great challenge. skills were clearly well known, because the servants knew to seek him out in Saul's time of need. So here's the challenge you and I face. We are finite. You and I have 24 hours each day. 7 days a week. Some of that has to be spent sleeping. Red Bulls can only take you so far. We have to eat. Fuel is required. We have responsibilities. Perhaps you're a student. Perhaps you're a housewife. Perhaps you serve on staff at a church and find that much of your time is spent on administrative responsibilities and meetings. Perhaps you don't have an instrument you can play during the week because you're a volunteer worship team member, and the only time you can play is when you're serving on the team.
How does this relate to us as musicians? In an important, urgent way. If you've ever been in one of my classes at Christian Musician Summit/ Overlake or a WATS event, you've probably heard me mention what I call "The David/Saul moment". It comes from 1 Samuel 16:15-23. I suspect you've read the story. King Saul was in a time of great emotional torment. His servants, out of concern for him, suggested that a harpist be found and brought in to play. They knew that instrumental music could soothe him. The story goes on to describe how David would play for Saul. It concludes with descriptive phrases that I pray characterize what you and I and our teams create. In essence, Scripture
Oh well. I guess Saul will be just have As a songwriter Ed has written over to be stressed out this week. Really? I 100 songs with Integrity Music. He has want to think differently, and I hope you a Masters Degree in piano performance. do too. Ed and his family live in When my family and I take a ferry Washington State. Ed plays ride to Seattle, we often see huge Yamaha's Motif XS8. container ships coming into port after www.kerrtunes.com they've crossed the Pacific. Huge.
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By Gary Lunn
Bass-ic Significance
How did the concept of bass in a band, orchestra, or whatever, come about? We never question the purpose of bass in music, but why does music feel better when there is bass in it? It's so apparent when I'm listening to a playback in the studio; whenever I mute the bass it feels like the rug has been pulled out from under me! In the Psalms the bass was significant in different songs that the Psalmist would write. Without going into a lot of explanation, in Psalm 6:1 it is written, "…O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure." To me, it sounds like the Psalmist was crying out to God to help him realize the weight of his own sin, and he needed a serious move of the spirit to assist him. If we look at the beginning of the verse, he proclaimed, "To the chief musician on Neginoth (a camp of musicians trained in stringed instruments) upon Sheminith (representing low male voices or instruments); it appears that the Psalmist felt that he needed the significance of the low, plucked, stringed instruments to do so. So as he called upon the welltrained musicians in the tabernacle, he was summoning those who represented the low-frequency end of the sonic spectrum. He felt the need for some "bass" to convey his conviction properly. Bass in worship is important. It is the foundation of the music. The root. I believe as we take the significance of our post more seriously, the music will become effective sooner during worship. If we play skillfully and execute every note from section to section with consistency and authority, always remember that the level of the anointing within the music will start out at a much higher level than if we are just "winging it." Typically, up-tempo, contemporary worship music contains an eighth-note feel. It seems simpler, but that can trick you. You have to be careful to treat every song with equal importance. I have found, having played a lot of country and southern gospel music, that it is usually the simplest songs/ styles that are the most challenging to play. The reason is because whenever we repeat certain patterns we often begin to second-guess the previous times we've played that same pattern or section. That makes your brain work harder and can make the simplest music difficult. Try concentrating on the other groove elements in the rhythm section. You can focus on the high hat, bass drum, click track (if you have one), rhythm guitar, etc. View the song as a whole piece. Let yourself be inspired by what you are hearing and then see what happens. Be careful to use restraint so as not to overplay. Take time to actually choose your "moments" between various vocal sections in a song. Also consider whether or not the worship leader has had enough time to establish the message of the song. If the music's mood comes to a quiet place that can accommodate the lack of bottom-end support, then it's probably okay to play a complementing melody line or two, if you feel inspired. Also, the bass sound is of great importance to singers. Singers listen to the bass as the fundamental tone reference to tune to. Inexperienced singers will typically say that they tune to the piano, but every session singer I have ever spoken with has told me that the bass is the most important instrument for them to reference. Playing worship music requires a lot of watching, listening, and sensitivity. Sensitivity is key to anticipating the unexpected. If the music takes a turn or the mood drastically changes, we have to be ready. Sometimes playing in a more traditional worship service requires a more disciplined attitude. Follow the chart closely and don't take too many "chances". If your band doesn't use charts then solidly play the applicable bass part for the song, continually practicing restraint against overplaying. Remember, less is more – always. If you are just starting out on the bass and you have never had the opportunity to experiment with a DAW (digital audio workstation) such
as Garage Band, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cakewalk, etc., you really owe it to yourself to make an opportunity to try one. It will amaze you when you find how drastically the feel of the music changes when you mute the bass guitar in a mix. Bass makes a big difference!
Gary is a session player/ producer/writer in Nashville, currently playing for Lindell Cooley, MMI, and many recording session accounts. He attends Grace Church in Franklin, TN. www.gracechurchnashville.org
By Sheri Gould
Team/Choir Auditions: Part II
This is part II of a two-part series on how to make your choir/team auditions effective and beneficial for all involved. What to Look For In the grand scheme of things there are lots of things we could be looking for in our team members, but I'm going to give you three categories: Heart, Skill, and Availability/Commitment Level. HeartIt's tough to determine where someone's true motives lie through a simple 10-minute audition. I suggest including your pastor on your audition panel. There are a couple of advantages to this. Typically, pastors are more privy to personal issues that might prevent a candidate from serving effectively on a worship team. Also, if the pastor is able to be involved and see the process, he's less likely to resist your efforts to improve your team through this avenue, and may even get on board with the idea. If the person auditioning is relatively new to you and your pastor/congregation but you see potential, you could consider placing them on the team in a "trial" capacity. When in this mode, potential members attend rehearsals as though they were a part of the team. They might "shadow" team members by singing or playing near them without amplification. This gives them a chance to participate to a degree. This gives them a chance to see if they feel comfortable working with everyone and it gives you a chance to see them in action and evaluate whether or not they might be a good fit for your team. I believe one of the most important traits that someone should posses in order to be an effective team member is true humility. This is a rarity. Many musicians and singers find it difficult to separate the mentality of the world from the mind-set we need to have in the church. What we're doing on a platform in church should bear very little resemblance to a performance out in the world. Unfortunately it is often difficult to see any difference at all. I believe this is very confusing for well meaning (but misdirected) team members. We want them to function at high levels but yet we don't want them to have a performance mentality. Therefore, we must not only look for the right attitudes in others but we must be very careful to display them ourselves as leaders. Humility is a quality that tends to separate the "men from the boys" in this area. SkillHaving a functional skill level is essential. Having a heart in the right place but being unable to "carry a tune in a bucket" is a sure sign that someone is called to serve somewhere other than the music ministry (unless it's administratively). Can improvements be made and skills acquired? Yes! But until they are, there is no place for someone like this on a vocal team, especially not in front of a microphone. Having said this I would like to offer a suggestion for those wonderful worshipers in your congregation or on your team that don't possess the vocal skills you'd like but that are great encouragers when they worship. Let them lead worship alongside you on the platform—without a microphone. Let them shine and lead doing what they do best. This may not be singing, but they can still be a viable part of a worship team if their heart is the right place. If they need a microphone to be on a platform, then you have your answer about where their heart is. They may need some more time to straighten out exactly why they want to be a part of the team in the first place. When I audition singers, I look for three main things: tone quality, vocal independence and level of musicianship. Tone quality is important because it will affect their ability to blend with the group. If someone has a very strong resonance preference, depending on their vocal skill level, they may have a hard time blending with someone else whose resonance is placed differently. Everyone needs to know how to affect their voice so that they can become one with the other singers on the team. Vocal independence is an indicator of whether or not a singer will be able to sing harmony. I usually check five levels. I have them sing with a track and with an instrument. These require different skills since an instrument can make up for lack of timing by following the singer. A track, of course, cannot do that. I proceed to check whether or not they can hold their melody against my harmony. Then I check to see if they
can learn a harmony on the spot. Lastly, I want to see if they are able to create a harmony on their own. The last two levels are slightly more advanced, but I would expect everyone on a vocal team to be able to learn a harmony part and hold their own. This can be learned if necessary, but I deem it an essential skill for every team member. (Next time I'll tackle this important issue) The Level of Musicianship is an important factor to know for every team member. Things such as; do they play an instrument? Can they read music (this is especially important for choirs)? Do they understand proper vocal techniques like breath support? These can be very helpful skills for you to be aware of as you put your team together. Vocal range is typically only an issue with choirs where a balance of parts is important. For worship teams, a variety of ranges is nice, but not always necessary since congregational songs should always be sung in a mid range accessible to most people. Availability/Commitment LevelA vital part of making any team function is the commitment level of its team members. Any potential members of a choir or vocal team need to be well aware of the requirements. This should be laid out in written form with all of the specific days, times, music, fees, etc., required for participation. Additionally, at this time they should be made aware of the consequences of NOT following through with their commitment. I always suggest that a written covenant agreement between members should be signed yearly to help renew commitment and to avoid any misunderstandings. This should be explained at the audition, if not before. If someone does not have the availability necessary, do everyone a favor and forego acceptance of the person. They may meet every other qualification beautifully but this one issue is an overriding one and you will save yourself, the person, and the team many future headaches. God bless you in your efforts to build your teams. You are making an investment in the Kingdom!!
Sheri Gould has a BS in Music Education (Vocal/ Choral) from the University of Illinois. A church music director (Choir/Worship Leader) since 1985, she also teaches vocal techniques at various workshops around the country. Send your questions to: email@example.com
Charts Tracks Arranging Planning
Find It Here!
Everything You Need to Plan Worship!
By Dwayne Larring
Morgan AC-20 Deluxe Amp
Magnetics Transformer. The controls on the faceplate include Gain, Cut, and Power Level knobs as well as Normal/ Brilliant and Bright switches. The Power Level knob acts as a master volume, but it does so by adjusting the voltage to the power tubes, taking you from 20W down to 1W without losing the tonal qualities when you turn down the volume. This amp is available as a head or as a combo. The combo comes stock with a classic Celestion Blue speaker. The cabinets are made of 13 ply voidless Baltic Birch and are handmade by a master cabinetmaker who has worked previously in the Fender Custom Shop. My Experience – One of the first things I look for in an amp is: does it makes all my guitars sound like themselves? I have owned amps in the past that have had such a distinct sound that they sound more like the amp than the guitars that I play through them. Let me just say this: the AC-20 Deluxe loves guitars! I started by plugging straight into the amp, and then began playing with the knobs and switches. The first thing I noticed was that there isn't a bad sound in this thing. It was like I was able to take a tour through the history of Vox amps. I was able to get tones that ranged from the classic, smaller sound of an AC-15 all the way through to the big, warm tones of the "normal" channel, and the shimmery tones of the "brilliant" channel on an AC-30. All of this was on the 12AX7 channel. When I switched over to EF86 channel things started to get even more exciting! Remember when I referred earlier to that "sound" that was like the roar of an untamed, wild animal? Well, I found it! If you're not familiar with the sound of an EF86 you could just consider this the "more" switch. You can really feel the low-end bolster up and the highs get more chirpy and chimey, as well as a defining of presence and punch in the mids. Factor this in with the fact that you still have the tonal variations of the Normal/Brilliant and the Bright switches, and you really have a versatile beast on your hands. The real test for me comes when I plug in my pedal board. I dial up a basic tone that is clean when you play with a light touch and that starts to bark at you when you dig in. This posed no problems whatsoever for the
AC-20 Deluxe. I also like to use boost pedals to achieve different levels of dist/overdrive. When I tested this out this configuration, I was very pleased with the way that the amp handled the stacking of the gain stages that ranged from clean boost, to overdrive and crazy fuzz. I never got the feeling that it was too much for it to take. The real kicker and deal sealer for me is the "Power Level" control. You may think that it is just a good master volume but in fact, it is way, way more. It is actually a built-in Variac (voltage regulator) that controls the amount of voltage the power tubes receive. When it is wide open it is running at the full 20W. As you start to turn it down, the wattage of the amp drops and your volume decreases. What's so special about that, you ask? Well let me tell you. With this feature you are able to dial in your tone, and then control the output volume without changing that tone! By decreasing the voltage, the tubes still act and sound the same, just at lower or higher volumes. This is absolutely genius, and in my opinion, one of the most useful features ever to be put in an amp! Now you won't have to deal with the soundman wanting to take your amp off the stage, or having to turn your amp down to the point where you completely lose all your tone! Conclusion – If you are looking for a real amp that sounds amazing, is hand built, versatile, and won't break your bank… this is the one! Top that off with the fact that you have the choice to order this as a combo or a head, and have many different colors to choose from to find the perfect one that's just right for you! Overall, this amp is a winner! Morgan Amplification AC-20 Deluxe 1x12 combo w/ Celestion Blue – Retail $1,900 www.MorganAmplification.com
Dwayne Larring is an LA based producer/songwriter who was a founding member of SONICFLOOD and has produced artists such as Matt Redman, Tim Hughes and Ben Cantelon to name a few. Dwayne is currently the Creative Partner in an exciting new online worship music production service called Modern Worship Producer. He is also involved in developing worship teams and speaking at conferences worldwide. Dwayne can be reached at email@example.com.
When my love affair with the guitar began some 20 years ago, most of the bands that I loved and felt a connection with had something in common: the guitar sound that I heard was aggressive, yet refined. It would roar like a wild, untamed animal, yet have a gentle purr at the same time. I soon found out that the sound I was falling for was that of the Vox AC-30 amplifier and the EL-84 tubes that it uses. Over the years I have owned many amps in my search for that sound that I heard in my head. Some of the brands include Vox, Matchless, Fender, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, and Divided By 13, just to name a few. Let me introduce you to Joe Morgan and Morgan Amplification. Joe is fairly new in the "boutique" amp scene, but has quickly gained respect and grown to become one of the most successful and talked about names in a market that is, if anything, flooded with amp builders fighting to make a name for themselves. I'd like to give you the lowdown on an amp that has (with good reason) become one of his most successful models – The AC-20 Deluxe. Specs – The amps are all hand built and wired one at a time by Joe himself. It is a 20 watt, class A cathode biased with a switchable 12AX7/EF86 preamp. It utilizes a GZ34 rectifier, Sozo capacitors and a Mercury
EVENTS for CREATIVE TYPES to IMPROVE SKILL & INSPIRE TALENT for GOD'S GLORY
September 16 & 17, 2011 Cornerstone Fellowship, Livermore, CA featuring Brenton Brown & others...
October 14 & 15, 2011 Scottsdale Bible Church Scottsdale, AZ, Roster TBA
ONE-DAY INTENSIVES held the Thursday before each CMS
October 8, 2011 Calvary Community Church Westlake Village, CA featuring Brenton Brown & others...
November 11 & 12, 2011 Overlake Christian Church, Redmond, WA featuring Peter Furler, Paul Baloche, Christy & Nathan Nockels, The City Harmonic, Zoro, Doyle Dykes, Jonathan Lee & others...
There's a sort of contagious passion for God and what God is up to that you can't help but catch when you talk with worship pastor, songwriter and artist Tim Hughes. Maybe it stems from his beginnings with Soul Survivor, or perhaps the embers of faith are stirred as he teams with others to raise up and encourage new worshipers who will, themselves, become leaders. Either way, Tim's enthusiasm for the Lord is not just communicated in conversation, but— happily—also in his latest release; "Love Shine Through."
Aimee Herd: Tim, it's been 4 years since your last studio release—what have you been busy with during the time leading up to now? Tim Hughes: Ha! Well, first of all I had three kids; a 3-year-old girl— Phoebe, a 2-year-old boy—Simeon and a 6-month-old girl named Lois. So, I was kind of busy. And the other thing I was doing was launching Worship Central. We're committed to training worship leaders and musicians. We've been doing conferences all over the world— throughout Asia, Europe, America— and for the last few years at different training events we've had about 100,000 people come through. There's also a website: WorshipCentral.org, with videos, blogs, podcasts, new songs, a forum, training stuff, and there's even an iPhone app! Basically, we're really committed to raising up and training worship leaders. So I spend a lot of my time doing that. And then, in the middle of that, I did actually record a live album and a DVD called Happy Day, which was recorded in London and released. I'm also the worship leader at my church in London; Holy Trinity Brompton. And, people might have heard of "Alpha..." AH: The Alpha Course? TH: Right, well Holy Trinity is the church that sort of pioneered that. So, it's quite a big, influential church,
and as worship pastor, there is a lot going on there. All in all, it's been a pretty full-on four years, but it's been fun. AH: I guess you have been busy! I thought TobyMac had a lot of "irons in the fire," but you really do. TH: (Laughing) AH: You mentioned your website, "Worship Central," I was on there today and was reading your blog about the song Counting on Your Name. It's amazing to me because you wrote that blog 2 days before the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, and yet it's so applicable to what everyone is feeling at this point. TH: Well, everyone is aware, I think, of a sense of a shaking; we're seeing it visibly in our world—Japan, Libya, the earthquake in New Zealand, floods in Australia... There are so many different natural disasters, and then the economy crashes. More than ever over the last couple of years, human beings have become aware of how fragile life is. And how we can build up so much of a sense of security and worth in finances, relationships, or identity— even health, but all of it can go in an instant. I think it's definitely put within people a longing for answers, and a longing for something that is certain, and that can be trusted and depended upon. I guess for me, Counting On Your Name really speaks into that. Whatever happens, whatever falls apart, we know without a doubt that there is one name, one God that we can trust in Who has our best interests. And that, in the end, it will all work out; God will see you through. He provides life, and eternal life, so we've just got to learn to put our trust 100 percent in Him. AH: Like you said in your blog, and as it says in Hebrews, "He is our anchor, the anchor of our soul." TH: Yeah. AH: That song, Counting On Your Name, is from your new recording Love Shine Through. I noticed that there were a lot of different folks who played and wrote for this album—a big collaborative effort on co-writes and musicianship. Did it start out that way, or kind of evolve into that? TH: Well, I think in the last year or so, I did a lot more co-writing. There were a few reasons for that; the Worship Central stuff—we've got a team here in London. I've got Ben Cantelon and Nikki Fletcher, so we're writing together a lot. But then
I also spent a lot of time with Martin Smith, who ended up producing the record. It's been a real building of relationships with the idea and the sense that, actually, if you want to keep things fresh and moving, then there's a real need to collaborate more. I think sometimes as a songwriter you can get stuck in particular ruts— like familiar chord sequences, melodies, and lyrics. For me, working with other people like Phil Wickham and Stu G - all these people have just brought a freshness I think, and have challenged me in my songwriting.
Martin Smith, and we started to chat, dream, and think about music, worship, and life - particularly about the album I was looking to do. He said, "Oh man, it'd be great to help out in some way..." It became very clear that it'd be amazing for him to produce it. Martin brings such a freshness and energy. We recorded over a longer period of time at his house (he lives in this little village near the coast in England). So, we'd pull in different friends; Kim Walker Smith was around, we asked if she'd sing a couple of vocals, and these great Irish guys called The Rend Collective—they're touring with Chris The way it all started with the album Tomlin—they flew in and added some was, I was writing a couple of songs with brass and vocals and quirky things.
I've got a great relationship with Michael Guy Chislett. He's a guitarist and produced Hillsong United's latest album, and he came and played guitar. All of these different friends and flavors we sort of added to the pot. For me, it's brought so much more life and color and interest to the album; we were a bit braver, bolder and able to step out and try something different. That collaboration and team has really helped push things in terms of the arrangements of the songs. AH: You know you're not alone; I've spoken with a lot of different worship leaders and songwriters who lately have been doing a lot of co-writing and collaboration because of the freshness it brings. TH: Yeah well, it says in Proverbs that
Seeing 'Love Shine Through' - an interview with Tim Hughes
like those who listen to it are embarking on a journey with those who wrote it and put it together. What was different about it that created that feel? Was it the recording process itself, or was it the collaborative effort that did it? TH: I think part of it is the team thing. When you're working with people that you love and trust, you know you can be a bit more vulnerable and brave to try a new thing. But the word I've often used when I've thought about the record is "emotion". I tried to capture the emotion. So, if you look at the themes running throughout the album, there's very much a theme of faith, belief, and hope. But trying to sing those themes in the midst of the reality of a broken and fragile world—something of that really resonates with people at the moment. People are desperate for hope, and desperate for a sense of meaning, and they're desperate to believe. But they're also aware of these questions and fears. So, having a lot of those themes running throughout the songs, perhaps gives the album a bit more of that journey feel.
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." There's such truth in that. When you bring two creative minds together—not always—but often you'd hope that the end goal is even greater. Especially when you really learn to listen to each other and be stretched. I think in art and creativity, there needs to be a healthy tension, and a sense of debate. I've always been struck by reading about some of the great artists like Michelangelo and the level of agony and perseverance they put into their work. It doesn't sound like these paintings and sculptures came nice and easy. There was a real labor of love, and a bit of frustration. I think our songs need more of that really. Like "What about this?" and "Oh, it needs a bit more work to get there." When you're on a team, you can push each other that little bit more.
and I spent a lot of time on each song just getting really strong acoustic demos, and then Josiah Sherman— who lives in Seattle, formerly with The Listening—flew over. We gave him a number of songs (Counting On Your Name, Ecclesiastes, and a few others) to piece some things together and put on some programming, arrangements, and some of those amazing sounds. He created this kind of "sonic landscape" with sounds and loops and programs, so when the band came in they played along to that. I think that added a real flavor to the album. Rather than just going into the studio with the click-track and a see-what-happens approach, there was more of a focus; he really took it somewhere. And then when you add the guitars and drums and vocals... it was just a very different way of working for a lot of us. But I think it brought something extra out of us as musicians. Also, just having more space and time has enabled us to try different things. If something didn't work we would go back to the drawing board to edit and change things and put in different musicians. All of that felt like such a hotbed of creativity, and there was a safety in it that enabled us to step out. AH: Well it really comes across on the record. Tim, when you're creating a song, what gear do you typically use? What is that go-to guitar that you prefer writing with? TH: Well, my favorite guitar is my Jumbo Gibson J-200 Sunburst. I love that it has just a big, big sound. The other thing is, I've been trying to play a bit more piano; so I bought myself a Nord Stage Piano. It's got some great piano and electric piano sounds, and a couple of organ patches. I found I was very limited before, but using the piano has really helped me to open and free up some different melodies within me. A couple of the songs started out on the piano, which has been a very different thing for me altogether.
You have the highs and the musical sort of celebration of the band in praise. But then there are those vulnerable, fragile moments of, hopefully, capturing beauty and intimacy with God saying, "This is me. Here I am. I'm nothing without You." So I think it's the songs that have had a bit of theme running through them that has helped the album hang together. Musically, we tried to capture more And the other thing is, I think there of what the lyrics were saying and be is a real blessing from God on unity. a bit more creative. When we are more open to others and we're not so fussed about who AH: I was going to ask you gets the credit, there's a sense of specifically about that creativity, God's blessing upon that. because it seems like it's an aspect that was amped up on this album. AH: Oh yeah, I'd say so too. So now the whole album, collectively, TH: Oh yeah, well Martin Smith is has a really special feel to it. It's key for that! Even the way we went almost like—and I say this at the risk about the album was different. Martin of sounding extremely corny—but it's
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Seeing 'Love Shine Through' - an interview with Tim Hughes
at the time—encouraged me. The door began to open up. Then I went to University to study history, and while I was there I wrote the song Here I Am to Worship. When I finished University, I began to lead worship and sing that song, and I guess the song kicked off... AH: Uh yeah, I guess it did! TH: So, all these doors opened up. I never really thought or planned to be a full time worship leader, but God opened these doors and it's been great fun running through them.
AH: You mentioned the UK and the passion of the youth to worship at Soul Survivor. I know that some of the things happening in the political realm in the UK seem to paint a AH: That's a great idea, trying to picture of the country moving away from faith. But is there still a real incorporate a new instrument. passion to worship the Lord there? Is AH: I'm so glad to hear that. Now, TH: Yeah, it's been amazing actually. there still that fire among the youth? you've been recording some even this It brings a freedom because you hear TH: Absolutely. What's interesting week (end of March) haven't you? different things—it's been great. is that, among the UK and much Yes, today we've been AH: Tim, many of us who love the of Europe, there's been a sort of TH: secularization in government and rehearsing—we're doing a live music that God has put in your heart, don't really know the person behind with certain laws. There have been recording for Worship Central. it. So, give us a little background of cases of people turning up at work We're recording at a great venue in who you are and when you began wearing a cross around their neck London on Thursday night. The team writing and playing; I know your and being asked to take it off, and is going to record a bunch of new in schools you can't preach about songs that we're putting out on a live father was an Anglican Vicar... Jesus...a whole bunch of stuff. That's album. It's great seeing some of the TH: That's right. The way it started been hard, and more and more younger songwriters come through, was when I was 11-years-old, I went people have sort of moved away and they're writing amazing songs. We're really excited about this to a conference. A guy named Mike from the church. record, and know it will have songs Pilavachi had started up a thing called Soul Survivor, which is this massive But, particularly in London, we've that will really touch the Church. youth movement in the UK which just begun to see a swing. This last some 30,000 young people attend. year, for the first time in quite a while AH: Will you be touring the Love He was leading it and I remember the Church in London is beginning Shine Through album? What are your being blown away by the music to grow. We're seeing more people plans for the future? and worship. I saw people singing join the Church than we've seen in not just "about" God, but "to" God, years. I think sometimes, when the TH: A bunch of stuff... We'll be and there was such passion and a Church comes under some attack— touring in the UK, and we'll be getting sense of encounter and relationship. like people turning away and being some dates together to do a bunch of I asked Jesus into my heart, and very anti-God and anti-religion—it stuff in America. So, if people are decided to learn the guitar so I could causes the core, the remnant as it interested to find out, they can go to worship like that in my room. That's were, to really give everything they WorshipCentral.org for all the details. how it all began for me. Then Mike are to God. One thing you don't Or they could go to TimHughesMusic. Pilavachi got alongside me and had really have in England is so much com and they should keep watching me lead a bit of worship, and Matt "religion"—people going to church for dates that will be added. Redman—who was part of the team because that's what is culturally
acceptable. People [in the UK] are in church because they love Jesus, they've given their lives to follow Him, and they want to see revival. We've seen some amazing things. Again, at Soul Survivor, there are 30,000 young people coming together; and last summer at the festival, 1,500 young people gave their lives to Christ for the first time. I've been involved with Alpha and we've seen over 15 million people participate in that course worldwide. In our church there are amazing stories of miracles and of lives being dramatically changed. There are people who have spent years of their lives in prison for the most horrendous crimes who are discovering Jesus, and their lives are being completely turned around. So, I think God is on the move and it's an extremely exciting time to be alive. The UK is a good place to be, because God is at work and it's amazing!
G D Em Cmaj7 Gmaj7/B C Bm7
Tim Hughes, Nick Herbert & Ben Cantelon
Capo 3 (G) Verse 1: B b(G) F(D) My name is written on Your hands; Gm(Em) You've called me Your own, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) You've called me Your own. B b(G) F(D) Now I am Yours: no earthly power Gm(Em) Could tear us apart, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) [to Chorus] Could tear us apart. Chorus: F(D) Gm(Em) I'm counting on Your name, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) B b(G) I'm counting on Your name, F(D) Gm(Em) E bmaj7(Cmaj7) B b(G) Counting on Your name to save me. F(D) Gm(Em) I'm trusting You're the way, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) B b(G) I'm trusting You're the way, F(D) Gm(Em) E bmaj7(Cmaj7) B b(G) Trusting You're the way, my Sa viour. Mid section: E bmaj7(Cmaj7) Gm(Em) I believe, I believe, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) Gm(Em) B bmaj7/D(Gmaj7/B) E b(C) I believe You are the way. Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe, I believe, Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe You are the way. Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe, I believe, Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) [to Chorus] I believe You are the way. Ending: Gm(Em) I believe, Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe, Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe You are the way. Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) I believe, I believe, Gm(Em) Dm7(Bm7) E b(C) || Verse 2: B b(G) F(D) My life is built on nothing less Gm(Em) Than Your faithfulness E bmaj7(Cmaj7) Your faithfulness B b(G) F(D) Counting on Christ, and Christ alone, Gm(Em) I'm hoping in You, E bmaj7(Cmaj7) [to Chorus] Hoping in You.
[1.] to Verse 2 [2.] Repeat Chorus [3.] to Mid section [4.] to Ending
Copyright © 2011 Thankyou Music/Adm. by worshiptogether.com Songs excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Kingswaysongs a division of David C Cook. firstname.lastname@example.com Used by permission.
Taken from LOVE SHINE THROUGH Tim Hughes KWCD3151
By Heidi Todd
GLENN PACKIAM "The Kingdom Comes"
features only six songs (one is a reading, another is an acoustic mix) you will get a ton of mileage out of those six songs. Surprisingly, there is only one truly upTRACKS (personal picks bolded) tempo song, the remaining songs are 1: Our Messiah Reigns either driving, or lingering. But again, 2: All Things the fit is right and I applaud Glenn for 3: Forgiven Forever not stuffing in songs that don't absolutely 4: Praise Is The Offering make sense with the rest of the songs. I 5: Everlasting God would consider this album to be pretty 6: At The Cross (Hallelujah) "mainstream". Mainstream music isn't 7: Reading of Chapter 1 8: Bonus Track (Forgiven Forever, typically my first choice, but this is anything but stereotypical; it breathes Acoustic Mix) new life into a genre that has gotten a I feel like I've been bad rap over the last decade or two. It's living under a rock heart-felt and well-written. not to have been familiar with Glenn Don't hesitate to purchase this CD Packiam's writing if you're purchasing it for personal before now. Listening enjoyment, you will. If you're looking to this album made for new worship music for your church, me "google" him to you've found it. find out more, which quickly revealed a respectable track record as a writer. JOHN WALLER He's an author as well as a songwriter, "As For Me And My House" which is reflected in his songs. He didn't seem like he was in too much 1: Our God Reigns Here of a hurry to get his point across - he 2: As For Me And My House seems to have taken his time and let the 3: Yes songs develop. As one of the founding 4: Because God Is Good members of Desperation Band he has 5: Somebody Else's Story already earned his chops and has 6: Count It All given this collection of songs time to 7: Man OF The Valley 8: The Jesus I Need marinate. 9: The Marriage Prayer There's a very eternally-minded quality 10: Fallen to the album - a good blend of heaven 11: Bless Us And Keep Us and earth. His writing reflects an immersion in the presence of God and It is likely that, in their rawest form, a band an attitude of thankfulness for the cross. of average skill could pick up and learn The album features deeply qualified the songs on this album. Many of the musicians; people you can tell know songs are geared for corporate worship, their instruments intimately. I don't and some of them are more storytelling mean in the sense that they "shred", than "sing with me" songs. rather, the instruments take on an almost I get the impression that John Waller is, at vocal quality, interpreting the words heart, more of a storyteller beautifully. The strings, acoustic piano songwriter than a worship and acoustic guitar are rich and full. writer. Part of the reason for And the addition of electric/digital that impression is the way instrumentation complements the sound he packs in so many words naturally. into one song. There is a Even though the album actually lot of scripture, and tons of
Overall impression Average person could learn/participate on the first hear Can be learned/adapted by a band of average skill Lyrical creativity and integrity
descriptive verbiage, but not a lot of breathing room. The song that leaves the most space for someone wanting to sing along would be "Fallen" though it's a song with a pretty high level of intimacy. Years ago, I spent a lot of time with a great band that had some highly gifted writers in it. They were all into higher education, avid readers, and great storytellers. One of the observations that people made of them was that they could probably get two or three songs out of just one song, if they didn't pack so much into the one. They seemed to want to say it all inside of the context of one tune, telling the whole story in one song, when they could have taken the whole album to tell the complete story. This seems to be the case here. I think there are about three albums worth of lyrics in this one album. One of the things that I can't get my mind around on this album is the over-saturation of effects. Just when you think the effects library has been exhausted…nope, there's more. Part of the issue this creates is that the drippy, rounded tones of many of the effects punctuate, by contrast, the thinnest qualities in John's voice. A much drier mix would have probably been more complimentary. And the time spent on all of those effects would have been better spent in drawing out depth and color in his vocals, which seem pretty one-dimensional. All in all, there's a lot of great truth here and a great heart. REBECCA ST. JAMES "I Will Praise You" 1: I Will Praise You 2: You Never Let Go 3: Shine Your Glory Down 4: You Still Amaze Me 5: In A Moment 6: The Kindness Of Our God 7: When The Stars Burn Down (Blessing And Honor) 8: Almighty God 9: You Hold Me Now 10: You Make Everything Beautiful A name very familiar to us all, Rebecca St. James releases a new batch of songs that are a great extension of previous releases. This album is very true to form, if perhaps a bit toned down from the unusual
Glenn Packiam The Kingdom Comes John Waller As For Me And My House Rebecca St. James I Will Praise You Aaron Gillespie Anthem Song Josh Lopez Broken Restored Loved
highest marks
vocal style she is so well known for. a prolific musician) and he stays true She still incorporates that swooping tail to his harder style even while crafting end to some of her phrasing, just not songs for a broader range of people. so much. I have to give her a nod for including The instrumentation and his voice songs written by some great definitely steal center stage on this contemporary worship artists such as release. His lyrical style is very childlike "You Never Let Go" and "You Hold before the Lord; he seems to come from Me Now", which is one of my favorite a very honest and vulnerable place. worship songs. Where her voice Some of the songs are a bit repetitive shines the brightest though, is on track and some of the lines in a couple of 10, "You Make Everything Beautiful". songs could have been re-thought for Her range and tone are well suited a more creative edge. But just when you start to notice it, he throws in here, and are nicely understated. creative curve balls that keep the song Throughout the album, one thing that on track. The album as a whole has seemed odd to me was the fact that a great dynamic, featuring multiple she barely sings over a whisper. The levels of energy and intensity. He instrumentation and backing vocals pushes passionately where it fits, and seem to do all of the heavy lifting then steps back to allow a gentler underneath her lilting voice. While approach. He does a great job being this is a pleasant tone, listening to multi-dimensional. the entire album starts to give a onedimensional quality to her delivery. At Big points for the decision to record this times, she takes on an almost Enya- album with Aaron Sprinkle; as he was like approach (the world famous Irish successful at bringing all of the right singer/songwriter) in a way that makes things forward in Aaron Gillespie's her musical style instantly recognizable, artistry. Aaron's Sprinkle's prowess but predictable. as a writer, producer, singer, and Not having kept up with Rebecca instrumentalist was a great boost to St. James over the years, I really tried this first worship album. He was also to give this album a fair shake, but I wise to partner with songwriters such as just can't connect with it. If you're a Paul Baloche, and others that served to fan, you'll still be one. But if you were further draw him out as an artist. looking for a major change in the music so that you could get on board, This is one of those albums that will it's probably not going to happen this become part of my library as a worship time around. Undoubtedly, she's a leader and for personal edification. It gifted vocalist and a seasoned writer was difficult to pick just two favorites. and performer, who has a niche that Thank you Aaron – I'm looking forward not everyone identifies with. That is to more. simply a matter of preference, however, and not an evaluation of her giftedness, JOSH LOPEZ (and Community Bible Church) character or anointing. Broken Restored Loved AARON GILLESPIE 1: Nothing Is Impossible Anthem Song 2: Glory To The One 3: Rise And Sing 1: All Things 4: Our God 2: Hosanna 5: Because Of Your Love 3: Washed Away 6: God You Are God 4: Earnestly I Seek Thee 7: Great 5: We Were Made For You 8: Jesus 6: I Will Worship You 9: Oh The Blood 7: Anthem Song 10: We The Redeemed 8: You Are Jesus 11: Jesus Come 9: You Are My Everything 12: Come Holy Spirit 10: Your Song Goes On Forever 13: Ye Alabo ( I Will Praise You) 11: I Am Your Cup 14: Loved This is a highly enjoyable, passionate album by Aaron Gillespie. Fresh from Even with a classification as his former role in the band Under Oath, straightforward contemporary worship he shoots out of the gate with his first music, it's a well-done live worship solo worship release. It's immediately album, full of vitality. There's more than obvious that he is a rock singer (also first meets the eye here.
Josh Lopez is clearly a gifted singer and capable worship leader. He has amassed a great collection of songs, interpreted by confident, skilled musicians and singers. The vocals are given an extra boost by a full choir, which is a great addition to the rest of the people on the team. He also gave the platform to other worship leaders; smart move. They're every bit as gifted as he is, and add diversity to an album with a generous amount of songs. In a couple of the songs, the female vocals took on an almost Disney quality (which wasn't my favorite) but it was only in bits and pieces. The delivery became a little more raw and individualized as the album progressed. Throughout the songs, you hear Latin, funk, gospel, orchestral, and guitardriven flavors; well blended and well placed. This isn't his first rodeo. He's a former recording artist and pop vocalist from Puerto Rico, who at a young age gave his life to the Lord, which altered the course of his life dramatically. Even though his life was put in a different lane, his experience as a recording artist has been highly beneficial here. And his giftedness as an artist is undeniable. The song lyrics (both his own, and songs borrowed for the album) are thoughtful and descriptive. There's a hopefulness and a gratefulness that runs throughout. And the joy is unmistakable. Sounds like a fun bunch of people who love the Lord and can't stop singing about it.
Heidi's background is primarily in worship and production, joining her first worship team at age twelve. Having been on staff at a Northwest church since 2001, she is now works as assistant to the Northwest Foursquare District Supervisor in Tacoma, WA. This fulfilling role has made it possible for her to pursue her passion for being in multiple churches, working with worship and production teams and sharing those churches' innovative ideas with as many other churches as are interested through her website www.nomadicreative.com.
By John Mills
Warm Up Your Sound
Continuing on from last issue, this time we'll present a few more tricks of the trade for those of you in the digital console gang.
and it's in line just before the analog to digital converter, otherwise known as the A to D converter. So here is the magic. On EVERY input channel of the M7 or LS9, select the EQ. Under the EQ page there is a little knob labeled 'Attenuate'. It is probably set at Zero. Set it to -6 (minus 6). Do this on EVERY channel. Did you hear me say EVERY channel? Now, go bump up the HA (or Head Amp) 6 clicks on EVERY channel. You can safely see signals on the meters that are constantly at the -6 light and occasionally hit the red peak light. My drums ALWAYS touch the red light a little on loud hits. You have just added 6 db to the analog preamp. The hotter the better… but be careful because you know how those guys will check like a wimp during sound check, and then come out of the gate during service at 100 miles an hour. The same thing applies here as it does in the analog world: a little trickling red clip light is ok, but too much of a good thing will bite you if you aren't careful. If you have access to your amps or system processor, you can also take 3 db off of all your M7 EQ outputs. Left, Right, Subs, Fills, ect… or maybe just the L/R that feeds all those things. This biggest thing to remember in all this, is that you need to make up or reduce the overall change in the system. We are not trying to turn anything up. If that's what you are hearing me say, let me make it clear: turn down the attenuator in the channel EQ page, then turn up the preamp. That should be a net gain of 0db, but you will hear the better sound the preamp is creating. If you mess with any of the output EQs, don't forget to make up the gain in the external device they are feeding. What we are doing here is raising the bit depth, (adding more math to the equations), while at the same time heating up those power rails in the only analog section of the console. We aren't really creating distortion like in the guitar amp at all, but the idea is similar. More analog electrons before the math equals more harmonics, which equals a warmer sound. Now, before I get a bunch of emails saying, 'We blew up our speakers,' please, please, please only try these tricks if you fully understand what is going to happen. In the case of analog consoles, if you forget to turn
Continued on page 43
M7CL & LS9 Tricks - Part 2
we get: crank a tube amp, attenuate the sound via an isolation room or isocabinet, and you'll have a warmer, richer sound from the guitar player. But This month we are going to learn a little how do we do that with an analog or about how to "warm up" just about any digital console? sound, especially digital consoles. First Things First. While this main trick is specifically outlined for the Yamaha M7CL and is exactly the same on the Yamaha LS9 consoles, it could be applied to other digital consoles as well, and honestly is a good thing to think about on any console, digital or analog. For those of you who will take your dying breath while clutching your Midas console on the way to the bottom of the analog ocean, this month's column is also for you. While I will not argue with you that analog sounds "warmer", I want to pose the question as to why it does. None of the following tips should be tried blindly 10 minutes before Sunday's service. Try it in a rehearsal, because this is all about manipulating gain structure, and doing so will change the levels to EVERY part of your system, including monitors. Analog Console Friends: The trick is simple. Set your gain structure to well above zero when soloing the input. Not necessarily on the pastor's lapel mic, but drums, bass, keys, guitars, vocals… sure. Be careful on the master outputs though. Since you are adding a bunch of gain on your faders, it will add up. You'll have to make up for it somewhere by turning down something else. You could back those masters down, or attenuate your amps or system processor.
Let's talk about tube guitar amps for few moments. If you've heard me teach live before, I almost always pick on guitar players. But honestly, I completely agree with them that their tube amps sound better on 11. And while I agree that they sound horrible on 2, let me explain I'd like to see you run your faders why that is. Track with me for a minute for the most part around the zero (or and we'll make the transition to analog unity) mark, which is about 70-80% of consoles, and finally to digital. the way up. Again, remember your A tube amp sounds good on 11 simply master at this point could need to be because the tubes create a harmonic drastically reduced. distortion that is pleasing to our ears; but Be careful not to clip your inputs. If they can not do that on low volume settings you see the little clip light flashing because it takes a good deal of electricity occasionally for a few milliseconds, to "heat" up the tubes so they can create don't worry about it; but if it's staying the distortion. I'm not talking AC/DC or constantly lit up, you've overdone this Metallica here. Even a jazz sound comes technique. across better when the amp is cranked up because of barely perceived amounts M7 and LS9 Friends of harmonic content that is added when I say M7 and LS9 because I have overdriving analog components. not tested the following on any other The problem with a tube amp is that there consoles, but I have done it for over four is no real way to "attenuate" the output years on EVERY M7 and LS9 I walk up of the amp so the actual volume in the to… and the result is something even room is not killing us. So hear me guys… your wife should notice. No offense while I like the amp on 11, that doesn't wives, but you usually don't notice mean I want the cabinet IN the worship when we change sound stuff. center. Get it backstage in a closet, or Here is the problem with digital: it's buy something like the AxeTrak (www. math. There is nowhere for the sound AxeTrak.com) to let you run the amp wide to get any of those nice harmonics we open, but not have the sound in the room. loved about our analog board siblings. Seriously, that's what MY speakers are for. But wait… there is analog circuitry in a So if we simplify that thought process, digital desk. It's the analog preamp,
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By Scott A. Shuford
Promotion: Public Relations or PR
Over the last few columns, we've been talking about Promotion. Last time, we walked through a brief overview of Social Media. Now we are going to talk about Public Relations, otherwise known as PR. PR is about writing press releases and pursuing media coverage. Who do you send releases to? If you followed my discussion about God's Growth Strategy, then in the beginning, you may simply have your church staff, a couple of key people at other local churches, a couple of key people in your city government, and PR is one of the best tools in your a few local writers and radio show marketing arsenal. While Social hosts on your list. You can build that Media connects you one on one with list yourself. fans, PR allows you to connect with As you expand from your church to mass audiences through the writers, your city, and then from your city to editors, radio & television show hosts, your county, and then to the tri-county producers: the gatekeepers at various area or state, all along the way you online, print, radio or television media can be building your press list. You can outlets. Put another way, where as be developing relationships with more Social Media is about developing gatekeepers. Find the places where relationships with your fans (Fan you think your news should show up: Development,) PR is about developing the Christian Examiner in your city, the relationships with the information local city newspaper, the local Christian gatekeepers in your physical area and radio station. Find the people at those your industry. media outlets who may want to know PR Is an art form. A great PR strategy is about what you are doing. Religion or based on the relationships a PR person entertainment editors and columnists has built with the media outlets. PR is are likely candidates for you. Also be the art of matching your project with the sure to include key people who are not needs of the gatekeepers. This is one in the media, but with whom you have area where you truly can benefit from been involved: at their church, booked an experienced professional who can into their event, produced your album, strategize and execute a coordinated etc. PR plan. My company, FrontGate What do you write about? Media, has served as the PR agency for many people and projects. However, I purposely put this question AFTER if you can write with good grammar "who do you send to?" There is no and make a clear presentation of way you can know what to write about information, you can handle doing your until you know who is going to receive the press release. What you write about own PR in the beginning. depends on what your gatekeepers First, please learn from others. The want to know. Again, a quick search internet has made it VERY easy to find on the internet can yield a ton of press press releases from other companies. releases that will give you ideas about I wrote my very first press release to what to release yourself. announce that I had joined a company as their VP of Marketing & Sales. I Take a few key gatekeepers to lunch modeled my news release after a and ask them. Many journalists are similar release from another company. I happy to spend a little time with you searched the web to find a press release and can give you great coaching for from another technology/agency type the cost of a decent lunch. Very early of company announcing their new VP. on, I had lunch with the woman who I did a find-and-replace with my name was the marketing & media columnist for his. I rewrote the paragraph about for the Orange County Business his family to be about mine. (I didn't Journal. That lunch not only established have a dog…) After reviewing a few a good relationship with her, but from press releases from other companies, it, I learned things I still use today. it was very easy to model my release after their releases. You can do that For a worship leader, I'm sure you can locate press releases about other too. worship leaders releasing albums, going on tours, offering resources, achieving great milestones, and more. We cover those press releases as news all the time on CreatorWorship.com. Start there. Lastly, you can always use a wire service like ChristianNewsWire.com, Religion News Service or PR Newswire to send your press release far and wide for a relatively low cost ($500 or less at the low end.) Wire services exist to distribute your release to the mass market of gatekeepers. The benefit a wire service provides is that for a very reasonable price, they can deliver your press release to a lot of gatekeepers. The downside is that those gatekeepers probably do not have the same relationship with the wire service that they have with a PR agent. It is not uncommon to hire a PR agent and use one or more wire services at the same time. The real question you have to ask yourself is, "is my press release worth sending out nationally or internationally to people who have never heard of me before?" If so, then seriously consider one or more wire services. So far in the MAP, we've talked about your Mission, Fan Development, the Non-Profit option, God's Growth Strategy, the Four P's, Social Media, and now PR. Next time we'll go deeper into Promotion with Advertising. Until then…
Scott has led classes for us at NAMM and the Christian Musician Summit. He has been featured in Adweek and is the CEO of FrontGate Media, the #1 culture-engage media group reaching the Christian audience (www.FrontGateMedia.com) and is the co-founder of Creator Worship: online radio for worship leaders (www.CreatorWorship.com). Email your comments or questions to Scott@ CreatorLeadershipNetwork.com
By Michael Gonzales
The Meltdown Letdown
So many events throughout the globe are pointing to unsettling possibilities for our future. Unrest in the Middle East, hijackers on the high seas, sex trafficking worldwide, tsunami's and nuclear power plant disasters out of control at breakneck speed. If I were to pick just one catastrophe to use as a visual metaphor for our lives, it would be the disaster at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. That one event prompted me to think about worship leaders. What is the correlation? The plant at Fukushima was designed as a beautiful and model facility. Many years of planning took place and at the time (1971) it was a state-of-the-art facility with expert planning from several countries and international corporations, including General Electric. It was one of the top 15 nuclear power plants worldwide. The great metaphor comes primarily from inspiration, and to some, may seem like a stretch, but to me the threads are more bonded together than loosely wound twine. The first thing that comes to mind is the planning. With all good worship leaders comes the proper planning to make your job a success. You don't just wake up one day and say, "Gee, I'm going to start being a worship leader tomorrow." It requires time
After a while you start losing supporters when people around you feel like they are no longer being treated fairly, when to develop those skills and a certain they see danger, and when you are Holy Spirit-guided sensitivity to confirm losing it. You've let other people down that's where you are supposed to by your poor decisions. be. Just like the blueprints required to house the nuclear elements needed to People come to Christ because serve people, so too the design and He promises to offer change from function of a worship leader requires a circumstances that overwhelm us. He groundwork that includes the gifts of the offers a solution to our old nature. But when that bad old nature surfaces, spirit, talent, and patience. especially in a church leadership The next thing is checks and balances. setting, people get a bad taste in In a power plant, people need to their mouth very quickly. They realize monitor what is going on in order to the way you are is not the way Christ prevent catastrophe. A worship leader works in people. After awhile, even needs to stay connected to a group the most loyal supporters walk away of people he or she can trust. Being because ultimately, the true Almighty accountable to someone, or a group of power of God is so beautiful and overenveloping that those people want to people certainly helps. be under His cover and not yours. What happens when it looks like you're headed for a meltdown? Stop So what are we to do to prevent a everything. Wait. You say you can't meltdown? Get on your knees and pray. When it comes to others, that's stop? You're on a schedule? the time when you need to become The big problem here is our human the other half of a Christ-like leader by nature. We love being in control, becoming a servant. What triggers being successful, and showcasing our a meltdown? It could be anything: a poor marriage, finances, or a pastor talents. that doesn't support your ideas. Usually events come into our lives that Don't make things worse. Don't start trigger other events (like a tsunami) and spreading rumors about others as if this before you know it the ugly side of you is your kingdom and you are trying to starts coming out. That's called panic save it. Remember, you were put in management. It's an overwhelming a leadership position because you not feeling, like a guy trying to stop the leak only have the musical talent God gave in a dam by plugging up the hole with you, but you also have something in your character that convinced a group his finger. of elders to bring you on board. So, start by respecting yourself all over again and stop hiding things, stop being a tyrant, stop gossiping, stop the meltdown. One of my friends stopped a real big meltdown in his life by taking a short leave of absence. He went away. He spent time with mentors, but during that break he also worked on songwriting and delivered a very beautiful collection of worship tunes. Sometimes it takes a turning around and a humbling to let God work through us—I know, I've been there.
Michael Gonzales, Ph.D. Professor, Biola University email@example.com
"Matt Kees is a very musical songwriter, producer & mixer and a very good friend of mine. I love hearing his work as he is one of the best in the business. I always look forward to working and making great music with Matt." ~ Gregg Bissonette
(LA session drummer and member of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band)
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Just as some drummers believe that they might have to "drive" the band for it to work, there are some pastoral approaches that I've seen that could use a bit of fine tuning and I'm going to address them head on. As I alluded to before, if there is a repeat offender, the Worship Pastor needs to learn how to come to that person out of relationship. I've been surprised by how few teams actually do life together outside of church. I strongly suggest getting some social time with the team breaking some bread (or pizza crust). Getting the team in the same room without your instruments works wonders in terms of getting to know one another and God collectively. You'll take that onto the platform with you, pizza excepted. Out of this social interaction comes real relationship, and out of this relationship people feel known. This feeling leads to trust, and out of trust a leader can be much more effective when coming alongside a team member whose motivation is really well intentioned, but inappropriate in a church setting. They will be much more inclined to play at a reasonable volume when they know in their heart they are more than just someone you see on Sunday. Think about it. That gets us to the practical side. In playing with so many teams, I've had a chance to see the strengths and weaknesses of using monitors vs. inears. Our adult team plays with a click, which means at the very least the drummer has to have the in-ear thing going. The down side is that once everyone is "in the can" it can become a lot like a glorified iPod. I turn up the click to just where I want it, and filter out the information that I don't want to hear. The Church, as a whole, has embraced an effective approach in getting a great sounding team front of house, but at what price are we getting there? As I mentioned before, in-ears offer great benefit in terms of volume management, getting the click going for everyone, and developing unity with the sound team. What we've lost is that beauty that happens when we hear what's actually happening on the stage around us. We've stepped into a zone of forced dynamics and one that dramatically minimizes the interaction between players. It yields results, but what are we losing along the way? Team members are not learning to play together in a room, feel the dynamics of how that sound fills the room and being able to master that element, which is where real bands learn to play together. For some churches the in-ears are the least of many challenges, and I trust that God is in your ear. For others
Continued on page 43
By Doug Doppler
Sounding Off - Part 1
As a whole, the "electrified" Church is at a unique crossroads. Whether it is amps vs. modeling, drums vs. V-Drums, monitors vs. in-ears; we are battling more than just volume. too immature (or not submitted to their leaders) to turn down. Bass players are also part of the problem, but without the sharp transients that are most easily noticed by those whose ears are being Early last year, after a long and admittedly inappropriately offended. heartbreaking season of walking it out Quite frankly, a few kind-hearted God's way, my wife and I decided it was brothers and sisters have missed the time to get planted someplace new. We piece about really being part of a team, ended up at Cornerstone Fellowship in and that means playing your parts at a Livermore, which by no small coincidence supportive, and not oppressive volume. is where CMS NorCal is going to be held It is also about being teachable. One this year. I waited the required six months of the churches we worked with went before joining the worship team and took from amps and drums to no amps and my time getting planted and learning the V-Drums in but a few miserable months. culture. It's a big church with a worship I'm a team player who, most of the time, and sound team family that is nothing plays at a team volume (I'm not totally short of amazing on every level. In the immune to that intoxicating thing we main auditorium we've got a Digidesign call volume). However, in that instance Venue console and a blended monitoring the drummer repeatedly refused to system. Most everyone uses Aviom conform to playing at a reasonable through in-ears, while the background volume, and one Sunday he showed vocalists and choir (when rostered) use up to find a set of V-Drums. I guess you monitors. I've started working with the could say that "taught" him. Sadly, it equally amazing youth worship team, and didn't, and it really revealed the heart they are exclusively using floor monitors in of this problem to be a pastoral one. their venue. There is a lot of talk about sound when Over the past several years, I've had it comes to worship and sound team the privilege of working with a number of unity, but there is too little talk about the worship teams in their respective Houses pastoral oversight that I believe should of Worship. That experience, combined be in place with respect to getting with what I've observed over the past everybody on the same page. From a year, has really brought a couple of perspective fueled by 20/20 hindsight: revelations to the surface. It's important to don't replace the drums for one repeat address how "we" got to where we are, offender; replace the drummer first. If as well as what makes the most sense much love and pastoral care don't get now that we're here. (Noting that 'where someone there, the bench may - or we are' will, of course, vary from church may not. As worship team members, to church.) The whole in-ear monitor, we must be unified, and we are just V-Drum fad has tremendous advantages as called to come alongside a brother for creating harmonious relationships or sister who erroneously believes that between the worship team, sound they are somehow special and get to team, and last but in no way least, the play at whatever volume they want. congregation. But, for all the good they Special doesn't just play out at church, do, they are a symptom of some deeper and the love invested in these wellissues that perhaps need to be addressed intentioned people will yield fruit far outside of their time invested into the in the proverbial light of day. team. They are doing what they believe At this moment I'm sitting on a airplane to be right, and our job is to come returning from MusikMesse, where my alongside them and do a bit of fineears have been subjected to days of tuning, with patience found in the Holy high decibel noise; some of my own Spirit. But one thing is largely agreed doing, the rest most notably by bass upon among drummers that I know: players further away than the eye could VDrums don't feel the same, or provide see. I did a similar event called Bass the same response and playability that Player Live and was amazed at how an acoustic kit does. And to that I'll add far bass sound waves actually travel. that simply moving someone to them Previous to these experiences I would does not fix the root problem. have laid appropriate blame at the feet of drummers and guitarists for just being So how do you get people "there"?
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By Tom Lane
Discover Your Band
Being a visionary band/artist is harder than it seems. Any group of Musos can put a band together, and even sound good; but few can really lead and have lasting impact and testimonies worth noting. One reason great athletes command such deep respect, in my opinion, is because they normally spend a lifetime preparing, working, and training for their dream. There aren't too many overnight sensations in the sports world. Though good marketing and $ can make you a star in music (possibly), it can't give you the stuff of legend because legends take a long time to make and are normally born through pain and preparation. Even more so for a Godly legacy! It is a privilege and honor to serve the God of the universe. As His chosen beacons in a dark and fallen world, we are entrusted with a message that affects and changes reality everywhere it lands, and we want to represent Him well in everything we do. It's important to remember daily that we don't fight against flesh and blood but against rulers and principalities of darkness at work against us in this world. We're always shocked when others fall from grace and make mistakes, but the truth is that it could just as easily happen
band, pop band, country band, etc., our first commitment is to God's plan and glory being revealed in and through our lives. The music is secondary! Since God will not share His glory we can't expect to be useful from a Kingdom perspective if we choose to do it our own way. It always costs dearly to to any of us. Our opponent is well acquainted compromise Godliness for earthly pursuits. with our issues and weaknesses and is patient Instead of waiting to be discovered, to undermine God's work in us. What that do now what you say you want to has to do with being a visionary is this; we do! have a choice when it comes to pursuing dreams and passions: To follow God or the Even as a band you can serve and make a way of the world. Sadly, as Christians in difference. If you're waiting for someone to music, we sometimes look to heroes and stars "give you a chance or a break," stop waiting for inspiration and direction more than our and go do! Opportunity usually comes when God. Yet the only hope we have against our we are busy with the work already, or serving adversary is being filled with God's spirit and where we can today. Having a vision is an imperative first step. It doesn't have to seeking His Kingdom first. be completely figured out, it just needs to We work very hard to become good bands be present to avoid wandering aimlesslymusically, but maybe not as hard to be expecting others to do for us what God has healthy and alive spiritually. My challenge, given us to do ourselves. That vision should wherever you are in your journey, is to come from hearing God regarding what is build your musical dreams and visions on a important to Him and specific for us. Hard good foundation; one that can be blessed, as it may be to listen and hear, He is always sustained, and promoted should God desire speaking and will guide if we follow. it. It's backwards from the way the world's music business works, and maybe even some A mistake made over and over, often with churches. The point is: We are living and tragic outcomes, is giving "our" vision over to breathing for such a time as this and want be controlled by another. Usually because we to be effective and fruitful. The creativity is think it's going to further our goals/careers, not a problem for God and if we focus our but sometimes also out of trust. Not that it's plans around Him the music can reach its full wrong to trust, but no other human being should have ultimate control over or dictate potential. your vision. By that I simply mean; if God Some steps to laying a good has given us something specific to do, we foundation: shouldn't sign it over nor give it away since a. Identifying who we are as followers and it's ours to steward. We alone are responsible worshippers of Jesus. and accountable to God for what He gives b. Knowing our spiritual gifts. us and so should guard and protect a vision. (1 Cor. 12) You cannot expect a company, a church, a c. Surrendering and stewarding our talents. leader, your mom, your dad, or your sibling Once we understand and can articulate to do it for you! God will honor your diligence who we are and what we do (individually and faithfulness. and as a band) then we can make plans and Can you say with confidence that you know take necessary steps. Whether a worship what you're called to do? Remember music is not a calling, it's a talent and we steward and invest talents. There's a lot of freedom to create and express what God has put in us through our talents and they are for His pleasure above all. We also get to enjoy them, which is great! But what we're called to, is the mandate of Christ in Matthew 28:18-20. If you want to be released onto a world stage, into a harvest field wide and deep; first discover God's vision for you, then for your music!
Nashville, TN is home for Tom Lane though he is involved in ministry and music around the world. As a singer, songwriter and guitar player, Tom has been teamed with many worship leaders and artists. He continues to record his own work, lead worship, and writes regularly for various worship publications worldwide.
Continued from page 34
down your amps or main faders, you WILL blow something up. In the case of digital consoles, we pretty much made the equation (or volume) balance out. But consider the fact that you have completely changed the signal levels inside your console. If you are running Aviom, or any other in-ear monitors, and even floor monitors, the levels to the ears and/or wedges could be drastically changed. Also, consider that your compressor and gate thresholds will need to be adjusted. Trust me, all the 'wow that's cool' and 'man, it really sounds amazing' comments from anyone in the band will be thrown out the window if you change their monitors and don't do a whole new sound check. So before proceeding, make sure you understand the entire signal flow and exactly what signals you are changing.
Continued from page 40
Please email me and let me know if you try out this trick. I have yet to have someone tell me they didn't hear a difference. Have fun with it. And don't forget to store your old scene so you can get back there if you don't like the new setup. Sorry analog folks… you'll have to take a picture of your knobs with a digital camera or something. John
John is an industry veteran, providing Front of House Mixing, Road Manager, System Tuning, and Audio Training services to the Christian Music Community for over 20 years. He is currently out on the Kenny Chesney country music tour as Systems Engineer. To read about his adventures out there, go to: www.JohnDMills.com. If you are looking for down-to-earth training for your volunteers, check out his other website www.TechTraining101.com
Do you have a small band or no band at all?
our church, drummers excepted. Again, I believe there is a dialog that needs to I don't have a problem with in-ears per be jump-started around all of this. se; it's what you lose in the process The youth at our church play with of using them. There is nothing like monitors, and you can't pry them off jamming away with someone who is the platform as they are jamming away hearing his or her actual instrument next for hours after church has ended. How to you, and not through a few hundred often have you seen that happen on an feet of cable attached to a wireless adult team that is "in the can"? Am I transmitter. saying, "Lose the cans"? No, but let's Solutions? My personal favorite uses make sure we're not throwing the baby Aviom blended with monitors. You can out with the bath water. I believe that in create your mix, but you don't lose the way too many instances we've adopted band in the process. Outside of church in-ears because "everyone" is doing it, I live with the click on a pretty much and because it prevents some of what daily basis. In this instance I'm willing I believe is invaluable investment into to trust the drummer with the time (novel team members to get them to be more concept) and in turn have everyone lock teachable about what makes a worship to them. Getting there is about teaching team look different than a secular rock the team to be a team, and that starts band. Playing with in-ears can feel by making an investment of time off of sterile because the band never quite the platform. On the platform, play at learned to play like a band before reasonable volumes and learn to play climbing into the can. Don't forget that as a team. U2 played for decades without in-ears. Lastly, I want to add that for some They already knew how to play as a venues, a band is just going to be band. I watch the enthusiasm with too loud. In-ears and V-Drums do offer which the youth at our church listen some great alternatives for churches to each other play as a team, based that have gotten to the end of their around how the sound on the platform, proverbial rope with all of this. I'll also and it's nothing short of intoxicating. It be the first to say that there are things feels like a band because it FEELS like that I love about in-ears, most notably a band. Amps, monitors and musicians my beloved click. A lot to think about, vibing off one another as this glorious, but in conclusion I encourage you to living things pulses in sync together. explore why your church is doing what Don't get me wrong; the adult worship it is, and embrace the decision of the team at our church is outstanding in Worship Pastor, regardless of what that every way. However, when it comes to is. God will honor that, and will bless the youth, I will champion their staying you and your church in the process. on amps and monitors with the singular exception of the drummer so he can Doug Doppler is signed to play to the click. We will have a unique challenge in the future as they cycle Steve Vai's Favored Nations through to the adult team, and I'll be label and is currently in very curious to see how this plays out. production on the Get Killer We have outstanding pastoral oversight Tone DVD series. He and his and investment into our teams, and it wife Melissa live to serve the Kingdom and will be interesting to see if, at some are members of Cornerstone Fellowship in point, the in-ears don't get the boot at the San Francisco Bay Area.
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conditions and can send the picture to the dark depths of night or wash out a shot so bad that it looks like it was shot through a mesh net. Auto-iris is usually only used in situations where things are desperate and nothing else is working. That's why there is a VO. camera goes to the correct position, the next thing on their list is to technically and electronically set up each camera so that they look great - and then adjust them so they match each other, or at least look like they are part of the same planet. They have all sorts of tools at their disposal - knobs, sliders, scopes and monitors. Usually, the picture should look best to the VO first. (Hopefully they will have the best monitor, and know enough to know the difference between good monitors and bad ones!) After they set the camera's electronics by adjusting all the gammas, vignette errors, thresholds and burst levels, then comes the tricky part; the show itself! While maintaining control of all the technical aspects of the job, now they have to adjust the cameras to stay matched in terms of brightness, contrast, color balance, and hue - and do it all on the fly! Imagine a baseball game in an outdoor stadium; Eight cameras, a windy, sunny-yet-partly-cloudy day with half the stadium shadows changing as the day goes on. Add to this mess camera operators that are whipping shots around randomly and the VO has to decide whether the camera operator is just looking around or actually selling a shot to the director. Yikes! Or, in another scenario, what if one of the cameras you're using for an interview has been changed to a lit, studio look with tungsten lights and someone forgot to turn off the fluorescent lights in the room? How about this scenario; at your church, the front of house camera has a nice medium shot of the speaker but for some reason breaks away to cover something else and lands on an area that is unlit, dark, and is getting hit with some track lighting under the balcony? Well, it's up to the VO to adjust the camera so it looks correct and matched to the other cameras. Then they have to reset back to the standard shot. Thankfully, most of the new systems have preset scenes files that can be stored to help with instant recall to optimal settings. Thank goodness for technology and rehearsals too! Now everyone can look at these shots, adjust as needed, and the VO can dial in presets for these variables. Cameras also have auto-iris capabilities, but those are usually a real trap in extreme Of course I'm talking about live situations with poor lighting conditions here –real world stuff. Things are usually a lot different in studio or controlled situations for the VO thankfully. It's always better to set the camera settings for optimum levels and then adjust the lighting accordingly. In this work environment, the VO and the LD (lighting director) will work together (hopefully) to make great pictures. So, when you are out there on your camera and you feel like your camera picture is always dark and getting adjusted while your tally light is on; just try to remember that there might be a reason for it. It wouldn't hurt either to help your VO out by not using the last bit of your zoom lens. Try zooming out just a little from the tightest possible shot – even if your assignment is the tight shot. Here are some general zoom guidelines; the more you zoom in – the less amount of light is let in to the pickup device – chips, tubes, whatever. That means the VO has to open the iris up for a brighter picture. The more the iris is opened – the less depth of field there is. The less depth of field there is - the harder it is to get critical focus. Now, can we see why the VO is a vital part of the camera crew? Maybe we should all tell them "thanks for the good work!" at the end of the next show.
Television director Craig Kelly's career has included over 3,500 live shows, events and concerts in broadcasting, corporate television, events and sports production since 1977. He is also involved in ministry based events and concerts, and has produced or directed internationally distributed DVDs. With a background as an international free-lance cameraman, he has shot national and local level sports and corporate video for over twenty years. These days he is often involved in speaking, workshops, writing and talking about Television camera operators and directing. He recently launched the blog ZoomIT.cam at craigjkelly.wordpress. com for new camera operators and has a training DVD in the works. You can reach Craig at email@example.com
By Craig Kelly
The VO
What's a VO? It's not a vegetable drink, or a Voice Over, but it stands for Video Operator. Sometimes the position is called V1, or just Video. A true VO is like the 5th Beatle of the camera crew. The Video Operator is sometimes also called a Shader, which is an antiquated name based on some seriously old technology. It's such an old term in fact, that there are probably a few VO's that don't know what the term "Shader" even means. So where would you find a VO? If you follow the camera cable back to the truck or control room, it would end up in a rack of equipment that controls the cameras. The person sitting there controlling the camera settings is the VO. I was in London once, visiting a TV studio, and they called the VO's 'Racks' because that's exactly where you will find them - in the racks doing any number of strange engineering tasks. Anyway, these mad scientists of the TV world are usually the least understood operators on the crew. Everyone knows they are important to the show, but no one knows what they actually do UNLESS, the cameras look like a bad 8O's cable TV show. Then, everyone's a critic of the VO. Typically during a show, the VO - or the video team, never wants to be acknowledged by the producer or director, unless it's a compliment. They try to stay under the radar and are intent on making great pictures, leaving the production commands and egos to the rest of the crew. So, what does the VO do and why is it important to you as a cameraman? First of all, looking at this from a multi-camera perspective; the VO would know which cameras are to be placed where, how much and what type of cables are to be run, and which lenses best fit the shots. The VO often is the camera operator's first line of technical help if needed. They often know the details of the camera's operation and the VO and camera operator can communicate to each other independently from the rest of the crew so as to not bother the production. After making sure that the correct
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By Sandy Hoffman
One, Two, Three, Four
Why is your favorite band your favorite? Do they slam you head-on with a wall of sound like a runaway freight train? Could it be that it's the musical style you enjoy? Or do you, perhaps, prefer the more gentle approach of the humble honeybee, who buzzing contentedly on a crisp and sunny spring morning flits from flower to flower, lightly brushing each shimmering petal as the unfolding flora of the fresh new season waltzes into full bloo— Oh, for pete's sake! Enough of the schmaltzy nature poetry already! Could it be that your fave is your fave simply because they know how to treat a song right? (And should I be writing for Disney. . .?) So what does it mean to treat a song "right"? What does a simple, sample song arrangement look like? Appropriate tempo? Affirmative. Comfortable key? Correct again. How about using instrumentation which best supports the style and feel of the piece? "Yes" to style and "yes" to feel! Does this mean that in order to present worship tunes at their highest impact level, not everyone in the band (or "team" in the vernacular) would need to play or sing on every song? Yes, indeed. What we've done here then, is come back around to a "less is more" approach to song arrangement. (Please note that this often requires some serious dying-to-self.) "But," you retort, "isn't it much easier to just cheat by creating that 'wall of sound'? You know: have EVERYONE on the team play and sing ALL the time?" Sure it's easier, but just imagine the blessing the worshippers will receive through the tasteful execution of an inspired song arrangement. You know, it's often hard to see the garden when surrounded by the weeds! How about we remedy that impairment by pulling out the song arranger's hoe and thinning the musical garden 'til all that's left is what really needs to grow there? "And who," you ask, "decides that?" The courageous leader/song arranger, willing to be brutally honest. For maximum impact, each song in a worship set list must effectively communicate the mood and the message to and from the listener/ worshipper. It's the privilege of the song arranger to present the heart of the Holy Spirit while preserving the intention of the composer through the skilled, polished performance of the worship composition (whether sequentially, predetermined, or spontaneous). A wise gardener tolerates NO WEEDS! A song, therefore, wisely
(A Simple, Sample Song Arrangement!) Part 1
The foundation for this hypothetical tune has been laid. Now let's add depth, breadth and texture! Starting in the lower register, bring in the kick drum on the first and third beat of each bar. Next, mirror the kick drum with the bass arranged, will feature only the voices and guitar playing the root note of each chord instruments needed at any given musical in the progression. Allow two beats for each chord. Remember that the kick and moment. bass are "beat buddies." When it comes SIMPLE, SAMPLE SONG to contemporary arrangements, they ARRANGEMENT generally execute the same basic rhythm Beginning with some sonic information with only slight variations. designed to capture the interest of the Bass players, did you know that in a listener, a praise and worship song will chord with "something over something", build to sub-climax after sub-climax. It will like "A2/F#", your bass note is always then reach the ultimate peak and finish the note on the right of the diagonal? with an epilogue or "outro," allowing a In this case, for example, play an F# bit of time at the end for the worshipper to reflect on the ministry of the Spirit and the bass note while the chorded instruments are playing the A2 chord. gravity of the experience. ONE Now let's hypothetically pick a song. Fast or slow, it really doesn't matter. Begin the song with only a keyboard pad. Don't play a honkin' ten-finger chord that sounds like the London Philharmonic. Just play a simple, two-note string pad. Play both notes using only your right hand (we'll add the left hand a little later) and do not play the two notes close together like a "first and third interval" or a "third and fifth". In fact, don't harmonize at all—it's too complex for the moment. Instead, stretch those right hand fingers from lower note (thumb) to higher note (pinky), and play the notes "E" and "E" an octave apart. Make certain they're both well above middle "C." Mix with prayer and fade in gradually. (Can't you just feel the anticipation building already?) Now let's expand it a bit further by doubling the notes of the bass guitar by playing the same notes on the keyboard. (I told you we'd add the left hand later!) Keyboardists, be careful to not play too loudly. Remember, less is more, and you're doubling the bass notes for breadth and texture, not volume. Playing this progression together, you'll recognize the beginnings of our simple, sample song arrangement. Repeat again and again, and worship freely . . .
In the next issue of Worship Musician Magazine, Tips For Tight Teams, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR" Part II, we'll continue our discussion of Simple, Sample Song Arrangements. In section FOUR, we'll add the electric guitar, percussion and expanded drum kit, obligato instruments, and of course, the lead and background vocals. We'll explore the rise, fall and flow TWO of GREAT worship song arrangements What's next? Do you think the acoustic and connect our instrumental and vocal guitar might fit in this picture? A simple, dynamics to the different sections of an sample song arrangement in the key effectively arranged song of praise! In the of "E" could easily include a finger- meantime, I encourage you to begin to picked acoustic guitar playing this practice applying these foundational tips beautifully ascending/descending for worship song arrangements to your chord progression: E - A2 - E - C#m7 already established repertoire. You'll be - A2/F# - B4 - E - A2. Each chord in amazed at the increased effectiveness the progression would be played for and professionalism of YOUR TEAM as two beats. Remember, the keyboard is you do! just holding octave "E's" in the higher Weedin' it out! register. After our keyboard "E's" have had ample time to slowly fade in and Sandy establish themselves, begin to add the acoustic guitar. Cool thing: every one of the chords in this progression includes the Sandy Hoffman serves the note "E". Since "E" is a common tone to Grace Community Church them all, the keyboard octave "E's" we're in Santa Fe, NM where he holding will never clash with the chord is the Minister of Worship progression. This creates a wonderfully Arts. He is the author of unifying musical effect. I can't wait for you Beginning and Essential Worship Guitar to try this out for yourself! and Keyboard books, CDs and DVDs. www.EssentialWorship.com
Worship Get your church A rts the training they need Technology S ummit
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San Jose CA - July 15-16 2011 Ridgecrest NC - Sept 9-10 2011
Five individual worship arts and technology tracks allow for intensive hands on training in Audio, Musicianship, Vocal, Lighting and Media presentation. This year, we are offering expanded content in each track as well as a third day bootcamp available to those desiring a refresher in the basics of audio and media applications.
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By Greg Sisley
Powerful Worship Environments
What are the elements that create a great worship environment? While each venue has its own characteristics, there are some fundamental principles that apply to every location. First, your worship space should be personal, meaning it is a product of the people that worship there. It represents who you are, and it will communicate your values and personality to your audience. A personal space will also be inviting and familiar to your intended audience. The environment you create needs to be purposeful as well. The design, equipment, and training should be the result of answering questions like, "What do we want this space to do for us?" "What personality, mood, or message do we want to convey?" "What type of events do we want this room to host?" While there are many elements that guide creation of lighting system and stage design master plans, I encourage you to explore two concepts –creativity and reflectivity- that will help you and your team's setting to be personal and purposeful, and yielding a powerful worship environment. Creativity is more than just dreaming. It is literally tapping into the resource of gifts, abilities, and senses that our Creator placed in us. It is providing the permission and the parameters to promote artistic and inspired thoughts. It also requires being vulnerable and yielding to others so that their gifts can be given. Reflectivity is a simple enough concept, but very few actually employ it intentionally or leverage its potential. Basically, unless you want to shine lights in the eyes of the audience (think beams or blinders) almost all the 'light' on the stage is going to be reflected light. Simple front wash or spots reflect off the band or worship leader and to our eyes. Sometimes however, that same front light unintentionally reflects off objects like the back wall, resulting in a decreased perception of brightness and a lessening of focus on the intended object or person. Often too, available color wash is 'wasted' on the stage floor, because there is no LED fixture. The entire project involved about a dozen people for a day, and an investment of about $450. Not an extensive rig by any means, the entire stage light system consists of eight LED color washes, two LED white/ ambers/ and 4 movers. A slight haze in the air allows the color wash and the beams to reflect in dramatic ways. The application of an out-of-the-box idea, combined with some hard work, a few dollars, sensible application of lighting, and a dose of courage, yielded a highimpact and versatile worship space – one that is very appropriate to the team and body that worship there. Last month I invited you to take a critical look at your worship environment (not in a negative way – just be objective). Make a plan to do just that. You could take a couple hours on a Saturday and focus on your worship space. First and continually, pray. With intent and without agenda, give the continual process of worship object to reflect the light. Think these things through. Make it part of an intentional process. The accompanying photos demonstrate the application of creativity and reflectivity. What you are looking at is PVC pipe cut and stacked on chains and hung up as a rear border to the worship space. Each section is washed by one
environment renewal over to God. He knows what you struggle with and what frustrates you. He also knows the passions of your heart better than you do. Ask him to give you the direction needed to accomplish what He wants to see. You may also want to invite and solicit feedback from worshippers who are not on your team. List the strengths and weaknesses of your space as you know them today. Is it an inviting, personal room that you love to worship in and represents today's worshipping family? Perhaps the atmosphere is one that was personal to another era or group of people. If so, it needs to be updated. Then ask the question "Is the space purposeful?" Is the environment a result of an intentional plan, or a series of repairs and haphazard upgrades? Does it serve you, or own you? Do you feel free in your space, or does it confine and limit you? Does it enable you to create the environment that assists people in connecting with God? Add to the conversation the goals and dreams you have. Quite often, building a roadmap to the future can be part of the strategy to overcome all the problems currently being experienced. Teams like the one at FOCUS AVL can assist you by facilitating both the conversation and the design process. The confidence you will feel when partnering with experienced, passionate, and caring professionals is very empowering. Just as we try to do in these articles, we want to equip you with the skills and ongoing support to maximize your worship environment. Routinely ask yourself the questions about the personal and purposeful characteristics of your worship environment. Any good strategy applied to a fluid situation should be challenged and updated frequently. Employ all available creativity to help realize the vision. With God directing your thoughts, you will achieve your own powerful worship environment.
Greg Sisley is on the pastoral staff at Faith in Kent, WA, where he serves as executive pastor and production lead. He serves as a consultant to churches in the area of lighting design and production with Focus AVL. firstname.lastname@example.com
By Mitch Bohannon
The Great Commission Worship Musician: Musicianary
Have you ever considered taking what you've learned and implemented from this magazine, from attending CMS, and from your personal worship leading experience to share with a world in need? God has been much at work in my heart lately, preparing me to be a Musicianary! I had the opportunity this week to catch up with my friend, Mark Tedder, after he returned from a trip to the Far East. Mark and his wife, Carrie, founded a the ministry, "Worshiplanet" (www. worshiplanet.com) and have been able to travel the globe working with grass-roots Christian musicians, equipping them to grow and be more effective in music ministry. I'm not writing to spread the news about Mark Tedder. No. He would tell you that the bigger story, the story often overlooked, is that of small pockets of God Followers… especially those who meet in secret (shhh…). I wonder if we, the Worship Musician community, have become so caught up in our own "worship world" that we simply don't consider the world of underground worshipers? Have we stopped to wonder how they "do worship?" Who is it that equips and trains them with teaching like all of us receive as we look forward to this magazine every other month? Mark and his family moved to China in 2006 and planted themselves in the Beijing International Christian Fellowship (BICF)… a government-sanctioned church of 4000 strong. BICF represents over 70 nations, with half of them being Chinese nationals. In order to attend BICF, each person must hold a foreign passport. So, many of these Chinese nationals are folks who, for work or education reasons, left China for a time and came back home. Many of them found Christ while being away from home. In China, there are two main types of Christian churches… those registered with and monitored by the Chinese government, and those that exist "underground." (The BICF is a registered church.) Though monitored by the government, Mark commented that registered churches are following Jesus and have a heart after God. They are only restricted to be able to reach those who carry a foreign passport. It may surprise you, but it is believed that the underground church is made up of more than 60 million believers! We hear about it, it's often prayed in our churches… "Lord, thank you that we can gather to worship without persecution." But do we really comprehend? Last week, before the Tedders left Beijing, a church body of 200, which met in a hotel, was arrested. All members were taken into custody, personal property was confiscated, and they were being held in a school building. As of this writing, we do not know what has happened to these believers. Underground churches range in size from under 10 up to a couple of hundred. These are the only way for Chinese nationals who do not hold a passport to attend a worship gathering. Mark mentioned that some of these groups do not even use instruments for fear of being heard and arrested. They do all they can to keep quiet and secret. Other churches find less imminent threat, whether due to location or another factor, and they worship more freely using a variety of instruments including those native to China. Many of these groups are even writing their own worship music that speaks from their culture and experience. Here's the kicker… a kind of "wake up call" to the worship musician. We are all aware that China does not have open doors to the gospel of Christ. Mark, however, has found doors wide open to sing things that we are unable to speak! God used relationships that Mark and Carrie built to create opportunities play music in public schools, universities, Live web shows, and Live radio in China. Just an example, at a Beijing High School, Mark was unable to preach, but he was allowed to play and sing one and a half hours of worship music! It is true, when your way is committed to the Lord, He will direct the path and He will open doors we never even dreamed as possible!
answer that with a story. The way I first connected with Mark Tedder… several years ago, I ran across the Worshiplanet website (www.worshiplanet.com) and was very interested in the concept and mission. I wrote to Mark to inquire about how to be a part of the ministry. When I learned that Worshiplanet already had a set group of musicians involved, I just dropped the idea. It really took until this month for me to really catch the scope and reality that I need to be a good steward of what God has given me So, what do we do with this knowledge and find or create opportunities to share it. of the underground church? The "Sunday School" answer is to pray for them. That is Worship Musician's, if you are feeling the a beautiful and powerful thing, but… if you prompting of the Lord to reach these church say you'll pray, DO IT. In fact, stop reading groups in need, it is going to take much effort this article right now and pray for these and hard work. If you are reading this article, underground churches. Next, consider one I'd say you're a creative person (or you're of the foundational verses for Worshiplanet… married to one)… you need to use that creative Luke 12:48, From everyone who has been gift God gave you to find a way to share given much, much will be demanded; and your gift. Pray, seek the Lord. Talk with the from the one who has been entrusted with mission team at your church. Find a mission much, much more will be asked. As Worship trip being planned and gather a few more Musicians, we have been given much talent musicians and turn the trip into a building/ and we often spend time, effort, and money worship training mission trip… or a medical/ to improve in our craft. In as much as we worship training mission trip (or… you get the have received, Mark is encouraging us all to picture). Opportunities are everywhere. It's be good stewards of the gifts we have been time that we look up (away from our charts given and find an avenue to share that gift and guitar necks) and see God's people in need of some encouragement and training with those in great need. from us. So, what does that look like for you? I'll
The AmericAn SerieS. hAndcrAfTed
Bend, OregOn. PreSenTed
Continued from page 7
alright by me. In fact I have heard Rick sing it before and I never get tired of it. After the song he spoke about how God cares for us and about how important it is to have an attitude of forgiveness towards others. Next, Tommy Coombs spoke and played an old Love Song classic "Two Hands". The song talks about the early Jesus movement in the 70's. The lyrics speak of reaching out to accept the Lord with one hand and when you do - reach back for the hand of a friend to bring them along as well. Quite an effective evangelistic tune if I say so myself. I was touched. Tommy shared some more and then sang a song taken directly from Psalm 1.
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are in Christ and to walk in the confidence of that. The service ended with another prayer for the day right before we all had to get to our exhibit booths to prepare for the public. I like the fact that this little meeting all came about by folks who had a similar desire to gather together and create something that lifts up the name of the Lord and edifies those in attendance. I had read that morning before the service in Psalms about how David loved to go to the house of the Lord. Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple." I know not everyone can attend regular church services every week for various reasons. Work, health challenges, vacations, family constraints, and even disenfranchisement from a corporate church setting can keep people from attending what we are very used to and comfortable with as "church goers". But I'd like to think that we can all take a page out of Jimmy Wallace's playbook and take on the attitude of King David to creatively find a way to enter into His courts with praise and into His gates with thanksgiving – meeting with others around us, and even quite possibly bringing along a friend to join us as well. Just a few thoughts for you from 30,000 feet… thanks for listening. Bruce & Judy
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Chrissy Shefts
The Passion of Playing
I looked behind me and there was someone I knew sitting there who was not a churchgoer. I smiled outside at this person and smiled inwardly as well. I was grateful to God that my friend was there, experiencing this genuine display of Christian faith unfolding in front of us all.
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Jimmy Wallace picked up on the theme of forgiveness and shared a few real-life circumstances that were going on in his life, even that weekend at the show between two of his exhibitors. He asked everyone to bow their heads and think about who each one of us might need to forgive, and then he reminded us that often times we need to extend forgiveness to ourselves – a poignant word again. Then he prayed over us. Last up was JD (owner of Warrior Guitars). He gave an exhortation to remind us who we
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By Tom Kraeuter
Say What
Okay, it's time for a heart to heart talk. I know that this is an embarrassing subject and that most worship leaders refuse to talk about it. However, it really needs to be discussed. It is achieving epidemic proportions and something absolutely must be done. make things right, I text her a little while later and say, "I'm sorry. I still love you." That might earn me a measure of her forgiveness, right? But what if, instead, my text read like this, "I'm sorry I still love you." That might earn me several nights on the couch. Or worse. Yet I used For many people, this subject is sort exactly the same words. Punctuation, of like a loud noise outside in the middle though, made all the difference. of the night. They have some vague Let's try one more example, and then idea that there might be something I'll offer a practical solution. This is a wrong, but they're not entirely sure. letter I found recently on the internet, Worse, they are certainly unsure what, written by Jane to John. There are if anything, should be done about it. two different versions of the letter and Now you might be thinking that we both use exactly the same words. The should be talking about this in a private punctuation, though, is very different. setting. The pages of a magazine are a bit too much of a public forum. After all, shouldn't we have some measure of discretion? But, let's be honest. If I don't talk with you about this, who will? So get ready. I'm going to try to say this very gently so as not to scare off the more fainthearted. Because of this you'll need to listen carefully. Ready? The subject is punctuation. Specifically, I'm talking about punctuation in the lyrics projected for worship. There, I said it. John, I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy -- will you let me be yours?
of punctuation or incorrect punctuation can change the meaning. And not just a little, either. Those two letters have drastically different meanings, even though the words are exactly the same. It is the punctuation that made such a radical difference. So what am I telling you? Simple. Stop projecting lyrics with no punctuation or incorrect punctuation. Of course, you might argue, "But Tom, I'm not a grammar expert. I don't think I can do it." Not a problem. I've got a practical solution for you. I can just about guarantee that if your congregation has more than ten people, there is someone out there— likely several someones—who find it very irksome when the songs are projected with little or no punctuation. To someone like this, those missing commas, periods, exclamation points and question marks are closely akin to fingernails scraping across a chalkboard. It's not just mildly irritating; they want to scream when they see it. Find that person (or those people) and enlist his/her (their) help. Ask them to go through your songs (they'll need access to whatever projection software you use) and fix the songs. They don't need to go through all twelve hundred of your songs (or however many you have) in one afternoon. Let them work at their own pace. Some progress is better than none. The person helping will feel fulfilled because they will have contributed something of real value from their expertise. That's really the way the Body of Christ is supposed to work, isn't it? Eventually, all the songs will be done. Then you'll be sure the correct meaning is coming across, and the grammar aficionados will be happy. And, best of all, you and I won't need to have another embarrassing talk like this.
When it comes to the topic of worship, Tom Kraeuter is one of the most respected teachers in the body of Christ today. His Worship Seminars are held all across North America. For more information on Tom Kraeuter, his books or his Worship Seminars, contact Training Resources, 65 Shepherd's Way, Hillsboro, MO 63050, 636-789-4522, firstname.lastname@example.com, or www.WorshipSeminar.com
It is very common today for lyrics to be projected with little or no punctuation. Jane This isn't just a little local problem. I travel and minister in churches all Now let's try that same letter again across North America, and I see it with different punctuation. everywhere. John, Of course it's possible that you're thinking, "Huh? What's the big deal?" I want a man who And if you are thinking that, then you're knows what love is. All one of the primary people for whom I about you are generous, wrote this article. kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Let's start with some basics. Admit to being useless Punctuation matters. Don't think so? Try and inferior. You have these three sentences: ruined me. For other "I love you." men, I yearn. For you, "I love you!" I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're "I love you?" apart, I can be forever Exactly the same words but the happy. Will you let me punctuation changes the meaning be? dramatically, doesn't it? Yours, Jane Or how about this: Suppose I really mess up and say something stupid to my wife. (This is only a hypothetical I hope that by now you recognize scenario, mind you.) So, in an effort to the importance of punctuation. A lack
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