Christian Musician Magazine - Jan/Feb 2015

Improving Musicianship | Inspiring Talent

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire.

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THE

DIGITAL AGE

In January of 2012, the David Crowder Band ended their 12-year run as one of the Christian music industry’s most successful groups. Former DCB guitarists Mark Waldrop and Jack Parker, drummer B-Wack, and bassist Mike D went on to start a new musical venture called The Digital Age. Their debut album, Evening : Morning, was released to rave reviews in 2013. Recently, Sweetwater’s Jeff Barnett caught up with Mark Waldrop.

Can you give us a little history and recap what has happened since the last David Crowder Band show?

For those who don’t know what the David Crowder Band was, we started as a little worship team from University Baptist Church (UBC) in Waco, TX, a church that David Crowder founded with Chris Seay in the mid-’90s. We toured for about 12 years. Then in 2010, David transitioned from Waco to Atlanta, and the rest of us really wanted to stay in Waco and stay involved with UBC. So The Digital Age is essentially that. We’re still involved with UBC, and we’re still writing the same genre of music: upbeat, programming-heavy “fun worship,” as we call it. The Digital Age has been a band for a little over two years, which is crazy to say because it still seems so new.

We released a live EP called Rehearsals in 2012. We were just rehearsing for church, tracked it, and released it as an EP. And in 2013, we put out a record called Evening : Morning and followed that with a fall tour.

Evening : Morning doesn’t sound like just another DCB album, though. Can you describe the sound of The Digital Age? When you’re in a band and have an established sound and way of doing things, then you start a new band, you get to pick and choose what you liked about what you’ve been doing. But you also have a really natural moment to question what you want to do differently. With The Digital Age, we’re still writing songs for the same congregation. UBC is about 70% college students, so we tend to sound like what college kids are listening to.

We keep a close pulse on that.

The Digital Age’s latest album, Evening : Morning, is available now.

To find out more, go to thedigitalagemusic.com!

David led from an acoustic guitar, and he would be a hard person to replace. One of the very first things we all agreed on was that we shouldn’t attempt to replace him. I usually play an electric, so now I’m leading on electric, and that fundamentally changes the sound of things.

You mentioned your studio in Waco. What made you decide to open a studio?

When David moved to Atlanta, we effectively lost our recording and rehearsal space. We found this place in downtown Waco that was an old dirty boxing gym, and we built a studio in it. We spent three months renovating it. The boxing ring was where our control room is now. It was designed by B-Wack, and it’s been really great for us.

We’re very programming-heavy, and we use a lot of synths onstage. We’re multitasking a lot more, too. As for what we sound like, that changes from one song to the next. All of us listen to different genres of music, so, “What do we want this to sound like?” is a conversation we have with every song. We don’t like to be the same on every song and on every album, so the sound of The Digital Age from album 1 to album 2 could be completely different.

We practice and rehearse there, and we also have bands come in and we record them. It’s an extension of our ministry. It’s been great for us to be able to help new worship bands.

Walk me through your creative process in the studio.

We all have our own mini Pro Tools studios at home, and we track these ideas as they come. Sometimes they’re full songs, sometimes just pieces. When we each have a handful of ideas, we all get together in our studio. All of these ideas start coming together, and we start to figure out how we are playing things as a band. We’ll either sit around the computer and start programming it out or head into the tracking room and start recording live parts. We all write, but we realize not all of us have the same strengths. I think one of our collective strengths is that we keep a really loose attachment to our ideas, and we see that they are all just pieces to a larger puzzle.

You still lead worship at UBC? We’re still very involved at UBC. When we were in the construction phase on our studio, we took a break from leading and just went to church without leading worship for the first time in a decade. Those three months were amazing; it was something we took for granted, and we didn’t realize how important it was. Now, we’re one of several worship bands at UBC. Our goal is to play there around once a month, depending on our tour schedule.

What gear do you use in your studio?

We are running Pro Tools HDX in our main control room. We use a lot of API preamps and the PreSonus ADL600. We use an LA2A compressor and a lot of gear that B-Wack made himself. Our main vocal mic is the Blue Bottle — so much character and so easy to change sound. For guitars, we use a mix of Shure SM57, Sennheiser e906, and Royer R121 mics.

For bass, we use the Shure SM7B microphone. On drums, we mostly use the same Sennheiser Evolution series dynamic mics that we use live. We use a Yamaha SubKick on kick drum, and a Sennheiser MD421 on snare.

We’re really into soft synths. We use Native Instruments Komplete. We also use Native Instruments Maschine heavily for programming. We lean a lot on Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere for pads. We use Reason a lot for piano sounds and sequencing.

We also have a lot of vintage synths.

How do you translate an album like Evening : Morning to something that works live?

A lot of it is decisions made in production. We use a lot of loops live, but one of our rules is that we never put anything in the loops that can be played live — no vocals or guitar parts. That makes it more challenging in a live setting. So when we record, we have to be very intentional with things like guitar parts and not put anything on the record that we can’t re-create live.

What software do you use onstage?

Ableton Live. On Mike D’s keyboard rig, he runs Live and Reason. He has a slew of Korg Nanokeys in addition to an M-Audio MIDI controller, and some of the keys are assigned to things such as mutes and changing different values instead of triggering notes. We also run some vocals through Live for effects.

What kinds of technical challenges do you see worship leaders facing today?

For us, the coolest thing you can do is create your own loops. I think when a lot of people see something that is loop heavy, they think that it doesn’t fit into the way they do music. Or they think they can’t do the songs because they don’t have the technical know-how to pull it off. It’s possible to do it. You can get a copy of Ableton Live and a MIDI controller for next to nothing and make incredible sounds with it. It’s been really cool for us to travel around and see these churches start to learn and incorporate the technical stuff into the church services. We love it when churches take one of our songs, create their own loops for it, and make it their own.

blisskatherine.com

You guys have had a very long relationship with Sweetwater. Why is that?

Relationship says it all. We love that if we have questions about gear, we can call and ask. We love that if there is something that piques your interest, we’ll get a phone call to tell us about it. The prices are always competitive, and as far as customer service goes, it’s always great. If anything is ever wrong, it’s always taken care of quickly. We travel a lot. If something isn’t working, getting a replacement quickly and easily is really important. It’s great to be able to get things fixed or questions answered without hassle. We really love the personalized nature of what Sweetwater does. You’re always great about asking what we need the gear to do. Even with a band like us, it’s so good to have somebody showing us how the gear we use can help us be better at doing what we do.

Photos by: Bliss Katherine

You can find out more about The Digital Age at thedigitalagemusic.com.

Freelance live sound engineer

Daniel Ellis

FOH engineer for The Digital Age How long have you been working with The Digital Age? The first tour I did with them was as the David Crowder Band, during the Remedy Club tour in 2007.

I was with DCB for five years. Then, when they started The Digital Age, I mixed their very first show and I did their first tour, as well.

What gear do you use with them onstage?

We use mostly Sennheiser mics, on just about everything. Mostly the Evolution series. One thing I don’t think I’ve seen anybody else do is that we use a Sennheiser MD441 on B-Wack’s snare. It works great and gives us a fatter sound than other mics I’ve tried.

On vocals, Mark and Jack both use a TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch to add reverb and delay to their voices before they ever get to me. That’s cool; it makes my job easier.

At front of house, I run a Behringer X32. We use the S16 digital snake system, as well. That console is amazing. It’s so small and light — I can set it up by myself if I need to. When we started the tour, I was thinking, “There has got to be a reason this thing is so inexpensive, and I’m going to find out why.”

I still don’t know why. It’s a great console. I love it.

The guys use Sennheiser 300 series in-ear monitors, and they mix them themselves using Behringer’s X32-Q app for iPhone. That’s been amazing. It’s so much easier to not have to worry about doing FOH and monitors at the same time, and we don’t have to have a monitor engineer.

Are there any unique challenges working with The Digital Age? Since they run all those effects on the stage, what I get is a wet vocal. When we started out, sometimes it was way too wet, and we didn’t really have enough clarity in the FOH mix in the vocals. So we had to work on getting those reverb levels down and make sure that they trusted me to add more reverb at the console if it was needed.

You and The Digital Age have been very loyal Sweetwater customers for years. Why is that?

Because of the relationship. Because of you! Seriously, it’s because of you. We don’t just call a 1-800 number and get some random guy; we get the same guy. And the candy. You send candy with everything we buy. I never share it.

From left to right: BWack, Mike D, Mark Waldrop, and Jack Parker

!

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Features Nothing Beats That!

It was 20 years ago that I was sitting in church one Sunday and a visiting pastor was speaking and asked the congregation, “What is your dream? If there is one thing in your life that you want to do… what is it?” I had been thinking about a magazine for Christian musicians that was current, that would be hip and that would have product reviews, record reviews and interview Christian artists to give them a platform to speak from. It would be a magazine that would teach musicianship – helping players get better. Then the Pastor asked us all to close our eyes and think about what that dream was. I closed my eyes and was getting excited thinking about the possibilities of actually having a magazine like that.

The next thing the pastor did caught me off guard and was the catalyst for launching this magazine. He said, “I want you to think about what that first step is for you to follow your dream. What is that very first step to get you started? And when you have realized what that first step is… go and do it!” Wow! Now I knew that I had to go out and swing the bat; to try and take that very next step. I thank the Lord that I responded to that challenge. As I look back over the last 20 years, I realize now that I have been totally blessed from that effort.

Christian Musician has never been a full time job for me. Due to the nature of the fact that it’s a vertical niche magazine with a specific market, it didn’t quite bring in the full income I needed to support my family.

It was and is, however, profitable and has helped to support the family all these years. It has also given me the experience and confidence to trust God in other ventures. Twelve years later we started our sister publication, Worship Musician! Magazine. Just last year, we started our mainstream magazine Collectible Guitar – Then & Now. Publishing three magazines has been a healthy challenge for me, but I am starting to build in more structure and get some assistance in some areas where I can sure use it. All of our writers for the three publications are either independent contractors or volunteers. The design elements, ad sales director, proofer and our own superb customer service manager, Brian Felix, are all independent contractors. After 20 years, I am the only employee… crazy, huh? When you pick up some magazines and in their masthead, you will see a long list of all the folks that work for them… But the nature of a vertical niche market magazine is to be a lean-mean-publishing-machine.

My wife, Judy, and our dog, Winston, are a constant support to me as I work out of the home office. I love the commute in the morning as I walk down the hall and turn right to enter my office. I love the job that I have, even though I wear a lot of different hats! I haven’t been bored in my job for as long as I can remember. I agree with the scriptures when it says that it is a gift from the Lord when you enjoy your work. Amen to that!

Improving Musicianship | Inspiring Talent

I have had the privilege of having cover stories with both mainstream and Christian market artists that I admire. 20

Product Review

Lâg Tramontane T300DCE Guitar MAY/JUN 2011 Volume 16, Issue 3 05

Continued on page 8.

Phil Keaggy

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Turning 60...

Better Than Ever Selective Hearing

Blessid Union of Souls • Jenny and Tyler • Brandon Bee Stryper • Mavis Staples • Kemper Crabb • Eisley

Philmont • Songwriting with Dwayne Larring

10 Bassic Communication

by Norm Stockton Fun Bass Grooves (Part 1) 12 Guitar Workshop

by John Standefer Melodic Soloing (Vol 1) 14 Drumming Dynamics

by David Owens One Rhythm, Countless Possibilities 16 Vocal Coach’s Corner

by Roger Beale The Ups and Downs of Singing 18 Show Us Your Groove

by Rick Cua Just For You

CONTENTS 40 The Musician’s Doc

by Tim Jameson, D.C., M.Div My Hand Tingling is Driving Me Nuts!

41 Guitar From A 2 Z

by Roger Zimish Effects Pedal Chain 42 Rehearsing For The Reunion

by Bryan Duncan 45 Good, Better, Best Sweat It to Get It!

by Sandy Hoffman 46 CODA The Journey of Fear and Faith

by Tommy Coomes

24 Selective Hearing

by Shawn McLaughlin Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil Charlie Peacock Ginny Owens Andrew Peterson The Gray Havens 30 Volume Pedals: What you don’t know just might hurt you!

by Larry Dill 32 Product Review

by Michael Hodge Slate Pro Audio Raven MTi Ver. 2.0

Interview

36 The Indie Mechanics

by Keith Mohr & Sue Ross-Mohr The Greatest Tour on Earth 20 Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire Skillet 38 Relationships: Up, Down and

by Steven Douglas Losey Sideways

by Tom Jackson

Cover Photo: Tim Tronckoe Inset Photo: Andrew Fore

4227 S. Meridian, Suite C PMB #275, Puyallup Washington 98373 Phone: 253.445.1973 Fax: 253.655.5001 Email: bruce@christianmusician.com Website: www.christianmusician.com Editor & President: Bruce Adolph VP/Office Manager: Judy Adolph, judy@christianmusician.com Customer Service: Brian Felix, brian@christianmusician.com Street Team: Mike Adolph, Jesse Hill & Winston Design & Layout: Matt Kees Director of Advertising: Steve Sattler, steve@creativesalesresource.com 626-836-3106 Published by the Adolph Agency Inc.

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

JAN/FEB 2015

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years works out to over 115 cover stories (the first year and a ½ we were a quarterly magazine). Cover interviews have ranged from Phil Keaggy on our first cover to Charlie Daniels, from Michael W. Smith to Jonny Lang, Abraham Laboriel to Brian Welch, Third Day to David Ellefson and from the Newsboys to our current cover of Skillet.

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If I put into practice all of the musical knowledge and wisdom that has been shared on these pages throughout the years, and if I had practiced my own guitar as much as I should have, learning from all of the lessons that have been offered... well, I would be a much better player by now. Ha! The cool thing is, however, that even though I work a lot of hours every week with the magazines, guitar shows and Christian Musician Summit conferences, I still get a kick out of playing my guitar several nights a week. I may only have one fan, but Judy is the best fan I could ask for. Winston just sort of tolerates my playing... he is not an encouraging beacon for it – that’s for sure.

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Product Reviews: Bedell MBCE-28-G Acoustic Guitar

Product Review

Product Review

Eastwood Airline Tuxedo Guitar

Line6 StageSource

Visual Sound’s Garage Tone Series Pedals

NOV/DEC 2011 Volume 16, Issue 6

Hawk Nelson

…wants to take over the world!

JULY/AUG 2010 Volume 15, Issue 4

Selective

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Product Rev

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Product Review

Universal

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SEP/OCT 2012 Imp Volume 17, Issue 5

Selective Hearing Talent ship | Inspiring MusicianNone roving Sixpence the Richer Andrew Peterson

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Blues Counsel w/ Phil Keaggy • Jon Gibson House of Heroes • Rhett Walker Band

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Phil Keaggy

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JAN/FEB 2015

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We could not have made it this far without our faithful subscribers. You are a part of what we’re all about. The same goes for our advertisers. Without you (and you know who you are) we wouldn’t have the money to pay the printer. I am still blown away when I walk into a Guitar Center store and see both Christian Musician and Collectible Guitar in the magazine racks. There they are, in any city I visit, positioned right next to the other well known music magazines. Man, that is so amazing to me – thank you, Lord!

8

icians hip |

Talent

We have had some of the same writers for over 15 years. Still eager to contribute alongside other writers that we’ve added to the roster just this past year. I continue to be grateful that such talented folks are willing to give of themselves and help teach you what you want to know.

And lastly, I am still taken aback by the power of music in our lives. More importantly, I’m deeply moved when I hear a well written song that is presented with excellent musicianship, and is interwoven with the life giving words of truth that come from the Gospel itself... nothing beats that!

Impr ovin

Improving Musicianship | Inspiring Talent

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Burlap to Cashmere • Dominic Balli • Blindside Royal Tailor • Abandon • Josh Garrels • Ginny Owens

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Fun Bass Grooves (Part 1) I’m excited to launch into another series on some element of interest (whether rhythmic, harmonic or melodic) that I feel can serve as a our journey through Bassdom!

I struggled a bit with what to call it. “Note- creative jumping-off point for your own bass worthy Grooves I Played with Lincoln Brew- lines.

very well have been one of those times. However, Linc chose to play around with the bass figure immediately before and after beat 3, letting the kick drum hit that beat by itself. ster” made me briefly gag from the preten- As I alluded to above, Lincoln himself played The resulting groove has the basic supportive tious sound of it—plus I quickly discovered this first example on the verse sections of the feel of a steady stream of 8th notes while also (see below!) that some of the examples were song “God You Reign” from his Today Is The incorporating a bit of syncopation without being over the top.

Day project (Integrity). of bass lines Lincoln played himself! :^) Suffice it to say that this series will unpack As a side note, I live about an hour’s flight As you can hear from the recorded version, some of the bass lines that ended up finding south of Linc, so he would often track bass the overall phrasing of the part is rather muttheir way into my time playing with Lincoln, parts in my absence when demoing up new ed… not completely staccato, but the fretting whether on recordings or in the live environ- tunes or experimenting with different grove hand fingers are lightly resting on the strings ment. I’m a firm believer in evaluating musical ideas. Occasionally, the demo version cap- to give the notes a muffled quality that conconcepts in this manner to assimilate an idea tured just the right feel and was kept, this is tributes to the mood and feel. into my palette or “bag of tricks” so it can then one of those occasions (I did play bass on the be tweaked and applied in a different con- bridge section which we’ll explore next time). text or setting. The examples I’ll be sharing Anyway, there are times that a song is well with you range from very simple to somewhat served by playing 8th notes, and this could technically involved, but will all incorporate

Bassic Communication Fun Bass Grooves (Part 1) Verse Groove from "God You Reign"

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Happy woodshedding and see you next time!

Lincoln Brewster/Mia Fieldes "Today Is The Day" CD (Integrity Music)

D

E. Bass

Once you have this groove under your fingers, I encourage you to experiment with subtle ways that you can mix things up and possibly introduce a different feel or momentum in your own 8th note rock grooves… the operative word being subtle. :^)

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Norm Stockton is a bassist/ clinician/solo artist based in Orange County, CA. Following his long tenure as bassist with Lincoln Brewster, Norm has been focused on equipping bassists around the world through his instructional site (www.ArtOfGroove.com), as well as freelancing (including tour dates with Bobby Kimball, original lead singer of Toto, and Bill Champlin from Chicago).

Look for his book, The Worship (Cont. Sim.) Bass Book, published by Hal Leonard. Also visit Norm at www. normstockton.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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. . ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ ≈ œ œ. œ œ

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Melodic Soloing (Vol 1) Listen, I know that when you get into playing single note ‘lead solos’ there are many things to consider and a lot of opinions on how it works. Almost all teachers will tell you to practice your Scales to start with. Then, of course, a college class or two in Composition and/or Music Theory would be nice too, right?

But here’s the deal. If you hum any tune to me I can play it on the guitar immediately - and I can ad-lib solos all night long. However, quite truthfully, I didn’t really learn it by practicing scales or getting deep into brainiac thoughts I gathered from higher learning. I did it by developing my ear, learning to hear intervals, and using my imagination. Since everyone else weighs in on how to solo, I thought I’d give you my 2 cents too, for what it’s worth.

Fist of all, melodies are indeed made up of scales, generally the Major scale of the key you’re playing in. The trouble is though that, when you practice the tar out of your scales, your solos simply sound like scales.

Scales are a stepping stone alright, but I feel like too much emphasis on them takes away from creative thought and artistic endeavor.

You’re just relying on patterns – which sound like patterns! If you want your solos and fills to sound musical, melodic and soulful, you need to break away from that sort of patternistic thinking.

I look at this as a TWO-STAGE PROCESS. The first thing you need to do is to (#1) learn how play the melody to any tune you hear – by ear. Then you need to (#2) develop the skill to make up your own tunes to a set chord progression - and learn to play them by ear

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also. If you define what an ad-lib solo is, it’s simply a new melody put to the same chords as the official melody. So, if you learn how to flush out melodies by ear and then learn how to make up a new melody and play it too, you’ve invented an ad-lib solo. Better yet, you had to use your imagination, your taste, and a good dose of trial and error to develop the solo instead of just reaching for a known pattern that would suffice. What you’ll end up with by doing it the new way is called artistic expression. The more you do this, the better you get. You’ll get faster at the process as well, eventually coming to the point where you can do it all in real time. This means that as your solo approaches in a tune, you’ll be able to think of what you’d like to hear and translate it into your hands in time to play it as you imagine it. It’s an exuberant feeling to have good ideas and to be able to play them immediately. This way you soar through your solos, living them out in real time, instead of just aping patternistic junk that shows no mature musicianship. Disney would have called this ‘imagineering’.

So, you ask, how in the world do I actually do this? Well, the concept is actually pretty simple. It takes some time, but the idea behind it is easy to grasp. In this issue, we’ll start developing STAGE 1. First, you should pick a simple song - maybe a folk tune, an older praise chorus, a Christmas carol or campfire tune – you get the idea. Let’s start with ‘Silent Night’, why don’t we? To set the stage, we’ll place the song in the key of C. The first note of the melody will be the open G

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string. Strum a C chord to get your bearings and then pick the open G note. Sing the first ‘Si – lent Night’ phrase beginning on the G note. Now try and play it on the guitar. After the G note, the melody goes up and then back to the same note as you started on. How far does it sound like it went up? Experiment until you have those first 3 notes. Now it goes down for the word ‘Night’. Hmm. Look around until you find that note. Then, happily, the next ‘Ho – ly Night’ phrase is identical to the first phrase. Keep experimenting your way through the tune until you can play the whole thing. If you know the C Major scale in 1st position, you’ll see that all of the melody notes are C Major scale degrees. Now try ‘I Love You Lord’. We’ll stay in the key of C, and again the starting note is the open G string.

One more. Let’s try ‘Yankee Doodle’, also in the key of C, but starting on the C note on the 2nd string, 1st fret. Take your time with each tune. No hurry. You’ll get your feet wet on ear playing by the next issue, then we’ll carry onward and upward! - JS

Check out John’s 5-DVD set ‘Praise Guitar Lessons’ at the ‘store’ page at www.johnstandefer.com. You get 52 video lessons similar to these CM articles, but you can see and hear the lessons! Includes charts. Also consider private lessons with John via Skype!

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Chris Tomlin and his 1999 Collings OM 42 SB

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One Rhythm, Countless Possibilities Let’s take one rhythm and see how many grooves we can create using it. The rhythm I’m using here is a simple three/two clave. All these patterns are played using two hands on the high hat playing the snare with the right or left hand always keeping alternate sticking (right, left, right, left).

Once you have mastered these grooves go back and play all the snare and bass drum parts with the alternate high hat parts using just one hand for the high hat. Play the accents using the shank of the stick and the non-accented notes with the tip of the stick.

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You can come up with more high hat parts David freelances in and to play over the snare and bass drum patterns around Los Angeles and is creating dozens more possibilities. currently playing for Franklin Now you can start with your own rhythm and develop it the same way. It’s amazing how endless the possibilities are for grooves.

Enjoy!

David

Graham events worldwide.

He has played with Fernando Ortega, Sara Groves, Bebo Norman, Tommy Walker, Lincoln Brewster, Thomas Dolby, The Righteous Brothers and Peter White as well as spending 2 plus years playing The Lion King at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. He is also an adjunct professor at Biola and Hope International Universities. His home church is Plymouth Congregational in Whittier, CA. Feel free to contact him at DavidOwensDrums.com.

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Alternate High Hat Parts

>>>> >>>> >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> ° ¢™™ ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ ™™ ° ¢ü† ™™ ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ ™™ ° ¢ü† ™™ ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ ™™ ° ¢ü† ™™ ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ ™™ ü† 14

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believe

The Ups and Downs of Singing As a person lives his life, broadens his horizons, and in general stockpiles knowledge and experience, that person begins to notice certain things. These things are what is called truth. For example, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If all else fails, read the instructions. Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first (like trying to write this article). But the all time best is Murphy’s law, if anything can go wrong, it will.

Now at this point you may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with singing?” Well, in observing singers over the years there are certain “truths” that one cannot deny. For example if you sing with excessive tension you will sound really, really bad. Yes, you can frame that and hang it on the wall.

We will be discussing one of the biggest truths about singing in the following paragraphs. If you read this article, understand it, and apply the following truth to your vocal performance, you will sound and communicate better. Keep in mind that communicating better is the obvious goal when studying singing.

This is the truth! If you sing with your larynx in a position other than level and flexible you will sound bad. Faithful readers this is a huge principle and is not to be overlooked. If you ignore it you will be putting your voice in great peril.

At this point many of you are thinking I don’t even know what he is talking about. Let me enlighten you. For a vocal drill, take your index finger and place it on your Adam’s apple. What you are feeling is the thyroid cartilage that protects the vocal folds. Now what I want you to do is this, say “UH” on a low pitch. You will immediately feel the larynx move downward. Don’t be grossed out here, we’re just starting to have fun.

Now to get it to do the opposite, say the vowel “EE” (as in me) on a high pitch. You will immediately feel the mechanism move upward and almost disappear. Both of these extremes are very bad for your vocal health and well being.

I just know there is someone somewhere reading this article thinking, “Well what does this have to do with my Sunday morning praise team?” It has a lot to do with how the singers sound and how the congregation perceives that sound. If you use a compressed downward directed larynx, you will sound like a bad classical singer. If you use an extreme high larynx posi-

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tion, you will sound like the worst country singer just will not do. you have ever heard. Both of these positions are Poor Johnny! By the time he informs both of not conducive to an effective worship presentathese singers that he can’t use them, there is a tion. crowd forming outside his office door yelling, Knowledge of laryngeal position will help “Give us Barabbas”. Pray for Johnny and your those of you who are responsible for selecting worship pastor. This is their life and these stosingers for praise teams. I hope all of you are ries really happen. You just have to laugh. The auditioning praise team members because not unfortunate thing is the overly trained soprano all singers need to be on a praise team. For ex- paid a lot of money to sound like that and now ample, Johnny Carooner, the intrepid music pas- nobody wants to hear her sing. That’s really sad. tor at Bug Tussle Community Church, is stopped After reading this you probably are saying to in the hallway, after a very fulfilling worship seryourself, “OK, what do I do to sing with a correct vice, by an excited church member. The church laryngeal position.” What you first need to do is member has just found out that soprano Corto work on eliminating unnecessary tension. The nelia Murleen Imbimbo (they always have three places to look for are the jaws, tongue, neck and names), a graduate of the University of Northshoulders. They are usually the culprits and are ern South Dakota, recently started attending the very visible. Try some vocal exercises that are church and wants to be on the praise team. Corsimple and sing them in a medium volume withnelia really thinks Johnny needs her help. Johnout strain and don’t go to the high pitches. Stay ny trying to hide his bodily recoil, gulps, and in a medium to low range. Be diligent in your says with a fearful squeaky voice, “Well isn’t that practice and then apply your new skills to your nice”. You know and I know that Johnny is now songs. Always pay attention to your breathing painted into a corner and must audition Cornetechnique. Remember that you must use good lia. When he finally gets around to it she sounds posture first and foremost. If you need further way too classical. He cannot possibly place her assistance with breathing for singing, check my on the team. There are many and varied reasons prior articles Breathing 101 and Breathing 102. for her classical sound. But the biggest reason is that she was taught to sing with an imposed lowered larynx. Readers, this will not do!

I hope this discussion was enlightening and en-

This is a technique that many classical teachers joyable. It was for me! Now go sing well! teach. You don’t speak with a depressed larynx why would you want to sing with one. The reRoger Beale has been writing sulting sound of your speaking voice would not the Vocal Coach’s Corner for be very appealing. fifteen years. He is one of the nation’s foremost vocal The week after Johnny had to say no to Corcoaches. He presently works nelia, a different, but equally, excited church with professional singers in all member makes a beeline to him after another areas of musical performance. glorious worship experience. This person is His teaching and coaching excited because Billy RayBob is now attending facility, The Voice House, is the church and knows Johnny needs him on involved in the management the praise team. Johnny now has to audition and care of the professional voice. Many of his Billy RayBob who has sung in a country gospel, students have won prestigious vocal competitions western swing band for fifteen years. After putand scholarships. In addition, he has worked with ting it off for as long as he could Johnny finally Grammy and Dove award winners and nominees. auditions him. You guessed it, he sounded way He also offers vocal clinics and seminars, as well as too country. Once again he cannot put Billy on assistance in recording sessions. Roger is an adjunct the team. The reason Billy sounds too country is professor in the Fine Arts department at Point that he uses a laryngeal position that is too high. University (formerly Atlanta Christian College), Country singers usually don’t take voice lessons, website: www.point.edu. Roger can be contacted that is why the high position abounds within that at: The Voice House, 1029 Peachtree Parkway, Suite style. Once again for Johnny’s worship team it 276, Peachtree City, GA 30269, (404) 822-5097, e-mail: voicehouse@mindspring.com.

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Just For You

by Rick Cua

One of the great joys of being human is participating in that beautiful moment of mutual connection that a shared experience can bring. When it comes to music, for example, I always want to bring someone into my world when I’m listening to something I love in hopes of achieving just that. But, what I’m really hoping for is for them to get the exact great feeling that I get when I listen to the music that moves me. Not just come close but feel it just like I do. Truth is... every listener has many factors at play when they listen.

Where they were when they first discovered that song, who they were with, what was going on in their life, etc. Now and then we have people in our lives with musical tastes and experiences that wonderfully collide with ours.

That’s like reliving any other great experience with a friend. But more often what moves us may not move someone else, at least in the same way.

I can remember being with several other couples, all relaxing together, after a great meal. We were enjoying the evening with as close to a perfect gathering of friends as you could get. We had our iPads out and took turns being DJ. Honestly there wasn’t a bad song in the bunch, they were all songs that represented the best times of our lives. So now it was my turn to share and I hit play on one of my absolute favorite songs. You know, one of a handful that lit you up with lyrics and a melody that went to the very core of your being. The one that spoke loudest to everything you believed in, that made you cry happy tears and filled you with joy. The one that made you want to share it with the whole world knowing that surely they too would relate and you would have kindred spirits surrounding you smiling and nodding their affirmation at each verse and chorus.

conversation with one of the listeners totally derailing my moment of euphoric acceptance and connection. We didn’t even get through the chorus! One by one this new conversation began wooing people away from my thoughtful song selection leaving me alone with my song and my disappointment.

What did I expect? My friends to actually take on my exact life experience and thoughts related to that tune? Did I really think that every trigger of happiness would be activated by my special selection and create a euphoric union of souls from downbeat to fade out?

Yes, I did!

They rained on my parade... busted my groove... popped my balloon with a hat-pin... no, with the kind of needle you use for a spinal tap. One you wouldn’t want to see in the first place and would never want to see again.

But actually this wasn’t about them, it happened because of an unreal expectation that was created by me. Truly, at the end of the day we all have things that we wish we could share with others, verbatim, but some things, I’ve come to realize, are made just for us.

So, push play, tear away the wrapping paper, dive heart first into all that God has created… every experience, every moment of unspeakable joy, every gift in front of you with your name on it. You may not be able to identically share that exact feeling with others but others simultaneously are drinking in their own joy from every gift with THEIR name on it. And, oh, when someone else is sharing a movie, book, or song with you, although you may not How many times while on an airplane lis- be on the same cloud they are on, do your tening to “That song” do I tap my foot, dis- best to jump into their joy...if even just for a cretely bob my head to the music or wipe moment. a tear, imagining the person across the aisle Not just a musical artist, Rick say, “Give me some of that!” And I excitedly knows the business of music take the cord to their obscenely expensive as well. Besides being a music HiFi headphones, plug it into my Y adaptor publisher, artist manager and from Radio Shack and all at once we are one.... booking agent, he founded plugged in like Neo and Whoever to the Maand ran his own record label, trix of our greatest hits. Uh, nope.

UCA Records, in the 1990s

You know what changed everything for me?

The reality that there are people all over this world enjoying their favorite music, their favorite things, their favorite people. Getting filled up with joy and gratitude to be able to Well... my song wasn’t even a minute in and have these special moments that are made... someone actually had the nerve to engage in just for them. A gift wrapped up with your

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name on it. To be opened and enjoyed only by you. And the best thing about it is it’s not just one gift or one moment, it’s a perpetual unwrapping of God’s gifts to us. Always another one, always something to make our hearts full and ultimately prepare us to pour out God’s love on others, passing it along, paying it forward because it’s just so very good. That’s what God does. Since the beginning of time He’s created a world filled with things that we were made to love. For some of us those things may move us in a similar way, but like a snowflake, the experience never looks exactly the same. It’s unique and the experience in its entirety was designed just for you.

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which led to a position for five and 1⁄2 years as Vice President, Creative/Copyright Development at EMI CMG in Nashville. There he managed a large songwriter roster and exponentially grew revenue through film and TV licensing, song promotion and print music development. He is currently on staff as the minister of Pastoral Care and Visitation at Grace Chapel in Franklin, TN.

TRI-CITIES, WA JUL 30 - AUG 1 2015

Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire.

this photo: German Solomov

Skillet’s no nonsense brand of rock and God has authenticity written all over it helping to give Christianity a new face in the mainstream.

by Steven Douglas Losey Thousands of hands are raised as Skillet’s John Cooper screams into the microphone, “Take a stand, raise your hands if you’re sick of it,” as the band blazes through the first single “Sick of It” from their latest opus Rise.

Seeing Skillet is a religious experience, never mind the pyro, levitating stage and smoke but add to that John Coopers hard rock swagger and drummer Jen Ledgers dreamy vocal swells and you have a band with serious attitude and the hookiest of melodies.

Oddly enough it literally becomes religious when Cooper mentions Jesus to a completely secular audience night after night.

Skillet’s understanding of being in the mainstream runs deep, being a light in dark places, being an example to other rock stars, some who are even atheists and matching all their mainstream brethren with a live show is how John Cooper thinks Christianity should be represented.

With songs like “Awake and Alive” that sold four million singles, this is a band that hangs with the big boys. They’ve toured with groups like Nickelback, Shinedown, Seether, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Papa Roach and get this, Slayer as well… and a flurry of 20

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as I do and I’m learning that God is not so harsh with those judgments. He is taking all of us through different phases of sanctification.

The Holy Spirit is so good to us that He brings things up one at a time rather than giving us everything we need to change all at once. I see that in my relationships with other secular band members, especially ones who have fallen away or just come to Christ. I just try Interviewing Cooper several times over the to stay out of the Holy Spirits way in some of years he’s always willing to give honest answers those cases. He is in control of all situations that reflect his faith. Instead of bashing people and I just need to be as gracious as He is. with it, he’s simply tried to live as a light in a Does that involve people that say Skillet darkened room. Cooper is happy carrying is “of the world”? This is something I’m the mantle, wearing Christ on his sleeve and extremely passionate about because we do pounding out hypnotic, distorted basslines as get a lot of that and it’s a great opportunity he screams another song. for Christians and non-Christians to What’s changed the most over the years understand what being a Christian is really regarding your views of God and rock and about. So much of American Christianity is roll? As the years have went by I’ve gotten based upon traditional things; things that are closer to the Lord and he’s changed my more traditional then biblical in many cases. character. I think he’s been opening my eyes I’ve heard many times, “You don’t do that to see how gracious he is. He’s just so much because it’s wrong, it doesn’t look good for bigger than all the limitations I put on him. your family”. It gives me a good opportunity There have been times in my life where I’ve to explain that being a Christian is being made been extremely judgmental towards other new on the inside, not how you look or how believers because something they did or said you are dressed. By changing the way I dress or the way they didn’t believe the same things cannot make me saved. I think we need to other predominant hard rock acts. Through their eighteen-year career Skillet has scored numerous Dove Awards and GMA Awards, a Grammy, and a Billboard as well. Skillet has represented Christianity in the mainstream longer than anyone else, they have scored several hits on mainstream charts and they have maintained relevancy in a market that is typically unforgiving to Christian artists.

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X, his playing is all about tone and all about groove which fits his band perfectly. My philosophy with Jen and playing bass is I don’t need to over complicate my parts. The songs aren’t about great bass riffs i.e. Sting and the Police, Sting is a great bassist but it’s not something you notice with their music. I like to keep it simple with the backbone, I keep it solid on the back of the beat, that’s what my favorite rock bands do and what I’m trying to accomplish.

photos by William Burkle

realize that clothing or the style of music that we play doesn’t constitute what being “of the world” actually means. It’s a great opportunity to say being saved means we are a new creation. If it’s about our hairstyle or clothes, then we are cheapening the cross because that’s not what salvation is about. As far as our music, we hear it all the time.

We know music was around before the earth was created because Satan was in charge of bringing glory to God through music. If we believe in worship and singing like the Bible commands then music is one of the few things that will last for eternity. I’m not sure if we’ll be clothed in heaven but I know there will be music, the heart of worship.

Music can bring glory to God when our hearts bring glory to him. As far as our show and pyrotechnics and volume people have always said, “That looks like a mainstream show”. All I can say to that is, “Good!” Christian music needs to be as good as what the world has to offer. Skillet brings an “A” level rock show to the Christian world.

It’s important when Christians bring their non-Christian friends to a show who may think they are going to get a watered down version of rock music, that they find out quickly that’s not true.

What bass are you using now, last time I interviewed you it was GMP? Yeah, that was a great company but unfortunately they went out of business a few years ago.

I’ve been playing BC Rich basses for the most part for quite some time.

There’s a feel that they have to me.

I think they’re really solid basses and the strings are exactly the right length apart and the necks are hefty and just feel right in my hand. My Bass and drums go hand in hand, how basses trend to take a bit of abuse and my do you play with drummer Jen Ledger? BC Rich takes it really well, super solid for the She and I have a similar philosophy, which is road. that it’s about the song. I love the band Yes, Chris Squire is an extremely complicated What are some real examples of how bassist and the groove fits exactly what Yes living your faith has made a difference on is doing. I also love Doug Pinnick from Kings the road? Well, my wife Korey and I own the

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band together, so were on the road together and our two kids are on the road as well. We have a girl that’s twelve and a son that’s nine.

I think that family unit helps show what God has done with Skillet. My kids have witnessed to other kids of other bands as well as band members themselves. They have seen Jesus working in my children. In fact, I have friends in secular bands who call me for parenting advice. It’s an opportunity to share parenting and how Jesus has transformed our lives. The coolest part of all of it is that our kids are experiencing Christ on their own and they are hearing the Holy Spirit guide and direct them and the light of Christ is really in them.

We’ve been able to lead worship with some of these bands; we’ve had people stop by that call themselves atheists who have said, “I’ve never experienced anything like that”.

They’ll say things like, “I don’t believe in God, but I’m feeling something here”. Those things are real and genuine, it’s my favorite part, building those relationships and seeing God 22

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move through them.

What kind of backlash does a successful Christian band get in the mainstream?

Certainly Skillet has had some prejudice on the mainstream side. Even though we’ve had six Top 10 hard rock singles, even selling four million singles. We still have people on the panels at the hard rock stations refuse to play the band. Our song “Awake and Alive” was number one but we still had three stations that refused to play the song. The truth is they still believe in sex, drugs and rock and roll, not Jesus and rock and roll. We used to have bands that didn’t want us on a tour because we are Christians but that doesn’t happen as much anymore. Most all of the backlash that we have to deal with is from Christians.

Often times they still don’t think we should be touring with secular bands. Our album Awake got kicked out of the eligibility in the Gospel category at the Grammys because somebody somewhere in the Christian community decided that Skillet wasn’t Christian enough.

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

How did that make you feel? Very offended, because Skillet has been one of the biggest selling Christian crossover acts maybe of all time, certainly alongside Stryper. I still feel a little wounded by it all, but God is so gracious.

I noticed you’ve played shows with Slayer? This past summer we played with Slayer. We’ve played with Slipknot, Iron Maiden and others. I believe that music is so powerful that in the midst of a concert that is “anti-God” that Skillets music is anointed and God moves on people in those crowds no matter what they came to see. Whether they came as an atheist, or they hate Jesus or whatever it may be… God moves in people’s lives and I have a testimony for that. We played with Alice in Chains a few years ago and I got an email from someone at that show who said they’d never heard of Skillet but during “Awake and Alive” he just knew he had to go to church, it was speaking to him. He became saved and follows Christ now. What

we do is no different than Jesus going to eat at the tax collectors house or known sinners and despised people or women of the night. I don’t see it more any different than that.

romantic. There’s a romance to it that makes it feel spiritual. Even people that don’t know that we are a Christian band have said those types of things. They may not know Jesus but What makes you a great front man? I they say our music sounds spiritual. Live you think my strengths are that I really care about just never see a hard rock band with string the fans and I want to have a connection with players, it’s very unique and very dynamic. them. I don’t see myself as a big rock star; I What are your aspirations beyond the don’t take myself all that seriously. I think when band? I hope to be doing this for the next you go onstage and you want to connect with thirty years, Toby Mac has been doing it and I the people… that really works for me. I’m hope to as well. I want to play music and stay extremely non pretentious. Funny enough, relevant to young people while playing music there have been a lot of people in my career that I love and that I believe is filled with the that have said that non pretentious and self Holy Spirit and can relate that power and that deprecating humor might actually hurt you hope how God has changed our lives. I’ve as a hard rocker because hard rock is very always felt called to do this and every time much about ambition and ego and stardom. I I’ve asked the Lord if it’s time to quit he always actually think the genuineness resonates with lets me know that this is my calling. Whatever fans and that is part of the reason why we’re I do in my life, I know I’ll always be working with young people with high schoolers and still here today.

Adding classical elements playing live is evangelism and discipleship as a youth pastor quite cool I think it makes us a little unique. or something of that nature.

There have been classical elements forever with bands like Meatloaf, Fleetwood Mac, Evanescence, etc. Skillet’s music is a little more classical influenced, I think those elements help make our music a little more dynamic and

How difficult is it to work with your wife? Most of the secret rests with her, she’s always let me be in charge and let me be the leader and that’s just an extension of how great my wife is in general. She believes in the

governmental authority of the bible, where Christ is the head of the church, and the man is the head of the family. She’s always believed in that… of course, I don’t lord over my wife, we make decisions together. I see my role as being the leader, that’s what I’m meant and called to do. If I fail at that there really is no Skillet. I think another thing that helps a lot is always trying to put her needs before mine, which helps a lot too.

Is rock and roll dead or dying, it seems to be on life support? There are some people that say rock and roll is dead and it’s never coming back again. But we heard that when disco was big too, even the Rolling Stones were playing disco inspired music, plus even KISS did it too. I think the aggression of rock music is unique, I think it will come around again; young people always want to find something that is theirs. Unfortunately there will always be people who are hurting and what helps them is aggressive music. We’ve already been through what I call “depressing” music, a lot of the Indy stuff. Rock and roll always makes a come back, it just typically has a different form. There are a lot of parts of the Continued on page 28.

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selective hearing Goliath Steve Taylor and the Perfect Foil Splint Entertainment “Steve Taylor music coming in 2013!” I remember the anticipation that announcement forged in my heart when I saw it. Of course, Bruce had told me 2 years before that Steve and friends had been goofing around and putting several things on tape, so I already knew something was afoot. Fast forward a year to November 2014 (Yea… why expect Mr. Taylor to be on time with this release? I mean, his last new album came out in the fall of 1993!) and the fruit of their labors had finally arrived. By that time, I and anybody who counted themselves among Taylor’s small, but dedicated army of followers had found out that his collaborators on the project (The Perfect Foil) were: Guitarist, Jimmy Abegg (Vector, Ragamuffin Band, Charlie Peacock Trio), drummer Peter Furler (Newsboys, of course) and John Mark Painter (Fleming and John, untold session and production work) on everything else including bass, horns and assorted noise makers. So, it was with much anticipation when I first listened to the much ballyhooed, greatly anticipated new masterwork, GOLIATH. Here is what I found:

by Shawn McLaughlin

take it personally, will immediately relate to this him to use a lot of synthesizers, but that assessment seems unjustifiably dismissive. One of the drowning man’s appreciative ode. strengths of Lie Down in the Grass is its modestly While “Rubberneck” doesn’t pack the same eclectic instrumentation: The synthesizers play emotional punch of either “Comedian” or “A a supporting role alongside electric guitars, Life Preserved,” it’s sarcastic (as only Taylor can saxophone, trumpet, and an array of percussive dish out sarcasm) perspective on our evasively instruments that give the record an international snooping social media/internet culture will ring feel with liberal doses of the jazz influences that true with each and every smart phone owner inform his music to this day. Peacock seems to draw and/or TMZ regular reader. This is a fast, punky from European and American new age influences, romp filled with angry words about how privacy as well, but the album never feels derivative. The is a principle slowly going the way of the buffalo. re-master beautifully updates the sound, giving Upon first listen, “Moonshot” sounded a little the individual instrumental elements a clarity that like a contemporary version of Noah and the was missing from the original. His lyrics are also ark story. It tells of a guy building a rocket in his impressive for an early-’80s CCM record, asking backyard, much to the derision of his neighbors. universal spiritual questions without giving them Yet this funky, “Prince meets Gimme Fiction-era pat doctrinal answers. Songs like “Till You Caught Spoon” dance groove begins to sound a little My Eye” and “Turned On an Attitude” indulge a more like one person attempting to desperately little too liberally in alternative angst, but that was moon shot for their Warhol-promised 15 minutes an extremely refreshing development in a music of fame. This person is looking to save humanity, in industry dominated by earnest happy talk. The fact. There’s even one hilarious double-entendre collection also features several alternate takes and from Taylor: “It’ll spell out my name where the a few songs not on the original A&M nor Word sun don’t shine.” The whole album displays liberal releases more than a decade later, Lie Down in the doses of Taylor’s biting, acerbic, but always on Grass remains one of Peacock’s boldest and best point wordplay backed brilliantly by Painter, efforts. This stellar re-issue is available to order Abegg and Furler. Painter and Abegg being from Amazon, iTunes or Peacock’s own website. great wasn’t a big surprise to anyone who has heard them play before but Furler’s drumming is a revelation on GOLIATH. Perhaps because I Know a Secret his chops were always obscured by the spectacle Ginny Owens of that silly, rotating drum-kit he played during We long to have the early Newsboys years. Anyway, the band’s what the Apostle Paul full out rock assault is the perfect… well… foil in Philippians 4:12 to Taylor’s cranky, assertive lyrical voice. This is calls as the secret vital, explosive stuff and it validates my longtime of contentment… love of Taylor and his work. This is the year’s most an unshakeable joy in the Lord that prevails welcome return, and it’s a wonderful, cranky, regardless of our circumstances. A joy so deeply blistering, funny, brilliant thing. rooted in Christ that our life experiences no

The first listen-through presented closer “Comedian,” which is a riddle of a lyric that finds veteran singer/songwriter Taylor vocalizing a little like The National’s Matt Berninger. The song appears to detail unintentional funnies and foibles of modern day Christianity. However, just what Taylor is trying to pinpoint isn’t entirely clear. These saints “gave up God for Lent and liked it/Declared civilian war, no one’s relented/No pun intended.” It’s as fascinating as it is confusing, yet no less enjoyable. Built upon a lightly thumping bass groove, augmented by somber piano chords, this is a great song -- whatever it’s actually about. Lie Down In the Grass – Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition Taylor himself calls it “a dialectic with God” Charlie Peacock “Comedian” was the song that drew first Runway Music blood, so to speak, until “A Life Preserved” (a song that actually predates the formation of A When Lie Down in Perfect Foil) was further dissected. “Gratitude’s the Grass appeared in too cheap a word for all you’ve reassembled,” 1984, the contemporary Taylor sings in this song that first appeared on Christian music industry really ever the soundtrack of Taylor’s movie, Blue Like Jazz. A hadn’t song that described the thankfulness that Taylor seen anything like it. It felt when, after attempts to fund the film were immediately established newcomer Charlie dead and buried, the project rose like a Phoenix Peacock as a songwriter of unusual creativity and from the ashes and found new life (hmm… intelligence with a willingness to go closer to the a spiritual application, huh?), the song could cutting edge than just about anybody else in easily be used as for worship if that genre even the industry. Peacock later joked that the record remotely valued subtlety and nuance in lyrics. earned him a reputation as an “alternative” artist Those that comprehend “Amazing Grace” and simply because financial restrictions had forced

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longer dictate our responses. Such a godly theme is the lynch-pin of Ginny Owens’ 8th solo album I Know a Secret, her long awaited follow-up to 2011’s Get In I’m Driving.

Reuniting with Monroe Jones, the producer behind Owens’ Dove Award-winning debut Without Condition in 1999 and her equally celebrated follow-up Something More three years later, was a really smart move. For whatever reason, this particular producer-artist combination just works so well. In what is, perhaps, her most intriguing effort sonically in recent memory, it’s clear that Jones and Owens are having fun mixing things up. In the songs that she has co-written, she has enlisted some of Contemporary Christian Music’s best scribes including Dove-winning Songwriter of the Year Cindy Morgan (Natalie Grant, Point of Grace), Ian Eskelin, and longtime Christian music songwriter, Dwight Liles. Treading

on the album’s central theme that our joy is not predicated by our circumstances, “I Will Praise You” is a solid tune that succinctly expounds on those sentiments over a smooth Brit-pop lite tune. Stripped of all ornamentation and only featuring the stark riffs of a grand piano with a soft flurry of strings is the album’s key track, “In the Darkness.” This heart rendering ballad reminds us that we have a Savior who is not unsympathetic to our weakness. Rather, he is one acquainted with suffering, ready to help us in our desperate times. Also, employing her finest balladic writing voice, she offers “Made for More.” With lines that bring to mind God’s call of the prophet Jeremiah, Owens reminds us that we shouldn’t let our life’s problems blind us from God’s purpose in our lives.

Also quite affecting is the beautiful love song to Jesus “I Am Yours,” which has a killer almost a cappella intro. This is immediately followed by the folky, almost country sounding “Don’t Waste Your Life.” Despite its radio friendly snappy beat buoyed by some pulse-pounding electronic drums,” What My Life is For” is a song that is prophetically counter-cultural. Challenging our self-centered world where all we think about is hording more stuff to ourselves, this song rightly urges us to live and give to others.

Most unusual and, therefore, a bit daring, is “O the Deep.” Draped over a wartime announcement and the voice of her late cousin Christi, Owens delivers an ethereal (and haunting sound) reading of the 19th Century hymn “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus.” Despite a few adventurous detours, I Know a Secret is a solid effort that brims with great biblical truths being applied to our daily lives iterated over catchy pop melodies.

in the sin-fraught cities of the dying and the dead / like steel-wrought graveyards where the wicked never rest / to the high and lonely mountain in the groaning wilderness / we ache for what is lost / and wait for the holy God.” The poetic depth of Peterson’s lyrics are some of the finest in Christian Peterson’s fantasy bent is best shown in the music.

Tolkien-inspired “The Far Country” and “The But it was on Light For The Lost Boy, Peterson’s Reckoning,” two songs that reach for the world previous album that the heft of the lyrics were beyond this one, the one beyond this ‘far country’ matched with a near-perfect sonic pallet. “Don’t that is not our home. Both songs up the tempo You Want To Thank Someone” is a near-nineand sonics from Peterson’s early, folky work, and minute epic that echoes along on a shadowy feel weighty in the way that Rich Mullins songs guitar figure and finds Peterson musing on the did. Consider this couplet from “Far Country:” wonders and perils of life, and the gracious God “I can see in the strip malls and the phone calls that unites it all; “Don’t you ever wonder why / in / the flaming swords of Eden / in the fast cash spite of all that’s wrong here / there’s still so much and the news flash / and the horn blast of war / that goes so right / and beauty abounds? / ‘Cause of weight on his heart and soul. All three songs are re-recorded here; as are many of his earlier songs on Years, but the heavy themes have more in common with the writers Philip Yancey and C.S. Lewis than most fare offered up by Peterson’s musical peers.

SHUBB CAPOS

After All These Years Andrew Peterson Centricity Music Andrew Peterson’s 15year career has built an impressive legacy: eight albums, a series of fantasy novels, a beloved annual Christmas tour, and the founding of a successful online arts community and conference. And with that history in mind, After All These Years: A Collection, is a perfect way to celebrate. This isn’t a label-made “greatest hits” album in the traditional sense, but rather a celebration of what’s gone before and a sort of love letter to his dedicated fans. Containing four brand new songs, eight re-recorded classics, and a number of fan favorites, there’s bound to be something for longtime listeners and newcomers alike. It’s a fascinating thing to hear an artist mature, and over the course of the twenty songs on Years, you can hear Peterson refine his sound sonically.

However, his lyrics have always been older than his years would let on. Early works “Nothing To Say,” “After The Last Tear Falls” and “The Silence Of God” show Peterson as a young man with a lot

After

40

years

still the best! info@shubb.com • www.shubb.com 707-843-4068

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sometimes when you walk outside / the air is full of song here / the thunder rolls and the baby sighs / and the rain comes down.” Peterson’s lyrics here echo the book of Ecclesiastes and its question of “what is it all for?” To unite such deep themes and soaring music is a hallmark of Peterson’s work.

There was a time when compilation albums were works of art in and of themselves. They were an opportunity for an artist to collect their defining musical moments along with appropriate and reflective new songs to tie things together, resulting in a fond and heartfelt walk down memory lane. Often unheralded in the industry as a result of him bucking tried and tested trends in favor of intimate artistry, Andrew Peterson has earned the opportunity to look back on his stellar career. After All These Years places itself among those special compilations. From the opening strums of the title track to the closing notes of “To All The Poets,” Peterson takes us on a nostalgic and personal walk that will be endearing to any longtime fan, and enthrall new ones.

Fire and Stone The Gray Havens Judging from this married couple’s nom de plume, it can be easily surmised that The Gray Havens hold a similar fascination with

Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as does Andrew Peterson.

And, to be sure, David and Licia Radford definitely tread the same literate, Americana saturated waters, as poet laureate Peterson. Including contributions from Stephen Mason of Jars of Clay and Tyler Somers of Jenny & Tyler, Fire And Stone features the rollicking self-examination of “Stole My Fame (To: Grace)”; the Celtic-stomp flavored “The Stone”; the darkly triumphant “Sirens”; and the album’s contemplative closer, “Far Kingdom,” inspired by Jonathan Edwards.

Far from the vertical oriented lyricism associated with the current tide of Christian releases, Fire and Stone, instead, is filled with stories of unusual poignancy and rife with powerful imagery. “C.S. Lewis noted that stories have the power to steal past the watchful dragons of the human heart,” said Dave Radford. “Some of the most worshipful, joy-filled times in my life were experienced when I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia. In our own small way with these songs, we want to build those kinds of worlds for our listeners to inhabit.”

One of the unique characteristics of Radford’s writing is the way the songs invite you in. They unfold as you go. They require interaction.

Being intrigued by the worlds created in the songs and having those same kind of rewarding moments as the meaning emerged, it is easy to experience some of these songs as a listener and fan. Another cool thing about their music is their uncanny ability to create pop-folk that doesn’t

sound like pop, or folk, two fantastic voices that work equally well separately or in tandem. Dave Radford has one of the most unique voices in the genre, with an inflection that gives each word he sings a distinctly different demeanor. They describe their sound as “narrative pop-folk,” and “a little bit of Andrew Bird meets Michael Buble meets…a little bit of Mumford and Sons.” Those are all pretty accurate descriptions; it’s poppy, but undeniably in folk tradition, with jazz influence seeping through every now and then. Piano is a welcome presence on every track, as well as well placed trumpets, great percussion, and subtle guitars. The songs are fairly simple, but insanely catchy with magnificent melodies, all buoyed

by David’s absolutely captivating voice. Fire and Stone is a particularly audacious debut project from an exciting new band. Hopefully, the Gray Haven’s music will captivate the buying public as much as it has me.

Shawn McLaughlin is a hard-working, dedicated, tireless worshipper of Christ.

©2015 SANTA CRUZ GUITAR COMPANY

A True Custom Shop Santa Cruz Guitar Company

Continued from page 23 world that just aren’t as trend driven as in America. Skillet is way bigger in Russia then in America. There are a lot of places in the world where we sell 8,000 tickets but the music isn’t played on pop radio.

How has Skillet’s Christianity most impacted the secular music industry?

Probably on a couple of levels… I’d say one is that maybe with the exception of Stryper, Skillet has probably been the most vocal about our Christian faith in the secular rock world. I think that the secular music world was probably waiting for us to be a little embarrassed about our faith. I feel like they were catching us in something that we should be shy about. Skillet has been so over the top and open, not only open, but I talk about Christianity on stage and in my interviews.

Who is John Cooper? I’m an all-in or all-out passionate kind of guy with all I do, whether it’s Star Wars, Jesus or rock and roll… I’m very passionate about what I believe. That can be abrasive to some people especially because I’m hyperactive too. That passion helps me to stay really driven… so I’m productive in that sense.

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~ Practical training for Christian musicians to improve skill & inspire talent for God’s glory! ~

featuring Matthew West, Colton Dixon, Lincoln Brewster & many others!

May 8-9, 2015 :: The Chapel at CrossPoint, Buffalo, NY one-day intensives on May 7

www.ChristianMusicianSummit.com/northeast

Volume Pedals:

What you don’t know just might hurt you!

Ok, I’ll admit the title does sound a little dramatic and buying the wrong pedal might not cause you physical harm, but if you’re like me and have ever bought a pedal only to regret it, then you know what I’m talking about. To a lot of us a volume pedal is a staple in our rig. And chances are if you have one you also have an opinion about it – I know I do. Recently the infamous ‘string-n-spring’ pedal broke another string during practice an hour before the worship service was starting.

Ugh! If you’re the curious type like me, just ask any guitar forum or pedal gear page for volume pedal recommendations and you’ll find there’s no shortage of opinions and options.

Then there are the pedals themselves. Plenty of options there too; active, passive, high/ low impedance, tuner out, min/max volume, boost, pot or optical and even multi effects!

Some are quite affordable at about $70 bucks while others are over $500. So how do you know what to get and really, should you care?

After all it’s just a volume pedal!

It turns out that serious players should care and here’s why; not all volume pedals are created equal. There’s a lot of variety in design, features, durability and impact on your tone.

Being in the market for one myself I began doing research and discovered that there really wasn’t a comprehensive source for all things VP. As players we need reliable resources to help us find a good match of equipment for our playing requirements and budget. To that end I’ve spent countless hours researching, interviewed engineers and company owners, surveyed users and tested some of the most popular v-pedals on the market to break it all down for you. Armed with this information you can make a more informed decision on your next purchase and hopefully avoid wasting your money on a lame pedal. Onward!

A Brief History of the Volume Pedal

ing through it, e.g. your guitar’s volume knob is a pot.

Sweep: A mechanical operation usually measured in degrees such as the sweep (distance the foot rocker travels or pot turns).

Taper: The amount of change in the electrical resistance as a function of the mechanical change introduced by the sweep action.

turned me on to an article on the first guitar pedal built by Epiphone in 1937. It seems that Antonio Rocco is credited with creating the first pedal to be used with his steel guitars. It was called the Rocco Tonexpressor and it ingeniously controlled both volume (up/down) and tone (side to side). Pretty cool for the era, eh? I didn’t take long before guitarists began borrowing the steel player’s volume pedal.

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Tone suck: The loss of frequencies (low-mid-high) after running the guitar’s signal through a pedal.

As you push down on the pedal the sweep (heal-toe travel) should be smooth, with enough tension to stay anywhere you want it to. The taper should sound even to your ear and not go to full volume too quickly.

Gain, Tone Suck and Buffers

Some volume pedals such as the Boss FV500 come in both low and high impedance The early pedals used volume potentiom- models. Make sure you use a high impedance eters or pots, which are still used by the ma- pedal designed to handle the higher gain outjority of VP makers today. Over the past fifty put of guitar pickups. to seventy years not a lot has changed. Pots As I mentioned earlier, most of the volume are still the predominate control mechanism pedals on the market use a pot to control on the market followed by electro-optical or the volume. And most of those have a tuner some other technology like the mysterious output too. If they’re so popular, what’s the the Electro-Harmonix EHX volume pedal. problem? I found the answer in a fine article What goes on inside a volume pedal?

by Josh Scott of JHS Pedals on their website.

In order to understand what makes one Josh’s article specifically addresses the venerpedal different from another we first need to able Ernie Ball pedal, but I think we can generdefine some key concepts and components alize a bit from that to other pedals using the same passive split signal design. used in a typical volume pedal: Buffer: A buffer is a circuit that’s used to maintain the integrity of a signal, e.g. the signal output exactly matches the level and tonal fidelity of the input signal. Most VPs are not buffered but it might be important to you.

Gain: High gain pedals are used for guitar, which typically have high gain outputs. Low gain pedals are usually used with keyboards and other low gain instruments.

While the first volume pedals for musical inPot: Stands for potentiometer, which mestruments may have been used with theater chanically reduces or increases a signal passorgans, James Lebiah at Mission Engineering 30

by Larry Dill

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

First there’s the tuner output issue. It turns out that your guitar’s signal (high resistance/ low strength) is getting split between going to the amp and tuner outputs; strike one. Add a tuner to the tuner output and you’ve got additional drag on your guitar’s signal path and the possible introduction of unwanted noise; strike two. Add to this deteriorating situation the pedal’s potentiometer and now you have two volume pots used at once creating a greater resistance load on your signal (although not everyone agrees with this theory);

strike three. More resistance and less signal equals loss of your high end frequencies, a.k.a. Tone Suck!

Continue adding pedals and cables in your signal chain and the problem gets compounded.

slowly to the end giving the listener a smooth progression. A linear approach rises evenly over the entire sweep so the initial rise in volume may be harder to detect until it starts to get loud. These are typically used in expression pedals.

To buffer, two buffers or no buffers - that is the question!

Logarithmic

As mentioned before, a buffer is a circuit that exactly maintains the level and tone of your signal. Some pedals affect one or both of these and a buffer or buffered pedal used in the right place may provide just what’s needed to keep everything sounding good. Some players use one in a pedal somewhere in their chain and again at the end before going to the amp or DI box.

Do you use a fuzz pedal? If so you may have experienced problems with where you place it in your chain either before or after your VP. This is because fuzz pedals need the correct input impedance in order to create all it’s magical tone and sound.

Plug your guitar directly into your fuzz unit and then into a buffered pedal. You could even place the buffer at the end of the signal chain before going into your amp or DI. You may need to experiment with pedal order and when to use one or more buffers or buffered pedals to achieve the tone and line levels you are after. So you need to put your fuzz before most volume pedals although some pedals like Mission Engineering’s VM-2 Pro are configurable so you can put them either in front of or behind your fuzz pedal.

Pots, Optical or…?

The majority of VPs on the market today use pots to vary the taper i.e. volume coming out of the pedal. High quality pots are engineered for tens of thousands of duty cycles.

Of course, they can become dirty which introduces unwanted noise during volume changes. They also require a means to turn the pole from min to max such as a string, wire, band or gear and cog. Each of these has advantages and disadvantages as we’ll explore in a moment. A few brands like Morley use optics instead of a pot to vary the resistance to change the volume, which they claim eliminates the problems associated with pots and the required mechanics. Then there are those that use a motion sensor to vary the volume.

Which is better? This seems to be largely a matter of opinion as engineers on every side will tell you that their technology is as good or even better than the others. And really, after talking with them and doing a user survey I’m

Speaking of volume, some pedals have a minimum volume adjustment allowing you to set the level of volume to completely off or some level above that which you might find useful too.

Putting It All Together

inclined to agree with them. I think there are bigger issues to consider than what switch is used to vary the taper such as what is used to control the sweep of the pedal.

Strings, Bands, Gear and Cog or...?

The venerable Ernie Ball volume pedal has been around since the late 70’s I believe and used by thousands of players. These pedals use a pot controlled by a string and spring mechanism. If you’ve had one long enough, you probably have experienced spring stretch or breakage. Other designs that still rely on pots have switched to gear and cog or steel bands to avoid the problem. Still others have employed electro-optical or in the case of the Electro-Harmonix EHX, something entirely different (a gyro?).

Sweep and Taper

Who knew so much goes into a ‘simple’ volume pedal? Now that you know about them how do you choose; nice paint job, cool lights, use what your favorite guitar hero uses?

I can’t tell you which one is right for you, but you can narrow it down a lot by deciding which features are “must haves” and which ones are “nice to haves”. Next read the accompanying reviews on the internet (don’t forget YouTube reviews) then just go try and buy one! Soon you’ll be creating swells, pedal steel effects or ambient guitar effects with the best of ‘em!

Author’s note… e-mail me if you would like the reference chart I made on Volume Pedals. larzdill@gmail.com Larry Dill is a musician of 50 years and has played guitar for most of his life in numerous bands and worship teams. He plays acoustic and electric guitars and has been a lead guitarist and occasional worship leader at his home church in Puyallup Washington for 18 years. Larry has a passion for excellence in music and helping people. His email address is larzdill@gmail.com.

We covered sweep and taper in the definitions section but wanted to expand on them a bit. Not every volume pedal has adjustable sweep tension. A sweep that’s too easy or too stiff could contribute to foot/leg fatigue try- REFERENCES: ing to compensate for it. If you like to run it Volume Pedal Woes http://www.jhspedals.com/ at 50% for rhythm and 100% for leads, then it tech-articles/ needs to stay where you put it, eh? If you like How Optical Pedals work: http://www.morleypedthat sort of thing the Visual Sound pedal gives als.com/ttvolumeadjust.pdf you an accurate visual representation of your volume level which may help you have more Electro-Optical Circuitry Basics Electro-Optical Circuitry functions by a Light Emitconsistent levels in various parts of your set.

The pedal’s taper is important too. You don’t want to jump quickly to near max volume too soon and be hard to control. Did you know that humans are more sensitive to volume changes at lower levels than at high levels?

That’s why volume pedals are logarithmic and not linear which means that there’s a greater change at the start as it rises and flattens out

ting Diode (LED) shining light through a Shutter and onto a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR – sometime referred to as a photocell). As the pedal is moved forward more light from the LED is allowed to shine through an opening in the shutter onto the LDR allowing the pedal to function electronically. On the newest versions of our switchless pedals (2010 or later) there is a Photo Transistor (PHT) used instead of an Light Dependent resistor (LDR).

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PRODUCT REVIEW

Slate Pro Audio Raven MTi Ver. 2.0

By Michael Hodge

This month I’m pumped to review this new piece of studio gear from Steven Slate. The Slate Raven is a revolutionary state of the art Multi touch production Console that could change the way you work with Audio. There are actually two Raven models, the MTX and MTi. The MTX is a large-scale 46” multi touch screen display, and the MTi is the little brother 27” model. For this review we are looking at the smaller MTi that is reasonably affordable for pros and semi-pros alike. Steven Slate’s team is recognized as one of the top software developers with such products as Trigger for Drums, and plug-ins for mixing and hardware pieces like the Dragon and Fox Quad Tone.

OUT OF THE BOX: The Raven MTi comes shipped in a large flat screen TV type box with white foam inserts to keep it from bouncing around. Inside the box you will find the stand to set the angle of the unit, a power supply, USB2 and DVI cables.

Also included is a spray bottle of NanoGlide™ coating to lubricate and revitalize the screen along with a microfiber cloth with the Raven logo. Lastly, you get a small card with your serial number that you will need to download software. Weighing in at 22 pounds, the Raven is solidly constructed with a black metal frame surrounding the screen. Assembling the back MTi stand is straight forward, using four screws, and the angle can be adjusted to taste. The recommended angle is 40 degrees and clearly marked for convenience. On the back panel is a recess for connecting the power, DVI, and USB cables. There is also a power on button with an LED indicator. I used an HDMI to DVI adaptor for use with a 15” Mac Retina Laptop.

MORE THAN JUST A TOUCH SCREEN: I know a couple guys using touch screens in their studios. The Raven however is a whole different animal. For starters the MTi is a 6-touch multitouch display (it recognizes six separate touches at one time) with Integrated-Direct-Touch DAW controller software.

The Raven also connects to your computer via USB2 using Paul Neyrinck’s Ney-Fi protocol.

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The display has an HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, and is completely LED backlit so it’s power efficient and emits very little EMI. With Ver. 2.0 software, Raven works with Pro Tools 10 & 11 and Logic. More DAW ‘s will soon to be supported such as Cubase/ Nuendo & Ableton Live. PC compatibility will be in a future release as well. For a limited time, Raven will also be bundled with the new I was super excited to get the Raven up and VMR Slate Virtual Mix Rack plug ins. These running. I highly recommend watching all the virtual 500 series plug-ins faithfully video tutorials on the Slate website. They are model both SSL and NEVE EQ’s. There are informative and a huge help. I did call tech also two compressors, the red FG-401, a hy- support with a couple questions and they are brid VCA/ Optical compressor and the FG- really friendly and helpful. The tech down116 modeled after an Universal Audio 1176. loaded mirror software onto my computer Slate makes some of the best pro audio soft- and walked me through a couple things I ware out there. These plug-ins will add even missed in the manual. more value to the Raven.

GOING DEEPER MIXING: GETTING STARTED:

The Raven is a powerful tool in the studio.

Let’s start with the mixer.

After assembling the Raven and connecting the DVI and USB cables, the next step is to There are actually 3 options. In Pro Tools download and install the MTI software. This & Logic you can look at the regular internal was smooth and painless. There are two sepa- DAW mixer 24 faders at a time. The Raven’s rate programs to install, the Raven software own mixer looks like an old classic Trident and the Ney-Fi controller that controls the with big vintage Pan knobs. They actually roRaven via USB. tate when touched in a natural manner rather There is a card with the serial number that comes in the box you will need. Raven also requires an ILOK 2 key. Yes there are some out there who would try to crack the Raven software for their own touch screens.

than moving your finger up & down.

Do pay close attention to the manual. In Pro Tools and Logic there are specific settings in the DAWs to allow them to talk to the interface. Also before launching your DAW and Raven software you must calibrate the screen.

This is a simple procedure and takes all of 1 minute to let the screen know how your fingers “feel”. Note: Raven wants you to launch your DAW first and then launch its software second. At the bottom of the screen appears a tool bar that looks like virtual racks with all kinds of buttons and a Nav pad. In Pro Tools the last step is to open the Mix window and align the PT mixer with the Raven overlay.

The Raven MTi is like a small pro console where you can access your faders, pans, plugin inserts, mutes, solos, sends, and automation all with your fingers on the screen. A lot of new producers and home studio guys only automate with a mouse on a fader or by drawing it in. The Raven gives you the experience of being able to mix like a pro using your hands on multiple faders moving in real time. It can take the place of a hardware HUI mixer, and is very responsive to your touch. Using your fingers you can mix up to six faders at once in real time. There is a great feature called “fine mode” that allows you to customize the throw

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The third mixer is the small floating Raven mixer that’s super handy as well. The floating mixer is fully functional with access to sends & inserts and automation.

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of the mix fader. You can make an inch fader move equal only one or two DB allowing for super accurate automation rides using the Raven gives a whole new perspective in mixing since you aren’t limited to one mouse move at a time. The response to your touch is fast and smooth. It is a great experience to choose to only look at faders to mix rather than staring at waveforms. With the group functions you can assign to view just one or two faders per instrument, voice or FX send to simplify your mixing and get everything on the console at once right in front of you. With Plug ins, most of the knobs etc can be easily adjusted on screen by hand. For most of us the Raven will change the way we mix for the better in a big way.

THE TOOLBAR: At the bottom of the display is where the Raven toolbar lives. This is a totally customizable toolbar where your Transport controls, Edit Tools, Navigation Pad, and all kinds of shortcut buttons live. Buttons include Record Looping, Click, Create Group, and Undo/ Redo etc. There is also a calibrate button that opens the calibrate window if needed and a help button that opens the Raven Manual.

You can choose to have one toolbar showing or several. There is a customize button that allows you to choose what controls you want and where on the tool bar via drag and drop.

There are memory location buttons on the left side and hot keys that can do amazing batch command functions. These hot keys in Ver.2.0 come with a ton of presets you can choose from. These can even be very complex batch command with chains up to 100 steps with the touch of one button. There are simple 34

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instructions to make your own custom batch commands if you can’t find what you want in the preset menu. This is a brilliant feature that Slate has come up with and can save a ton of time. In Pro Tools the toolbar has all the stuff you normally find at the top left of the screen right there in easy reach at the bottom. Logic also has many of the edit functions right there on the toolbar. You can get a real professional workflow going quickly. Pro Tools has a few more features than Logic at this time but should catch up soon. Both DAWS work great with the Raven.

EDITING BY HAND: Honestly, this was a little scary for me. Besides my right hand so used to being glued to a mouse, touching the screen for editing was kind of weird.

I’ve been an IPad guy for a few years, but this was different.

CONCLUSION: If you couldn’t tell already, I was so impressed by the MTi, we got one for our Nashville GMAN productions studio. I’ve mostly use outboard pre’s instead of a normal console. The MTi is compact, looks great and replaces both screen and HUI. I love letting my engineer friends check it out. It feels like the future! It has been so much fun to use and with the batch commands I’m improving my workflow. The HD screen is crystal clear and bright. I might like to add a second one some day. It hasn’t given me any problems and since it’s LED, it should last a good while. There is virtually no heat coming off the screen. Mixing with the Raven mixer is very intuitive. The new VMR Virtual Mix Rack is a huge plus. Summing it up, the touch screen, mixer, hot keys, and the VMR plug-ins make this a great addition to any studio. The Raven is compatible with OSX 10.7 and 10.8. It can run on a Mac Pro, IMac or even a laptop. The MTi is a little pricey but considering what you are getting and the technology involved it’s worth the price of admission and still in reach for most folks with a personal production studio.

The editing with your fingers is wonderful and I think once I get confident it will be so much faster. I have had hardware HUI’s in my studio, yet I’ve relied mostly on my mouse to draw in automation and move faders. With the MTi, drawing automation on the edit Is there a Raven in your future? page with my finger was quick and fun. All the typical edit functions can be done with your The MTi sells for $2,199.00. hands. The NAV pad is assignable to zoom ei- For more information and videos go to: ther tracks or wave-forms and can be used to http://www.slatemt.com shuttle and scrub audio. It can also float outside the tool bar. The hot keys are amazing. Michael Hodge is a Producer, It’s taking a little time to get used to taking my Writer, and Staff Musician at hands off the keyboard and mouse. I’ve spent Lakewood Church in Houston Texas. so much time memorizing keyboard shortcuts, I’ll probably do a combination of both for a while.

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The Greatest Tour on Earth

by Keith Mohr & Sue Ross-Mohr

As a musician, you know that your team is vital. Before you even book a tour, the individuals who will be vital in making it all happen need to be carefully chosen. The vision must be cohesive. Everyone needs to share it, care about it and be on the same page. You need the right person in the right seat. With a great team in place, magic happens. Just take a look at what happened during the time of the biggest tour ever held on earth.

In all aspects of our life, especially in our business, we consult the word of God to get direction. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

So when we were recently asked about planning an effective tour, that’s exactly where we looked. Before His tour began, Jesus set about to choose the members of his team. Twelve disciples. Each one of them was different in character, giftings and personalities. Within the stories told, Jesus shows us what He felt was important before during and after his tour.

It is interesting that when Jesus went out looking for men to fill each role, He didn’t call anyone from the religious establishment, but instead he chose individuals who were entrepreneurial and independent. Not one of the men called was a scholar or a rabbi. That always amazed us. They didn’t go to college nor were they leaders of fortune 500 companies, they were risk takers and go getters who were looking to bring forth something new and revolutionary into the world. That is the first thing that you need to look for in choosing your team.

and thorough, but was reachable and wore his human side on his sleeve. People trusted him. And he was willing to step out and take chances. It is important to know, though, that the manager is the CEO of the operation, but Jesus was the owner. You know what you need more than anyone else. When choosing someone to manage your business/career, this individual needs to understand that important distinction within this role. We guarantee you 100% that they will make mistakes.

Peter did, but Jesus knew that he was the right man for the job. Jesus knew and reminded Peter all the time, though, that God was in ultimate control. The same with you, a manager will help organize all your tasks and your team, but ultimately God is in control.

Publicity/Promotions John told everyone he could about Jesus.

He was part of the inner circle and wanted to ‘make things’ happen. Having been dubbed, along with his brother James, ‘sons of thunder,’ John was vocal. His writings reveal his zeal and enthusiasm. He liked to call himself ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.” John was a great publicist.

Business Manager Judas was in charge of the money bag. He was the treasurer. The one who took care of the funds that were provided from organizations and individuals to keep the tour going.

He was in essence, the business manager. It is huge wisdom to have someone in place that understands funds, but it’s also huge wisdom to choose someone you can trust.

Street Team/Fan Builder

Philip was one of the first followers of Jesus and he wasted no time in calling others to do Let’s break down some of the people that the same. Nathanel was one of the first loyal made The Greatest Tour on Earth a success; fans. Having people in every corner of the the disciples. world that believe in what you are doing is important in getting the word out. Just imagine The Manager what Philip would have been able to do with Peter was the spokesman of the twelve. He social networking! was extremely loyal. A character trait that is essential when choosing a manager. Now, many Booking Agent will agree that Peter’s emotions got him into Andrew became the first follower of Jesus aftrouble, but they also got him through the ter learning about him through John the Bapdoor. People loved him. He was aggressive tist. Andrew then introduced his brother Pe36

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ter to Jesus telling him that he just needed to see what Jesus was all about. He was a leader who knew that everyone needed to experience what he had experienced. He believed in Jesus. That is an essential characteristic in a booking agent. They need to believe in what you are doing and then be willing to pick up that phone and make others believe in you too.

Jesus and His team employed a wide range of strategies to reach people in their communities. From the big stage at the temple, to intimate house gatherings, they knew people would be attracted to different environments and situations. Jesus went to where the people were of His day. Break that down. Look for ideas. Search the scriptures with this unique view in mind when putting the plan for your tour together. Take some extra time in the research stages to look at this instruction in a different way, especially when building your team for your tour. This can be the key to an effective tour and in filling the vital roles of the individuals who will be part of it. It takes both time and wisdom to build a team that will impact the world with your music! The answers and ideas are right in front of you. We would love to hear what you find.

Creatively His, Keith and Sue Mohr MOHR CREATIVE GROUP www.mohrcreativegroup.com Keith Mohr and Sue Ross-Mohr of “The Mohr Creative Group” have years of experience serving independent Christian artists, musicians and songwriters. Keith founded www.indieheaven.com in 2002, the leading portal for Christian independent music. Sue Ross-Mohr founded www.theinnervizion. com in 2003, a creative promotions /marketing/ consulting service to individuals and companies worldwide. Also check out www.indiemechanics.com for more helpful info!

Relationships Up, Down, and Sideways

by Tom Jackson

During the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season, I think a lot about my relationships with family, friends, and neighbors. I’m reminded that, whether I am speaking at a worship conference, working with an artist, or out shopping somewhere, I need to keep this proverb in mind:

3:3-4 says, “Never let loyalty and kindness get not that I have it all together! But because of away from you. Then you will find favor with my relationship with God who has forgiven both God and people.” (Italics mine). me and treated me with so much grace, I now I believe I need to be in right relationship have a model for how to treat others.

with God, too, for many reasons. I’m less selfabsorbed which allows me to think of others.

I don’t worry so much about getting credit. If “A good name is more to be desired than I’m taken advantage of or ripped off, although riches.” (Proverbs 22:1) it may discourage me, it doesn’t derail me.

When I interact with people I want them to be honest with me, respect me, and even show a little kindness on top of that. So I need to follow the same standard with them.

That kind of relationship building with others can go a long way to help your ministry in your church. And if you’re out on the road, trying to make a career in the music industry, then I would advise you that honesty, loyalty, and integrity are key ingredients to a lasting career as well.

You could follow every other piece of music advice and instruction in this magazine or from any conference or workshop you attend.

But if you leave out the part about honesty & integrity in your personal relationships with others, your music career will be pretty empty. Yes, you might be a great player who writes great songs and becomes a success — you might even become a star! But how you relate to, interact with, and treat people brings meaning to life.

So when I’m in right relationship with man and right relationship with God, I’m more creative, more teachable, more confident, more aware, and more compassionate. These are attributes that will help me experience true Being in right relationship with God teaches success in my career. me to forgive because I’ve been forgiven. I And that’s what I want for you: to be a sucseek other’s interests, not just my own, and it cess on the platform or in a music career that causes me to be grateful instead of demand- will inspire artistry, strongly minister to others, ing. I become more compassionate. And that’s and bring fulfillment to your life! just the beginning!

Career-wise, a right relationship with God helps me be more creative. I believe the Almighty is the author of creativity, and if I have a relationship with him, I can tap into that creativity.

In fact, I always say that in rehearsal my job is to create freedom in the room so the Spirit can move. And when the Spirit is moving, ideas seem to bounce all around and come from everybody in the room. Rehearsals are exceptional when this happens.

And I also believe the Lord is my provider.

Yes, I work hard. Yes, I have found a niche in the music industry. Yes, I have a great team, a wife that supports me, and kids who give me grace when I travel so much. But I truly believe And it isn’t just the “sideways” relationships none of the success I’ve achieved would have with others that I need to be concerned happened without God and his provision. about; there’s also the “up and down” re- By the way, I just want to let you know… it’s lationship between me and God. Proverbs

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Tom Jackson, world renowned Live Music Producer, author of the book Tom Jackson’s Live Music Method and the All Roads Lead to the Stage DVD series, is a master at transforming an artist’s live show into a life-changing experience for the audience! Tom has worked with 100’s of artists in every genre, including major artists like Taylor Swift, Francesca Battistelli, LeCrae, Jars of Clay, The Band Perry, and more. He also shares his expertise as a highly demanded speaker at colleges, conferences & events worldwide.

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THE MUSICIAN’S DOC

My Hand Tingling Is Driving Me Nuts!

By Tim Jameson, D.C., M.Div

In my 26 years of providing chiropractic care with many of those years working with musicians, the most common complaints I hear are tinging and numbness sensations in the hands of guitar players, drummers, string players, and pianists. If you are experiencing these annoying symptoms, then read on and learn why they may be occurring. The good news is that proper care for these problems through chiropractic and other bodywork methods often bring resolution to the symptoms without the need for medications and surgery.

The first tidbit of info you need to know is that the hand has three main nerves that sends signals from the brain to the muscles and also send sensation information back up to the brain. These are the radial, ulnar, and median nerves. I know… you’re saying “so what.” Well, where you experience the abnormal sensations in your hand gives a huge clue of which nerve is being affected. This helps the clinician properly diagnose your condition and provide the correct treatment.

The radial nerve will pick up sensation from the back of the hand, primarily from the knuckles of the first three fingers down to the wrist. The ulnar nerve picks up sensation from the 4th and 5th fingers both on the palm side and the back side of the hand. And the median nerve picks up sensation on the palm side of the first three fingers and the second and third fingertips (both sides). Most people with tingling/numbness sensations will have that distribution of abnormal sensations in one of these regions, depending upon which nerve is involved. But of course, there are always situations when the entire hand or large portions of the hand is involved, and when that occurs, I often look up higher to the neck and shoulder area – call the thoracic outlet, where the bundle of nerves, arteries, and veins travel from the neck down to the arm, and/or consider the metabolic conditions mentioned below.

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With that said, here’s an IMPORTANT fact to know… if you have symptoms in your hand, the problem may not stem from your hand or wrist at all! It could be coming from nerve irritation anywhere from the spinal cord to the final destination of the nerves at the tips of your fingers. What makes these symptoms really challenging is that they can be caused to so many different conditions, such as disc protrusion and spinal cord compression, spinal joint misalignments, thoracic outlet problems, nerve/arterial compression adjacent to the joints, such as shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Also to be considered are overuse injuries causing blood flow problems to the nerves along with inflammation and compression, along with direct nerve irritation in the hand itself. In addition to these physical problems there are also metabolic problems that can lead to tingling and numbness. These include diabetes, thyroid issues, arthritic problems, autoimmune disorders…and the list goes on. This is why you shouldn’t try to diagnose yourself or ask a friend what helped them. You need to see a doctor who can diagnose this problem properly. I often recommend a team approach of healers across the professions both western medicine along with the vitalistic arts like chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage therapy.

problem in the neck and back that is one of the underlying causes. Consider your spine as the “fuse box for the body”. Sensitive nerves pass from the spinal cord through the spinal bones and travel to every organ, gland, muscle, skin, and blood vessel of the body. If you have “blown fuses” at the location of the spine, then wherever that nerve goes can be affected. This could mean sensation problems, it could mean muscle control problems, and it could even lead to internal organ problems. So this is why having a chiropractic doctor as part of your overall health care team is so important. Chiropractors detect abnormal spinal function that impacts nerve function to the body. Symptoms of tingling and numbness is one of the most common symptoms that chiropractors see on a daily basis, and one of the most treatable symptoms if detected early on and cared for quickly.

How do these symptoms develop? Usually over time… months… years… decades, and usually with poor posture, poor playing technique, and pre-existing spinal problems.

I can confidently say that in every case of tingling/numbness I have treated (probably hundreds), there is always a concurrent spinal

CA. He is the author of Repetitive Strain Injuries and Reach for the Top: The Musician’s Guide to Health, Wealth, and Success. Visit his website www.jamesonchiro.com

The worst thing you can do is say “maybe it will just go away.” One of the most difficult symptoms to heal is found in someone who has experienced numbness sensations for a long period of time – like a year or more. In many cases there is prolonged nerve compression and possibly even some muscle wasting (atrophy) from that compression.

These cases are really, really, tough to heal. So Why is this important to get checked out please, don’t wait. Get that tingling checked right away? Well, how important is your abil- out today and ensure many years of playing ity to feel the keys of the piano, the strings of your musical instrument for the Lord ahead. your guitar, the bow for your violin, or your drum sticks? Without feeling, your career is done. Over. Wrecked. Don’t take these sympDr. Tim Jameson’s chiropractic toms lightly. They are warning signs that need office is in Castro Valley, CA. He to be checked out right away to protect your is a worship pastor at Christ’s career in music.

Community Church in Hayward,

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Effects Pedal Chain The quest for that ultimate tone can be a task as we search through an array of sound shaping guitar effects. With the age of digital and computer based software there are endless combinations available to create new sonic walls of sound or to recreate the tonal achievements of others from the past. The digital realm allows you to point, click, and drag, and then save it all within your computer, as long as you have an interface that takes the signal from your guitar, digitizes it, then processes it through the software and sends it to an amplified output. The digital world is great in the studio and can be used in live situations as well. Before the computer based digital technology we had analog and we still do, a pure based sound flow from your guitar into an effects pedal on the floor then to your amp. This is the easiest and still the most popular way most of us use on our quest for that tone we hear in our heads. With so many guitar effect pedals and multi processors out there what do they do and how do you hook them all up to get that sound?

Here are some basic guidelines to use when mapping out your pedal chain. First: Start with your tuner some tuners have more than one output jack. Use the output that turns your single off when you turn on the tuner. No one wants to hear you tune in between songs anyway. Second: Effects that change the tone of the guitar like Cry Baby/Wah Wah, Acoustic Simulators, Octave pedals. Third: Dynamic pedals like Compression / Limiters help boost or reduce the volume from effects like a Wah Wah and help to add more sustain to you Overdrive pedals.

Forth: Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz pedals.

Fifth: Modulation effects aka, Chorus, Flangers, Phase Shifters, Vibratos and Harmonizers. Sixth: Time base effects aka, Delay, Echo and Reverbs.

while keeping your distortions and other effects in the front of the amp.

The pedal board image examples will give you a visual idea of what the Pedal Chain order will look like. I used the Pedal Board Planner from the Pedaltrain web site found at WWW.Pedaltrain.com.

Board #1 is a small basic set up. The signal runs left to right, guitar plugs into the tuner followed but the MXR dyna comp compressor -> Pigtronix Fat Overdrive -> Tc Electronic Chorus -> Flashback Delay -> Hall of Fame Reverb -> to your Amp. Board #2 This is an example of one of my ever changing layouts, From Left to Right, Guitar into a Dunlop Volume pedal -> Boss PW10 Wah -> TU2 Tuner -> OC3 Octave -> AW3 Auto Wah down to the -> Visual Sound Route 66 -> Son of Hide Distortion up to -> Modtone Chorus down to the -> Boss DD7 Delay -> to the amp.

are an important part as well having the right voltage running your pedals is important. Voodoo Lab “Pedal Power”, BBE “Supa-Charger” Board #3 this is an example board of what I Visual Sound “I Spot” with multi plug and the might use for electric and acoustic solo gigs.

Pedaltrain rechargeable “Volto” are several opGuitar into the Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler tions that will fit your budget. (this thing has to many effects to list) -> the Boss UC3 and Fulltone OCD pedals run through the Coda: Sound is in the ear of the beholder, effects loop of the M13 -> Digitech Jamman -> to nothing here is set in stone. Experiment with amp/Pa. The M13 has a built in Looper that lets your sound! Borrow from the past and create you use its internal effects pre or post loop, this something new. You never know heaven might comes in handy for creating multi layered loop just open up and sing along. soundscapes on the fly. The Jamman stores backing tracks along with being able to loop.

Roger Zimish is a freelance guitarist

Volume pedals can be used at the beginning of the chain or after the overdrive/distortion pedals, I don’t recommend putting them at the end this will cut your Delays and Reverb off too soon. EQ can be used anywhere in the chain but are best somewhere after the compressor. Noise Gates should be placed after high gain effects Your signal path is one of the most important like Distortion or near the end of the chain. A aspects of your pedal board so try not to skimp note on Effects Loop on your amp, if your amp on patch cables get the best you can afford to is equipped with an effect loop the ideal use is prevent signal lose and noise. Power supplies to run your delays and chorus effects through it

/ indie artist and clinician based in Hendersonville Tn. Contact Roger: Email rogerzimish@yahoo.com, like Roger Zimish Guitarist on facebook.

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Rehearsing for the Reunion

by Bryan Duncan

“We’re getting the band back together” an old friend tells me over the phone. Seems like everyone wants to remember the olden days.

So are we still on a mission from God or are we just trying to go back to Egypt? Hey, doesn’t the Bible say to sing unto The Lord a “new” song?

we don’t want to drift”, he says. (The lyrics were changed to “while I’m searching my heart”). After all, Christians must remain vigilant at all times.

But I keep hearing that still small voice. Bob Seeger, singing “Todays music ain’t got the same soul…” I couldn’t get that song out of my head For the last few years I have been weighing the while I was searching my heart. The first time I pros and cons of looking back at the old prose heard that song I wasn’t even aware that sound and songs. My original group, Sweet Comfort was now officially considered to be out of date.

Band wanted to do something again. Personally Christian Rock! Those were the days. We were I didn’t feel like rehashing my early endeavors. on a mission from God and borrowing from I’ve always felt like my songs weren’t quite as what the devil owned. We were out to put the good as the bands I borrowed my ideas from. Cross in “cross over”. We would present someBut then, those bands are getting back together thing every bit as good as what you might hear too: Kansas, Foreigner, Styx, Toto, Journey etc. in “the world”. Like the Apostle Paul directed, we And when they’re not, there are a lot of other would become “all things to all men… that we bands willing to cover their whole sets. might win a few”. And here is where we might It’s easier to rehearse old music than to write have missed the point. I think we became one new stuff. For one thing, old songs are already thing to some men and got labeled by our view. arranged and somewhat proven to be effective.

We can always do a hip-hop version and add a rap section. Ok, let’s not. And yes, I have agreed to revisit my early days in Christian Rock music.

We’ll return to when it was new and we had an audience.

Looking back, what really stood the test of time was the relationship with Jesus, not the brilliance of our work. Looking back, I can see how music has changed… but Christ has not. And that is the only good inspiration for revisiting what came before now.

I’m recalling an argument I had with a producer To be sure, we wrote new songs for a new look once, about using the lyrics “I go drifting back, at what is still real. And so, The Waiting is Over and remember the time”. “In a ‘Christian’ song by Sweet Comfort Band was released. It was swept under the rug by one critic as “Christianity 101”. But I know, short of a few country songs, speaking of Jesus hasn’t gone over well in the mainstream. A lot of Christian musicians have hit the mark in marketing to a bigger world. But I haven’t seen it make a real difference. At least not in the terms we saw in the Jesus Movement when music was really the side notes to the sermon.

And it brings me back to another conundrum we faced even years ago. Music is endorsed by the masses. Popularity decides what is legitimate. It’s not a great biblical text to follow, but it too, has stood the test of time. What seems to happen most often with the attention of a larger audience has been the erosion of an identification with the ‘absurdity’ of the Cross of Christ. Now before you think I’m clothing myself in spiritual sour grapes, let me assure you I have never been a proponent of conversion by concussion. However, it seems to me that CCM used to be

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an outreach to unbelievers. But you can’t measure that well. And we dismiss it, because it is easier to draw a crowd from the choir.

Either way, what does it profit a band to gain the whole world and lose its own soul? As I rehearsed my older simpler songs, I missed only one thing from those days: the gratitude for the amazing grace of God that kept us through everything. That would include our own plans and dreams, but even more valuable was His grace through disappointments and the disillusioning of how we thought God would change the world. I now have the knowledge that God’s plans for me were realized right in the place where I have least understood them.

So for a few dates in the next year, I will return to my youth and to my first love of Jesus. I will share my faith with those who want to remember where change really started for me . I was naive in my youth. It’s probably what kept me going, not realizing the outcomes. I could only see what I could see because some insights only come of age. None of us have gone through life unscathed.

I like the end of Jim Bakers book entitled “I Was Wrong”. He goes through his life of mistakes in the ministry. Not a good read for many of us who know the reality of going off the tracks in one way or another. But on the last page it is redeemed when He ends with the line, “I thought God could never use me again... but I was wrong”.

That gave me chills. It was re-redemption. And that is something we can still all benefit from. Yes looking back has its sufferings. But to see how Jesus continues to be the redeemer, even to the redeemed, is worth pointing to the past.

I miss the energy I had back in my hard rocking days. But energy is a poor substitute for passion.

What I really want to do is hit the mark with a message that transcends any musical style we ever brought or will bring to the table. But my thoughts are less about “cross over” and more about the “Cross road”. That one decision that changes the course of your real life… eternally.

Bryan Duncan/ Singer / Songwriter/ author / Publisher. Radio Show host for RadioRehab.com Inducted into the Christian music Hall of Fame in 2007.

40 years, 22 albums, Dove and Grammy awarded. www.bryanduncan.com

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Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire.

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SWEAT IT TO GET IT!

by Sandy Hoffman

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THE JOurnEy Of fEAr And fAITH by Tommy Coomes

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SWEAT IT TO GET IT!

GOOD, BETTER, BEST

By Sandy Hoffman

Repeat, repeat, repeat! Isn’t that how we usually prepare a new song for presentation? We discover a fantastic new song then practice, practice, practice until the journey from discovery to ownership is complete. Once we’ve made that song our own, we enjoy the fruit of it by sharing it with our audience. But what does it mean to “make the song our own,” and just what is involved in this journey? Is there such a thing as putting too much effort into the process?

Psalm 33:3 says for us to “play skillfully with a shout of joy.” I sometimes wonder if that joyful shout isn’t simply the emotional response to having finally gotten the song right. It takes determination, repetition and some times even re-education to make a song our own. We may deeply desire to sing or play a new tune only to find that it is technically way out of our reach, at least for the moment. That’s when our musical work ethic must kick in. The question is, “Are we willing to “sweat it [‘til we] get it?” I bet your answer was a resounding yes!

ONCE UPON A SLIDE Back in the early 70s, I had the shocking pleasure of hearing an unknown-to-me guitarist named Leo Kottke. It was a late fall Friday evening in 1973, and I was a bored teenager looking for some kind of entertainment. As I wandered the campus of UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I happened upon the university auditorium and peered into a side window. There on the stage was a single bar stool surrounded by three guitars. They were six and twelve string acoustic guitars to be exact. Gibsons, I think. Being predisposed to a much heavier rock music style in those days, my first thought was, “Oh, this is gonna be a yawn. It’s probably just some lame ol’ folk singer I’ve never heard of…” Boy, was I wrong! Thankfully, my curiosity got the best of me and I stuck around to find out for myself. To this day, still no regrets!

axe. But was it doable? Could I ever learn to play at that level? Even though I could see and hear him with my own eyes and ears, I couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of technique would make such an astounding performance possible. It was an incredible demonstration of just how much music could come from a single guitar in the hands of a master! I was hooked from that evening on, determined to figure out how he did it, then do it myself to the best of my own abilities.

WORKING TOO HARD?

my little finger. It hurt! I practiced with it in spite of the pain. It hurt some more, but I gradually built up the strength and coordination required to have it sound clear and glide smoothly as I slid up and down the fretboard. Whew, done! After only five short years and lots of re-education, I was playing Vaseline Machine Gun and smiling all the way through. (Your turn . . .)

From a Christian musician’s point of view, was it worth it? Again, a resounding, “Yes!” You gotta sweat it ‘til you get it! Once you’ve got it, every ounce of effort you put into improving your vocal or instrumental skill pays off in easier song execution and removal of distractions to those you’re playing for. In addition, it provides you with tools to make your song arrangements more interesting, diversified, and personalized.

Soon you’re moving from “bore-style” to your style.

Just how much sweat was it worth? How long should it have taken me? A month? A year? Five years? Five? Yes, five years later I had finally polished one Leo Kottke song (“Vaseline Machine Gun” from the Takoma Records release Leo Kottke, 6 & 12 String Guitar). Alright now, don’t be such a hater. You’re probably thinkin’, “Sheesh, Sandy must be a really slow learner.” It wasn’t that at all. It was just that I had so much to So what if the song we’re learning is in the seculearn, and all by ear no less! lar song category? No worries. Each new-found First, I had to discover that Leo Kottke was play- technique can be applied generously to all our ing in an open tuning instead of standard. This song arrangements, Christian or otherwise. was totally new territory for me. He was pitching Open tunings, unique chord fingerings, finger his strings to D-G-D-G-B-D or D-A-D-G-A-D in- picking patterns and yes, bottle neck slide can stead of the usual E-A-D-G-B-E. Can you imagine be applied to enhance any performance expewhat this open tuning did to all the chord finger- rience. The only ingredient missing is your own ings I’d ever learned in standard tuning? Right. I imagination. Let it run wild! had to re-learn, or even re-invent my own fingerings for every single chord.

Then there was the finger picking style. I’d never even tried that before. Instead of holding a triangularly shaped plectrum (pick) in my right hand and strumming down-up-down-updown-up, I had to put these awkward little plastic picks on my right hand fingers and attack the strings with each, just one string at a time. Even though I’d been a strummer since the age of five, for months it felt as if I’d never even played the guitar before! (Please note that I have long since switched from those plastic finger picks to the What a mind blower of an evening that was! As much more natural sound and feel of finger nails the very first grand piano sized chord burst out and flesh. It took a while–again–but I have never of that humbucking pickup-equipped twelve- looked back!). string guitar in Leo’s hands, my musical paradigm And there was still one more technical hurdle changed forever. Whoa! I just sat there for two to get over before I could actually begin practicand one-half hours, jaw dropped-eyes popped. ing the song itself! (Was I determined? You bet I was totally bedazzled and mesmerized by ev- I was! Are you?) Leo often plays with a bottle ery note and every phrase of every song! This neck slide on his left hand little finger. This alwas musically light years beyond anything I’d lows him to slide from fret to fret (in open tunever seen or heard. ing) and play a major chord voicing in each,

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING

Indeed, to learn any new song, we must repeat, repeat, repeat. But along the way let’s remember to invest our repetitive efforts into acquiring new techniques which may seem way beyond our present skill sets. Don’t be afraid to aim high.

Stretch your abilities so far that they can never return to the comfort zone or routine you used to maintain. Even if it takes five years to move to the next level, we should never give up! Romans 12:1 tells us that being a living sacrifice is our reasonable act of worship. What a worthwhile sacrifice it is to work with all our might and improve our musical skills in order that we might “be the best to bless!”

Sweatin’ & gettin’!

Sandy

Sandy Hoffman serves the worship community at Christ Church Santa Fe, NM, and beyond. Find out more about his I began to feel that I desperately wanted a simply by laying the slide across the six strings. “Tips for Tight Teams” online piece of that action (pun intended). I wanted to I got a wine bottle and cut off the neck. Then I at: www.WorshipWorks.com

hear those kinds of sounds emanating from my smoothed the sharp edges and put the slide on

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

JAN/FEB 2015

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CODA

The Journey Of Fear and Faith

by Tommy Coomes

As we start into another new year, several was hard at first. It was uncomfortable. things are on my mind and heart. Anxiety, fear, It meant being in charge of all the dollars and questions and faith are all jockeying for priority details. I had to learn new skills and wear new and position. hats. I loved working with all the artists and proIf you are self employed, in a band or serving ducers, but I also had to value budgets, timelines in your local church, one thing is certain – things and release dates. I became somewhat of an are going to change! Bands dis-band, clients, interpreter between the languages of finance, ministries and churches cut their budgets, music marketing, art and ministry – a delicate balancstyles change, people come and go and we have ing act at best. to adapt. Can I keep making music and devel- After a while I realized that helping others oping my skills as an artist, musician, songwriter make music was as fulfilling as making my own or worship leader? Will I be able to meet my music. It was the right thing at the right time for monthly nut? me. I had never dreamed about being a record Perhaps I have to try something different this year, learn new skills or work with other people.

Maybe a move is in my future. Maybe I have the right idea but my timing is off. (I hope you’re not the drummer!)

For many years I was a full time touring artist.

My beloved band broke up. Ouch! I poured four years of my life into that band and it was a good band. Man, I felt lost for a while wondering how I could start over and what I was going to do. I had a young son and wanted to learn how to be a good father and husband and stay married to the same woman. That was more important to me than playing my guitar and singing.

God honored that desire. People started calling me to produce albums. They sold. They asked me to do more albums. I learned about publishing and intelligent properties. They can be as valuable as real estate. ( Just ask Darlene and Chris or my pal Rick Founds.)

Eventually my little record company grew and they asked me to lead the creative division of the label. Having a background as an artist/producer came in handy. I knew how to read the room.

I knew what it was like on the “other side of the glass.” But, that also meant giving up most of my personal projects in order to provide oversight for the forty to fifty new projects every year. It

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JAN/FEB 2015

holds my future and has my back. Ah, that faith thing again!

Every once in a while God has to remind me that He’s more concerned about the big things than the little things. Big things like being fully convinced that He loves us. Big things like trusting His leadership and wisdom. Big things like cooperating with His transforming power. Big things like loving God and loving people. Why do we worry about the little things – the who, what, where, when and why? Do you ever laugh out loud over His interactions with the saints of old? I do. Consider Abraham, Moses and Jesus. producer. It wasn’t on my bucket list. I just want His ways are not our ways. They may be over our head, but He delights to reveal them to the to serve God. humble.

Other people gave me the opportunity to try something new. Don’t ask me why they would Does following God mean we’re always confitrust a young kid from Long Beach, CA with a dent that we’re on the right path? Does it mean somewhat troubled past. We didn’t really know we don’t wonder about the routing or bug God what we were doing, where it would lead or if it with all our questions? I don’t think so. I say it’s would be successful. God was doing new things, filled with wondering, seeking and many midwe were doing new things and it seemed to con- course corrections – the things that pilots know nect with people all over the world. It was good. so well. We need to keep listening to the tower in order to arrive safely at our desired destinaEventually, it was time to leave the label and tion. begin another new adventure. Again, it was He did say that faith was the gift of God, right? scary and uncertain. I needed more faith.

He also said that if we lack wisdom that we There are many seasons in life - eras when we should ask, in faith, believing that He hears us can’t seem to do anything wrong and eras where and gives generously to those that ask. it’s more like winter and waiting. Sometimes I wonder if God hears me or if I just have the Let’s ask, seek and knock on His door more wrong idea of how He is leading me. You might often. Let’s follow God into the unknown with be asking,” Where and when will my God given great faith – more faith than we had last year. desires be fulfilled? What about this dream of Tommy Coomes is a pioneer and mine?” For me, the answers have often come in innovator in Christian Music and still touring with Love Song in the unexpected ways – ways I couldn’t see, imagine USA and The Tommy Coomes Band or devise. and Franklin Graham Festivals I think this is where faith has to rise up and lead us. It sometimes helps to stop and look back in order to move forward. Has God always been faithful? Has He been good to me through the hard times, the wanderings and the waiting?

Yes. But, I still need to believe that he loves me,

CHRISTIANMUSICIAN.COM

around the world. He is committed to encouraging the next generations of talented artists, songwriters, musicians and worship leaders through his company called Music Compass. He can be reached at www.TommyCoomesBand.com and at Coomesie@aol.com.

Copyright ©2015 Tommy Coomes All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

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