Worship Musician! Magazine - Jan/Feb 2014

MATT MAHER’S

Product Review

Melodic Collage of Life

Duncan Africa Selah (OM) Artisan Series Acoustic/Electric Guitar

Product Review

RMI Acouswitch IQ DI

Record Reviews Vineyard UK Antioch Live Casey Darnell The Neverclaim Hillsong

JAN/FEB 2014 Volume 12, Issue 1 01

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“The Three Snare Drums” by Carl Albrecht

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“My Martin Guitar Story” by Don Poythress

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F R N EW IS E SU E

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Sweetwater-exclusive Interview with MIKESCHAIR

The hardworking group discusses their new album, their songwriting process, and their approach to choosing gear for recording and live sound.

Essential Guides for You and Your Volunteers Image courtesy of Matt Br Bronleewe

In-depth, down-to-earth articles help volunteers, pastors, and worship leaders understand the ins and outs of the latest in worship sound technology.

Producer

Matt Bronleewe

Giving Their All

There’s no better example of a hardworking band effectively sharing the modern musical message than MIKESCHAIR. This Nashville quintet has received multiple Dove Award nominations and tours incessantly. Plus, they’ve partnered with several nonprofit organizations to help those in need — both at home and abroad. Lead singer/ guitarist Mike Grayson, guitarist Kyle Schonewill, drummer Nate Onstott, bassist Seth Penn, and keyboardist Dustin Wise will be celebrating the release of MIKESCHAIR’s soon-to-be-released album, All or Nothing, with a tour that also features Plumb and Josh Wilson. We spoke to Mike about his calling, his commitment, and his approach to making music that makes a difference.

Tell us about your new record.

This was the first record where, from a writing standpoint, I actually had a theme in mind. The first song I wrote for the record was the title track. From that moment on, I knew that the theme was set before me, of this idea of literally abandoning everything and giving all to Jesus. Throughout the album, there are three or four titles that have the word “all” in them, with the last song on the record being kind of a remake of the old hymn, “I Surrender All.” The album kind of became a journey, starting with “All or Nothing.” This is the goal of the record: bringing people through the journey of what it might look like to get to that point of saying, “I’m done with the mediocre; I’m done with the gray. I’m just ready to go for it.”

Take us through your writing process.

Songwriting is a really organic thing for me. MIKESCHAIR has been around for almost 10 years, and this is our third national release. I’ve spent a lot of time traveling all over the country and figuring out what works and what doesn’t, what connects with people and what doesn’t. I feel like this record is more focused. I had a lot more to pull from. Sometimes it’s a quote from what my pastor said, or from when people come up after a show and share their stories. There’s a song on the new record called “Forever Faithful.” That song came directly from a story that was told to me after a show. For me, songwriting is definitely a platform not only to personally get things out, but I feel that some of my job as a writer is to view the world from an outside perspective and see what God is doing in other people’s lives.

A lot of people ask, how does a song start for you? Is it a melody? Is it a lyric? Is it a chorus? For me, it’s always different. The music usually comes first for me. I’ll have a melody I’m messing around with. From there, I’ll really dive into what I want to say. On this record in particular, I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a line in a song that didn’t make me feel something. I didn’t want fluff; I didn’t want to say what I thought people WANT to hear. I wanted it to be very genuine and true to what MIKESCHAIR is about. There was a lot more time spent on lyrics for this record and just making sure that everything that was said was worth saying.

How does your approach in the studio differ from your live approach?

The studio really is a different animal. Live, I tend to really focus on the emotion of the lyric — to the point where maybe in a studio setting it might not come across as well. Live singing and playing for me is more about connecting with the person in front of you, as opposed to the studio, where I’m always trying to be true to the song and the emotion. We’re also a radio band; a lot of our music is played on the radio. So that’s a factor in the studio. But, I don’t feel like we ever have to put limits on what we do because of that. We’re trying to create the best moments that relate live but also are communicated best in a recording situation.

Matt Bronleewe mentioned that the new album sounds bigger.

We’ve taken more of an organic approach on this album. The listener may have a harder time distinguishing between what a live drummer has done and what a programmer has added. MIKESCHAIR has a pretty large, epic sound, and things are kind of related in a movie sense for me, creating different scenes. Even when it comes to writing, it’s very visual to me. I can see what I want the song to express, and at the same time, I have ideas in my head for how I want it to sound in the end. There are lots of big gang vocals, going back to our first record. One of our first songs that we did on that album was “Let the Waters Rise.” That one had a really anthemic, epic vibe to it. We definitely carry that into the new record, but at the same time, there are more organic elements involved, as opposed to synths or very obvious programmed beats.

How did you approach your gear choices for the new album?

We use a lot of Fender gear. Our bass player uses a P Bass. Our lead guitar player, Kyle, plays an American Tele, and I use a Tele Deluxe live. On previous records, we had this vault of 20 or so guitars. With this album, we focused on three or four things rather than focus on 20 different things. A lot of it was gear that we use live.

Obviously, we’d supplement it with gear the studio had, but for the most part, it was all gear that we use on a day-in/day-out basis.

What do you use for monitoring and wireless gear live?

Onstage, I use Westone in-ears with dual drivers, and we have wireless Sennheiser instrument packs. I use a Sennheiser EW-135 for vocals. interested ested in making music.

Tell us about your biggest influences and how you got inter quar As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to music. My grandma grew up singing in a quartet.

My dad always loved music. When I was a little kid, I was always singing — to the point where my parents put first guitar guitar, I me in a boy’s choir. I remember desperately wanting to play an instrument. Ass soon as I got my first remember learning to play an “E” chord, and I learned that you could move it up the neck and that it sounded ted writing music as soon as I learned that one chord. I’ve never been one who good in different places. I started focused on being a virtuoso. I’ve always been more drawn to the songwriting aspect of what playing allows me to do. As far as early influences, Jars of Clay was a huge influence on me. I grew up listening to Christian music; Jars of Clay, Chris Tomlin, and Delirious? were huge influences.

Photos by: REID ROLLS PHOTOGRAPHY

What’s next for MIKESCHAIR? Definitely a lot of touring. With the release of any new record, we hit the road hard. Whenever we do a project, Ultimately that’ that’s why I do Christian music. it’s all about, “What can we do to get out and connect with people?” Ultimately, ts and what He’ss given us to communicate. The best We love getting out and sharing what God’s put in our hearts way to do that is by going on the road.

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MIKESCHAIR’ss latest album, All or Nothing, is coming soon. mikeschair mikeschair.com !

To find out more, go to mikeschair.com!

The Nashville-based engineer and musician brings plenty to the producer’ss chair when he works with MIKESCHAIR in the studio.

Matt acts as a sounding board, helps to define arrangements, and challenges the band to do their best work. He tells us about what it’s like to work with the band, how he was an early proponent of Pro Tools recording software, and why he relies on Sweetwater to give him the scoop on new gear.

How does the production on the new album differ from past MIKESCHAIR projects? as, how do we take what One thing that Mike and I talked about was, ther? I think the new album has we’ve done before and move it further? trying to marr a bigger sound. There was kind of a notion of tr marry the ying to find digital universe with real players, trying find harmony between those two things.

Any thoughts about working with Mike?

One great thing about Mike is that he really does strive for the best.

He gets up early, stays up late, and works really hard. When he comes joy I always know he’ in and we work together, it’ss always such a joy. he’s going to pick up the ball and run with it, and push everybody to do their best. ools when you rrecor ecord, ecor d, corr You work primarily with Pro Tools record, correct?

T for a ver I’m a Pro Tools guy. I’ve been working in Pro Tools very,y, ver very long time; it’s like pen and paper for me. When I first first started, it was T with 2" tape. Then, I was one of the first guys to have a big Pro Tools rig in Nashville, back when a lot of people told me I was crazy and should be buying ADATs. Do you use the Eleven Rack in your projects?

I use it a ton. During a project a few years ago, I had to just blast out all the guitars in Eleven Rack. I didn’tt have the chance to go to another studio and replace anything. But I was immediately impressed. I love being able to play through all those presets on the tist presets that came with it when I Eleven Rack — definitely the artist got it from Sweetwater.

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What did you use for Mike’ Mike’s vocals?

W used a combination of things. Most of the vocals were recorded We on the U-47. I went through a VVintech intech X73 into a Distressor Distressor. The Distressor is great for that “modern” vocal sound.

Which plug-ins and virtual instruments have you gotten a lot out of?

I love the Native Instruments Komplete collection. We’ve W used the Alicia’s Keys piano quite a bit. I also use the Abbey Road drum kits and ‘80s kits. As far as vocals, I really like the Sound TToys plug-ins and some of the W Waves plug-ins.

What would you most love to add to your studio setup right now?

The U UA Apollo Quad interface is definitely one of the things I could see in my studio at one point. I love the U UAD plug-ins. Sweetwater is great about letting me know when something I’d be interested in comes out. This gear is my lifeblood, and being able to talk to people at Sweetwater and have a company like yours out there ser servicing the needs of people like me is huge.

Read the entire Q&A with Matt Bronleewe at

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Editor’s Corner

Did I Mention Disneyland?

JAN/FEB 2014

This issue starts the 12th year of publishing Worship Musician! magazine. Wow! Where does all the time go? This Jan/Feb. issue finds itself in the publication bins at Winter NAMM in Anaheim, CA once again as well as at our exhibit booth. (NAMM is a very large four-day mainstream convention with over 1,400 8 exhibitors and 85,000 attendees). Here manufacturers and retailers (as well as press) meet to showcase and demo all of the latest new musical gear for 2014. Yes the guitars, basses, amps, keyboards, drums, vocal mics, and pro audio gear that may very well find it’s way onto your church platform and rehearsal room first start out at the NAMM show to be ordered by retailers (brick 10 and mortar and on-line alike).

VOL. 12, ISSUE 1

Features Product Review

By Bruce Adolph Duncan Africa Selah (OM) Artisan Series Acoustic/Electric Guitar From the Drummer’s Perspective

By Carl Albrecht The Three Snare Drums

We have other NAMM Show duties again this year, as we are offering free workshops for churches who want to learn how to leverage technology to enhance their worship services. They 12 Keyboard are Saturday afternoon in NAMM’s H.O.T. Zone training section

By Ed Kerr of the convention. This year Yamaha, Roland, and Pivitec are You Have Two Choices supporting our seminars on the Saturday afternoon of NAMM with their top-notch presenters (in company order - Mike Overlin, 15 Bass Corey Fournier, and Tom Knesel). We also have worship leader/

By Gary Lunn pastor Holland Davis leading a panel discussion. NAMM has Step Up to the Gig adapted a policy that now allows legitimate worship team members to attend the convention. If you can make it in 2015, 16 Vocals you will be glad you did!

By Sheri Gould

‘Tis the Season The Lord has opened up doors for us to co-sponsor the Night of Worship @ NAMM concert along with WATS (the Worship Arts 18 Tips for Tight Teams Technology Summit folks – Yamaha, Shure, Elation, Elite Core,

By Sandy Hoffman and Yamaha Commercial Audio Systems). This is our 5th year, You Can Be the Band - Part I and we have Matt Maher headlining along with Rita Springer (Flail, Choke, and Drone!) and Casey Corum leading in worship. We get over 1,000 folks each year. Convention attendees find it a breath of fresh air after 26 Songchart all of the clamor of five super-sized exhibit halls all day long.

By Matt Maher, Jesse Reeves,

40 Guitar Grab Bag

By Doug Doppler Know Your Tone, Part 2 42 The Band

By Tom Lane Fitting In 44 Camera

By Craig Kelly Panic Recovery 46 Ministry + Artistry = Profitability? Creating your MAP™

By Scott A. Shuford Social Media and Building Your Personal Brand, Part 1 50 Percussion

By Mark Shelton Savvy With The Shaker 53 Product Review

By Mitch Bohannon RMI Acouswitch IQ DI 54 A Few Moments With...

Don Poythress My Martin Guitar Story

Then, on Sunday morning, we have the second year of Mike, Daniel Carson, Brett Younker Corey (both mentioned above), and I hosting the Musician’s Burning in My Soul Chapel at the Hilton Hotel. This is a non-denominational biblebased meeting time where David Ellefson (bassist for Megadeth) 30 Record Reviews

By Gerod Bass is our guest pastor and Bob Bennett is our minister of music. Pretty cool eh?

• Vineyard UK NAMM is an important event for all three of our magazines this year (Christian Musician and Collectible Guitar being the other two) as we work the convention floor in search of great Continued on page 48

4227 S. Meridian. Suite C PMB #275 Puyallup, Washington 98373-5963 Phone: 253.445.1973 Fax: 253.655.5001 Email: bruce@christianmusician.com Website: www.worshipmusicianmagazine.com Publisher/Editor: Bruce Adolph Vice President: Judy Adolph Customer Service: Brian Felix brian@christianmusiciansummit.com Copyediting: Kevin Wilber Design Layout & Production: Matt Kees Advertising Sales: Bruce Adolph bruce@christianmusician.com • 253-445-1973 Worship Musician! is published bi-monthly

by The Adolph Agency, Inc.

• Antioch Live • Casey Darnell • The Neverclaim • Hillsong

34 FOH Engineer

By Bill Gibson Miking and Recording Acoustic Guitar 38 Worship Team Training

By Branon Dempsey Take 5 Five Steps to Grow as a Worship Team

Interview 20 Matt Maher’s Melodic Collage of Life

by Aimee Herd Live photos of Matt Maher by Sam Vert, taken at the Christian Musician Summit Northwest 2013

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM JAN/FEB 2014

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PRODUCT REVIEW

By Bruce Adolph

Duncan Africa Selah (OM) Artisan Series Acoustic/Electric Guitar Jay Duncan’s story is quite a remarkable one. What he has achieved in Africa deserves a CNN Heroes news feature. But in all fairness, before I tell you the back-story we need to review this guitar on its own merit… on its tonewoods, its design and build, and its sound and playability. Then you can hear about the mission of Duncan Africa guitars. I say this because if the acoustic guitar stands up to scrutiny AND has an altruistic/ministry aspect behind it, it will be more potent.

Jay has years of experience as a luthier both on his own, and for Canadian guitar maker Jean Larrivee. He has a strong dislike of cutaways on his instruments, claiming that you will lose 25% of the highs… something that a purist luthier won’t compromise on.

The guitar we are reviewing here is the Selah OM Artisan series. This OM guitar is larger in body size than what you would picture in your head as an OM shape. I like it however, as I got a good fingerstyle feel from it and a good strumming vibe as well. Kind of right in-between the delicate nuances of a fingerstyle guitar, mixed with the bigger sound of a dreadnought. The bass isn’t too boomy here either, so it feels smack in the

middle of the two body shapes. This is ‘outside the box’, and smart thinking.

In the ordering process you can select various tonewoods. The guitar we have for review has a cedar top (more pronounced for fingerstyle) and Indian rosewood back and sides. The electronics are the LR Baggs iMix. You have options there too, but I am a fan of LR Baggs products already, so you can’t go wrong here.

The Artisan guitars all come with AAA grade solid wood construction and a good list of ingredients: gold Gotoh 510 series tuners, an ebony fingerboard (feels great on the ol’ fingertips), ebony bridge and bridge pins, bone nut and saddle, one piece mahogany neck, mother of pearl logo, wood binding, mother of pearl fingerboard dots, gloss finish, a better than usual hardshell case, and a limited lifetime warranty. Those are some pretty cool components, but it is how the luthiers put it all together that makes the Duncan Africa guitars shine.

There is a commitment and passion to make great guitars here.

Often, when a worship leader tries to describe a guitar’s tone, they are swayed by some of the most popular guitars signature sounds (Taylors sound this way, and Martins sound that way, etc.). What I like about the Duncan Africa is that it has a darker sound than you might expect, but it is clear too. Not just mid-rangy, and not brittle in the highs. I would describe it as a warm tone, not a booming bass – well balanced, with some character/soul to it’s sound.

The playability and fretwork is a winner here. The neck has a thin profile and is very comfortable. The nut width is 1-11/16”.

Aesthetically, the guitar scores big points, starting with the headstock. Not only is the logo of the African continent very cool with the banner wrapping around it that spells Duncan Africa, but the headstock shape itself is also very cool. I liked just looking at it!

The price of this guitar is $2,649.00 with the case, and another $325.00 if you want the LR Baggs iMix pickup system. When you take a look at all that goes into this all solid wood

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instrument and the overall quality of the package, it gives major guitar companies a run for their money.

In this price range it is well worth the investment; this guitar does stand alone on its merits!

Now for the backstory… not only does Jay Duncan like quality guitars, but he also hates poverty. He traveled to a small town outside of the capital city of Uganda and started a trade school to teach young people to build world-class acoustic guitars, and in so doing, to break the cycle of poverty. Jay has spent months on end in Africa mentoring the students and setting up the luthier shop with tools and good materials, as well as to impart to the students a spirit of excellence. He stays in constant contact with them via e-mail and text. The guitars are shipped from Africa to Jay who inspects and sets up each one. Jay lives in Surrey, British Columbia and has spent many years as a worship leader.

This guitar I reviewed had an eternal flame inlay on the fretboard and the name Mwesige inlaid on the 12th fret. When I asked Jay Duncan why, he replied, “Our shop manager for seven years, Mwesige David, passed away February 1st last year after a very short battle with liver cancer. Without David the project never would have become the success it has become. So to commemorate him we created a limited edition inlay in his honor. To be honest, he was one of my closest friends and mentor. He is the real hero in our story. Our guys in Uganda have worked doubly hard this year to pick up the pieces and carry on, and they are doing very, very well”.

Duncan Africa also offers a less expensive line of guitars (Suubi Series –which is the Ugandan word for hope) starting at just $1,399.00. Along with this guitar Jay sent me a “Poverty Sucks – Play Guitar” t-shirt, which sums up the mission of who they are and what they do. Read more about the trade school at their website www.duncanafrica.com Now you can play a quality guitar for two very good reasons – good tone and playability for yourself, and altruistic motives for others sake. It’s a pretty powerful combination if you ask me, and it is amazing to see how good the guitars are that are coming out of this little town in Uganda.

Our kudos to Jay and his vision… the business model he has built there should be emulated by others and I hope to see him on CNN’s Heroes show sometime soon!

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FROM THE DRUMMER’S PERSPECTIVE

By Carl Albrecht

The Three Snare Drums I know that drummers love to collect snare drums. It’s like every musician with any instrument. We’ve got to have the latest “cool” tool for inspiration. Or maybe an old vintage instrument that will hearken back to some classic sound we’re looking for.

Having several drum sets is pretty common, but having a lot more snare drums is the usual addiction. But, whether it’s guitars, keyboards, basses, drums, percussion… you name it… we want it. It’s the never-ending search for the “holy grail” of sound.

can sound nice tuned down to a medium tension, but normally I really crank it up.

With the snares off you can hear a high C or B. Although it won’t sound as fat as the big snare, when tuned down to very low pitches it can feel pretty thick or warm sounding.

Not that I’m immune to the disease, I still look and listen for unique snare drum sounds that I would like to have in my collection. But I’ve had to learn to work with fewer drums for most situations, especially when traveling. If I’m working on a project out of town, and I can’t ship twenty snare drums, I’ve found the three snare drums that can pretty much do everything. And yes, I have twenty snare drums… or something like that.

There have been many situations where these two drums were the only ones I used. A standard big snare and a brass piccolo snare can cover a huge range of musical situations. Much of the tonal changes and nuances of My first choice for a snare drum is one that the sound comes from the way you I set up for every session or live event as the tune the drums. Be sure to try different “go to drum.” In fact if I’m only able to take heads and tuning combinations one snare on a gig, this is it. A Yamaha with your favorite set up too, so that standard brass 14” X 7” snare drum with steel you’ll know what you can get out of flanged hoops and standard snare wires. All the drums. Knowing the real working the drum companies make this type of “fat” options for each snare is a great skill snare. Even many of the signature snares are to development. And it will come in close to this design. Like the Ludwig “Black handy.

Beauty,” the Steve Ferrone signature snare The third snare in the line up is a

by Pearl, or the Paul Leim Yamaha snare.

Paul’s snare, like others, Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute 14” is a chrome plating over X 5”. Yea, I know I’m talking about all brass design, but the main Yamaha drums here, but they have proven tone of this and any of themselves to be fantastic instruments in these drums comes from every situation. Every company makes similar designs, so just play what you the brass. love and find the drums in your camp that You can tune this drum work like this. It may be a combination of down really low and get manufacturers. I’ve just been very fortunate that “tubby” / “GOOSH” to find what I need with Yamaha. In my sound you hear so often larger collection there are drums from on recordings. The fundamental pitch you several companies, but it honestly did would hear with the snares off would be a work out for my favorite three drums to be low E or lower D. Tuning it to a standard medium range gives you a great cracking attack, but still lots of fatness – the note would be F or G. Then you can really crank it up to an A or higher and this drum will really pop… and NOT choke like some drums do when you tune really tight. This, for me, is the most versatile drum to have.

In most settings the number two drum for me is a Yamaha 13” X 4” brass piccolo snare. Quite often I will set up this drum to the left of my hi-hat as an option for tight the Yamaha snares. back beats in certain sections of a song, or The Yamaha maple snare gives me that I’ll even turn the snares off and use it as a high tenor drum or timbale sound. This drum middle-ground option for a wood snare.

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It’s the standard size for most snares, and like the other drums it has a fantastic range of tuning. I love to use this drum as an option for the main snare, replacing the fat brass drum. This usually happens when I specifically want a snare that really cracks but has the warmth of a wood drum.

Unlike the other two snares with flanged steel hoops this one has die-cast hoops.

I think that’s what gives this drum that crackin’ back beat. I keep it set up with typical head and snare configurations. I use medium thick snare side heads and standard snare wires on all three of these favorites, and I use Evans Power Center Reverse dots heads on the tops. For muffling I might roll up a little duct tape and place a small piece on the edge of the batter head just touching the hoop. I’ll add some or take it away according to the sound I’m looking for.

The pictures should help you see the basic design and set up for the three snares.

There’s nothing fancy or tricky about what I do with the drums. They just work. And that, my friend, is the most important thing for a snare drum, and ALL the drums really.

I’m always open to adjusting the drums just right for whatever m u s i c a l situation I’m in. Sometimes the tuning must change, or the muffling of a drum has to be adjusted. The snare wire tension is usually pretty loose for me. Tight enough for good definition when playing faster, but loose enough to always hear the wires when playing the ghost notes or drags.

I hope you’re able to find several great working snare drums for the work that you do. It is fun to have a large collection of drums for sure, but focus on having just a few that will work in every setting.

Happy drum hunting, Carl Carl Albrecht has been a professional drummer & percussionist for over 25 years. He has played on over 70 Integrity Music projects; Maranatha Praise Band recordings & numerous other Christian, Pop, Country, Jazz & commercial projects. He currently lives in Nashville doing recording sessions, producing, writing and continuing to do various tours & seminar events.

Visit his website: www.carlalbrecht.com or send an e-mail to: lmalbrecht@aol.com.

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SOUND LEGACY

KEYBOARD

By Ed Kerr

You Have Two Choices At this year’s CMS Northwest I was invited to teach the Boot Camp Sessions for keyboard players. It was such a treat to have a full day to spend focusing on foundational concepts with the attendees. Besides my being able to illustrate something from my keyboard, they were able to try things out for themselves, since Yamaha had provided a great instrument for each of them to use.

One of the things that most resonated with the group was the concept of efficient voice leading.

Efficient voice leading describes the way you move the individual notes of a chord you’re playing to the notes of the next chord. Let’s say the chord progression is G C D Em7. In example A below you’ll see

inefficient voice leading.

Here, each chord is played in its root position, with the root of the chord on the bottom of the right hand. As the chords change, you lift your hand and move to the next chord in its root position. Not efficient. By the way, if you want to use your left hand just play the root of each chord.

Efficient voice leading moves the shortest distance possible to play the notes of successive chords. In example B above you’ll see that for the first chord I’ve placed a G on top of my voicing. I then asked myself what notes can stay the same (common tones) when I move to the C chord, and what notes have to move. The G on top is a common tone so it stays there, the D can move to an E, and the B can move to a C. Similar thinking was used to move to the D and then to the Em7. Efficient.

Basic stuff. Develop even more efficient voice leading by involving some commonly used color chords. In the key of G, the 4 chord, C, is often played as a 2 chord. So, instead of playing the C E G you’ll play C D G, eliminating E, the 3rd of the chord and playing D, the 2nd above the C, instead.

The next chord, D, can be treated as a Dsus, spelled D G A. Finally, for the Em7, I’ll move back to a position with the G on top and play the E D and B below it. This is shown in

When you add a bass note with your left hand you’ll notice lots of openings, lots of gaps where chord tones are omitted. I call this an open voicing. You’ve opened it up, choosing to only play the 2 unchanging notes in the right hand along with the root of the chord in the left, shown in example E below.

I’m sure some of you are thinking this part sounds too simple.

Check out example F above. Here I’ve added a low G in the right hand as an 8th note between each chord. This is a figure used often on recordings, too.

Now, about those two choices I referred to in my title here.

As you become more and more comfortable with using efficient voice leading you’ll discover that there are 2 notes that generally work well when played over your progressions. They’re the 1st and 5th notes of the scale. In the key of G, that’s a G and a D. The color chord concepts I applied in example C above made these notes “justifiable” in the C and D chords.

Here’s when the Boot Camp players began having lights come on as they experimented at their keyboards with these concepts.

They saw that it can take some time to convince your brain and your right hand that a big leap from chord to chord isn’t needed.

Make some time at your keyboard and practice progressions like this. Play G Em7 D C. Or C Em7 G D. There are lots of possible progressions. Just remember that the less movement you make from chord to chord, the more modern the sound.

These concepts are invaluable when you’re using a pad sound, too. Many songs on recordings today feature pad parts that involve a common tone heard as its top note throughout a progression. I call this a droning note. Do this yourself in your pad parts, choosing either the 1st or 5th notes of the scale. And use just your right hand. Simple. Effective. Efficient.

example C. Example D goes even further with efficient voice leading and illustrates a voicing recorded often on this type of chord progression. Talk about efficient. The same 2 notes are heard for every chord.

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As a songwriter Ed has written over 100 songs with Integrity Music. He has a Masters Degree in piano performance. Ed and his family live in Washington State. Ed plays Yamaha’s Motif XS8. www.kerrtunes.com

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BASS

By Gary Lunn

Step Up to the Gig One thing that I have learned in the music business is that if you are going to say, “I can do that,” then you’d better be able to do it! I know it sounds a lot like “Always do what you say you’re going to do,” but it actually has quite a different meaning - especially as a musician. It’s different because it comes from a place of experience and talent, not just commitment. To be a competent bassist you must be familiar with all styles of music before you take “the gig.”

On stage or in a studio is not the kind of place where you want to suddenly feel the urge to grab your stuff and run out of the room with your head hanging down saying, “I don’t think I’m the right guy for this.” I have been there a few times during my career - and it’s not fun.

refreshing.

I love a challenge. I do. I really, really do (I have to keep telling myself that).

But, trying to find your ”happy place” along with your own personal freedom of expression in a time signature that you don’t play in every day is just plain hard! Thankfully, all the songs were NOT in odd time signatures, and we had a fair amount of rehearsal, having multiple chances to record several “takes” of the more difficult songs.

The coolest thing about it was that every time we played them, something different would happen; not necessarily better, just different. Then other factors would come into play, like the audiences response, the musical banter between all the musicians playing, and the strength I recently played on a live recording of the wonderful “flow” effect between for my long-time “worship” friend, us, which would rise and fall across the Leonard Jones. Leonard has always stage. Also, I could hear the continual been someone I have considered with evolving of each individual musician as the highest regard as a worship music we all “got better at it” together. What pioneer. He’s one of those guys who an amazing time we had! I can’t wait to decides that he likes the sound of some hear the project when it is finished. bizarre instrument, buys one, and is My point in sharing that experience is writing songs on it that evening. He’s that practicing as much as you can makes an extremely accomplished violinist all the difference (I am preaching to (classical, country, folk, etc.), excellent myself here!). It doesn’t matter how long guitarist (electric and acoustic), and you’ve played, or how much experience “dabbles” in penny whistle, flute, you may have, it always help to practice banjo, highland pipes, piano, sitar (the scales, timing, improvisation, and odd real one), and many other instruments. time signatures. We must never stop His writing has always been “against learning. Practicing with clicks and/ the grain,” nothing like what you’re or loops can help bring you to a level currently hearing on the radio, from a of excellence that will help you hear new stream, etc. For example, through differences between different player’s years of working with him, he always “feel.” It will raise your awareness of comes back around to writing some of different band members’ timing as well the most anointed worship songs in odd as their own individual feel(s). You’ll meters, particularly in 5/8 or 7/8. Of be able to listen better and learn their course, there have been combinations musical concepts and their “styles” of of several different meters in some of subdividing (pocket), which will really his compositions, but no matter how help the whole band to “lock in.” you slice it, this Nashville boy can trip and fall with the best of ‘em! Playing Another method of practicing is to his music has always been a challenge, learn a piece of music with a bass part which in today’s 4/4 time, 1/8 note that you are almost completely unable ridden worship world, can be very to play. Then, methodically dissect it

and practice sections of the song until you can play them. Slowly rehearse each part of the song until you conquer it section by section. Once you learn it, you’ll feel better about everything else you can already play. You will have raised the bar up a notch. These are the kind of goals we should all set in our playing. A sense of accomplishment can really give you a boost in your ability.

On the other hand, much worship music these days consists of eighth notes in several different ways. You may think that those kinds of songs are simple but (just like for odd time signatures) you have got to be ready. Sometimes, what seems to be the easiest to play can turn out to be the most difficult to play consistently. I believe this is kind of a “mind trick” that occurs as we repeat certain patterns over and over and our brains begin to second-guess the previous times we’ve played the same section. That mind process can actually make things more difficult. Just remember that the simpler the pattern is, the quicker you have to set a consistent fingering style and then stop thinking about it. Concentrate on the other groove elements in the rhythm section.

Focus on the high hat, bass drum, click track (if you have one), rhythm guitar, etc. and let your fingers play.

Always be willing to learn. Never let yourself feel like you’ve “arrived” and have no more room for new inspiration.

Even if life is being a challenge, try to find a musical challenge. I guarantee that a feeling of accomplishment will help you to pray-and-play through it!

Gary is a session player/ producer/writer in Nashville, TN. He records sessions at home, plays for many recording session accounts, and attends Grace Church (gracechurchnashville. com) in Franklin, TN. Find him on www.facebook.com for questions or scheduling. Check out http://leonardjonesmusic.com.

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM JAN/FEB 2014

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VOCALS

By Sheri Gould

‘Tis the Season I love winter.

In fact it could be said, on any given snowy, wintry day, that winter is almost my favorite season. (It just can’t quite beat Fall) However, if you are a singer, there are some tricky roads to maneuver during the cold, dry, winter months . . .and that’s before you get in your car! ;) So in honor of the winter months, I’m going to give you some tips to help keep your voice healthy.

Stay Hydrated Drink, drink, drink!

This is number one on the list of important things to do ALL WINTER. In fact, it’s probably the most important thing you can do ALL YEAR. Staying hydrated requires more than simply drinking enough water every day, although that’s a great place to start.

Make sure you start drinking water first thing in the morning when you get up. I keep water by my bedside all night and make sure I drink it all when I first get up.

This is important, especially when you’re planning to sing. Since I recommend warming up every day, that means that you will be singing every day, so you will definitely need that water! Don’t forget that it takes about an hour for the water you drink to get to your vocal cords, which are situated on the trachea, not on the esophagus. When you drink you may feel an immediate sense of hydration down your throat, but in order to get to the vocal cords themselves the water must be metabolized, and that takes about an hour, so you need to stay ahead of it. If you become thirsty while on the platform, even if you have access to water, you will not be able to “catch up”. You will most likely be thirsty the entire time.

Add moisture to your air Don’t forget that the air is drier in the winter and not capable of carrying as much moisture as warmer air can. Therefore, you may need to add moisture to your air. This is especially important if you live or work in an environment that has forced air

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(very dry) heat. So, if you don’t own one already, invest in a warm air vaporizer and use it! This is especially important at night when you may not pay attention to the way in which you are breathing.

It is considerably healthier for you, for multiple reasons, to breathe through your nose: it cleans, warms, and moistens the air you breathe. So while you may make a habit of this during the day, it’s difficult to pay attention to this when you’re asleep. Ha! So make sure you add moisture to your air.

I continued to skip that particular event, as it was simply too risky for me.

Shouting at a football game in the freezing cold (or even in your living room!) may be a fun way to spend your afternoon or evening, but the damage you do can take weeks to heal.

If singing is a priority to you, then you need to be wise about the use of your voice. As a child, it may have been fun to scream until you “lost your voice”, but it’s not now. Serious damage can occur even from yelling for just a couple Watch what you consume of hours, and once you’ve reached full There are many things that have a “adulthood” it can take much longer propensity to dry out the vocal cords. to bounce back. These situations are Smart singers stay away from them. dangerous to your vocal health anytime, When you know you’re going to sing, but in the wintertime with the cold, dry air, it’s even more so. You can have fun, try to limit your consumption of: spend time outdoors, and even use your Alcohol voice-- you just need to be smart about it and more cautious than usual. Keep Caffeine a non-mentholated cough drop in your Menthol (or any product containing mouth when you go out. It will help you peppermint) to salivate more and breathe through your nose.

Citrus fruits (such as lemon) Eat, drink, be merry, and sing!

This is a short list and there are, of course, many other things—such as Having said all that, I just want to salt—that can dry you out as well. You reiterate that it is important to stay need to listen to your body and see which singing in the winter months. Even if you things bother you and which things don’t. tend to hibernate, make sure you keep on singing. Stick to your regular warmup routine. (If you don’t have one—get Watch Your Mouth one!) In fact, this may be the time to Winter is the season for a lot of outside stretch out a bit and start working out activities. Things like caroling, football your voice if you can. Maybe with a games, enjoying an outdoor fire, or little work you’ll even be able to hit that even a hot tub (there’s nothing like an high “C” you’ve been dreaming about! outdoor hot tub in the snow!) can put So put on your favorite music, get a nice you in a situation that is really harsh cup of herbal tea, and settle in for a long vocally. That cold air on the vocal cords winter’s night of singing… is a killer. I can remember many years ago I was the music director at a church that did caroling as an outreach—right before the annual Christmas Cantata.

Sheri Gould is an The pastor, of course, wanted all the best internationally acclaimed vocal singers to participate. He and I had to coach. With a degree from have some (respectful) discussions as to the University of Ill, she has why my singers were NOT going to go been coaching since 1979 out singing in the damp, cold weather and leading worship since 1985. For weekly the night before another important vocal tips, check out Sheri’s FB page at www.facebook.com/officialsherigould.

For outreach—our Christmas program! information on products, including instructional Eventually he moved the dates around DVDs, check out http://sherigould.com to try and accommodate the choir, but

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TIPS FOR TIGHT TEAMS

by Sandy Hoffman

You Can Be the Band - Part I (Flail, Choke, and Drone!)

Flail, choke, and drone? Isn’t that dangerous?

Over the years, the “Tips for Tight Teams” articles have mostly focused on ways to lead praise from a worship team perspective.

I’ve always endeavored to consider how we might make our teams sound musically tight, all the while honoring God. Along the way, we’ve explored issues from hearts to charts to vocal parts. We’ve gotten “out of the garage” and “into the flow,” and sometimes even found ourselves slightly contorted as we stood with voices (and hands) raised loud and high, or we fell down on our faces in deep worship and adoration to the Lord.

“So,” you ask, “what could flailing, choking, and droning a guitar possibly have to do with whole-team tightness?”

Nothing, perhaps, and yet everything, if you happen to find yourself being a solitary leader! The relevant question is, “What if I’m the only-lonely one on stage?” In this issue of Worship Musician! Magazine, how about we step outside that “team box” for a while, and consider what skills we might need if we had to go it alone?

Today, let’s talk about what it means to be a guitar-centric, team antithetical worship leader.

I recall, as a young man, working with a wiry, Barney Fife sort of fellow named Curtis. We were surveyors for the city where I lived, and cutting a line with our machetes through some thick undergrowth in woods out in the county.

Curtis, being many years my senior, was leading the way, rhythmically whacking left-right-left-right. I was bringing up the rear, taking out any leftover weeds, bushes, or brambles.

Next, we’re ready to add the choke.

No worries, you won’t turn blue. A choke strum involves striking the strings with the outside of the right hand and the pick at precisely the same moment. This is done in such a manner that it deadens all the strings at once, and causes them to make a percussive sound as the pick passes over them. Whenever the team is playing together, the snare drum fulfills Suddenly, I was given the perfect this function. But when you are all alone, opportunity to richly relish that old the choke can add that familiar snare saying: “Age before beauty.” As Curtis drum back beat on beats two and four. passed by an ancient tree trunk, hacking We hear it in so many of today’s popaway as he walked, a large swarm of style worship songs, you’ll recognize it irate yellow jackets came tearing out of right away. the roots, fury in their wings! What a In the following example, “ch” stands sensory overload! for choke. Play, strumming down-up, Close your eyes, try not to laugh, and down-up, down-up, down-up. Choke on imagine a wiry little Gollum-of-a-man the second and fourth beat as you count: with a machete in his hand, running, 1 + ch + 3 + ch + (spoken as: one and screaming, and yes, flailing overhead choke and three and choke and): through the woods with a frenzied host of furious yellow jackets all around and E over him... Now that’s what strumming E with a passion should be like! I doubt / / / / / / / / such perfect flailing has ever been seen 1 + ch + 3 + ch + again!

As a lone worship leader, you may at WHERE TO? times desire to express that same kind First of all, we’ll have a look at simple of passionate flailing-while-under-attack solo accompaniment techniques that are technique. To begin to flail, play your specifically aimed at guitarists (though guitar, strumming down-up, down-up, applicable, in one way or another, to all down-up, down-up, counting: 1 + 2 + chorded instruments). Secondly, when your 3 + 4 + (spoken as: one and two and guitar has to be the team and your voice three and four and): has to be the choir, we’ll consider what it means for you to cover it all—alone. As E E you can see, you may very well need to / / / / / / / / flail, choke, and drone after all!

FLAIL

1

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Flailing is probably one of the first down-up, down-up, down-up, down-up techniques you ever learned on your instrument, but because it implied adding (For free Flail, Choke, and Drone pdf in a good deal more rhythmic movement downloads please visit: than most beginners attempt, you might http://www.worshipworks.com/ only have thought of it as strumming with passion. After years of effort, you may now freedownloadsmain.html) be skilled enough to express that passion in your solo worship leading times—every time.

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CHOKE

down-up, down-up, down-up, down-up

Choking adds a wonderful effect to your already steady strumming. It’s as though you’ve included the snare drum back into your mix. When you really get into flailing those strings, the choke brings extra life and intensity to your one-man-worship band.

(For a demonstration of flail, choke, and drone on the guitar, please visit: h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / u s e r / sandyhoffmanmusic) DRONE And finally, we drone! Droning chords usually share the same key, and also share one or more common tones within the chord spellings. In the following example, we’ll be playing the E chord, A2 chord, and B4 chord consecutively.

Continued on page 48

MATT MAHER’S Melodic Collage of Life

by Aimee Herd

Canadian-born Matt Maher brings a unique combination of highly educated and skilled musicianship and a heart for unity and fellowship, to the world of musicartistry. Although extremely well versed in theology, Matt’s humility and inborn desire for a good jam session among fellow artists of all backgrounds will no doubt be something God will use more and more.

Read on for an inside look at Dove Award winner Matt Maher.

Aimee Herd: Matt, in your lyrics and even the way you interact with the audience in a live setting, you exhibit a real love for the Church and a heart for the Body of Christ. Can you talk a little about your background?

Matt Maher: I grew up in Newfoundland, Canada; I lived there for 20 years. It’s a beautifully simple, complex place! You learn to put up with living conditions that are not ideal. It’s a smaller population that is largely concentrated as either Celtic or Acadian, so music and community is a huge part of those people’s lives.

Most Newfoundlanders—when I was growing up— were usually affiliated with some kind of Christian denomination; Salvation Army, or Catholic... I was born and raised Catholic, but it didn’t mean that you didn’t interact with others from denominations that were different from yours. I grew up in an environment where community was just a part of the human experience. The love of neighbor and service was huge.

My high school had a big volunteer program, but I was never a part of it because I was always doing some sort of music related activity after school; whether it was choir rehearsal or practices for the rock band that I was in. Back then faith was a personal thing, but it was also a private thing.

When I was 20, my parents separated and I moved with my mom to Arizona to be close to her family.

At that time I was 3 years into a music degree, and I pretty much subscribed to a theory of relativism and universalism, and a mentality of “all roads lead to Heaven.”

My plan was to go from Newfoundland to Phoenix (Arizona); be in Phoenix for six months, and then I would move to L.A. and study film scoring (which is what I really wanted to do). But when I moved to Arizona, my cousin invited me to church—they had a youth group there that was similar to Young Life. I went to a Mass, and what struck me was that everyone was participating—when there was music, everyone sang; everyone said the responses... I thought, “This is fascinating!”

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So I got involved with the youth group there, and the youth pastor eventually asked me if I would help out with the teenagers. I thought, “Anything I can do to help them navigate through the experience of high school and stuff, and not make all those same mistakes...” By the end of the summer, I had a much deeper relationship with the Lord. I always tell people, “I always believed in God, but I didn’t realize how much God believes in me.” That’s a fundamental shift that happens—when you get the story of the Gospel, and you’re like: “Ohhhh.” I was prayed over, and received Jesus as my Savior. It was weird to grow up in Canada, then have all this stuff, and then go, “Wow, I’m a Born Again Christian—in the Catholic Church!” Within the confines of the Catholic Church, there’s a Charismatic community—all my cousins, it turns out, grew up in that. They made a huge impression on me.

AH: Your latest album, “All the People Said Amen,” captures both live and in-studio slices of what your passions are...what gave you the idea to include live and studio recordings together on the same project?

MM: Well, it’s funny—most artists wait till near the end of their career to make a live record. I wanted to get it done about halfway through. It’s been a very unique season. I’ve been touring with two other guys in particular, for seven years. When they started playing with me, they could barely play their instruments. I was doing a weekly night of worship outreach at a church in Mesa, and was asked to play at some youth events (out of the area). I needed a band, and prayed for God to send me a band, and this rag-tag group of guys showed up.

One of them was a guy with a business degree, but who was also a pretty good drummer. The other two—both 19—one, Kemi Ndolo had been playing bass for two months, and the other, Kenny Butler had barely been playing guitar for a couple years.

But that year we got together twice a week and practiced. We did everything; from learning covers, to practicing songs—it was a real sweet time to pour into people. Later we switched drummers, because Dan, our first drummer, and his wife had twins, and the touring schedule didn’t work well for them.

I really wanted to capture the music that I’d been playing with those two guys and our current drummer, Richard Scott. The three of us have been playing a lot of music together in the span of two years, and it has been a very defining time for me. The album “Alive Again” came out and was hugely successful; “The Love In Between” came out and there were a couple songs on there that were successful. We’d done a lot of tours together; we all got married and had kids together, and I really wanted to capture this season.

We also had Scotty Wilbanks (Third Day) help out on keyboards in the studio and occasionally on a “live” recording too.

Another reason we included both aspects on the album is that a lot of these songs have really come to life “live.” It happens more and more... you write a song in the studio and it’s like a sterile environment, but you bring that song into a live setting—with hundreds of people singing it with you—and it totally comes to life. For me, I wanted to capture some of those songs now, while they’re still fresh, so that people who haven’t heard me do it live before will want to come out and hear it that way.

Also, live records are made a lot of different ways now. You can record live, then go back and overdub.

But my favorite live recordings are the ones that are literally recorded live, off the board—no editing—it is what it is.

AH: I like that way too, it seems like it captures that “live” feeling and energy better.

MM: Oh absolutely! And the spontaneity of it... I think that’s a big reason why I wanted to do it. And I feel like my life, in the last few years, has been like a weird collage—so that’s what this album is; a little pause to stop and look back at where we’ve been and where we’re going.

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Matt Maher: by Aimee Herd

continued

AH: I want to get to some of the new songs on the new album—a couple that have really stood out to me are “Mighty Fortress” and “Burning In My Soul.”

MM: “Burning In My Soul” was co-written with folks from Passion City Church as a song for the Passion conference.

I had developed some really great friendships with them through Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, and just getting to know all the different worship leaders there.

They haul me in a couple times a year when they get together to write, which is a huge honor.

So, I was driving down to Atlanta, and as I drove up I saw a few people on the porch and wondered what they were doing. I walked up and Brett Younker, one of their newest worship leaders, was playing this little finger-picking style chord change and singing this melody of “Whoa-ooo-ooo” (Matt sings the riff)... I stopped right there.

I thought I’m gonna sit here and work on whatever they’re working on. So we wrote that song.

I’m a big fan of having a “road map” conceptually of what you’re writing about.

So Brett was saying something about Holy Fire, and I started thinking about the Holy Spirit and thought it would be cool to bring the Scripture about the last days and the Holy Spirit being poured out—and Pentecost—and putting them together in a song. That became the framework, and then we began throwing ideas out to each other. That’s how “Burning In My Soul” came about, and immediately—we cut the demo that day—I knew this was a song that I would be able to champion and get behind. It was in my musical wheelhouse of less pop, and there was a kind of an “earthiness” to it that I kind of gravitate toward in my music.

And then “Mighty Fortress” actually started when I was driving down to a conference and I began to sing a melody that ended with “a mighty fortress is our God.” It’s interesting to be a Catholic and write a song based on that phrase! (Laughs) But for me, I just looked at that phrase and thought less of what Luther wrote it about and more about today. I asked myself, “What’s the greatest pressure that we face as Believers?” In this secular, postChristian society, we will either become really pluralistic, and there will be a

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what we’re doing!

AH: That’s a really good point, I like the way you put that.

MM: So, with the song “White Flag”--we raise the white flag, the war is over.

There are battles that we face, but the war’s been won. Jesus promised that we would have trouble, but He left us with peace. So— getting back to your original question—for me, the writing process has to start with a concept or compelling space and a certain level of freedom nugget. Then I can go to work writing for Christians in the public square; or around it. The co-writing session is a lot there won’t be, and Christianity would different because someone can come up more and more become just an abrasive with an idea and I’ll go, “Yeah, that’s religion [to society]. really good,” and I’ll work on that.

So, looking at that phrase as a AH: Matt, you mentioned once the leader in this post-Christian society; desire to sometimes “reinvent” yourself we’re looking at God being a refuge. as an artist. Can you explain a little From even the pressures the Church in about what you mean, and how you America faces, such as trying to be so accomplish that without losing your culturally relevant—God is our refuge. original passion and purpose?

And the song “Mighty Fortress” is about expanding the hymn that Martin Luther MM: Well, I had my childhood in the wrote, to include the pressure of the ‘80’s, so there was a lot of pop music; world. Not necessarily people, but more and then the ‘90’s in high school; it was what the Apostle Paul wrote about—the the birth of alternative music. That’s all powers and principalities. I often pray part of my DNA. My cousins were older that I can stay as hidden as possible—I than me, and they were all listening to encourage Christians to pray that—I classic rock, so I was exposed to all don’t think we should pray for attention. that. My dad was obsessed with Frank For example, it’s better that someone Sinatra and Willie Nelson, so I’d listen remembers the impression you left rather to them when he was cooking. I played in a rock band and we wrote original than what you looked like. music; I’ve played trombone... My first AH: You mentioned writing with years of college I was a music theory people from Passion City Church; how major, then I was a jazz performance about on your own, what is the typical major at Arizona State. And then I way you go about crafting a song? became a worship leader and all of a MM: I guess you could say it’s very sudden most of that stuff gets put on the “conceptual.” I need a concept when I back burner from a musical perspective write. Rarely do I sit down and just have because it’s hard to incorporate some of a melody idea, or a musical idea. Most those more complex elements. times I’ll sit down and a concept idea I think, since the creation of hymns, and a music idea will come at the same there hasn’t really been a new way, time—or just the concept. musically, for people to communicate What I mean by concept is a fresh perspective that is unique to me, of looking at something. I helped write a song called, “White Flag,” it was on the Passion record and Chris Tomlin recorded it. The Church militant has for so long looked at the cross as “marching through the streets, lifting high the cross” in an almost Roman, processional way . . . For me, it’s also of a sign of surrender—I think we can be confident in what God has done, but I don’t think we should be nearly so confident in

their faith through the power of song.

So when I write church music now, I try to consider it in line with that—it’s a variation on a hymn structure. So, it’s not really the time to flex my musical muscles so to speak, because the point of writing them wasn’t to flex my musical muscles; it was to provide a way for the Church to remember who God is, and who they are in light of that in the context of a song.

As an artist, though, traveling and touring, and occasionally writing songs

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Matt Maher: by Aimee Herd

continued

Christian music is on a collision course with the rest of the musical industry. I don’t think that’s a bad thing—I think it’s a really good thing. I think that a lot of musicians in the Christian music industry would benefit a lot... like what Pope Francis said when he was elected, that we need to get outside of ourselves.

He was talking not just about the Church but also about society—our world is completely self-referential now and selfobsessed. What Jesus desires for us all is that we would get outside ourselves and start re-connecting with people.

to me.” Then that’s fantastic.

So, I think for me... I have two albums left on my record contract—I’m in the process of trying to develop a vision of what I want it to be about. I’m also building a rehearsal space/writing room in a building behind my house.

I’m basically going to try to take the next 7 to 8 months, and occasionally get together with a group of musicians and write together, making demos of songs together, and just make music, record it, and then stop and take a look at it.

That’s how records used to get made.

Now, they’re made in shorter increments of time with a bunch of people who know each other getting together with a stranger—the stranger is the artist—they hear the song once, and then they all record it and that’s what you hear on the radio. It’s highly efficient, I understand why it’s done that way, but I feel like something is lost.

I think about the origins of the Christian music industry: Keith Green started out as just an independent musician, he didn’t have a record label or anything— he sold 250,000 albums and then he just started giving music away. In those early days of the Jesus Music Era, Larry Norman was at his house, and Bob Dylan was showing up, and T-Bone Burnett... because there was something Being able to be at NAMM, it’s a about different aspects of faith and life; real and authentic about it. I think it convention for musicians... so with this there is a little more of an opportunity for would be great for Christian music if next record, I want to get together with musical freedom. I think, in those aspects, there were less of a distinction—though other musicians and make music. more and more I am trying to explore some fear that.

AH: I’m excited to hear what comes different musical boundaries.

And it’s different when you’re writing a out of that, it’ll be really cool. Since Now there’s this whole aspect of hymn or a worship song because those we’re on the subject of crafting music, Americana music, and I’ve always been are congregational songs about God— what is your gear preference? really drawn to it. I think of Johnny Cash that’s pretty clear. That’s important, MM: Acoustic guitars: Martin. So, at the end of his life, and the American and can’t change because, in some recordings of what he did. A lot of that ways, that’s the heartbeat of the vocal if anybody from Martin is reading this and wants to give me a D-28 I won’t say is also the combination of him and Rick expression of the Church.

Rueben, just a brilliant producer. The fact But [other than that] I’m sure there no! (Laughs) My go-to guitar (electric) that Rick R was able to take all those songs are some artists in the mainstream is old; it’s a mid to late ‘60’s Gibson ESthroughout the 25 years of music or even who would probably benefit in some 125 TD, which means it has two pickups older—and recapture Johnny Cash, then ways by collaborating with different instead of one. My favorite amp is a not as a young man, but as an old man musicians, particularly those of a Supro Sahara 25-watt 112 combo, and who’s been through so much in his life. different faith background. And there everyone tells me how great the amp There’s just so much in his voice when he are also Christian musicians who would sounds. I just bought a Nord piano, sings—you can hear years of emotion, joy benefit from being around other artists I love their piano sounds. I would’ve and heartache. You can watch “Walk The who don’t share the same world view, been willing to give the Roland virtual Line” and see that he wasn’t perfect, but at because I think it expands your horizon. piano a try, but it’s like $6,000 and the end of his life he was basically saying, It forces you to have to figure out how to there’s a thing when you’re a husband and have kids... But, Nord’s stuff is “I’ve encountered grace.” And it was a articulate yourself differently. fantastic, it’s pretty durable and the beautiful thing.

The tension right now—and I feel it in piano sounds are really great, they have I guess what I’m saying is, when I started myself—is are we articulating our faith a string-resonance feature that adds a traveling I was 30-years-old, and next year to those who believe it, or am I conscious certain depth and realism which is pretty I’ll be 40. So I’m not the same person. of the fact that I’m trying to write in a fantastic.

When I talk about reinventing myself, way that articulates the human condition it’s not so much reinventing myself as a to everyone? There’s a huge difference For demoing, when I’m on the road person, it’s more allowing who I am as a between the two. If I’m just writing I use Logic—it’s super easy to use, but person to reinvent the artistic output that songs designed to appeal to everybody, once I get this room built, I’ll dive back into Pro Tools. Pro Tools is better for comes out of me. then I’m just basically writing vanilla. editing. Microphone-wise, I pretty much AH: Since this album “All the People Personally I don’t want to do that. If I’m just use a Shure SM57, and use an AKG said Amen” was a series of snapshots in writing songs that articulate the human 414 for my acoustic and vocal, it’s a a way, of where you’ve been—what plans condition and articulate my faith in fantastic mic. do you have for the future, are there any the midst of it, and people somehow Visit www.mattmahermusic. musical or lyrical avenues that you haven’t resonate with that... like: “I don’t know com for videos, tour information what I believe, I haven’t thought about yet explored but would like to?

God or church in 15 years, but that and other news about Matt MM: (Laughing) There’s a lot! Honestly, song is a good song and it’s speaking Maher.

I’m pretty excited about music. And I think

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CCLI No. 6517874. Unauthorized distribution is prohibited. Words and music

by Jesse Reeves/Daniel Carson/Brett Younker/Matt Maher.

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RECORD REVIEWS Vineyard UK Spirit Burn 1. Oh My Soul 2. Spirit Burn 3. Your Joy 4. Emmanuel 5. My Soul Finds Rest 6. The Light 7. When I Stand 8. Just To Be With You 9. Show Your Power 10. Holy One 11. Spirit Rest On Me 12. Endless Grace 13. Captivated 14. You Are Faithful 15. Your Love Takes Hold

By Gerod Bass Belfast City Vineyard worship leader, Harmony Smith. This is a gorgeously vertical worship piece that speaks of God’s faithfulness in times of trial.

Harmony’s vocal tone sounds eerily familiar to a young Jennifer Knapp, and the guitar work on this track is phenomenal.

The title track completely shatters any pre-conceived ideas about what a title track of a modern worship album should sound like. “Spirit Burn” sounds more like it could have been written in Nashville rather than England, with its Hammond B-3 foundation and southernbluesy guitar riffs. Lyrically, it sets up the rest of album well as they cry out…”Let the light of heaven shine from us. Burn, The new live worship album from spirit burn”.

Vineyard Worship, Spirit Burn, was recorded at Riverside Vineyard Church Another thing I really appreciated about in London and is a 2 CD set that features this album was the decidedly strong 13 new songs as well as a new version female vocal leadership contained of the Kevin Prosch classic “Show Your throughout. Spirit Burn is another great Power”, and a new rendition of “O My release from Vineyard that has a lot of authentic, scripturally rich worship Soul” from Samuel Lane. songs for you and your congregation.

The album brings together a total of 17 Vineyard musicians and worship leaders from across the UK, and although there Antioch Live are many new songs and styles on this Our God Comes worship collection, the central theme 1. Come of the album is clear and consistent 2. God And King throughout; that God’s spirit is on the 3. Wonderful move and burning within His people on Counselor 4. God Who Saves earth.

5. How Much More The first thing I noticed right away 6. I Will Raise within the first few tracks was that this 7. Response album breaks away from the over- 8. Light Me Up produced, arena-rock worship albums 9. Awaken Us that have become the norm in the world 10. One Hundred Three of Contemporary Christian Music. This 11. Return collection is pure, raw, and acoustic 12. Savior Forever driven worship, which gives the entire 13. Selah album a wonderful sense of authenticity 14. Our God Comes and power.

Antioch. Recorded live in Waco, Texas, this album is seasoned with flavors of progressive rock and pop with strains of folk. The 14 new songs are well written, easily singable, and are filled with eternal truth while being delivered with energy and excitement.

The main themes touched in this collection include God’s faithfulness, the light of Christ, the loving heart of God, and the Kingdom of God. “God and King” is a powerful rock worship anthem with sublime guitar work and a driving rhythm line that speaks of the redemption and victory that only comes from our God and King. “God Who Saves” is a hook-laden prayer reminding us of how God’s mercy is new every morning. Clare Berlinsky’s vocals soar above the violin arpeggios and haunting piano backing making this track stand out as one of the best on the album.

“How Much More” is a stripped down, piano-led worship piece that speaks of how intimately our God knows us because He became one of us, while “Our God Comes” is a beautiful midtempo song that wraps up the album nicely by reminding the listener that God has won the battle over sin and death.

Our God Comes is a decent collection of modern worship songs that has some nice worship moments, a lot of great melodic hooks and some phenomenal guitar work. I do think some of the songs were a bit cliché heavy, and this really isn’t much different than the hundreds of “Hillsong-esque” live worship albums out there, but it’s still worth a listen.

Casey Darnell Casey Darnell 1. Marvellous 2. Strong Enough Antioch Live’s second all-original 3. All the World Some of the standout tracks include ‘When I Stand’ which was written by release, Our God Comes, carries the 4. Over and Over 14-year-old Taylor Lynch and sung by heart of the church and movement that is 5. We Believe 6. When You Smile *Gerod’s Personal Picks in bold.

7. Stand By You Overall impression 8. Let My Soul 9. What Will You Do Average church congregation could learn/participate on the first hear 10. All Things New Can be learned/adapted by a band of average skill 11. Never Be the Same Lyrical creativity and integrity

Vineyard UK Spirit Burn Antioch Live Our God Comes Casey Darnell Casey Darnell The Neverclaim The Neverclaim Hillsong We Are Young and Free highest marks

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Casey Darnell is one of the worship leaders at North Point Community Church. Not only does he regularly lead worship across the 5 campuses of this Atlanta mega church, he also leads worship on major student camps and events, ministering to more than 50,000

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RECORD REVIEWS people annually. His self-titled third and a few days later they were on tour worship album is a beautifully crafted with and opening for Third Day. and well-rounded offering of 11 new Armed with a great musical arsenal, songs for the church.

The Neverclaim’s sound is somewhat Chartered to be the lead single reminiscent of bands like Building 429 that is sure to climb the CCM charts, and Rend Collective Experiment, but “Over and Over” has an acoustic with a somewhat more southern rock/ underpinning that testifies to God’s folk influence. unending faithfulness. The same theme The worship cuts included on The is magnified to a stadium rock level with Neverclaim are full of memorable hooks the thumping “Strong Enough”, while and melodies and are delivered with “Never Be the Same” is a heartfelt sincerity and vocal prowess. “Mighty moment of vulnerability from Casey, Jesus” is a wonderful acoustic take on the knowing that we will never know and classic hymn “On the Solid Rock”, and understand the depths of God’s grace “One Truth One Life” is a drum-driven to us and that as we grasp that we can anthem that unabashedly declares Jesus never earn God’s love, we can rest and as the one way to Heaven in a world bask in that freeing notion. that grows more and more equivocal on This album offers a little bit of everything, even giving all you country fans something to sing with as with its catchy guitar riffs, “When You Smile” rivals the best of what we hear on country radio.

the matter.

I wouldn’t necessarily lump every song on this album into the worship genre, as a few are more performance focused but could be used as offertories or specials. A few standout performance tracks include “Steal Their Hearts” which is a southern ditty about how much our world needs Jesus, and “Sweet Sweet Mercies” which is an acoustic prayer about how we need the mercies of God daily.

Packed with fresh melodies, heavenly vocals and even a few hymn-type songs, this latest offering from Casey Darnell has something for everyone. Darnell’s heart for worship and his passion for the church is on display from beginning to end. Some of the arrangements Again, there is nothing really earth and guitar work are a bit tricky for an shattering about the style or song average worship team to emulate, but structures contained within this album. could be simplified It’s pretty much standard CCM rock to meet your church’s worship fare and holds true to it’s needs. genre, but I did appreciate how The Neverclaim didn’t try to be too artsy The Neverclaim with their music. They obviously love The Neverclaim Jesus and write music that will inspire 1. Revival others to get to know Him better.

2. One Truth One Life 3. Pearl of Great Price Hillsong 4. Steal Their Hearts We Are Young and Free 5. My Soul Longs 1. Brighter 6. Mighty Jesus 2. Alive 7. Burn 3. Wake 8. Be Lifted Higher 4. Lifeline 9. Sweet Sweet Mercies 5. Close 10. Enthroned On High (Holy, 6. Love Goes On Holy, Holy) 7. Gracious Tempest 8. End of Days Sometimes a band rises seemingly out 9. Back to Life of nowhere and makes it big as the result 10. In Sync of what some would call lucky breaks. 11. Embers The Neverclaim is a six-member worship 12. Sinking Deep group from Portland, OR, and for them, their rise to notoriety had nothing to do So you might be thinking, “Man, with luck, but rather God’s perfect will how many albums is Hillsong going that was played out amazingly in front to release this year?” Well, a lot, of their eyes over a few weeks. They but We are Young and Free is for a won a talent show in Texas that got them completely different audience than any onstage at a Christian music festival,

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of their previous live worship albums, being completely geared to reach a young millennial generation for Jesus.

With a decidedly dance/electronica foundation, this album will hit the target of music popularity with teens and young adults searching for worship music just for them.

Now, as a fan of guitars, bass, and otherwise “rock” instruments, this album really wasn’t my musical cup of tea, but guess what? It wasn’t made for me, and that is one of the things that makes this collection from Hillsong totally work.

Songs like “Brighter”, “Alive” and “In Sync” are all high-energy sing-alongs that share the joy of the hope that we have in Jesus, and are all lyrically relatable to a young generation, which is something that I personally feel we are lacking in modern worship.

‘Back to Life’ is a 4 minute danceworship melody that gives thanks to God for bringing us back to life, declaring in the chorus that ‘…in the night, through the struggle through the trial, You have made my burden light…’; while ‘Wake’ delivers a powerful moment of anthem and enthusiastic passion from vocalist Taya Smith.

There are some tender moments as well on this album, including “Gracious Tempest”, that speaks of the peace we have in Jesus amidst the storm, and “Embers”, which is a mid-tempo prayer asking God to ignite the embers of love in our hearts.

Overall, Young and Free is a nice offering from Hillsong that is meant for a millennial audience. I found this album a bit heavy on the cliché end, and some of the crowd noise overshadowed the music, but in the end I think it hits the mark and will reach those it was designed for, and that’s a good thing.

Gerod Bass is a ministry veteran who has been serving God’s people through worship and youth ministry for more than 20 years.

Since 2009, he has been living his dream serving as the minister of worship and Jr. High at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Tacoma, Wa. Gerod is a singer, guitarist and recording artist who has a passion for impacting lives for the sake of the Gospel. You can find out more about Gerod, his ministry and his music, including his newest album release at his website, gerodbass.com.

FOH ENGINEER

By Bill Gibson

Miking & Recording Acoustic Guitar The sound of an acoustic guitar is amazingly pure and sonically rich.

Like most of the symphonic instruments, year after year, generation after generation, the acoustic guitar sound remains fine just the way it is in its natural environment.

Capturing the natural sound of an instrument that is so universally accepted and recognized is an important and fundamental skill in the audio world.

At least 50% of the guitar sound— maybe it’s 100%—is because of the musician. A bad player can’t make the best guitar sound good; however, a great player can make music on almost any guitar. In your quest to find the ultimate sound, don’t forget to give yourself a break if the player isn’t cutting it musically.

Strings If the strings are dead and lifeless on any acoustic guitar, the recorded sound will be dead and lifeless. No amount of equalization or effects will restore the rich tone that a good set of new strings provides.

Keep in mind that heavier-gauge strings provide more low-frequency content. Most acoustic players use a medium-gauge set of strings because of the excellent balance of high and low frequencies they produce, along with reasonable playability. A lot of electric guitarists use light-gauge acoustic strings simply because their fingers are accustomed to playing on guitars with low action and thin strings.

Light-gauge acoustic strings produce adequate highs but weak lows. For the player, it’s important to weigh the options. If you need a full strum sound from the acoustic guitar, you might have better luck using medium-gauge strings.

However, the guitarist might perform a much more musical and technically

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acceptable part on lighter-gauge strings simply because he or she doesn’t need to struggle to provide adequate finger pressure.

There’s one problem with new strings.

They squeak more when the guitarist moves around on the neck. The best players usually have enough technique and finesse to play on brand-new strings without much of a problem.

For the rest of us, there can be other solutions. The quickest way to get the strings to squeak less is to put something slippery on them. Unfortunately, slippery products usually contain some sort of oil. Your local music store has access to commercially manufactured products designed to make guitar strings more slippery. These products can work very well. I even know people who put the thinnest possible coat of vegetable oil on their strings. Use any of these products sparingly. Oil on strings causes them to lose brilliance and clarity. You might end up with no squeaks at the expense of all that great acoustic guitar sound.

tunings are: • Dropped D tuning – DADGBE • Dropped G tuning – DGDGBE • Open G tuning – DGDGBD • Major D chord – DADF#AD • High-strung guitar – EADGBE Bottom four strings tuned up one octave. This tuning requires a change of string gauge on the lower strings. Try, from bottom to top, .034, .024, .013, .010, 016, .013.

The Impact of Different Wood Configurations on Tone Each type of wood lends a varied tonal quality to the acoustic guitar.

• Spruce is the most common wood used for the acoustic guitar top. It provides a bright and full tone.

• Rosewood is commonly used for the sides and back of the acoustic guitar. It provides a clean and bright tone, with tonal stability and transparency.

• Mahogany sides and backs typically produce a warmer tone with a smoother Another very important factor in the midrange than guitars with rosewood. sound of an acoustic guitar is the pick. Whether mahogany, spruce, or Playing with a thin pick gives a sound rosewood produces a better sound is not that has clearer high frequencies. The the question. They all provide a different thin pick slapping as it plucks the strings musical feel and are very applicable to becomes part of the sound. Playing with any number of musical applications. a thick pick produces a full sound with more bass and fewer highs, plus you Acoustic-Electric Guitars don’t get as much of the pick sound.

Acoustic guitars with pickups can work well in a live performance situation— Alternate Tunings simply plug directly into the mixer, Acoustic guitar has embraced the amplifier, or through a DI into the snake concept of alternate tunings for a long box on stage. You can get a passable time. Whereas electric guitarists often sound and eliminate one microphone in do everything they can to avoid open the setup. However, though the sound strings, acoustic players rely on the open can be okay for live performances, it’s strings to provide the basis for richness hardly ever a great sound for recording. and depth.

The sound from an acoustic-electric There are many alternate tunings that pickup typically sounds sterile and are regularly implemented in acoustic small, and it doesn’t have the broad, music. Some have become more full, interesting sound of the acoustic common than others, but often tunings instrument. To run an acoustic-electric are selected in the heat of a session, with guitar directly into a mixer, follow the a player adjusting to the requirements of same procedure as with any electric guitar. a specific piece of music.

Picks

Some of the most common alternate

The frequencies that tend to be over-

FOH ENGINEER cont. accentuated by most acoustic guitar picks are typically between 1 and 2 kHz. Try using a parametric equalizer; set up a narrowbandwidth cut and sweep the frequencies between 500 Hz and 3 kHz. You’ll probably find one specific point that eliminates much of the brittle, edgy sound. Once you seek and destroy this problem frequency, the electric sound is passable. Most of the time, I find the problem frequency ends up between 1.2 and 1.5 kHz, but it really depends on the guitar, the room, and the sound system.

feet, or turning the low frequencies down.

One way to turn the low frequencies down is by using the bass roll-off switch.

Most condenser microphones have a switch to turn the bass frequencies down.

These switches may have a number by them to indicate the frequency at which the roll-off starts. The number is typically between 60 and 150. If there’s no number, there might be a single line that slopes down to the left. When you use a condenser mic for close-miking, you’ll When the mid-range problem is solved, try usually need to use the bass roll-off switch adding a little clarity in the highs between to keep a good balance between lows 5 and 10 kHz—whatever sounds best in and highs. your application. In a recording situation, Individual acoustic guitars often produce you might want to warm up the low end different tonal balance when miked at by boosting around 100 Hz; however, in a different spots. In other words, there isn’t live setting this is a recipe for very boomy one microphone placement that works feedback. best for every guitar. Experiment with Mic Techniques

each instrument to find the sounds you Typically, the best kind of mic to use on any like. acoustic guitar is a condenser mic. Condensers Dynamic Processing and the capture more of the subtlety of the attack, Acoustic Guitar the sound of the pick on the strings, and the Acoustic guitars have a wide dynamic nuances of artistic expression. Moving-coil range. A compressor can help even out the mics and ribbon mics can produce passable volume level of the different pitch ranges acoustic guitar sounds, especially if that’s all and strings. Some instruments even have you have, but the accepted mic of choice for individual notes that are much louder than acoustic guitars is a condenser. others. Low notes (on the larger strings) The steel string acoustic is the most common acoustic guitar. These guitars come in many different shapes, sizes, and brands. Each variation has a characteristic sound, but the primary trait of the acoustic guitar is a very clear and full sound. The second most common type of acoustic guitar is the nylon string classical guitar. Classical guitars have a warm, full, and mellow sound.

In most cases it’s best to keep it simple when miking an acoustic guitar. Selecting one great mic (typically a small-diaphragm condenser mic) and moving it to the one place that provides the sound you’re looking for is a highly successful approach. The advantage of a single-mic technique is the assurance of mono compatibility and simplicity.

will often produce a lot more energy and volume than higher notes on the smaller strings—it all depends on the instrument.

Try this approach to compressing the acoustic guitar: • Set the ratio control between 3:1 and 5:1.

• Adjust the attack time. Slower attack times accentuate the sound of the pick.

The fastest attack times will de-emphasize the sound of the pick.

• Adjust the release time. Setting this control between one and two seconds usually results in the smoothest sound.

• Adjust the threshold for a gain reduction of 3 to 7 dB on the loudest part There are distinct regions on the acoustic of the track. guitar that provide predictable tonal character.

Aiming the mic at the sound hole provides a For more from Bill Gibson check boomy, bass-heavy sound. With a condenser out www.billgibsonmusic.com. mic six to eight inches from the guitar, we This month, Bill celebrates the can potentially get a sound that has too much release of The Bruce Swedien bass, especially as we move over the sound Recording Method by Bruce hole. We can control the frequency content Swedien with Bill Gibson.

Swedien is the iconic engineer of the acoustic guitar sound dramatically by who recorded all of Michael Jackson’s solo changing mic placement. If there are too records (including Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, many lows in your acoustic guitar sound, try Dangerous, Invincible, and HIStory), Quincy moving the mic up the neck and away from Jones’ most successful recordings, and Count the sound hole, moving the mic back away Basie, Duke Ellington, Jennifer Lopez, and many more! from the guitar to a distance of one or two

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JAN/FEB 2014 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

MATT REDMAN on songwriting and God’s grace

Product Reviews Elliott Guitars Custom Tone Master

Product Reviews PreSonus ADL 700 & Monitor Station

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WORSHIP TEAM TRAINING

By Branon Dempsey

Take 5

Five Steps to Grow as a Worship Team As the familiar adage says: we must learn to walk before we can run. The first few steps set the course of our development. What about you and your team; are you walking, running or at a standstill? Let’s take the next five to look at ways to kick-up the growth and effectiveness of your worship ministry.

commitment, determination, and quality.

Prioritizing the important over the urgent will help keep the main thing, the main thing. Commitment has everything to do with keeping your word. If your pastor asked you to teach a Sunday School class, would you show up unprepared, just to wing it? Skill has everything to do with honoring God by managing our 1. Walk in Worship gifts and talents. In essence, why would Worship, according to the Bible, is a we do this to our worship ministries and response to God. It is an act of giving congregation, shouldn’t they deserve worth and praise to Who He is, what our full commitment? We are to prepare He has done. We also celebrate his and to play skillfully, not carelessly. daily acts in this life and look with anticipation to The Second Coming. 4. Step in Rehearsal God’s will: to worship and obey, are Rehearsal time is not practice time. If the two things we will do on earth as it God gave you the position in your team is in heaven. Worship is not the lights, it is your responsibility to honor your stage, look, sound, talent, mix, or gear. team by honoring their time. The lack If that’s all it is, then it is all that you will of preparation is not someone else’s have. Before we lead our churches in emergency. Your duty to your ministry is worship, as worship musicians, singers to be prepared for the benefit of your and leaders, it is critical that we walk in team. When you rehearse, you are deep fellowship with God. investing, working, and polishing the unity of your group. When we rehearse 2. Step in the Song well, by our attitudes, professionalism, My friend and Instructor/Mentor at and skill, the sound we produce will WTT, Rick Muchow said this once: match the aroma of Christ. As a result, “Singing is breathing.” I find this to the fragrance will become praise to be so true in going through my day. God as it will captivate and lead people Walking in song is like breathing and to His throne. singing; it’s also walking in prayer.

5. Walk in Heart Simply, songs are sung prayers to God. Take a few of the songs from your current Undivided means: concentrated on week’s set list and live with them. Bind or devoted completely to one object. one of the songs on your heart as you Of course, that one object is God. work through out your day. Not only will Serving with an undivided heart is to you be in tune with the song’s lyrics, but serve the Lord with all of your being as you’ll also be subconsciously rehearsing a living sacrifice (Rom 12.1-2). We are the musical message. to practice a constant presence of the Lord always, not to justify our position 3. Walk in Skill or title in the team. We are to live a life Being called a worship musician of worship because He deserves our brings a great amount of responsibility: praise. This is to happen on, off, and

beyond the stage. You never know the daily impact you have on people, even when you may feel down or things aren’t going right. When you willingly allow God to use you, self is placed aside and ministry begins to happen.

You no longer feel that you are doing it, and you recognize that God is doing it through you. Together with your team, you will run and finish strong.

In closing, your team will be influenced by your example. Like the Dave Brubeck combo, support each other musically as well as spiritually. Take five for yourself and your team for the sake of your ministry.

Check out our Mentoring and Workshops at: WorshipTeamTraining. com Branon Dempsey Worship Team Training

Branon Dempsey is the CEO/ Founder and Training Director of Worship Team Training® a ministry providing live workshops and online resources for local worship ministries. Branon holds an M.Div in Worship and BM in Music Composition/Performance and is an instructor with Christian Musician Summit, a writer for Worship Musician Magazine, Shure Notes, as well as other worship publications. Branon is a Training Partner with Yamaha Corporation of America | Worship Resources and part of the Expert Panel for Shure Microphones. Worship Team Training® is sponsored by Creator Leadership Network, Christian Musician / Worship Musician Magazine / Christian Musician Summit, as well as by Line 6, D’Addario, Proclaim Church Presentation Software, iSing Worship and endorsed by Promark Drumsticks and Jim Hewett Guitars. Visit: www.WorshipTeamTraining.com Copyright 2013 Branon Dempsey | Worship Team Training® | Administered by For His Music. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. www.worshipteamtraining.com

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JAN/FEB 2014 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

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Wear it well...

By Doug Doppler

Know Your Tone, Part 2 In case you missed it, in Know Your Tone Part I we discussed some strategies for knowing what’s actually coming out of your amp at speaker level, as well as how to best capture that sound using a mic. Let’s start by taking a moment to recap…

goodness that is now coming out of the front of your amp. With all that out of the way, we’re ready to focus on some approaches for coaxing tones out of our rigs that better support the music we play, and the musicians we play it with.

Since many worship teams have adopted a silent stage, those of us who use amps are frequently trying to dial in our tone from afar, which leads to all sorts of interesting complications.

One of the most obvious challenges I see players come up against is the fact that when they fine-tune their tone they tend to do so with their amp pointing at their legs and not at their ears. Knowing what your amp sounds like at speaker level is a big deal, and key to knowing your tone.

Once we know what our amp actually sounds like at speaker level, we can tweak the tone to taste and capture the essence of that tone with the help of an LED flashlight, an SM57, and some tape.

For starters, if I’m playing worship music, I’m pretty much guaranteed to be using a compressor – usually an MXR Dyna Comp, or a model thereof. Not only do I love the squishy goodness that comes out of this box, using compression accomplishes two key goals at the same time. In case you didn’t know, compressors “level” your signal to reduce the overall dynamic range. Rather than creating sounds that aren’t dynamic, compressors help the guitar sit better in the mix so it doesn’t tend to jump up and down in volume. Most noticeably, compression tends to tame the initial transient of the pick attack in a way so that, at ear level, your amp remains bright, but single notes and chord “stabs” aren’t as spikey to the ears. By shaping both the dynamic and harmonic ranges you are helping the sound team carve a hole in the mix where your guitar sits with the vocals, as well as other instruments, more effectively. Once we can constrict the dynamic range of the guitar it becomes easier to boost or cut the global level of our sound more effectively, which will be the focus of the Know Your Tone Part III.

Once you’re happy with what’s coming out of the front of your amp, shine the flashlight through the grille cloth, find where the edge of the dust cap meets the speaker cone, and try focusing the mic there at either a 90 or 45 degree angle to the cabinet, an inch or so away from the grille. If the tone is too bright, move the mic away from the dust cap until you find the sweet spot. Moving the mic closer to the speaker creates bass build up from what’s known as proximity effect, and is a great way to make a small amp sound big. By manipulating where you place the mic in relationship to the dust cap, as well as how close you are to the speaker, you can usually fine-tune your front-of-house guitar tone well beyond the range of what you can do using the onboard EQ. Once you’re happy with what you’ve got, use two pieces of tape to mark where on the x and y axis the mic should be placed, making sure to place the pieces of tape towards the outside edge of the speaker so you don’t block or diffuse the luscious

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Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Doug Doppler is passionate about God, worship, and worship musicians. In addition to his work coaching individuals and teams, Doug is also the author of “The Worship Guitar Book” which will be available in May 2013 via Hal Leonard.

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THE BAND

By Tom Lane

Fitting In Everything changes! Life is seasonal, and I’ve learned it’s important to recognize the ones we’re in. Seasons have a beginning and an end. If we attempt to manipulate circumstances and people in order to extend or alter their duration, we can not only cause problems, but we may miss what’s coming next.

We will always have the issue of a previous generation having to make room for a new one, and with it comes the awkward and sometimes frustrating transition. The beauty to me is that the younger always needs the older and vice versa. It’s not one or the other—it’s both!

Though worship is a platform and culture within the church at large, the greater goal of corporate worship is being united in the celebration and praise of the One who is worthy. With every move of God it’s tempting for we humans to believe that we have something more or better that others don’t. If not careful, we become prideful and arrogant, revering and protecting our thing as if it’s ours when it never was.

I know some older musicians that are frustrated with modern worship: the sound, the repetition, the simplicity, etc.

Does that make modern worship wrong or bad? No, God has used it amazingly to help hearts connect and return to Him. I know some younger musicians that display an air of ‘move over old man, what you did then is not how we do it now.’ Are they right? Maybe so, but it’s about the attitude, and certainly God still uses the older guard too.

Thankfully, when it comes to worship the criteria is not of human origin. God sees hearts before skill and talent and reserves the right to be the only judge.

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The truth is, there are good points on both sides of the dilemma. If we aspire to be untied in worship there are some things I feel that are important for us to note.

a real turn off to younger players and a hindrance to pure worship. If you’re discontent with it, maybe your season to be on the team is up and you might have more fun playing in a garage or club 1. It’s not really about us having a band! It’s OK to be who you are and place to fit in the first place. The minute like what you like. we make worship about having ‘the 4. If you’re in the Young Guard camp, right’, or ‘deserving to be onstage doing remember that you didn’t invent worship. it’, we’re wrong! Worship leading is It’s been around a long time and will about stewarding the holy, not personal outlive and exceed your musical and indulgence. Whether young or old, it spiritual life. Be aware and grateful that must always start with honoring God, God is breathing on your generation as and we do that best when we also honor He has in ones past, and learn all you each other. There’s no right place for can from their successes and failures. competition and self-seeking with regard Bless, and don’t dishonor those who’ve to worship. gone before you and weathered more 2. Changing styles is part of the normal life. Having said that, lead out and be human cycle. Artists we all know and who God has made you to be—don’t love don’t get to where they are without despise your youth! reinventing, adapting, and changing with the times. And so, worship songs will always reflect generations, musically speaking. They always have, and with each new movement the Old guard fought it hard. Understanding that this is normal and choosing not to be offended by the reality is a good attitude to maintain. It’s a natural progression to move from child to brother/sister to father/mother, and each serves a different role.

In every generation a Pop culture evolves to help usher in change, normally the artists and musicians are the tip of the spear. What we don’t want to do is confuse Pop culture for God’s spirit at work in our generation to bring many sons to glory!

In The Church we have a responsibility to live by a higher standard—The kingdom of God. Though we can serve with our gifts and talents, the point is not building a program whereby 3. If you’re in the Old Guard camp and everyone has a shot at serving. Instead mean to keep up with the times, there it’s that we learn to be servants and live are things you can do: update your that way daily. When driven by this tones, listen to more of what’s current, understanding versus the need to serve practice outside your norm, and don’t in a specific capacity, we’ll fit more complain about all you don’t like about precisely—right where we need to. the new stuff. When we complain, it’s as if we are taking aim at the hearts of those who put their offering out there Be on the watch for your next season— as unto the Lord. I understand that we instead of resisting, embrace it! have preferences and tastes, but they don’t give us license to criticize others’ worship. It’s often that attitude that is Nashville, TN is home for

Tom Lane though he is involved in ministry and music around the world. As a singer, songwriter and guitar player, Tom has been teamed with many worship leaders and artists. He continues to record his own work, lead worship, and writes regularly for various worship publications worldwide.

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CAMERA

By Craig Kelly

Panic Recovery We all like to think we have everything under control when we work – including having the right tools and equipment for the job. Camera –check, lens – check, tripod – check, wedge plate – oops! You took it out of its regular storage spot to check it and you left it on the bench and forgot to return it. What do you do when you are miles away and don’t have your camera plate or the right wedge?

Improvise, right? Figure it and the show must go on.

best to eliminate those mistakes in your Michael M professional career. Be reliable, be I use whatever tripod/head the client consistent, and be diligent in your prep. provides me with. How important is If someone is counting on you to do your the tripod condition? Well, one client best – give them that, they deserve it. provided a tripod with one leg that As I often do, I asked a few of the refused to lock to any height that I LinkedIn members of the free group wanted. Instead, it locked to the height called TV Camera Operators if they that IT wanted: collapsed. Fortunately, I have a favorite tripod/head they like to checked this before actually putting the use and if they have ever forgotten their camera on it. Have I ever forgotten the camera plate – if so, what did they do? tripod? Of course. What did I do? I was going to be shooting an interview in David B I once forgot a lighting kit at the airport an office. I put a bunch of books from I use Vinten sticks with an older Bogen the nearby bookcase on to a table until baggage claim. The next morning as I was setting up in my hotel conference 510 fluid cine head. I treat the tripod I had the height I needed and put the room I assumed I left it in my room and with loving care because to replace camera on top of my new “book-pod.” ran up to get it. After panicking when it would cost about $2k. I shoot as Mose M it wasn’t there, I called the airline and much as possible from the tripod so I use a DV6 and yes! I forgot my hotfound out they had it in their possession. it gets used a lot. I keep it in good Now relived that I didn’t have to pay for shape so it’ll last a long long time. shoe some time back in the office, and an expensive rental replacement, I went I think I forgot to pack a camera plate it was indeed an uncomfortable shoot, back to the conference room and decide once but still used the tripod head to but I managed it by altering my shot if I placed the interview subject just in the rest the camera on to get steady shots. sequence to suit the script. A properly maintained tripod head means a smooth right place facing the large window and Doing that once was enough. sail of operation during shot execution. turning a bank of track lights around as Chris O backlights plus an off-angle fill light, it Feel free to check out the blog at www.

My camera plate is fixed permanently wasn’t all that bad. Not good, but not a craigjkelly for more articles for new disaster either. Did I like it? No. Was it onto my camera. I use 4 tripods because operators and join the free TV Camera I have 4 cameras.

One rule, I try not fair to the client? Definitely not, but I’ve to mix my equipment, meaning that I Operators group on www.LinkedIn.com. seen a lot worse. use one brand of camera, Canon’s in If you have any questions, comments or It took me a long time to talk about my case, and one brand of tripods. By rants – please feel free to direct those at that mistake, but I learned to slow down doing that, all my batteries are the same zoomit.cam@craigjkelly.com and make a check list. It’s human to and all my camera plates are the same. make a mistake, of course, but do your Never have a problem

“Matt is a very musical songwriter, producer, mixer and a very good friend of mine. I love hearing his work as he is one of the best in the business. I always look forward to working and making great music with Matt.” ~ Gregg Bissonette (LA session drummer and member of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band) 44

JAN/FEB 2014 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

Craig Kelly is a veteran Freelance, TV camera operator/DP for over 25 years. He writes these articles to be included in his blog found at www. craigjkelly.com. Often the subject matter comes from the 3,000 + global membership in the LinkedIn group he started for new camera operators and volunteer operators called TV Camera Operators. Kelly is also the International/North America Representative to the Guild of Television Cameraman as well as advisory board member for 2 colleges and 2 high schools in the greater Seattle area.

In addition, he writes for Worship Musician Magazine and conducts workshops for new and volunteer camera operators. Kelly welcomes comments here or via email at zoomit.cam@craigjkelly.com

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MINISTRY + ARTISTRY = PROFITABILITY? CREATING YOUR MAP™

By Scott A. Shuford

Social Media and Building Your Personal Brand - Part 1 When building a brand from the ground up or re-branding yourself or your ministry, one of the main goals is recognizability on social media.

Achieving this goal is incredibly difficult, but Social Media can help you through focus, cohesion, and streamlining.

Focus: The dreaded phrase “focus group” elicits a feeling of sheer terror among most worship leaders these days, but it is one of your most valuable assets.

You don’t necessarily need physical people anymore, now that Google Analytics and Facebook offer such comprehensive statistics, but people will always voice the best thoughts. View your focus group as a platform, instead of an obligation. What should you look for in a focus group? Obviously, your focus group should consist of your target demographic. (If you are unsure of your target demographic, your Facebook feed/analytics will tell you who they are!) It could be twenty-somethings for a modern worship site, but be sure to find willing, involved people to participate with you, and utilize their enthusiasm. A strong focus group will consist of seven to eight people and a standardized questionnaire with open-ended questions (We will touch more on how to create a questionnaire in part two).

Cohesion: This is perhaps your biggest asset in the goal of recognizability.

Creating and maintaining cohesion will help you raise your ministry brand from anonymous to known. Cohesion begins with a great key image or logo. If you don’t have one, begin your search for a designer whose vision aligns with yours.

If you see great organizations who are similar to yours, save the images and

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show them to the designer so they can see what inspires you. At the start, your logo or image will most likely be accompanied by text of some sort, so find a clean font that translates well to web, as well to as print. Keep in mind that a logo/text duo that shines on Facebook also has to translate onto the micro-avatar on Twitter, so think readable and not too busy. Use that same font in as many print and online materials as you can, such as web copy.

This will help your readers associate that font/design with your brand.

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Streamline: Branding on social media means that many of your posts will go from Facebook straight to Twitter, or from Instagram to Facebook, etc. Make sure you update all your sites with the correct links, and check them all manually to make sure that nothing happened in the in-between time as the sites are linked together. Don’t entrust precious posts to the mercy of broken links and too-long captions, as these can be perceived as somewhat careless.

You want your readers to have access to your content quickly and easily.

Keeping these three keys in mind will make your social media interactions the strongest they can be, and will imprint your brand on the minds and screens of your fans and followers. . .your new social friends!

In Part 2, we will explain how to use your focus group, and how to create a style guide.

Scott has taught on marketing and social media at CMS Seattle. He has led classes for us at NAMM as well as teaching on marketing to the Christian Leadership Alliance.

Scott is the Chief Engagement Officer at FrontGate, the largest Internet and events network reaching the Christian audience (www.FrontGateMedia.com) and the largest in-reach to Christian Music fans.

Get more marketing and social media tips at FrontGate’s blog.

JAN/FEB 2014 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

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TIPS FOR TIGHT TEAMS - Cont. from page 18

These are all in the key of E Major, and share at least two common tones (notes) with one another. The common tones are the “open B string” and the “open high-E string.” Listen closely to how the common tones tie these chords together into a versatile worship-chord progression: E - A2 - B4 - E. E

E

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ch

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down-up, down-up,

down-up,

A2

A2

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ch

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down-up, down-up,

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down-up,

down-up

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Editor’s Corner - Cont. from page 7

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the Winter NAMM Show. You can come to the concert, learn in the seminars, play every instrument known to man on the convention floor, research the gear your church will need, and if you can stay until the fourth day… come to the Musician’s Chapel with us.

The dates for 2015 are January 22nd25th. Consider all of this, plus palm trees, sunshine in winter and oh, if this in not reason enough… just across the street from the Anaheim Convention center… did I mention Disneyland?

Hope you have a great 2014 and that you can come to Winter NAMM in 2015!

In His Grip!

Bruce & Judy

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PERCUSSION

By Mark Shelton

Savvy With The Shaker “Mark, play the shaker.” Those words from the music director (accompanied by the “air shaker” motion) were my cue to abandon the tasty percussive gems pouring forth from my hands, grab the requested instrument, and commence shaking! This particular leader really liked to hear a steady stream of shaken sixteenths. I was happy to comply and keep my job. Over the years, I have played shakers for many music directors, conductors, and producers in both live settings and recording sessions. Along the way, I have picked up a fair amount of shaker knowledge worth sharing.

You Have Some Choices Most shakers can be grouped into two major categories: Prism and Rounded.

Some shakers, such as the caxixi and kayamba, do not fit neatly into those categories.

A Prism shaker with its flat sides provides a more crisp, precise articulation than its rounded cousin. When a shaker is called for in up-tempo rhythmic music, I often reach for the clear attack of a prism shaker.

The Rounded group includes cylindrical, spherical, and ovoid (eggshaped) forms. These tend toward a more subdued attack. This is usually my choice for a smooth (legato) sound to accompany ballads and slow tempo worship songs.

Shaker tone is influenced by the

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shell and the fill (the shaking material inside). Metal, wood, and plastic are the most common shell materials, with metal producing the brighter tone. Fill materials include seeds, plastic balls, metal shot, shells, rice, and wooden beads. Not only does the fill material influence the tone, but also the size and amount of shaking material. With all the combinations of shapes, shell, and fill materials, the possible shaker timbres are seemingly endless.

Which Shaker And When?

apple fritter to my mouth).

Using your fingers and thumb, hold the shaker above the palm. The back of the thumb is toward your body and the remaining four fingers are on the far “side” of the shaker (see photo).

Supporting the instrument in this manner allows the shell to vibrate more freely and allows the use of the fingers to control the shaker movement. The shaker should be held at approximately chin level.

How do you know which shaker to use in a musical situation?

Sometimes you have to audition a few candidates.

During a rehearsal or recording session, play along with the music for a few measures with one shaker and then switch to a different one.

You will probably hear the sound of one of the instruments fit better into the overall texture of the surrounding music.

Sometimes a timbre that blends into the music works best, while at other times a tone that cuts through the mix is more desirable. Experimentation and your ear will guide you through your shaker arsenal until you find a suitable tone.

Get It Straight Many of the basic shaker patterns consist of steady streams of straight eighth or sixteenth notes.

With your elbow bent and your hand holding the shaker approximately six inches from your chin, use a combination of forearm, wrist, and fingers to move the instrument away from your body along an imaginary line parallel to the floor. Stop the motion as you hear (and feel) the fill slap the far “side” of the shell Hold On (the OUT motion). Immediately move Although a shaker the shaker toward your body along the can be played with parallel line to bring the fill back to strike both hands holding the near “side” (the IN motion). Listen the instrument, I usually carefully to make certain that the rhythm grasp a shaker with is straight and not swung. one hand. It is easy to Strive for a smooth and flowing move into a roll with a one handed grip, and movement. Your ear-brain-arm-hand I have my other paw connection will guide you to learn how free to play another fast and how far to move the shaker instrument (or hoist an for tempos and rhythms as well as how much motion should come from the

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PERCUSSION cont. forearm, wrist, and fingers.

diagonal line that is approximately 35 degrees to the floor. Think of the motion Bring Out The Accents as more down and up rather than out A little extra flick will send the fill and in. Play the strong subdivisions with into the shell with the extra velocity to a DOWN (D) motion and the weaker create an accent. You can play accents subdivisions with an UP (U) motion. in either direction. Work exercise #1 You will notice how gravity assists this below slowly at first, observing the O technique.

(OUT) and I (IN) markings and bringing Play the shuffle patterns below with a out the accents. relaxed swing feel (#5 & 6) After you feel comfortable with these Sustaining Shaker ten bars, try playing the exercise in cut time. After that, you will be well on your It is necessary to develop a shaker roll way to developing some serious shaker for ornamentation and phrasing (and chops. just plain making a long tone). Using the one-hand grip, simply rotate the wrist Real Life Grooves back and forth rapidly so that the fill Put the straight subdivision techniques produces a sustained unmetered sound. together with your accent skills and Practice exercise #7 to gain the ability learn these common groove elements to move into and out of a roll. (#2, 3 & 4): Shaker Playlist Shuffle Shakin’ Attention to the tonal and technical To play a shuffle or swing feel, the aspects of the shaker are important, shaker travels along an imaginary but be sure to invest time in studying #1

recordings (and live performances) for ideas and inspiration. Get started by checking out the shaking action in these songs: “How Great Is Our God” Chris Tomlin “No Sweeter Name” Christ For The Nations Music “Forever Reign” Hillsong “Heart of Worship” Michael W. Smith “O The Blood” Gateway Worship “I Give You Glory” Nations Music

Christ For The

The shaker is one of those percussion instruments that seems small and simple, yet it provides a unique texture that can help to glue a groove together. Develop your repertoire of rhythms and tones and be ready when you hear the worship leader call out your name along with the words, “Play the shaker!”

An active freelance musician, Mark Shelton’s percussion work can be heard on The Daystar Network’s television program Marcus & Joni and on the 2010 CD release from Gateway Worship God Be Praised and the 2011 recording Great Great God. An active blogger, Mark writes regularly at Percussion For Worship (www. percussionforworship.blogspot.com). Check out Mark’s percussion tutorials at www. youtube.com/marksheltonmusic ©2013 Mark Shelton Productions Excerpts from “Percussion For Worship” by Mark Shelton

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PRODUCT REVIEW

By Mitch Bohannon

RMI Acouswitch IQ DI Have you ever plugged in your acoustic guitar and been less than satisfied with your tone? I think very few of you would answer “No”! Seems that it’s in the guitar player’s DNA to search after great tone, whether acoustic or electric.

And the frustrating thing is, that “goal” is constantly changing. We can have the perfect string and pick combination, the perfect EQ, and even the perfect cheeseburger for lunch…and all of a sudden, our “perfect” combination is less-than-perfect! Been there? Many times! How can we solve that? I remember one acoustic that I owned; I changed out the electronics four different times before I “loved” the tone.

feedback, the BCL can be used to boost a broad band of low to lo-mid frequencies creating a fatter sound. The body contour controls affect both the A and B channels.

Depending on needs, the Acouswitch can be setup in a variety of ways. This past Sunday I had a simple setup, but took advantage of the “boost” option and it worked out fantastic. My guitar was connected directly into the “A” channel – this routed me through the built-in parametric EQ. The last set of controls in line with the EQ are for adjusting the boost and mix level. I leveled the boost so that it had a nice punch. Our service began with a slow song that served as a prayer and that song lead into “Nothing is Impossible”

by Planetshakers. Our arrangement for that is really full-on rock-n-roll, but this week we wanted to use a four-note riff to set the groove and build some excitement. The volume on my acoustic channel is set for me to play rhythm, so using the boost pedal to start the song made my acoustic punch through the mix very nicely!

Currently, I have two main guitars that I use to lead worship. One has an onboard EQ with only Bass and Treble control. The other has an active pickup with only a volume control mounted in the sound hole. Even if these were identical, other than the electronics, I would have to EQ them differently at the board. There are a variety of options out there that bring some EQ control closer to the player, whether in a rack or on a pedal board. I’ve tried a few options, but just recently found the There are two options when adding Acouswitch IQ DI. Acouswitch kindly an effects loop. Effects can be sent me a unit to demo, and I am quite connected in series like they pleasantly surprised! traditionally are, or they can be With the Acouswitch, there is a LOT added into a “mix loop.” With the going on… so let me start with an mix loop, you are able to blend in overview. The Acouswitch IQ DI is the natural sound of the acoustic with designed for the acoustic guitar and the effected sound and this mix can uses Lehle “True Sound Technology.” be leveled to taste. This mix can really It’s a direct box, an A/B switcher, a add richness to the acoustic sound! If parametric EQ, an FX Loop switcher, effects are plugged into the mix loop, and a clean booster…all with a top- the footswitch toggles the effects loop on notch acoustic guitar preamp. The unit and off. If nothing is plugged into the is built ruggedly with a steel housing, mix loop, the footswitch acts as a clean and is very flexible with options for boost (as I used it on Sunday). signal routing. Three easy-press foot- Did you remember that this is also an switches quickly bring these options to A/B switcher? This is quite ingenious life in a live setting, and all have bright as well. With one instrument plugged blue status LED’s. EQ and gain settings into “A,” the switcher toggles between are easy to see and easy to adjust with channel A (routed through the EQ) and a bass, a sweepable mid, and treble channel B (not routed through the EQ). controls. There is also a “body contour You can plug in a second instrument into level” which acts as a notch filter and “B” and the switch will toggle between also has a sweepable frequency control. instruments (instrument B not using the If the notch filter is not needed to control

onboard EQ). OR, you could have two outputs from the same instrument and mix them together.

Functions I’ve not mentioned are three in-set buttons on the side… a ground lift, pad control, and a pre/post switch. The ground lift and pad are pretty universal.

The pre/post switch, however, is quite helpful in a recording situation. With the switch in “pre,” the guitar signal is routed directly to the DI output without going through the EQ and effects loops.

The ¼” line out routing still includes the EQ and effects loop and could be sent to an amp or monitor.

The Acouswitch has a list price of $799.99 and street price of about $599.99. Overall, this is a superb unit that exceeded my expectations!

Mitch is one of the pioneers in the development of the cut-capo, an alternate tuning device used by many worship leaders today, including Chris Tomlin and Rick Cua. He is a worship pastor in Sulphur, LA, a regular contributor to Worship Musician and Christian Musician Magazine, and has been part of CMS since 2004. Mitch and his wife, Noelle, have been married for 20 years and have 3 awesome kids!

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM JAN/FEB 2014

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A FEW MOMENTS WITH…

By Don Poythress

My Martin Guitar Story Professional musicians and songwriters in Nashville must load their instruments in and out of their automobiles thousands of times over the course of a year.

When you do that for over 25 years something nasty’s bound to happen sooner or later. (You see where this is going, don’t you?)

I remember my friend Bill Hullett telling me about leaving his 1951 Fender Telecaster sitting on the curb after a downtown gig and driving a few blocks away before it hit him. Luckily, it was still sitting there when he got back. It’s so easy to get your attention diverted on something else just long enough to make a mistake.

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down, but as I was about to unlock the trunk I noticed that the lady parked next to me was trying to put her baby in the car and was continually opening her door into my drivers side door. She was hitting it so hard and so many times that And my mistake came about 6 years ago I thought, “Maybe if I walk to my back as I was leaving the Dad’s old Bookstore door and put these boxes in the back with a few boxes under one arm and seat she’ll see this is my car and try to my 1927 Martin 000 under the other. be a little more careful.”

I walked to the back of my car to put the guitar in the trunk and set the guitar As I unlocked the back door and started loading the boxes she noticed me and said, “Oh! Excuse me,” and as she walked away I got into my car and started it up. As soon as I started to back up I heard a loud crash. It was so loud I looked to see what car I must have just hit. And then it hit me. Oh my gosh! My Martin! (for such a small bodied guitar I was amazed how loud the crash was) I got out, walked to the back of the car, and there it was. I could hardly breathe.

The case and the guitar were smashed, and the waist was literally splintered. I didn’t even take it out of the case so I wouldn’t run the risk of losing parts or fragments.

said to myself, “Well, praise the Lord anyway”. It was comforting to know that He knew what was going to happen before it did and prepared my heart for it.

That morning I’d had a dream that I was face to face with a gang member that said “you’ve got a mile to go and I’m gonna cut you every step of the way”. As I raised my hand in the dream to protect myself he sliced my right hand and as I was about to scream, I stopped and said “well, praise the Lord anyway”. If you’re a musician, you know that our instruments feel like a part of ourselves and as I looked down at my shattered guitar I knew that was the cut in my right hand I had dreamed about.

So I stopped, took a deep breath, and

Don is a worship leader and staff writer for Integrity Music and has written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Kari Jobe, Lincoln Brewster, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Philips Craig and Dean, Willie Nelson and many others. He has won two Dove Awards for Song Of The Year and his song “A Little More Country Than That” was nominated for CMA and ACM Song Of The Year. He has also recorded a solo project called “Wash Away” featuring duets with Paul Baloche and Ricky Skaggs.

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A few days later I took the guitar to Marty Lanham and asked if he could put it back together. He said that normally he wouldn’t do this much work on a guitar, but after commenting on the thick, beautiful grain of the Brazilian rosewood and saying, “They just don’t make’em like this anymore,” he told me, “If you’re not in a hurry, I’ll do it.”

It was restored beautifully. You would never be able to tell anything happened to it unless you put it up to a light and looked through the sound hole to see one tiny sliver of light shining through the waist. It serves to remind me of how God used a dream to shine a light into one of my dark days, and that as He cares for every sparrow that falls. He even cares for me and a 1927 Martin 000.

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