Worship Musician! Magazine - May/Jun 2015 by Worship Musician & Christian Musician Magazine

Kristian Stanfill

L o u i e G i g l i o ’s Winsome Ministry Tom Brooks

Product Review QSC TouchMix-16

Record Reviews Amy Grant l Newport Worship l Christy Nockels l Jared Anderson l Matt McCoy l

MAY/JUN 2015 Volume 13, Issue 3 05

74470 58440

US $5.95 Can $6.95

What’s Your Real Job as a Worship Leader? A Few Moments With Tom Kraeuter

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Tedd T. Nashville-based Tedd T. (Mutemath, Newsboys, David Crowder Band) is not the type of producer who’s content to sit behind the console all day. He prefers collaborating with and inspiring artists with new approaches and fresh perspectives to music making. Tedd tells us about his process and what it’s like working on the road with For King & Country:

What is it like to record, literally, on the road? The great thing about recording on the bus is that every day you wake up in a different city. Plus, you also have access to whatever rooms and venues you find. On the bus, I record with an Apollo DUO and a laptop with a solid-state drive. Mainly, what you’re trying to do is to capture inspiration. The DUO is so compact and does such a great job; it’s fantastic. We’d sit out there on the bus and use a little Akai controller keyboard. And, even confined to two octaves on the keyboard, it’s actually cool because it makes you work really hard on what it is that you’re playing. Plus, when you’re on the road, you’re more in the mindset of creating something great, with less of the pressure you might feel when you go to a big, fancy studio and you know you have to “nail it.” Today, we’re setting up in a church to record. They have a fantastic old upright and an old M3/Leslie. I wondered if it would work, and sure enough, we got it fired up. Even with a broken key, it sounded great. The church has a soundproofed room for newborns, so we’re setting up in there. That’s a nice surprise. We moved the upright and the M3 in there, and the church has some nice mics they’ve been gracious enough to let us use. So much of the adventure happens when you walk into a new scenario where there are things that inspire art. Do you have a “go-to” mic you’re currently using? The main one is the SM7B. It’s very focused. We also used a Peluso tube mic. Tell us about the software you use. I record everything in Logic. I use a lot of soft synths in Logic. I start with the presets and do a lot of modifying to get the sounds we’re looking for. I’ve got a lot of Logic-based sounds that we used for the record. I use Absynth a lot; I think it sounds really interesting. It’s great for creating textures and backgrounds. I also use Native Instruments Ultimate, and I love the iZotope stuff. And I think Auto-Tune 7 is fantastic.

KING

H o n e s t y, F a i t h , a n d F a m i l y The name is also the mission statement: “It’s an old English battle cry, as they went to fight for what they believed and to stand for something greater than themselves,” says For King & Country’s Joel Smallbone. “For us, doing music for people and for God is one of the main underlying themes of the band.” And the Nashville-based group, fronted by Joel and his brother Luke, takes their mission statement seriously. By turns exultant, introspective, atmospheric, and immediate, For King & Country’s uplifting music is also incredibly honest and authentic. The brothers spent their youth in Australia and cut their musical teeth in the U.S., eventually backing up their sister, Rebecca St. James, on tour. By 2007, they were making musical waves of their own, and by 2013, they had released two well-received albums and received a Dove Award. The band has played hundreds of shows since then — and they’re not slowing down. Their latest, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong., features their strongest material yet. During a stop on the band’s fall 2014 tour, Joel spoke with us about the importance of family, respect in relationships, recording on the bus, and the always-present role of faith in the band’s music. How did you and Luke get interested in music? Music chose us, I think, more than we chose music. We grew up in a very musical family. Our dad, who is our manager now, was a concert promoter in Australia. He brought over a lot of artists in the ’80s, including Amy Grant. One of my earliest memories in Sydney was looking at vinyl records by my favorite bands or going to shows and plugging my ears. I was a t-shirt model at four years old, standing onstage with the shirt draping all the way to the floor. I remember there were always bands and musicians coming through the house. It was also on one of those tours that things didn’t go as well as projected, and my dad lost a quarter of a million dollars — which ultimately led to us having to sell the house to pay the debt. For years, he’d felt a prompting to move to the U.S., and he found some work over here in the music industry in Nashville. Your move to the States was tumultuous. It was after we got there that he actually lost his job. So, it was to that point about a month in, and we were

stuck living in a furniture-less house without a car. And he was just trying to find any kind of semblance of work he could. We really knit together during that time. As a family, we raked leaves, we mowed lawns, cleaned houses along with our oldest sister, Rebecca. We really worked as a team. I remember well: we’d sit in a circle in the living room, and we would just pray. We had nowhere to turn other than upward. We saw pretty miraculous things happen. The first Thanksgiving we were here, we found out about a family who invited pretty much anyone who wanted to join to Thanksgiving dinner. At the end of the night, the father of the house walked up to my mum and said, “I feel like God is prompting me to give you the keys to our minivan.” Also, someone anonymously paid for our little sister to be born in a hospital. The list goes on — just amazing examples of people giving and serving. Do you recall particular musical influences? For Luke, growing up, bands like Switchfoot were very influential. Classic U2 was a big influence on me. I went to a few U2 shows during their 360 tour, and they segued from “Amazing Grace” into “Where the Streets Have No Name.” I was just sitting there flabbergasted at how much of a worship service it felt like, you know? There are other layers of influences too; Luke is a pretty avid reader, and we’ve both been major C. S. Lewis fans since we were kids, so hopefully some of that has rubbed off lyrically. I also love theatrical and cinematic scores. When did you and Luke begin playing live? Our oldest sister began traveling as a musician. Dad needed cheap labor, so he put us brothers to work as the crew: lighting, sound, background vocals. That was when Luke and I really began to see the impact of music. It was toward the end of Rebecca’s career that we started kind of leaning in on our own. We ended up writing over a hundred songs and began doing showcases for labels — and got shut down more times than I want to count. Then, fast-forward to 2009, a gentleman by the name of Mark Bright, who’s primarily a country producer and runs a publishing company, took over our label.

COUNTRY Mark produced Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire and a lot of country icons. He was a real champion for us and signed us, and we recorded some material under his leadership. How do you approach instrumentation? Neither of us is classically trained. Luke grew up very rhythmic, and I’d say I grew up more melodic. I’d have a laptop and a little keyboard for the demos we’d cook up. I’d like to say I could “play” everything without playing anything. And now, live, Luke and I don’t do any of the heavy lifting, instrumentally. Luke may play some percussion, and I might play a bit on the harmonium or on a few various drums or tubular bells onstage. But it’s all a very ancillary thing that lets us focus on the vocals and the melodies and the message. Tell us about your recording process. We actually have a producer [Tedd T.] out on the road with us right now. We worked with him very closely on several songs on our last album. It’s very collaborative — in sort of a “cyber” way. He and I have a studio setup in the back of the tour bus, with a laptop MIDI controller and a microphone. We’ll build a very rough skeleton of the song and send an MP3 out to the band. Then, they will, respectively, set up their own laptops and will kind of layer in other sounds. Sometimes, we’ll even go into the venue prior to the show and mic up an instrument to get a track. So, you’re assembling both demos and the final product at the same time? Yes. In our opinion, your ears don’t lie. Technical perfection does not match the beauty of a really heartfelt piece. I think basically all the vocals on “Run Wild” were sung on the bus. It’s not a pristine, clean kind of thing, but what we went for was “heart over art.” If it feels right, go. Being so busy and being on tour allowed us to discover this recording process. What about the centrality of faith in your songwriting? I find that it’s hard to separate the song — regardless of its theme — from our faith. We might be writing about someone who is going through a hard time. In fact, Luke was very ill last year. We wrote a couple of songs walking through, almost in journal form, his illness. Inside the song, you can see the spiritual ramifications. And on a song like “Shoulders” from the new album, it’s almost a prayer. Almost a psalm, if you will. Or on “Fix My Eyes,” the lead single, that song was very much built around wanting to be

a good human being and contributing to society, but above all of those things, we want to fix our eyes on Heaven and maintain that focus. Because keeping that focus holds us in good stead — in not making it about ourselves. Family is such a strong element of the band. I honestly feel that, without my wife and Luke’s wife, Courtney and their son [and they very recently had a second son], the strength of the group would be dramatically decreased. You get a balance and a purpose. The heartbeat of For King & Country is family. I’ve mentioned that our dad manages us. Daniel, my oldest brother, does a lot of the lighting and design. Brother Ben does any video work that we do. Mom is out on the road with us right now as well. But even beyond the blood family, the guys onstage with us and the label... there’s a big sense of family. You’ve mentioned the importance of respect and honor in relationships. Our parents have been married for almost 40 years, and we’re a really strongly knit family. And borne out of that was the idea of saying to young ladies — and also to men, but especially to girls — don’t let anyone disrespect you in a relationship. Don’t ever settle for second best. Know what you’re worth; know that you matter. We say to guys that, hey, it’s time to step up. Chivalry is alive and well. You might think that we’d get people who scoff, but the response has been one of overwhelming positivity. Your producers (Tedd T., Seth Mosley, and Matt Hales) are very collaborative with you in the recording process. I can’t speak more highly of them. One of the things in the creative process that I find most stifling is a “we can’t” attitude — versus a “we can” or a “let’s try.” And these guys are so willing to think outside the box... I hesitate to say even that, because I almost think they don’t acknowledge the box. Their approach is music is music; let’s have fun and be creative.

CALL UR FOR YO

For King & Country’s latest album, Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong., is available now. To find out more, go to forKingandCountry.com!

FRSUEEE! IS

What is next for you and the band? After this tour, we’ll do something we’ve never done as a band, which is to take off about a month. Then, we’ll be on an arena tour early in 2015. We will be contributing a song to an upcoming television series, and there’s talk about working on music for a film that’s shooting this year. We’re also thinking about a Christmas EP, and there will be another tour in the fall of 2015.

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Given this approach to recording, how do you manage to get such a cohesive sound? I attribute a lot of that to the guys knowing what they want the music to become. They have a lot of musical input on the parts, and they know what they like. They’re very aware of what’s “them,” and they’re mindful of what’s going on track-wise and arrangement-wise.

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Editor’s Corner

How Early Do We Need to Wake Up? Yikes! A Pastor friend of ours (Holland Davis – Calvary Chapel San Clemente) and 4 other churches in Orange County, CA got together for a Good Friday Easter Service… outdoors no less. Now those of you who know Southern California and/ or Southern Florida (as well as some of the southern border states) might be able to understand a Good Friday service out side. For most of the country that is pretty much unrealistic weather wise. They brought in Paul Baloche with his band and other worship leaders for the mutli church community worship event. I like that idea a lot. I remember over 30 years ago (before I moved from the warm climate of Southern California to the colder realms of the Great NorthWest) I took my mother and step-father to an Easter Sunrise service at the beach. Now that is California living! It is still cool temperature wise that early in the morning so you have to bundle up with jackets (we didn’t really have heavy jackets in our closets normally) and take a blanket to put on the cold sand, but it was an adventure. The worship leader would be rubbing his hands warming them up so he could form guitar chords and the pastor would be warming up so he could speak loud enough so all the people could hear him. I can’t remember but there might have been 50-75 folks braving the coolness of the morning for this particular sunrise service. When we figured out what time we would need to wake up, get ready and then drive the 30 minutes to the beach to beat the rising of the sun, I knew this was going to take some Continued on page 52

4227 S. Meridian Suite C-275 Puyallup, Washington 98373-5963 Adolph Agency Direct Line: 253.445.1973 Fax: 888.391.4440 Website: www.worshipmusicianmagazine.com Publisher/Editor: Bruce Adolph bruce@christianmusician.com Vice President: Judy Adolph Customer Service: Brian Felix, 888.391.4440 x1 brianfelix@christianmusician.com

MAY/JUN 2015

vol. 13, issue 3

Features 8 Product Review By Mitch Bohannon QSC TouchMix-16 Mixer

42 The Band By Tom Lane Killing Criticism!

10 From the Drummer’s Perspective By Carl Albrecht A Drummer’s Practice Routine

47 Worship Team Training By Branon Dempsey Why Your Singers Aren’t Singing: Making Rehearsals Better for Singers and Musicians

12 Keyboard By Ed Kerr It’s About Time 15 Bass By Gary Lunn Got Skills?

52 Product Review By Eric Dahl DigiTech Trio... A New One Man Band?

16 Vocals By Sheri Gould Recovery - Part 1

53 Product Review By Bruce Adolph Center Point Stereo’s Spacestation V.3

19 Equipping the Church By Chuck Page Streaming or Podcasting your Church Service

54 A Few Moments With... Tom Kraeuter What’s Your Real Job as a Worship Leader?

26 Tips for Tight Teams By Sandy Hoffman Musings for Musos 30 Record Reviews By Gerod Bass • Amy Grant • Newport Worship • Christy Nockels • Jared Anderson • Matt McCoy 34 FOH Engineer By Kent Morris The Knobbit: Getting Around on Today’s Consoles 36 Percussion By Mark Shelton Tambourine Primer Part 3: Advanced Shake 38 Cut-Capo By Mitch Bohannon Play Like A Pioneer, Not A Settler… 40 Guitar Grab Bag By Jeffrey B. Scott The Art of Many Guitars

Interviews 20 Louie Giglio’s Winsome Ministry by Mitch Bohannon 44 Tom Brooks: God-Focused & Rock-Solid ...Just Like His New Gig at Hope International University by Bruce Adolph 48 Worship Leader, Singer, Songwriter Kristian Stanfill’s Path to Passion City by Mitch Bohannon

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

Product Review

By Mitch Bohannon

QSC TouchMix-16 Mixer What a treat it was to play... I mean, test out this new TouchMix-16 digital mixer from QSC (there is also an eight channel option). I grew up in the ‘80’sriding my bike down to the local arcade with a pocket full of quarters. “Galaga” was my game back then! Now, getting my hands on this mixer was much like exploring a new video game when I was younger. It was exciting and it made sense at the same time. When I get my hands on gear like this, I like to see how far I can get without needing the instructions. The TouchMix series is very well designed. It’s easy and intuitive so that a beginner or volunteer can be successful. Face it, no matter how good our gear and in-ear experience is, a major factor in the success of our respective ministries is completely dependent on what comes out of the L/R Mains from the soundboard! We’ve all fought through the EQ battle. I am sure most of us have had the sound guy who thought he had a good EQ if it was “smiling” back at him:) Within just moments, I was able to call up a basic mix with an appropriate EQ (from the multitude of professional presets) for each instrument and/or vocal type in my worship team. Pressing the “FX Wizard” button gives me direct access to all four programmable, stereo DSP effects busses. Each effect (choices are: two reverbs, mono delay, stereo delay, chorus, and pitch-change) can be simply assigned to any number of channels with a single touch. Select the Source, Type, and FX Preset for quick and easy assignment and professional-level results. An “FX Mute” button is available to quickly compare your mix to a dry signal. There are 130 user defined scenes and 130 FX presets that can be stored internally. The interface on the screen is set up in a logical arrangement and the “Info” button is readily available no matter what layer of the interface I

am in. Pressing that “info” button instantly gives me a panel of help options from “Getting Started” to “Input Channels,” “Output Channels,” “FX Control,” and a host of other features available in this mixer. It’s like an interactive manual with all the pictures and instructions needed to have success with this board.

adapter, which makes the TouchMix controllable via iPad! Think about it, most of our in-ear monitor systems have only 16 channels. A large number of churches could run their services on a 16-channel mixer. I’ve done this by sub-mixing unimportant channels like computer audio, CD/video audio, announcement mic, and the like into one channel. For those churches still running an analog board and wanting to make the jump into digital, this could be a fantastic and affordable way to do that! Also, this little mixer, weighing less than six pounds, would work great for a youth or children’s venue and/or a portable sound system. That being said, from my experience in ministry, this would be a great board to start training young sound technicians on.

The TouchMix has a touch-sensitive 6.1” x 3.5” color screen (hence the name) that can easily be navigated by directly touching a specific channel or section OR by manipulating the buttons and dial to the right of the screen. This 16-channel mixer actually has a total of 20 inputs (12 XLR, 4 XLR/TRS combos, and 2 stereo ¼” TRS). It includes an XLR input for a talkback mic and as far as outputs, there are two main XLR line-level outs and six XLR line-level AUX outs with two stereo TRS AUX, one TRS stereo monitor, and The QSC TouchMix-16 has an MSRP of one stereo TRS headphone out. Other awesome features include…a pitch corrector assignable $1799.99 and a street price of $1299. The to any input channel, eight mute groups, direct eight-channel model has an MSRP of $1199.99 to USB 22-channel recording, and a USB WiFi and a street price of $899.

The boards come in a custom firm-padded gig bag for protection and easy transport or storage. Mitch Bohannon developed the Short Cut Capo for Kyser and is a worship pastor in Louisiana. He and his beautiful wife, Noelle, have been married for 22 years and have three awesome kids! www. kysermusical.com

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

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From the Drummer’s Perspective By Carl Albrecht

A Drummer’s Practice Routine I was just reading an interview with legendary drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. He’s played on thousands of recordings AND many of those have been radio hits. His groove’s have been copied by all drummers whether we know it or not, and sampled by programmers all around the world. Even into his senior years he is still a busy recording and performing drummer. His comment about loving to practice compelled me to write this article. Even though he mentioned not to get caught up in the technical aspects of playing I realized that a musician’s discipline of practice is what makes the mechanical feel soulful. And that’s exactly what Bernard and every great drummer is able to do. He mentioned the importance of making the music feel good, joyful, and soulful. Mr. Purdie talked about smiling when you play and helping everyone have a good time. Yes, that is beyond the mechanical aspect of playing music for sure. But there is something about the hours of repetition of ideas that releases a player’s ability to express what is in their soul. Bernard and others seem to focus on just playing at different tempos and working on conceptual ideas. I won’t argue with a master about having a flexible approach to a workout, but I often find that players want some help with a routine when they feel stuck in a rut. So here’s an approach I use. Try it and see what happens, but feel free to mix things up and try different ideas as you build a habit of practice into your musical life. At every clinic or seminar I talk about the power of practicing. “Discipline is a powerful thing,” I’ll say. Every drummer nods in agreement… BUT HOW do we DO IT they say! And so allow me to quickly lay out a practice routine that I have found helpful in my own growth and with my students. In all the years of lessons and teaching it seemed like drumming is broken into these five categories. Rudiments and technique Reading music – the method books Listening to music and playing what other drummers play- Copy, Copy, Copy! The Four Groove Groups Soloing Whatever amount of time I have to practice I’ll break the routine into even segments. Of course there’s nothing wrong with focusing on one area occasionally. There are times you will feel inspired to totally work on one idea. If I’m getting ready for an audition or tour I’ll work hard on learning the songs required. Sometimes working on books is interesting and so I’ll focus on that. But the idea of this routine is to mix things up so that you keep growing a little in every aspect of your playing. Rudiments and Technique – The idea here is start every practice session with a time to warm

up and watch your hands. Yes, you can add your feet to warm ups also. Start with hands alone at first if this is new to you. Set a metronome to one tempo for five minutes. Play a basic rudimental pattern on a pad or just start on the snare. Play as relaxed and smooth as possible. Then as you go along mix up the dynamics and accents. If you’re doing this on the drum set move the pattern around the kit. Keep it relaxed and smooth as possible. After five minutes. Stop. Select a new tempo and a new rudiment and go for another five minutes. If you only have an hour to practice that’s it. Two rudiments are enough. Move on to the next section. If your practice time is longer try other rudimental ideas. I like to use the book “Stick Control” by George Stone as a source for patterns or the 40 International Rudiments, which you can find on www.PAS.org or any snare method book. Reading Studies – The next section is focusing on drum method books. I always work in a snare drum book and a set studies book. Start where you are comfortable. Even if you have played a long time, if your reading is weak start with very basic level books. You can progress more quickly if you start simple. Read smoothly, count out loud, and play relaxed. Even with basic patterns always play it like it is musical… even “sing songy.” Never play without “soul.” Every musical piece deserves its honor. Move as quickly through the books as you feel you’ve learned the patterns or reading exercises well. If you get stuck, slow down, and count through the study until you’ve got it. No starting and stopping. I call that musical stuttering. Practicing slow is a great teacher. Be patient. Keep reading smoothly and steady, look ahead a few notes at a time, then a few bars. Build speed as you grow. Listening to songs and copying – All my students think this will be the easiest part. But what you want to do is grasp the smallest details of whatever music you’re trying to emulate. Don’t just “jam” along with the songs. Really listen carefully and play the drums exactly like the drummer does on the recording. Think of the drum part as a composition just like the song itself. It might take a whole session to get one song just right. That’s OK. It’s also a great idea to record yourself playing the song. Listen back and see if you make it groove as good as the drummer does on the recording. This can be a real eye opener. Keep listening… Keep growing. Play it like you mean it! The Four Groove Groups – Most drum grooves fit into four categories… 8th note patterns; 16th note patterns; triplet grooves; and shuffles or swing time. When you do rudiments you’re watching your hands and feet and focusing on technique. In the method books you are reading music and developing eye to hand coordination. Listening to songs and copying other players forces you to use your ears and listen carefully. In this section you get to build your own groove ideas and de-

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

velop patterns and drum fills as you desire. Using a metronome set one tempo and play for five minutes. Play one groove idea for eight measures without changing anything. This is what happens in most songs. Even though you’re creating your own ideas the discipline of controlling a pattern for eight bars is very important. In measure eight you can play a fill of your choosing to lead into the next section, which should be a variation of the groove concept you are playing. After five minutes you’ve played long enough to have performed a “song structure” idea, but you’re creating your own patterns as you go. Count out loud when doing these exercises. When playing eighth notes count 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, 2 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, 3 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, 4 & 2 & 3& 4 &, and so on through 8 bars. When playing 16th note patterns count 1 e & ah 2 e & ah 3 e & ah 4 e & ah, 2 e & ah 2 e & ah 3 e & ah 4 e & ah, etc. Triplets can be counted 1 la lee 2 la lee… and so on. Shuffles and swing time can be counted with triplets too, but you break the pattern up by resting on the middle note of the triplet. Of course you always “feel” the triplet in this sort of pattern even though you don’t play all of the notes. Be sure to try fills you normally would not play, but make your goal to be as musical as possible. Soloing – I practice solos in two specific ways. One is to just think in colors or emotions, creating sounds spontaneously and out of time. I usually do this by thinking of playing on a movie score as if I’m creating special effects. The goal is just to let things happen, don’t think so hard about it. Being creative and spontaneous is the goal. I might start with cymbal rolls or percussion sounds using different pieces from my stick bag. Then I just go with the moment and see what happens. The second approach to soloing is to from a groove idea. I often play a pattern for two bars, and then play a solo for two bars. I’ll keep building ideas as I “trade off” between grooves and solos. Then you can expand the idea and play 4 bars of time then 4 bars of soloing… build it to 8 measure or more if you like. Don’t work all your ideas into one section. Take your time and let your drum solos become a story that you’re telling with music. Watch videos of great drummers soloing and you’ll get the idea. This five-part practice routine has been very helpful through the years to me and to my students. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. Or if you discover other things that help keep your practice time exciting let me know. I would love to hear from you. Let’s keep growing together. Blessings on your routine. Peace, 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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Keyboard

By Ed Kerr

It’s About Time If you’ve ever heard drummer Carl Albrecht (one of the writers for this magazine) teach at a worship conference, I can pretty much guarantee one of the things he stressed in his teaching was the importance of a drummer playing with a solid sense of time. Carl always stresses the importance of playing regularly with a metronome. He’ll encourage you to play along with a metronome when you’re playing with your worship team. And to play along with a metronome when you practice on your own. Uh huh. Practice on your own. Carl does. I do. You should. Think a solid sense of time is an important skill for a drummer to have? Absolutely. It’s also important for guitarists. And for bass players. And for vocalists. And for you and I, keyboard players. In my private lessons teaching piano students at The King’s University in Dallas, I’ve recently begun giving them a couple of mp3s to use when practicing. Students here have found them challenging.

My piano students using these exercises find them challenging, and I’m confident that you will too, especially when you start working with the 4 bars of click/4 bars of silence exercise. I’ve created these exercises at a couple of different tempi, the slowest being 66 bpm. That’s a good tempo for popular songs like “Let The Heavens Open” and “Oceans”. Don’t let the particular song be your main concern. Here are a couple of random 8 bar chord progressions with simple piano figures you could use for practicing with these mp3s.

Don’t discount this as a simplistic piano part. Many worship songs today feature pulsing quarter note figures like this, so playing it solidly in time is a valuable skill. Here’s a slightly more active part based on the same progression.

I think you will too. Work with these mp3s consistently for several weeks and you will almost certainly find yourself playing with a more solid sense of time. Your worship team may very well notice the change in your playing. Someone in your congregation might mention it. And then there’s the greater confidence you will feel as you play. Let’s say you’re underscoring during a prayer time. Let’s say it goes on longer than you expected. For the congregation to hear the music you create presented with steady, confident time will be a great support to what’s being spoken. If you practice with a constantly ticking metronome, you can develop the skill of playing with steady time. These mp3s I’ve created will challenge you to solidify your time even further. On the mp3s you’ll hear a one measure quarter note countoff then 1, 2 or 4 bars of quarter notes with 8th note subdivisions. Then you’ll be presented with a corresponding length of silence. 1 bar of click, 1 bar of silence, 1 bar of click, 1 bar of silence. This pattern repeats again and again for more than 5 minutes. I’ve done the same with 2 bars of click, 2 bars of silence and the same with 4 bars of click, 4 bars of silence.

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If you find it challenging to read the music or don’t yet have that skill, no problem. Just create activity with some pulsing quarter notes or 8th notes as you play along with the mp3s. You will probably be surprised how challenging it is to keep steady time through the bars of silence in the exercises. That’s the point, to help you solidify your sense of time. And don’t forget to practice regularly with a metronome providing a constant click. These mp3s are meant to build on the skills your regular practice with a metronome establishes. Visit kerrtunes.com to download the mp3s for yourself. Feel free to share them with other musicians and to use them in your worship team’s rehearsals.

Ed Kerr is Director Of Worship Studies at The King’s University/Gateway Church in Dallas, TX. He has a Master’s Degree in piano performance, has written many songs published by Integrity Music and teaches as a clinician with Yamaha and Paul Baloche. He plays Yamaha’s motif xf8. Visit Ed online - www.kerrtunes.com

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Bass

By Gary Lunn

Got Skills? Rather than get too specific about one particular issue, I thought that I would put together a quick-list of 5 of the most important, basic techniques to concentrate on and to develop for playing in a worship setting.

will allow you to step out of the crowd in this situation and lead the pack, even though it is typically not the bassist’s roll to do so.

Playing along with great CD projects will not only teach you new bass runs, it 1. Practice scale exercises will also help improve your internal clock and improve your ear. Listening closely to It’s always better to be over-prepared in great musicians will teach you a lot, but any situation. Knowledge is power, and you must listen intensely, analyzing all of when you are playing music that is sim- the various groove elements as you play pler than what you’re capable of, this will along. give you much confidence with the task at 3. Learn to read music notation hand. Being familiar with all keys and all usable notes available will give you freeIf you are not a note reader, you’re probdom to play what you feel more often than ably asking yourself, “Why learn now?” what is written. As you learn notes on a staff, you learn Besides basic major and minor scales, notes on your fret board. When you put there is a simple exercise in thirds that I the two of those together, you form a still do to this day. In letters it’s C, E, D, relationship between notes seen, notes F, E, G, F, A, G, B, A, C, B, D, C. Then played, and notes heard. This relationship descending its C, A, B, G, A, F, G, E, will only help you grow as a musician. F, D, E, C, D, B, C. In numbers, it’s 1, Learning notation teaches you about mu3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, 5, 7, 6, 8, 7, 9, sic theory and the relationship(s) between 8. Descending its 8, 6, 7, 5, 6, 4, 5, notes (intervals). Understanding intervals 3, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2, 7, 1. Then I move up can unlock a whole new world of cona half step and do them again. I go as necting runs, pickup runs, and greatly inhigh up the neck as I can go (depending fluence any soloing that you might do. on how many frets I have on what bass at the time) and then go back down the 4. Learn to read numbers neck a half step at a time (After this, I am VERY warmed up!). Play these as cleanly The number system is based on a part (without fret buzz) as possible. Be sure to of music theory known as chord analysis. practice consistency and evenness with Theory teaches the numbers of the scale in Roman numerals (I, IV, V, etc.) but the note duration and finger pressure. number system uses regular numbers (1, There are many other scale exercises that 4, 5, etc.) so its very quick and easy to you can find in many teaching books. I write down. The key of the song is always have several others that I do as well that I “1.” For example, in the key of C, C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5. A=6, B=7, and can discuss later. then you’re back to 1 (8). 2. Play with a metronome The number system also helps you to unPracticing with a metronome will help you derstand the importance of chord spelling develop a strong internal clock. Playing in in all major scales. Because bass is mostly a group IS playing together AS a group, an instrument that you play from a “posibut occasionally you may work with other tion”, once you learn a scale or chord players who may need to depend on you spelling pattern, it’s the same in all keys, for steadiness and strong tempo. Having up and down the neck. the metronome clicking inside your head

It also helps you to naturally acquire the skill of music dictation, which can be very handy in certain situations. In other words, when the worship leader has a new song that he wants to play, last minute, and he doesn’t have a chart, you will be able to listen to him (or her) play it once and write down the chord changes. The number system makes this very easy to do. 5. Improvise As you learn new scale exercises, new songs, new runs, and new players’ methods, be sure to give yourself the chance to play solos and melodies that inspire you as you’re playing along with the music. As you collect the various concepts and ideas of others, the ones that you like the most will seem to “archive” themselves inside you and begin to form a musical entity that will become who you are stylistically. Allow yourself to be expressive and to let the part of you that is your personal, growing musicality “out of the cage” occasionally, so as to not get frustrated with regimen. Regimen is good, but so is experimentation. I hope that you will consider this suggested list of simple, basic steps in preparation for playing in several musical applications, particularly in worship settings at your church or other local music function. May God richly bless the work of your hands!

Gary is a session player/ producer/writer in Nashville, TN. He plays for many recording session accounts, does home recording, production, and attends Grace Church (gracechurchnashville.com) in Franklin, TN. Email him for questions, comments or scheduling at garylunn@me.com

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

Vocals

By Sheri Gould

Recovery - Part 1 Most everyone will experience some type of vocal damage in their lifetime. This could be the result of a sickness, allergy, overuse, abuse, surgery, etc. How recovery is handled can have a lasting impact on your voice. I get asked for information with regard to this very frequently so I know it is a common issue that so many of you deal with. I am going to try and give you some tips that can help to speed recovery and maximize your vocal effectiveness as soon as possible. In this first part of a two part series, we will discuss dealing with recovery from sickness and allergies. Sickness Try as we might, there may be times when we get hit with a bug of some sort that seems to find its ultimate resting place in our vocal cords. Bad singing habits, such as failing to warm up, can contribute to vocal injuries but more often the culprit, in my experience, is this: Most worship leaders, choir directors/singers and background singers carry on even when they’re ill or over-fatigued, making their voices especially vulnerable. They may not be doing anything incorrectly vocally but they more than likely just have an amazing commitment to what they do. They don’t call in sick. Let me first of all say this unequivocally; if you are sick you should not sing. Period. This is a fact and I cannot say it more emphatically. Singing when your vocal cords are damaged will only cause more damage and prolong the healing process—possibly forever if you do it enough. I hope that was a strong enough warning. I have to make it as strong and scary as possible because it’s true and because I know this about you—you are going to sing anyway. IF I could stop you I would, but since I can’t, let me give you some help. Go Gently-Try to avoid coughing and clearing your throat as much as possible. When you absolutely must cough or clear your throat think GENTLY! Don’t talk-Talk as little as possible to give your voice as much rest as possible. This might mean that you have to disappear from sight in between services. REST YOUR VOICE!

your nose, use a vaporizer, stay away from themselves in a myriad of ways. Unfortunately, lemon and caffeine, etc). Don’t use conventional many of these ways have a detrimental effect on cough drops, find one with NO MENTHOL. the vocal cords leaving a singer in a quandary. Warm-up-Although you want to give your voice They aren’t sick, so to speak but should they as much rest as possible, YOU STILL NEED TO sing? The short answer is; if your vocal cords WARM UP! Again, this should be done very gen- are stressed you should not sing. However, for tly. It would be best if you could warm up in a the millions of allergy sufferers this could mean steamy bathroom-the more moisture in the air the a lifetime of no singing! So with some care and better. Even if all you can manage is a gentle preparation you can (hopefully) successfully keep humming—at least do that much. Stretching the your voice healthy enough to sing.

cords carefully and getting the blood flowing into Many people take some sort of allergy medithem will help you when you actual do start sing- cine to help them cope with their symptoms. ing. When your body comes into contact with whatDon’t push- Change keys if you have to but do ever your allergic trigger is it makes chemicals not push your voice. Let others take the lead and called histamines - these cause your allergic sing as little as possible. Although your role is symptoms. The medicines are typically antihistaimportant the world CAN get by without you for mines designed to reduce or block histamines, so they stop allergy symptoms. However, this is a moment or two. TAKE IT EASY! a double edged sword. Unfortunately, one of Try some” Vocal Rescue”- I am in the process the many possible side effects of antihistamines of gathering research on a new product I have is dry mouth. So although the medicine may help come across. So far I am very impressed. I will to reduce many allergy symptoms, it will most be doing an in depth review in the near future likely leave you feeling dehydrated and making but for now check it out yourself and give it a try. it difficult to function vocally - at least not at your Let me know how it works (or doesn’t) for you. full capacity. Be sure to follow directions carefully, this product is to be gargled with warm water and not During an allergy “attack” when you’re feeling swallowed. (http://store.superiorvocalhealth. the effect on your voice, you need to follow all of com/?Click=296) I have a link on my website the same suggestions for being ill or recovering (http://sherigould.com/blog/) that will take from an illness that has affected your voice - espeyou there as well. You can even use the promo cially with regard to staying hydrated. Although code GOULD and get 10% off. I’d love to hear you may not be “sick”, your vocal cords don’t know the difference. In the 12 hours prior to singabout your experience with this product. ing you might want to try experimenting with a I also like to recommend a homemade solution saline nasal rinse in place of your antihistamine. of three parts Aloe Vera Juice (George’s tastes the After you’re finished singing you can resume with best-it’s distilled and tastes like water!) and one regular use. This may help to alleviate some of part organic edible vegetable glycerin. Put this the dryness. The Aloe Vera recipe I described together in a spray bottle, shake well and spray above will be especially helpful for keeping the toward the back of the throat while breathing in vocal cords moist. The Vocal Rescue can give vigorously. Swallow any remaining solution. Re- you an immediate ability to use your voice much peat this as often as you like throughout the day more easily. for maximum help with healing the vocal folds. God bless you as you seek to serve Him through Get some sleep-Your voice needs rest but so song and hopefully make it through the cold, flu does your body. When you are sick your body is and allergy season a little more easily! working extra hard so make sure to get a good night’s sleep and TAKE A NAP! Even if you have mostly recovered from your illness, you should follow these steps until your voice is fully recovered. This could take days, weeks or even months. Continue to “baby” your voice. As you start to feel stronger, take care to warm-up and work-out your voice daily working back up to your normal capacity.

Hydrate like crazy-DRINK A TON OF WATER! Stay away from things that you know dehydrate you (like coffee). Even if you normally can get away with cheating in this area don’t even try when you are hurting. Steep a bunch of Throat Coat Tea for a half an hour and sip it constantly Allergies instead. (http://www.traditionalmedicinals. There are thousands of different types of allercom/products/throat-coat/) Do everything you know you are supposed to do (breathe through gies that can affect people and they can manifest

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

Sheri Gould is an internationally acclaimed vocal coach. With a degree from the University of Ill, she has been coaching since 1979 and leading worship since 1985. For weekly vocal tips, check out facebook.com/officialsherigould. For information on products, including instructional DVDs, check out www.sherigould.com

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EQUIPPING THE CHURCH

by Chuck Page

Streaming or Podcasting your Church Service Every week my sales and technical teams are on the phone answering questions from pastors and lay-people regarding streaming and podcasting a church service. This article will answer questions you might have concerning these topics and help you make a good decision prior to the financial investment you will incur. Let’s start with defining what streaming and podcasting really are. Steaming is a live feed from the original location to somewhere else. This feed can be transported via fiber, copper, or wireless to another building on your campus. This feed can also be sent out through the internet to a website or a second building site. Another transport avenue is to send the feed through a broadcast station viewed on cable, satellite or a network station.

requirements not the end users download requirements. Podcasting Pros: You can reach a wider audience that is located outside the location of your normal congregation. This can include shut-ins, attenders traveling, or people that simply live in another part of the U.S. or another country all together. Videos can be viewed on demand and numerous times. Videos can be uploaded to a variety of sources such as YouTube, Facebook, or the church website. Video can be edited before broadcast. Video can be compressed into a file format that allows the end user the best possible experience based on their bandwidth requirements.

One safe way around this is to purchase a streaming and/or podcasting license. Again this is necessary only if you plan to Podcasting Cons: It is not live. Video broadcast material with a copyright. CCLI Podcasting is recording the live event editing and file compression will usually (www.CCLI.com) has a link on their home and then manipulating the raw footage be necessary, though the editing can be page addressing some of these issues and in a manageable state to be viewed in a as simple as choosing a start and stop sources to where you can purchase the proper licensing. delayed broadcast. Normally the vehicle point within the raw footage. used to view a podcast is the internet. If you’re only going to stream or podcast Most churches use either their website to What’s legal to stream or podcast? your pastor’s message then no copyright place this podcast or another source such as YouTube. Anything copyrighted is unlawful to laws should be infringed, unless your passtream or podcast without written permis- tor starts singing a song with a copyright Now that we understand what the dif- sion. Examples of this in the church envi- or shows a video from a movie. Again ference between streaming and podcast- ronment would be music performed by these types of footages can be edited out ing are we need to address which of these your worship team that has been written to keep your church legal. technologies best meets the requirements by someone else. The actual law is rather We’re finding that most churches deof your church. Let’s look at the pros and complicated so I’ve decided to list it here cide to simply podcast their message. cons of each. for your reference. These churches compress their videos and Live Streaming Pros: You can reach a ”Works created between 1923 and upload within a few hours of the service wider audience in real time that is located 1964 are protected for 28 years. Copy- so expediency doesn’t seem to be an isoutside the location of your normal congre- right holders can renew copyrights for an sue for them. For those churches that do gation. This can include shut-ins, attenders additional 67 years, but, if they don’t re- decide to stream, most are using that techtraveling, or people that simply live in an- new, copyright protection lasts for only 28 nology in a multi-campus environment or a TV broadcast scenario. other part of the U.S. or another country years. all together. Works created between 1964 and Live Streaming Cons: Typically the vid- 1977 are copyright protected for 28 Chuck is a partner and General eo can only be viewed once. A Content years, but the 67-year renewal is auto- Manager of GoFishMedia, LLC. Delivery Network (CDN) subscription is matic, for a total of 95 years of copyright He has been involved with necessary. If you’re using the internet to protection. The earliest works under this technology for over 15 years deliver your programming then the proper category are in the public domain starting and worship for over 20 years. amount of bandwidth will be necessary in 2059. He resides in Boise, Idaho with to send out your broadcast. Usually figure his wife Lisa. about 5Mbps of upload from the source Works created after January 1, 1978, to offer 1080p, 4Mbps for 720p, and are protected for the life of the creator plus Visit: www.gofishmedia.net 2Mbps for a SD signal. Note: these fig- 70 years.” Send Chuck an email: ures are your church’s upload minimum chuck@gofishmedia.net

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L o u i e G i g l i o ’s Winsome Ministry by Mitch Bohannon

It was an honor to be given a few moments to spend visiting with and getting to know Louie Giglio. He preaches to the masses, leads services with some of the globe’s top worship leaders, and is one of the most focused people I’ve ever talked to…but he’s not lost his “down-to-earth” personality.

Mitch Bohannon: What’s it like to pas- people who would forget to mute their guitar before they tuned… I think I have tor Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, etc. enough of a background in life that I can Louie Giglio: It’s a gift for sure. Matt Red- relate to any pastor from anywhere. I’ve man was at Passion City Church for the spoken to seven people and to seven thoufirst our first two years. Having Chris Tom- sand people…I’ve been a part of worship lin, Crowder, Kristian Stanfill is incredible! leading where the microphone was taped These guys are the best of the best. Pastor- to a volleyball pole. There’s just not much ing them is like friendship and relationship. in my (ministry) life that I’ve not seen or I met Chris when he was a college student done. So, when I meet a pastor who says, at Texas A&M. We did an FCA event to- “I don’t have a Kristian Stanfill or a Chris gether on a Wednesday night in Waco, Tomlin leading my Easter service.” HonestTX. I met David Crowder when he was a ly, those guys are not the ONLY worship Junior at Baylor University. I met Matt in leaders at Passion City Church. We have 2000 at a conference we did in Mem- a lot of young leaders here and a lot of phis, TN. And so, mostly it’s been friend- great “door holders” (what we call volunship. It’s that kind of relationship where we teers) here. Leading all the way across our just try to spur each other on to use our house at all levels of growth in their leadergifts in the best way we can and to be ship abilities. In some ways, I feel like I am the people God wants us to be. It may right in there with a bunch of other pastors. be hard to believe, but I really see these We’re just trying to raise up people to their guys as “people” and not “celebrity wor- best potential. (Don’t get me wrong) I am ship leaders.” They just happen to have thrilled about what we have had the opthe very best gifts on the planet! portunity to experience together here, but Mitch: That being said, do you find it at the same time, I don’t think it keeps me difficult to relate to church leaders with from understanding the challenge of having someone with a huge heart but maybe platforms full of volunteers? not enormous gifts. And, they’re leading Louie: Not really. I know that sounds like the house week-to-week and you’re trying a cop-out answer, but I’ve been in min- to shape their gifts, shepherd their heart, istry for a long, long time. I did a lot of and call them up to be the best they can ministry before I ever met Chris Tomlin or be…OR having that very hard conversaMatt Redman. Back in the day at Baylor tion of saying, “your best is never going University from 1985 to 1995, I actually to be good enough to serve in this role, was ON the worship team for those ten but we have some other roles here where years. There weren’t any superstars on that you can serve and still be a vibrant part of platform, but we did have some amazing- what God is doing in our church.” ly gifted people. We also worked really hard and had volunteers…we had some

The goal is for the pastor and the worship leader to be on the same page. It helps the process of wherever the church is at… even if they’ve got 25 people with one person playing the piano… it takes that pastor and worship leader leaning in together, forming a connection or relationship together – not where the pastor is over “on an island” and he shows up only caring about the message, but he is actually leaning into the musical side of the worship and the worship leader actually has a Bible and is leaning into the teaching. Now, you actually have something that is going to work. It may take lots of effort, but at least you’ve overcome the first hurdle where there is no division between the preaching and the singing. It’s all worship. The pastor must see himself as a worshiper and the worship leader must see himself as a pastor. When that happens, you have the bedrock for a successful relationship. Mitch: Do you see yourself more as a preacher, teacher, or mentor? Louie: Gonna have to go with preacher on that one. There is a teaching aspect to what I do, but my “bedrock” is preaching, proclaiming. Mentoring is something I hope I’m doing every day. Mitch: Do you have a place to go for pastoral advice? Louie: I do have a couple of guys that I lean on. It was challenging for me… I planted this church when I was 50. I wasn’t a 28-year-old, unknown guy in the

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Louie Giglio

continued

next to someone who doesn’t know Jesus then the natural gravitational pull is going to be toward ourselves. We’re only going to see church through the lens of, “what’s in it for me.”

world… I had somewhat of a footprint. As much as I asked people to help me, a lot of people, for whatever reason, did not step up to that. But a couple did. A couple of seasoned, veteran pastors sort of leaned toward me and made themselves available to me. When I get in some sticky spots and need some wisdom, or I need someone to “talk me down off the ledge,” I call them and they are always there with great advice and great encouragement. They played a big role in me being able to navigate the first five years of planting a church. It’s a lot more challenging than anyone who has never done it thinks it is! I had done a lot of things before I was 50, but none of them were as perplexing or challenging as actually building up the fabric of a house day-by-day and weekby-week. Mitch: Were you in youth group with Andy Stanley? Louie: Yes I was! I was in 6th grade when his dad came to our church, First Baptist, in Atlanta. Their family came from Florida to Atlanta. Andy and I became fast friends at Summer Youth Camp. We were in the midst of a big, senior-led shaving cream battle and the two skinny 7th-graders ended up under a bunk bed. I went under there for shelter and refuge and there was already another skinny-7th-grader under there. That was Andy! We bonded right there in that moment and became really great friends. We went through Middle School, High School, and College together as super-close friends and are still friends to this day. He was my pastor for ten years before planting Passion City Church. He was the first person I talked to

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about planting Passion City Church and is still someone I talk to about the church! He’s the best leader I know and one of the best teachers and communicators alive. Mitch: Tell me about the Winsome Talks. I was impressed with the video on YouTube… tell me more. Louie: The overview of Winsome is that we cannot lose the mission of the church. The church exists to display Jesus to the world…particularly to the millions of people in our city of Atlanta, GA who do not know the love, grace, mercy, truth, and the life that is only found in Jesus. The sad truth of that is that a lot of churches have more of a settler mentality than a pioneering mentality. They’re happy to have their parking space and their favorite seat in the auditorium, their favorite preacher and favorite songs that the worship leader sings… After a while, it’s possible that the nucleus of a church has become completely self-focused and lost that calling that Jesus placed on our lives in the Great Commission at the end of Matthew. No longer are they willing to do whatever it takes to take the message of Jesus to the people of their city, their neighborhood, their coworkers, their family, and the people that they just do life with. I’ve noticed that to the people at Passion City Church four to five years into our journey. There were good people sitting in our gatherings week after week, month after month and I never noticed anybody sitting with them. So, I asked some people, “when is the last time you asked somebody to come to church and they came and they didn’t know Jesus?” They say, “I asked my neighbor and he never came.” I think if we are not sitting

The downside of that is when that Winsome spirit dies… that spirit that says, “even though I am free and a slave to no man, I am going to make myself a slave to every person that by all means I might win some.” When that spirit dies – the church dies. The doors may not shut on that day, but the spirit begins to diminish on that day. And I think you could almost mark it down on a calendar how many days/ weeks before that church is irrelevant to the city, has lost the power of the move of the Spirit of God, and in probably real terms is going to decline to the point that there are 26 people sitting around looking at each other trying to decide how they are going to pay the bills. I don’t think it’s a matter of leadership or place/geography. I don’t think it’s a matter of how good the facilities are…I think it’s about, “does this church prioritize reaching the people of this city with the story of Jesus and are we willing to do that, not just by putting a flyer out or knocking on a door, but by living the kind of lives that show the world that “Jesus is real”, “God is alive,” “I’m not perfect, but God is making a difference in me. The kind of difference that would cause you to want to know what’s happening in my life and would draw you to the power of Jesus.” Mitch: How would my church use the Winsome Talks? Louie: It’s a DVD series of five talks. It could be used in a lot of different ways. The pastor could watch the DVD and then figure out how to communicate this truth to his church. He could play the messages on Sunday mornings or on a special weekend. It could be turned into a small group curriculum… there are questions to go with each talk. The main thing is to get the message out so that the calling of the church can be sparked to life inside of people’s hearts. Mitch: Looking at Passion over the last five years or so, what are some of the most unexpected things that God has done? Louie: It may sound crazy, but the most unexpected thing about Passion is that we are still doing Passion! We had a vision for the 18 million university students of America in the early days of Passion (1997). We were burdened that of the millions of college students in America, 80% of them did not have a relationship with Jesus. So

Louie Giglio

continued

about 11-12 new songs that ended up going on this album. So, this year I have no co-writing, but I hope that my life and my encouraging these guys… at least I have a little finger-print in there somewhere. Every year we meet as a team and discuss the big themes and big goals of the event. The team is amazing at seeking God and having Him give them a song that represents that. This year the song that probably is the defining song of Passion 2015, the title song of the album is “Even So Come.” It’s being released now to radio with Kristian Stanfill. It’s a song about us, as the church, being ready for the return of Jesus. Part of the chorus says, “like a bride, waiting for her groom, we’ll be a church ready for You.” I think that really blew at the hearts of those at Passion 2015 because it pushes us into our calling. It doesn’t give us the luxury of just “sitting back on our church laurels” and doing our own thing. It awakens us to our purpose. Mitch: On a lighter note, how do you like your coffee? Louie: I like my coffee so that it doesn’t get in the way of the sugar! As long as there’s not more coffee than sugar! Mitch: What’s on your playlist? Louie: Being a part of a label, like sixstepsrecords, I really don’t listen to a lot of music outside of our family. Part of it is just the nature of what we do. Last Thursday night we recorded a new live album with Matt Redman and so, I’ve been listening to demos for that album for the last month and we just mixed Christy Nockles album this week – I’m not doing the mixing, but I’m in the loop on that, so that’s in the playlist. Mitch: Were you involved in music growing up or did that something that evolved in your ministry? Louie: Well, I was a drummer growing up, so I was always in band or marching band… and I always was in singing, so if there was an ensemble at church, I was going to be a part of that, for sure. It was not until after Seminary days that my wife and I started a Bible study at Baylor University that I really felt like I had some gifts at actually leading worship. And, leading worship in 1980 was singing, “Lord You are more precious than silver” with a guy that could sort-of we did an event in ’97, ’98, ’99, and in 2000 door every single year! We want to keep stand- play the guitar. But leading worship is more than we had 40,000 college students in Memphis, ing at that crossroads as long as God will allow just being able to sing on pitch. Leading worTN and we kind of thought that was it. We had us to. ship is about taking people on a journey toward done what God called us to. We had been on God. That’s pastoring, primarily. 120 college campuses that year with the Passion Mitch: With the new Passion CD coming out soon, how many of the songs did you co-write? Mitch: How are you avoiding burnout? Tour and had done eight regional events around America and then held the solemn assembly in Louie: ZERO! My Passion song writing days Louie: For me, avoiding burnout is, trying to live Memphis. We didn’t do anything the next year are dwindling. But, that’s OK because we’ve in the present 24 hours that I’m in. You couldn’t except listen to God. But here we are in 2015 got an amazing team of artists. They work really do what I do if you’re a worrier about schedand we just did three events and hosted over hard at bringing these songs to the table. This ules and such… Living in the present moment is 40,000 more people over three weekends in year, I opted out of a lot of the writing process a good way to avoid burnout. Jesus said to let three arenas and the fact that we’re still here is a to just get behind them. It’s an amazing team of “tomorrows worries wait until tomorrow.” detour from what we first thought. As it turns out, people. They came for this gathering – probably a new crop of college students come through the with about 30 songs that got narrowed down to

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TIPS FOR TIGHT TEAMS

by Sandy Hoffman

Musings for Musos THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME What song is in your heart today? Was it also there yesterday? Can you hear the melody in your head? Have you already been singing it at the top of your lungs all morning? Was it echoing in your mind and throat when you tried to get to sleep last night? Did harmonies inhabit your dreams? How about when you first awoke? Were those moments, too, filled with the sounds of this song? Have you tried to get rid of it? More importantly, where did it come from? Streaming? Your imagination? God? Perhaps it is the sound of heaven. Eternal. And though it seems to have begun right here with you, it was, and is, and shall be sung by all who know Jesus Christ as their Lord. It is amazing that we get to participate in the everlasting song of praise!

THE SONG... Some years ago, during a wonderful early morning community worship time at Last Days Ministries (we had ‘em almost every day) the Lord allowed me to see the sound of our worship. Ok. Right now you’re snickering and asking yourself, “What planet is this guy from?” I don’t blame you, but please hear me out. That morning, as the music transitioned from high praises into a more delicate, intimate time of worship to God, I had a vision of sound waves. I know, it sounds all hooky-spooky, but I saw them in my heart and mind. These were waves of the sound of heaven, praises of the saints, washing over all those gathered there. The swells were two or three feet tall from trough to crest, and were moving slowly across the room from right to left at about head height. Many of those worshiping that morning had their hands lifted high above their heads in humble adoration to the King. The waves were literally lapping against the worshiper’s uplifted arms as the heavenly sounds traversed the room.

gathered that morning began to rise and fall like billows of glory to Jesus. There were spontaneous psalms and hymns and spiritual songs rising again and again in waves from the hearts of the people. We were, in that moment, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord, just as Ephesians 5:19 says. How cool is that, experiencing the worship of the ages right there in East Texas? Our hearts and voices were joining in unity with all those before and after us, the great cloud of witnesses, physical and spiritual beings giving glory to Jesus the Savior in a never ending song—the song of heaven. It is the song which never passes away. The song which is His and ours alone - forever! I just gotta shout it: “Hallelujah!”

REMAINS... If this song of heaven is so important, what is the history of it? In writing, it begins with Jubal, who was the father of all those who play the harp and flute [this is the beginning of the Biblical account of music in general] (Genesis 4:21). Then the Levites were instructed in the songs of the Lord, all who were skillful (I Chronicles 25:7). A little later, David had a new song put in his mouth by the Lord (Psalm 40:3). Then all the lands came before His presence with singing (Psalm 100:2). In the new testament, the Apostle Paul said that he sang with the spirit, and... with the understanding (I Corinthians 14:15). Soon, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders will sing a new song to the Lord (Revelation 5:9 & 10). And finally, the victorious over the beast will sing the song of Moses proclaiming that all nations shall come and worship before [Him] (Revelation 15:3 & 4).

What do all these Biblical figures have in common? The song of heaven. The song of declaration of the sovereignty of our God forever. The song of the grace, goodness, and mercy of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. The song of our only Hope of Glory. The song of the beginning and the And then, improvising by inspiration end. The song of the One who knows no of the Holy Spirit, the voices of those end. The song of shared eternity.

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They sang through the ages, and continue to encourage us by their example and word, to join them in the everlasting song to the Lord. It is sung again and again throughout Biblical history. Wow! These are they, from Genesis, to Revelation, and beyond, who insure that His song remains...

THE SAME “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) But what about the song? Does it change? The age we live in changes. Our generations come and go. Song styles, instrumentation, and arrangements change. Production, medium, gimmicks, fads, and distribution never stay the same. Tastes, groove, structure, length, range, and labels all fluctuate. But what about this SONG? I mean, what’s trending in heaven right now? Trending in heaven? Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But I think sometimes that’s how we think. Occasionally, we are all just too hip for the cosmos! We simply need to keep our hearts rooted in the history of the song which remains the same. If we stay focused on our role as everlasting worshipers, the rest, eternity I mean, will take care of itself. God promised. Time trumps trend. Let me repeat: time trumps trend! Trends always come and go, but with time, the heart of the song of heaven always returns triumphant, and brings us back to the reality of salvation and hope through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let’s embrace and celebrate! Rejoicing in the really real, Sandy Sandy Hoffman serves the worship community at Christ Church Santa Fe, NM, and beyond. Find out more about his “Tips for Tight Teams” online at: www.WorshipWorks.com ©2015 Worship Works! Music / Musings For Musos

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Record Reviews Amy Grant Be Still and Know... Hymns and Faith 1. Power In The Blood 2. Be Still and Know 3. Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am) 4. Rock of Ages 5. Carry You 6. This Is My Father’s World 7. El Shaddai 8. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee 9. It Is Well With My Soul/The River’s Gonna Keep On Movin 10. My Jesus I Love Thee 11. Deep As It Is Wide 12. What A Friend We Have In Jesus/Old Rugged Cross/How Great Thou Art 13. ‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus 14. Softly and Tenderly 15. Holy, Holy, Holy Six-Time Grammy Award Winner and Christian music legend, Amy Grant has teamed up with her country superstar husband, Vince Gill for her latest release, Be Still and Know Hymns and Faith. This project features several tracks from previously released projects, Legacy... Hymns & Faith and Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith. Although one cannot classify this collection as a hymns compilation album as there are 2 new songs produced by Gill which kick off the album. “Power In The Blood” is one of the new tracks and is built on a country music foundation with acoustic and slide guitars leading the way while husband and wife join their vocals and breathe fresh energy into this hymn. “Be Still and Know” is the other new song taking the words of Psalm 46 and etching them into our memory and our hearts with a sublime melody and seamless flow. “Jesus Take All Of Me (Just As I Am)” is a sweet flowing adaptation of the beloved hymn “Just As I Am” that builds to a new chorus that fits nicely behind the traditional piano backing. Grant’s version of “Rock Of Ages” is a groovy duet with Vince Gill with a very southern gospel drawl that gives this old beautiful hymn some down home soul. The classic “El Shaddai” makes a return with a few subtle changes and her version of “Joyful Joyful, We Adore Thee” features a celtic vibe with some great mandolin work and more rhythmic feel making this song useable for seasons other than Christmas. *Gerod’s Personal Picks in bold.

By Gerod Bass Even Sheryl Crow and Eric Paisley make a guest appearance on this album in the hook laden “Deep As It Is Wide”, which is a gorgeous story of God’s gift of eternity that would make a great performance song for a trio or quartet. This is a wonderful meditative album of re-worked hymns with a few surprises that Amy Grant fans will love. I am amazed how her voice is still as sweet and beautiful as it was back in the 80’s and the addition of Vince Gill’s musical gifts and producing ability made this album better than I thought it would be. I am not a huge fan of re-releasing songs that have been on previous albums (especially fairly recent albums) but aside from that, this is one you should own if you lead worship in the church. Newport Worship Paradise 1. Through The Ages 2. Echo 3. Your Love Has Overcome 4. Your Love Lights The Way 5. You Have My Heart 6. God My Rescue 7. Every Way 8. Chasing Your Heart 9. Unshakable 10. Live to Know You 11. For My King 12. Eternity Newport Worship is the worship team of Newport Church, planted in 2006 by Jonathan and Dianne Wilson, former Senior Associate Pastors at Hillsong in Australia. Their debut release features 12 new songs full of energy and relevance for today’s changing church. Most of the songs in this collection resemble the arrangements and style of their mother church with a decidedly youthful vigor aimed at millennial age Christians struggling to find their place in a world that says that Jesus and His church are no longer relevant. Worship pastor Graham Bronczyk describes most of the album as “party music” designed as joyful responses to the good news of the Gospel for God’s people. Many of the tracks indeed have a house dance flavor with fast tempos and electronic rhythms that really get your feet tapping. Some of the better tracks include the technoinfused “Echo” which speaks of God’s unOverall impression

Average person could learn/participate on the first hear Can be learned/adapted by a band of average skill Lyrical creativity and integrity

Amy Grant Be Still and Know... Hymns and Faith Newport Worship Paradise Christy Nockels Let It Be Jesus Jared Anderson Where I Am Right Now Matt McCoy

Alive and Free highest marks

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

ending goodness and his yearning for our entire hearts. This is a fun song and reminded me a lot of Tomlin’s “God’s Great Dance Floor” yet with a deeper lyric. With its attention grabbing popish hooks, “Every Way” points the worshipper to a God who doesn’t change and whose love lasts forever while “Unshakeable” is a driving force celebrating how God has overcome death and reigns above all. “Live to Know You” and “For My King,” both of which clock in at over 6 minutes each, are atmospheric ethereal-sounding ballads of vertical worship that while not breaking any new ground in creativity are still solid and singable at their core. Not every song contained here is a joyous romp though the Gospel story. “God My Rescue” is a contemplative look at the crucifixion from a heart that is crying out in desperate need of a savior. “You Have My Heart” speaks of how God meets every single need of His people and features some haunting guitar and pad work that gives the song a mysterious and angelic vibe. Paradise is full of songs with Jesus as the answer for God’s people who are hurting in every stage of life and that theme alone makes this an album worth owning. These songs aren’t the most groundbreaking as far as lyrical content and instrumentation as Newport stayed pretty close to the vest of their mother church when it came to arrangements and song style, but if you love Hillsong Young and Free or bands like it, you will adore this album. Although the songs are mostly easy to sing, the overall sound of this album will be difficult for most worship teams to emulate. Christy Nockels Let It Be Jesus 1. Freedom Song 2. My Anchor 3. Everything Is Mine In You 4. The Wondrous Cross 5. Let It Be Jesus 6. Who Can Compare? 7. Jesus, Rock Of Ages 8. If You Never 9. Leaning On You Jesus 10. Find Me At The Feet Of Jesus 11. Wonderful Name Christy Nockels is no stranger to leading live worship as she has been a featured worship leader of almost every live Passion album that has been released over the past few years but until now, she has never released her own live worship album. Let It Be Jesus is a gorgeous collection of 11 worship songs from Christy that connect the listener with the heart of the God who loves them. The first thing I noticed was the cover of the album. Christy is on her knees with her head bowed in reverence and that really sets up the album nicely as almost every song

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Record Reviews speaks of the majesty of Christ and reminds us of how truly blessed we are to be adopted children of the most High. “Anchor” was featured earlier this year on the Passion Album, Even So Come and is a stirring proclamation of God’s faithfulness in times of struggle. Christy’s authenticity and soaring vocals come through in fine style on this track and it is hard not to sing along with her as she proclaims, “My anchor forever, my shelter within the storm. You’re my deliverer, you never falter cause You are the rock I stand on”. Christy’s delivers some crisp phrasing in the verses of “Everything is Mine” and the chorus points us to a God who meets our every need. “If You Ever” is an upbeat pop anthem speaking of God’s love while “Leaning On Jesus” is an intimate prayer about trusting the Lord with every part of our lives. The best track on the album is “The Wondrous Cross” which boasts a memorable chorus speaking of how mercy was won on the cross for us before transitioning to an intimate bridge of worship and adoration of our God. Let It Be Jesus is a nice collection of reverent and meaningful worship songs, a few of which should find their way into your Sunday morning repertoire. Lyrically there are some nice moments and although some of the arrangements are a bit dry, Nockel’s angelic and strong vocals give this album depth and passion. Go pick it up. Jared Anderson Where I Am Right Now 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Where I Am Right Now Overboard Forgiven Almighty Sweet Salvation

One of Christian music’s premiere worship writers, Jared Anderson grew up leading worship at New Life Church in Colorado Springs where he helped create the well known worship group Desperation Band. Jared has written some of the church’s most loved songs including “Great I Am”, “Bless the Lord” and “Pouring It Out For You” and has recently released a five song EP entitled Where I Am Right Now. Although short in number of songs, (a full length 14 song album will be released exclusively to concert goers during his upcoming tour later this year) this little teaser of an album got me excited for what is to come next from Mr. Anderson and reaffirmed what I already knew, this man is an incredibly gifted musician and song writer.

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The album starts with the previously released single, “Where I am Right Now” which is a wonderful reminder that no matter where we are on our life journey, God places us right where we are and walks alongside us every step of the way. The vocals are fused with energy and this song will appeal to a wide audience with its pop/rock sensibilities. “Overboard” is a driving, youthful rocking song about living a life in response to what God has done for us while “Sweet Salvation” is on the complete other side of the musical spectrum as we hear

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

about the salvation of Christ sung acapella with a 60’s doo-wap kind of vibe. “Forgiven” is a lyrically fresh look at Christ’s gift of daily forgiveness that boasts a very memorable chorus that brings home the reality of grace in our everyday lives. The best song of the album is “Almighty” which was previously released by Chris Tomlin on his Love Ran Red album last year. Anderson’s version of this hook-laden treasure is a bit more majestic in nature and his sincerity and vocals prowess come through in fine style. I am a huge Jared Anderson fan and my only disappointment with this EP is that I didn’t get enough from this little teaser album. I guess I will just have to pony up and go see him in concert. Where I Am Right Now has some great songs for your church so go pick it up. Matt McCoy Alive and Free 1. Alive and Free 2. Praise Our God 3. The Stand 4. This I Believe (The Creed) 5. Sinking Deep Matt McCoy is a worship leader from Chicago and is the founder of Loopcommunity.com. His latest 5 song LP, Alive and Free was recorded in Indianapolis on New Year’s eve with over 3,000 college students celebrating in worship. The title track was written by McCoy and is a joyous proclamation of the freedom we have in Christ as his smooth vocals float over the synth driven instrumentation and steady house beat. The chorus of this song gives all the praise and glory to God as the one who sets us free. My favorite song on the album, “Praise Our God” also written by McCoy, has plenty of loops and fun electronic backbeats but the depth of the lyrics and the authenticity with which McCoy sings this song make it stand out. The melody is memorable and easy to sing. The instrumentation of the bridge is angelic as he sings....”We lift you higher, higher still, we’re singing louder to God our Father”. The other three tracks are worship covers with the best one being McCoy’s arrangement of Joel Houston’s “The Stand” which is a bit more intimate and has a warmer feel than the original. As with most EP’s this one left me wanting a bit more. I think Mr. McCoy has some great potential. The mix throughout was a bit synth heavy as there were a few times I lost the sound of his savory vocals but overall this was a nice first offering from McCoy. I can’t wait to hear more. Gerod Bass is a ministry veteran who has been serving God’s people through worship and youth ministry for over 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. He’s a singer, guitarist and recording artist who has a passion for impacting lives for the sake of the Gospel. Find out more, including his newest album release at his website, gerodbass.com.

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FOH Engineer

By Kent Morris

The Knobbit: Getting Around on Today’s Consoles Audio mixing consoles used to be the domain of the knob. On a large format analog Midas, there were hundreds of single-function knobs and switches spread across a sea of control surface. Burly men in black shirts lugged these great beasts ensconced in custom flight cases from show to show, heaving them upon stands made from road cases at each venue. Then, one day, things changed. All the weight and warmth of analog were gone; replaced by the lithe and precision of digital. With the knobs missing, GOS (Grumpy Old Soundtechs) contemplated early retirement or, similarly, a move into lead vocals. The YNS (Young Naïve Soundtechs) on the other hand, embraced the move to a platform they understood well from their misspent childhoods playing video games in Mom’s basement. So, here, then, is a telling of the layout of most modern consoles.

of layers and a central command structure as their functional interface. Since a feature on a digital board is simply some additional code, adding one is easy compared to implementing a full circuit on an analog console. Thus, digital boards have lots of features, meaning there is not room to place them all on the board at once. Manufacturers allow one control to serve many functions depending on the mode of operation. Navigating these modes can be difficult, so the designers use color-coding, variable illumination and informative displays to help the process.

Many desks use a “fat channel” approach, with all the standard input controls grouped together near the primary display. A single channel is selected and all the parameters for that one channel are then assigned to the physical knobs. Where an analog board is WYSIWYG, digital boards are not and the operator must think Whether the board in question is the about each move until the nuances of the cost-effective and ubiquitous Behringer particular model are second nature. Some X32 or the impressive four-screen Sound- brands use color touch screens to simplify craft Vi3000, digital consoles use a series

the process while others use touch-sensitive knobs to highlight each function. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of a digital console is the patching procedure. On an analog board, the patches are physical and can be hand traced, but a digital board relies on internal patching to make the connections. Midas, for instance, must be patched both to and from both points for signal to flow. Soundcraft and Yamaha, in contrast, use single point patching. It often helps to keep an Excel spreadsheet handy with the layout for standard patch diagrams in view near the console and with any changes noted on a secondary file. It is now common for digital desks to have their surface area shrunk to rackmount form and to control their operation remotely via an iPad. This new twist on things makes it easier for touring bands to fly the rig with them and reduces space requirements as well. Using off the shelf wireless routing, the console can be configured from the stage for monitor set-up and run from any seat in the house during performance. While this system is not as comprehensive as a physical surface, it is quick and easy to navigate once the design is understood. Digital consoles are now the norm for almost every live event and offer repeatability through scene storage, increased functionality with built-in effects, the ability to record multi-tracks with ease and a compact, lightweight structure. For all the GOS who long for analog’s glory days, the future belongs to the YNS. Kent Morris is a 35 year veteran of the worship technology arena with a passion for excellence, balanced by the knowledge digital is a temporary state.

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PERCUSSION

By Mark Shelton

Tambourine Primer Part 3: Advanced Shake After gaining proficiency in the basic shake This technique can also be applied to triple backbeat and I prefer to save that doubling texture tambourine methods and grooves covered in based rhythms (triplets, 12/8, 6/8, etc.) for another section of the song or maybe there the previous issue of Worship Musician! you is a great deal of rhythmic activity in should be ready to expand your skills. Bring the music and the tambourine accent your “shake chops” up a notch with these would compete with (and clutter) the techniques and exercises. already dense texture. Duple Rhythm Weak Subdivision Accents Shuffle Playing accents on the strong subdivisions in duple rhythms as the tambourine travels with the IN motion was covered in the earlier article, but what about the weak subdivisions? Those Wrist Rotation Technique notes being voiced with the OUT motion can The sound using the wrist rotation method is less also be accented. Get ready. This is extra-cool. articulate, but the “slushy” timbre can be effective As the tambourine travels in the OUT motion, in certain styles or for the sake of variety. reach around with the free hand and allow the Hold the tambourine with the shell perpendicular shell to strike the fingers. The reach should be to the floor and imagine a line extending from made using a small motion with slightly curved the center of your chest. If you are holding the fingers to receive the impact of the tambourine. instrument in your right hand, rotate the wrist Resist any urge to slap at the shell. Simply allow counterclockwise so that the upper portion of the shell to make contact with the curved fingers the instrument moves DOWNWARD toward the and you will create the accent. Watch my video imaginary line (and toward the floor). When the tutorial on shake tambourine accents at www. jingles contact the opposite side of the jingle youtube.com/watch?v=i7AjzLpLaLA. slot, turn the wrist clockwise to send the jingles back in the other direction. The lower part of the shell will travel UPWARD. (Reverse this if you are holding the tambourine in your left hand.) With a little practice, you can refine the rotation so that you can play a steady stream of eighth notes or sixteenth notes in either 4/4 or 12/8.

When playing a shuffle or swing feel, hold the tambourine shell parallel to the floor with the palm facing up. The motion of the tambourine will be up and down rather than side to side. Play the strong subdivisions with a DOWN motion (D) and the weak subdivisions with the UP motion (U). You will notice how easily the shuffle happens due to this position (and good old gravity).

For accents, position the open free hand parallel to the instrument and allow the tambourine to strike the free hand as the upper half of the shell travels DOWNWARD or as the lower half moves UPWARD. You can watch a video tutorial on this technique at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei_ NA92IiTA. Online Resources More video tutorials on the tambourine are available at www.youtube.com/ marksheltonmusic.

I = IN motion

O = OUT motion

Mastering this technique allows for playing more interesting accent patterns in grooves and comes in handy when playing unison rhythmic figures with an ensemble. The tambourine can Experiment with this technique using the continue the basic rhythmic pulse AND play the preceding exercises substituting DOWNWARD for the IN motion and UPWARD for the OUT “hits” with the band. motion. Do you have all these exercises cookin’? Great! Careful With The Accents Go back and play them all in cut time. Although it is common for shake tambourine patterns to contain accents, I will often play the rhythm without the accents. Perhaps the accents would be doubling the drummer’s snare drum

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

Check out a combination of standard and extended shake tambourine techniques incorporated into a solo performance at www. youtube.com/watch?v=4toGRMULd0w

An active freelance musician, Mark’s percussion work can be heard live and on recordings with Gateway Worship. Recently named to the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster, Mark performs frequently as a percussion soloist. Check out more of Mark’s educational materials at www.percussionforworship. blogspot.com. ©2015 Mark Shelton Productions Percussion For Worship

Cut-capo Guitar

By Mitch Bohannon

Play Like A Pioneer, Not A Settler… It was such a blessing for me to be able to interview Louie Giglio for this issue of Worship Musician. His statement about churches starting to have more of a settler mentality than a pioneer mentality… comfortable in what they know and what they like, really hit home for me. I sent that to my pastor and he’s already quoted it from the pulpit! Such a great point is not limited to church members only. We can apply that to many areas of our lives. What about our guitar playing? Are you in settler mode or pioneering mode? Are you trying new things? Have you been trying all the points I’ve written about the Short-Cut capo? I tell my team often that it’s a lot like that toothpaste commercial, “if we’re not whitening, we’re yellowing!” We must be growing in our craft! Learning. Trying new things.

As I already mentioned, I’m normally writing about the Short-Cut capo. But, have you tried the Drop-D capo? There are a couple of ways to create the Drop-D sound using your capo… I’ve seen several folks taking their 6-string capo and putting it on from the bottom (like Crowder and many others are using it anyway) and only capo strings 1-5 leaving string 6 (low E) to ring open. I think a better option is to get a Drop-D capo – it was made just for this tuning and is much quicker to change when you are on the platform. Did you know that Kyser had the Drop-D capo long before I developed the Short-Cut capo? In fact, we modified the Drop-D in making the Short-Cut because of the way it jumps over the low-E string. It’s got enough clearance to avoid buzz even with a heavy gauge string and also with not-so-great action.

the 6th string with your thumb. Now play a “G” chord. Had we tuned to Drop-D, all of this would have worked except the “G” chord because the actual “G” note would have moved up to the 5th fret. Using a capo for Drop-D is much more “userfriendly.” Now, just like we can do with the Short-Cut capo, a 6-string capo can be used 2 frets behind the Drop-D capo to change keys…. Place a 6-string capo on fret 1 and the Drop-D capo on Fret 3. Play the same chords and you’ll be playing in the key of “F.” That can keep moving up the fret-board. What’s it good for? Great question! If you Google “Drop-D songs”, you’ll find a load of rock-n-roll songs that use that tuning. But, I think it’s great for country riffs as well as finger-style. My challenge to you is to get your hands on this tuning this week and see what you hear. Strum it. Pick it. Try playing different styles. You may just find something you absolutely love and gives you a fresh approach to a song. Also, the more you get familiar with playing different techniques; you’ll start to identify those techniques in recordings. I can remember as a young teenager getting completely frustrated trying to figure out how an artist played a certain song and, because I was stuck in the handful of chords I was comfortable playing, there was no way I would have been able to do it. Looking back, it could have been as simple as applying a capo in Drop-D tuning!

A benefit of using a capo to create the Drop-D tuning is that you are not going to have to learn new fingerings. Every time you change the tuning of your guitar, you’ll have to modify your finger shapes. Is that being a true pioneer? Good question! Hey, I would encourage you to try playing around with different tunings and stretching yourself as a musician. However, as worship leaders (whether you are the “lead” leader or a guitar player in the band) I absolutely do NOT suggest using a variety of tunings during a worship set. What a distraction it would be to either keep tuning or changing guitars during a Be a guitar pioneer! Stretch yourself to set. Remember, when we draw attention to ourselves, we are stealing glory from play a song differently this week. Learn the Father. So, I would suggest, the best something new. Play. Listen. Grow. You’ll way to bring fresh tunings/voicings onto be glad you did! the platform would be with partial capos like the Short-Cut and the Drop-D. Try it out. Place your regular capo on the 2nd fret from the bottom (covering strings 1-5) leaving the low-E open. Now, play a standard “D” chord on strings 1, 2, & 3 and strum all six strings. Normally, you’d only strum four strings for a “D” chord. You’ll be hearing an “E” chord because we’ve got a capo at the 2nd fret (one full step UP). Now play an “A” while muting

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Mitch Bohannon developed the Short Cut Capo for Kyser and is a worship pastor in Louisiana. He and his beautiful wife, Noelle, have been married for 22 years and have three awesome kids! www.kysermusical.com

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GuiTAR GRAB BAG

By Jeffrey B. Scott

The Art of Many Guitars Bruce Adolph, editor of this magazine, has a t-shirt he’s sold for years with this quote: “Love One Woman… Many guitars!” Well, with this article, I’m hoping to help you make sense of working with multiple guitars in a band… and still loving it! To begin though, I’d like to set the ground rules with some verses from Phillipians 2:3-4 (NIV): “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” So can we take a scriptural approach to playing in a band?? Let’s find out! “Do Nothing…” (Ok, let’s don’t stop there… ) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves.” If you’re out for the best of your team, this is a great place to start. But what does that look like as a guitarist? Well, you have to be sure you’re prepared to set your ‘self’ aside. When you’re thinking of yourself, you’re going to play more, to push for your own agenda. Like suggesting that every song has that extended solo section (“I’m just feeling it today, guys!”), or making sure you’re heard over everyone else (“I know you can’t hear your vocal, dude, but my amp just SINGS when it’s on 11!”). But when you “consider others better,” you’re going to make sure that everyone as part of the team is considered, taken care of, thought about. “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Ok, isn’t this rather self-explanatory? Yes, you should care about YOUR part, but you also have to be sure you’re thinking about everyone ELSE’S part. I think of it like a good mix of a song: You can hear everything, but nothing is sticking out or feels out of place. Everything works toward the common goal of making the song sound great. In practical terms, here’s a few pointers on making a “many guitars” situation work well: COME PREPARED On a personal level, if you’re prepared when you walk into rehearsal, you’re automatically going to be more comfortable. The situations I’ve been most nervous about over the course of my career were the ones I hadn’t prepared for well enough. And conversely, the ones I DO prepare for are the easiest. Even if there are last-minute changes, they’re going to be easier to navigate if everything else is ready to rock. Know your gear; know your songs!

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COMMUNICATE This is the key to making SO MANY situations work better, but especially when you’re trying to make music together - you have to communicate. Sometimes it’s simple: “You have acoustic parts, and I’ll take electric parts.” But then if you add more guitarists into the mix, you have to communicate even more, both during rehearsal and listening during the event. And if you’re using multitrack stems to play along with, it’s very important to communicate about what is being played by proxy. (Recently, I pulled up a multitrack for a tune from Hillsong and there were at least 6 different electric guitar parts!). The more that is there, the more you have to communicate and determine who is playing what parts. You can’t leave it to chance and wait for “the moment.” BE SELF-LESS How many times have you seen two very capable guitarists look at each other when it comes time for the solo? Ok, maybe it doesn’t happen that often, but what if it did? If you’ve talked about it before you get there - let’s face it, you both learned the solo, haven’t you? - there’s nothing awkward about that moment. And going back to our verse, if you really consider others better than yourself, don’t you want to hear how someone better would play it? There’s also something really encouraging about seeing very accomplished people exercise humility around each other. I’ve played with or been around a lot of great players, and the better they are, the more humility I see. LISTEN CAREFULLY Over the years, many churches have moved from wedges to in-ear monitors for their worship teams. This is great for the FOH guy mixing, because he doesn’t have to deal with as much stage volume before he can start making the room sound good. This put the “mix of monitors” into the hands of you, the musician - a great bonus, right? But one unintentional downside of in-ears is that musicians no longer have a natural mix coming from other monitors, and this can lead to isolation. If you can’t hear other guitarists, you can’t play together as well. Even if you’ve communicated well, isolating yourself only gives you a small picture of all that’s coming off the stage (and you have to be careful not to over-play as a result!). A FEW PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS Let’s talk about a few scenarios and how you can approach them.

Two guitars: Acoustic + Electric Listen for rhythms and make sure they’re working together. Usually acoustic is covering rhythm well, so electric can cover more legato, flowing parts. Think more open voicings. Three guitars: Acoustic + 2 Electrics Again, letting acoustic cover rhythm is a good choice. EG 1 covers “first position” chords, carrying the meat of the song, EG 2 covers signature parts or melodies. Four guitars: 2 Acoustics + 2 Electrics Acoustics can take one of two different approaches in this scenario. Either they both play exactly the same thing (a common practice in recording), or one plays open chords while the 2nd plays with a capo, higher up. Electrics could take the same approach as scenario #2. Five guitars: 2 Acoustics + 3 Electrics Believe it or not, I’ve played in this environment! As you can imagine, it’s pretty mentally challenging to make all that work together, but it can be done. Acoustics can take a similar approach to above. With 3 EG’s, you have the option to double parts - put 2 EG’s on the main chords and 1 EG on melodies, or use the 3rd EG for non-guitar parts like pads or unique sounds. It can also be pretty powerful to do unison parts with that many guitars so if the opportunity presents itself, try using one EG on a low octave, one in the middle and on a high octave. With the right tones and practice, it can be pretty epic! In all these scenarios, remember the 100% Principle: If it were just you onstage, you’re making 100% of the music. But it’s not just you, so you can’t play 100% of the time! “Many guitars” scenarios work best when you allow everyone to play a part, and that means sometimes you WON’T be playing. Use that time to remember that God is allowing you to be a part of making music for Him! Jeffrey B. Scott lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and 3 children, and is deadset on delivering his best for God’s glory. He’s a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He served with Lincoln Brewster at Bayside Church in California and is currently serving alongside the team at Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA. Twitter: @jeffreybscott

Worship Arts Technology Summit

October 16-17, 2015 More dates and locations coming soon.

Music - Vocals - Audio - Lighting - Media Early bird and group discounts are available, so bring the whole team. This two day comprehensive hands-on training event is unlike any you will ever attend. Our world class teaching staff includes:

Carl and Leann Albrecht - Ed Kerr - Tom Lane - Camron Ware Aaron Williamson - Sean McCurley - Lee Fields - Harold Ruben See website for details

Constance Free Church 16150 Crosstown Blvd N.W. Andover MN 55304

www.gotowats.com

The Band

COMBO PACKAGE

By Tom Lane

Killing Criticism! One of the true enemies of worship is criticism. I’m amazed at how much it permeates the Church and worship. Everyone has an opinion and many feel obliged to give it regularly. We critique services like we do Broadway productions or touring shows and hold lengthy meetings to evaluate seconds and minutes of the program so as to continue to improve it. Sadly we are also some of the most offended people when the Word tells us not to be. So we send emails or make comments that hurt and wound others as if it’s a right. No matter how well intentioned we may be, it’s wrong! If we are so focused on things that offend or displease us that we allow ourselves to fester and brew with criticism, our hearts may well be nowhere near worship. What it signifies is that we need to grow up and deal with our own issues. We’ve heard, said, and sung that worship is not about us yet our responses are often like children when they don’t get what they want. Whether on a team where criticism is rampant or in a church where it’s tolerated, constantly we need to call it out, be sorry for it, and stop it. It impedes our personal and corporate worship as well our growth and maturity as believers. The promise of God is that if He is lifted up He will then draw people unto Himself—all by Himself. It has been proven over and over for generations that He is able to do that. So our work is not to impress others into the kingdom, meaning that the production of worship is never more important than the spirit of unity. If it’s his kindness that leads us to repentance then at the very least our worship expressions should be rooted in kindness and humility, which is the opposite spirit of criticism. It’s hard to lift up one voice if we’re divided and diluted in our praise. It breaks God’s heart when we try to move past sins without confessing and dealing with them. I’m not actually talking about our own personal sins though it’s the same thing, I’m taking about how we as a body seek to have encounters with God in worship while at the same time overlooking or avoiding dealing with our own corporate issues and sins. In this case criticism, but it can be a host of other things that we neglect to deal with.

It is on us as pastors, teachers, and leaders to lead and instruct on what worship is and is not. We’re not to be judges, spiritual police, or dictators, but servants and shepherds. We have to humbly and lovingly defend and protect from intruders and divisions. We shouldn’t allow a critical spirit to live and thrive in our own lives, our teams, and our churches. We have to remind ourselves that this is not how The Lord has called us to be. If we set that tone and pace then others begin to understand that it’s not tolerated. Just like gossip, if we don’t participate in it the gossipers begin to get the picture and stop approaching us with more gossip. We spend a lot of time and words talking about the musical portion of worship, making our bands sound good and improving skill etc. All of it’s important if it truly helps us serve the Church. But what The Church really is, is God’s representation and body here on earth. We are supposed to be a sweet aroma, salt and light to people. Not another place where we come to feel more out of place, critiqued, or unaccepted. We can’t afford to miss the point of God’s presence being the true changing force and factor in worship. Since he’s chosen to use us and work through us we have the unique choice of being either fully surrendered or not, and if we are then we’ll not act like babies towards each other, we’ll grow up and mature in Christ as Paul says. If we’re aiming to be a relevant, vibrant, thriving in the love and power of God kind of Church, then we have to be genuine and real, willing to stop and confess our failures. People are drawn to that kind of authenticity, to friendship and belonging. It’s extremely hard to feel any sense of belonging when criticism is a part of the environment. Let’s talk about it as the problem it is and change that about ourselves!

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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TOM BROOKS God-Focused & Rock-Solid ...Just Like His New Gig at Hope International University

by Bruce Adolph

If you asked me who I thought was the most well rounded musician, producer and generally nice guy I know, I would handsdown answer you with the name Tom Brooks. He has taught at our Christian Musician Summit conferences for years. He has written a book for our Worship Musician! Presents… series of books with Hal Leonard Publishing (The Language of Music) and he has been such a good friend and encourager to Judy and I for all that we do. I really couldn’t respect Tom any more, until I sat down and asked him what is he up to now - taking on a new role as Chairman of the Music Department at a well-known Christian university. Bruce Adolph: Where did your own personal career in music start? Tom Brooks: Before I could read I would listen to my older brother and sister play during their piano lessons; then after the teacher left I would go pick out the melodies on the piano. When I was six years old I finally convinced my parents to let me take piano lessons and I loved it. I did sports and music all through school. In junior high when my pals and I were

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

fifteen, I remember sitting in our living room “cold calling” clubs and restaurants out of the phone book asking if we could audition to play live music at their place. Crazy enough, a few said “Yes!” So two of my musical pals and I started playing at Shakey’s Pizza making $100 per night playing Beatle’s tunes... we thought we were in heaven; we had hit the “Big Time!” Our band got huge during high school playing rock/pop/funk, doing all the clubs and high school dances around town in St. Louis, MO. We were able to nail all the pop hits of the day (Steely Dan, Toto, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Boston etc.) plus we were featuring somewhat “underground” progressive rock stuff (like Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, Yes, early Genesis, etc.) which was hugely popular in our town. I started buying recording gear and we took over my parent’s garage and built our makeshift studio. I had a super-cool instrument called a Chamberlin (the fore-runner of the Mellotron) which created amazing sounding strings, flutes and more from a keyboard. It’s the instrument that plays the flutes on “Stairway to Heaven”, “Strawberry Fields” and strings

on King Crimson, Moody Blues and others. This was my ticket into the recording studio scene. I also had a MiniMoog and a B-3 by then and I found myself working on radio and TV commercials, corporate films etc. As my recording rig started to grow and I acquired some quality gear I began to get calls from the musicians at a local church that was exploding at the time. This was college, I was Student Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus at the time and several of the key symphony guys were involved in this church as well. They began to hire me to record these big worship events in their church and I was really captivated by the power and their passion for the music. I became a Christian not long after. Those early albums began to circulate around the country and caught the attention of the editors of a Christian magazine. They asked me if they could put an ad in their magazine to sell the albums I produced, I said “Sure!” and they sold a boatload! Nobody saw it coming! They tried a second ad in the next issue and the sales doubled. Crazy! But the thing was, the magazine was getting ready to close down, so they came to me with this

Bruce: How did that bridge into proBruce: Now you have launched a ducing records, live concerts for video brand new (and large scale) project that and now even international touring? you are excited about… tell us about it? Tom: Really God orchestrated the entire thing, much of what happened was strictly through relationships; great musicians, singers and songwriters I had met along the way. We started recording at churches all around the country and then all around the world. In South Africa, 750,000 people in Nigeria, Korea (the DMZ), France, Germany, Scotland, Estonia, Australia, Brazil, Indonesia… God took us everywhere.

Tom: This is a super exciting development that only God could have conceived, all those years we were traveling around the world recording live worship with all these incredible musicians, we would always give workshops and seminars in every city we would go to. These workshops had a huge impact not only on the musicians and worship leaders that attended but we had a great time sharing our knowledge and experience - basically Through all these great albums and live downloading everything God has taught events we’ve got this incredible circle of us through the process. It was spiritually artists & musicians that are at the core of fulfilling, in a whole new way! I totally every creative adventure I do. We are just love hanging out with young musicians! finishing a new album for six-time Grammy winner Aline Barros. We are starting a new album for Marcos Vidal, an awesome Latin singer/songwriter. We recorded vocals for Paul Baloche’s new Christmas album last weekend. We recorded a super-cool instrumental album for Lincoln Brewster shredding along with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Norm Stockton on bass, that’ll be out soon and we recorded a big band for the Music Director of Disney last week. Just today Danny Gokey (American Idol) was recording a new album in the studio.

They’re at that place in their lives where absolutely anything is possible (I think I fixated at that age myself!). They’re dreaming big and God is doing amazing things because their faith is way out on the edge; over the edge in fact. God likes that; He said He is looking, “...to and fro over the whole earth for people that would worship Him that way”. The only downside to those workshops is we have like one or two days with these people in each city and then we have to leave and go home. But now the Lord has opened up a fantastic new door: Hope International University here in Orange County has invited me to create a completely new, ground-breaking, planet-shaking worship training program; fine-tuned and laser-focused on equipping musicians, singers, and worship leaders to serve the modern emerging church of the 21st century! It is called the “Center for Music & Worship Arts” at Hope Interna-

In the midst of all that I still continue to do corporate/TV work through my Studio here in Southern California. We do work for Disney, Anheuser Busch, the St. Louis Cardinals, Korean Airlines, McDonald’s etc. And I kept in touch with my friends in the rock world. I ended up touring playing keyboards for Alan Parsons which is

Tom at the keys with Alan Parsons. Photo by Tabitha Parsons

an absolute riot, as well as a combo gig we’re doing that features the lead singers from Toto, Chicago, Kansas, Mr. Mister, Survivor, Ambrosia and Boston; it’s like the coolest set list ever!

Paul Baloche recording session

idea… If I could continue to provide them with a new praise & worship project every eight weeks (because the magazine came out every eight weeks), they would offer their subscribers the option of continuing to receive a worship album instead of a magazine - on the basis of, “If you like it, then pay for it - if you don’t just send it back”. Not knowing that producing a live album start-to-finish in eight weeks was impossible I said, “Sure, let’s do it”. And God just caused it to explode! So Integrity/Hosanna Music was born and we produced over 100 albums over the next 10 years. At its peak, each of our live albums was going out to 240,000 every eight weeks; it was absolutely unheard of! We ended up with twelve going Gold and six more going Platinum; plus a bunch of live concert DVDs, instrumental albums, and other related stuff. It was an amazing time for sure!

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

Don’t get me wrong; all of our classroom teaching is totally amazing, totally relevant, fresh and practical. tional University. It’s the perfect combinaThe way I say it is, “If you tion that only God could have created. can’t use this particular skill at your church All the amazing artists, worship leaders, this weekend, then why am I teaching it songwriters and studio players He has to you?” connected me with now can mentor and Here’s the way I think of our new share their knowledge, wisdom and expeCMWA. We need to be absolutely just rience with our students in a rock-solid fully as relevant as a Berklee School of Music, accredited four year university environor Full Sail or Musicians Institute but just as ment! Right here in beautiful sunny Southspiritually tuned in as a Fuller or Wheaton ern California! It’s exactly the skill set and and just as musically rock solid as a Jultopics that music students want to study, liard or Eastman. It’s like a Trifecta, a Triland need to know, taught by the people ogy… the Trinity; the three pillars that our they already love and respect, plus with program is built on. Total practical modern a well-respected college degree on top! worship training, completely God-focused Everybody is loving it; we are actually just and rock-solid musically. Plus taught by the getting cranked up this semester and we’ll best-known, most-respected Christian artbe full-on launching like a rocket this Fall! ists, musicians and worship leaders in the We have incredible scholarship oppor- world… that’s it! tunities as well that we can offer to gifted Our students are already writing songs students with the call of God on their lives. and producing albums. By the time this arWe are starting several Praise Teams; ticle comes out we will have just recorded groups that are going to be performing our first live worship experience… perand ministering around the country. My formed, arranged, recorded and mixed whole idea is that (just like in my life) God by our students… giving each of these can teach people so much more by doing “young lions” the opportunity to offer their ministry, not just by reading about it in a gifts back to God and express their love book or talking about it in a classroom. for Him. The other cool aspect is, with evWe are getting our students out there right erything else God is doing in my life, I get away; using the skills they already have. to include our students in tons of related

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

ministry activities. Several of our CMWA students sang on Paul Baloche’s Christmas album last weekend here at our studio. The week before that we had a “gang” of students singing on another Sony album I am producing. Because I serve at Saddleback Church with Pastor Rick Warren and we have great friends at so many other amazing churches here in SoCal, the internship opportunities are truly phenomenal. It’s the perfect way to jump-start your ministry career, ministering alongside awesome leaders while you fine-tune your skills at CMWA. The Center for Music & Worship Arts is the perfect place for anyone with the call of God on their life wanting to grow their gift in a super-charged high-energy spiritual environment. Hope International University is an award-winning, highly ranked, fully accredited university right in the heart of Orange County, CA. From the President to the Deans to the Faculty on down, these are brothers and sisters you are going to love! Their hearts are pure and focused on Jesus, and they are passionate about their mission to train young people to serve the Church. That is why I am so excited about this new season in my life!

WORSHIP TEAM TRAINING

By Branon Dempsey

Why Your Singers Aren’t Singing

Making Rehearsals Better for Singers and Musicians

Rehearsal for the voice is one of the greatest values, yet misunderstood essentials of the worship team. The simplest way the church connects in worship is through the voice. If this is true, then why is rehearsing the voice so underrated? Usually, you only have time to rehearse everyone at once: band and singers. Some vocalists feel they are forgotten, get lost in the mix and buried by the band. Here are a few steps to help generate ideas to increase the effectiveness of rehearsing the vocals. Basic Vocal Care: Water, water, water. Hydration is the first step. The less water you have in your system, the drier your voice will be. When you try to sing your voice will tire much more quickly. If you try singing with a dry voice, your vocal cords (as well as your sinuses) will be irritated. The problem occurs when singers try to force more air to compensate the lack of moisture. This only speeds up the drying process and can cause further damage to the larynx. Prep Your Voice: Don’t wait for rehearsal, sing your way to rehearsal. As I drive, I do a few breathing exercises, humming low notes and singing scales. The first song we sing at rehearsal is usually a simple and fun tune to get everyone in shape. When you step into a rehearsal cold, it can feel like waking up at 3am for an early morning jog. Conditioning of the muscles is just as important for a runner as they are for a singer. (more on the subject later).

to provide some layout per song. This is especially important if you do combined rehearsals with band and singers. When I work my team, I orchestrate the vocal parts as I do the band. As a whole, the singers are the leaders of the group, if they don’t now where to go, neither will the rest of the church.

lyrical/casual language, then memorization is more of a fear than an ability. Live with the song during the week and watch the lyrical vine grow in your soul.

Rehearsing the vocals is the best you can give to your band and to your church. If singing is praying twice, then may our words be meaningful and may Line-sight and vision - this refers to keep- our rehearsals purposeful. ing the singers in a stage area in which Worship Team Training they can easily see and be seen by the leader. Each vocalists also needs to see - Branon Dempsey each other. Don’t put the singers in the back of the stage. We want the singers to lead, not be wallflowers. At the same time, they have a wider circumference of the stage to connect with the people in the room. I have them out front with me, to my right and left about 10-15 feet away, with Branon Dempsey is the CEO/ an added 2-3 feet behind my standing Founder and Training Director position. We try to use the whole stage of Worship Team Training® a for coverage, but not too far for loss of ministry providing live workshops connection. I’m able to see their mouths, and online resources for local like they can see mine. This is significant worship ministries. Branon for phrasing, matching sound, tone and holds an M.Div in Worship and BM in Music Composition/Performance and is an instructor with timbre. (another post idea).

Lastly, memorize your music. Remove the stands. The only other thing distracting in a worship service, besides having a bad sound, is a having bad visual barrier. When vocal teams use stands, by nature, the heads move down and the eyes drill down into the music. This is not engaging. Confidence monitors can also serve as the same problem. Using a back wall projector is helpful because it forces the heads and eyes out; but you have to be careful not to sing into the screen. The safest resort is always to memorize the words. At the When you get to rehearsal, don’t just same time, the singer can easily become stand there and/or guess the parts! The one with the song. If we’ve been singing worship leader or vocal director needs the same tunes for years and use the same

Christian Musician Summit, a writer for Worship Musician Magazine, Shure Notes as well as other worship publications. Branon and is a Training Partner with Yamaha Corporation of America | Worship Resources, and the Expert Panel for Shure Microphones; Contributor for Creator Leadership Network, Christian Musician / Worship Musician Magazine / Christian Musician Summit and a partner with Compassion International. Artist/ Teacher Endorsee through Line 6, D’Addario, Proclaim Church Presentation Software, iSing Worship, Promark Drumsticks and Jim Hewett Guitars. Visit: www.WorshipTeamTraining.com Copyright 2015 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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Worship Leader, Singer, Songwriter

Kristian Stanfill’s

Path To Passion City

Seems we’ve all got a good bit in common with Kristian Stanfill. He’s a family-loving, guitar-playing worship leader who started out leading worship for middle school students that were bouncing off walls! He shared with me the path the Lord led him down…all the way to his current position as Worship Pastor for Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA. Mitch: You were writing in college, where did you go? Kristian: I went to Samford University in Birmingham for a couple of years. I didn’t finish there, but I met my wife there, so I’m really grateful for Samford! After a couple of years, I moved back home to Atlanta to lead worship as an intern at Northpoint Community Church. Carrie and I got married pretty soon after leaving Samford. We’ve been married now for almost eleven years and we have 4 kids!

and do classes all week long. So, I’ve made that trek from Birmingham to Atlanta hundreds of times! I have some great memories of that time trekking back and forth, you know, times with God and leading worship in those first gatherings of a Youth Ministry. You know as a college student who leads worship, any opportunity that comes up, you’re like, “YES, I’ll do it!” So, I lead anywhere and everywhere I could. I said “Yes” to everything.

Mitch: Coming up in the early 2000’s in college, there was a lot going on in the I grew a ton as a worship leader during worship community. Who did you follow my years at Northpoint. That was a really or learn from? good season. Kristian: Worship choruses were reMitch: While at Samford, where were ally starting to come on the scene for me. you leading worship? Of course, there was Chris Tomlin. Tim Kristian: There was a church nearby in Hughes had writen “Here I Am To WorHoover, AL. looking for someone to lead ship”… there was “Better is One Day.” All their Middle School Ministry. So, me and of these fresh songs were really starting to a buddy of mine would show up every come into the mix as we started leading Wednesday night with our guitars and them. It was a really exciting time. Truthlead about 30-40 middle-school kids, fully, I had my eyes on Passion from about I mean they were absolutely going bon- the time I was a Freshman or Sophomore kers the whole time! We would lead them in high school. I was tracking with Pasevery Wednesday night and had a great sion and watching what they were doing. time. I learned a lot there as well. I really felt like somehow God had really Then I met some people from Northpoint synced my heart and Passion’s heart toCommunity Church and they told me they gether. I couldn’t explain it, I just knew that were looking for some young worship when I listened to it, my heart said, “YES, leaders. They asked if I would commute this is what I’m talking about!” It just resofrom Birmingham to Atlanta on the week- nated so much with me. So, a lot of the ends to help lead their Student Ministry at songs I was leading were Passion songs one of their new campuses. So, I would and a lot of the artists that I really aspired commute every Sunday… I would leave to lead like or write songs like were Pashome for Atlanta and lead worship in the sion artists… I mean like David Crowder morning for one of the Youth Ministries and Christy and Nathan Nockels, and and then I’d drive back to Birmingham Matt Redman. I really had my eye on the Passion crew.

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

by Mitch Bohannon

Mitch: Instrument-wise… where did you start? Kristian: I started on guitar when I was about 12-years old. My dad knew a few chords and taught me. I started from there and learned as I went. I never took lessons or anything. I can play a little piano, but I can’t lead from the piano. Mitch: There seems to be a never-ending debate in churches between those who want modern worship and those who want traditional hymns. How do you address that issue? Kristian: I would say that you can’t have one without the other. For me, as a worship leader and a songwriter, I know that there are loads of men and women who went before me. I’m standing on their shoulders. The way we say it sometimes at Passion is we like to have the “full diet” in our worship set. So, we have the modern, but we also have the hymns in there as well. There is such a rich history in church music. The songs and the hymns that we’ve been singing for so many years are beautiful. They have amazing truths in them and the melodies just soar! Quite honestly, when we lead hymns here at Passion City Church, people get fired up (love it). But, they also love the new songs and the new offerings. I really think it’s “both/and” that you can’t lose one or the other, you need to have both in the mix. As a songwriter, I want to keep pressing into new territory. I want to keep asking God for fresh expressions of worship. And so, we always remember the past, but we look ahead to

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

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the future and know that with God there’s always more and so we just keep asking for that. Mitch: You’re the Worship Pastor for Passion City Church. How many tour dates do you still do in a year? Kristian: Well, last year, for the “Take It All” tour, we did 26 dates. That was our last record. Now, with the new record, “Even So Come” we’ll do a few dates this Spring. Then we’ll do some festivals and some dates in the Summer, and then maybe a small run in the Fall. Next Spring is when we’ll do a bigger tour… so, throughout the year it’s about 50-60 dates maybe. Being full time Worship Pastor at Passion City, I’m glad that we’re in a season of life that I can be home more. I can pour into our team more here at our church and not tour so much. I stepped into the role of Worship Pastor here about a year ago.

Mitch: How does it happen like that? Kristian: Well, once we get all the songs recorded and the conference is over, we start thinking about what would be a good song to send to radio. We have a great partnership with Christian radio. I think this is true for every worship songwriter, that they would like their songs to go to the most amount of people. We pray over these songs, “Lord breathe on these songs and send them all over the world for Your name and Your glory.” So, radio is one way for that to happen. The medium of radio gets these songs into the hearts and lives of so many people. When we’re looking at these songs that we’ve recorded at the conference, we start thinking…”what is that song that we want to export to people via Christian radio”.

For us, this time around, it’s the song, “Even So Come,” which is the title of the album. It was a huge, massive song for us and was such a beautiful moment at Passion 2015. It’s a song about the second coming of Christ. That’s not something that we’ve sung about a lot. But, as Jesus followers and as God’s people, that’s a day we look ahead to with so much excitement, right? But, that moment isn’t today, so we have this longing for that day when Jesus will return. The song is about that longing and waiting. It resonated so much with college students at Passion, it has resonated big-time with our church here at Passion City Church, and I think people are going to really resonate with it. There’s a lot of hope in it and it calls people up to the bigger reality that God is telling this great big eternal story and we get to be in it.

Mitch: For your worship team at Passion City, do you have a rotation of band members? Kristian: We have about 60 people on our team. They lead across the church in about three or four different environments. We schedule out our team for about three months at a time. They’ll lead from the elementary school kids up to middle and high school and up to the auditorium, which is all of our adults. So, we’re just spread out across the house. Mitch: Do you do all the scheduling? Kristian: I speak into it some, for sure. I don’t do all of it though. It’s a big job! I’m a creative person… all the details and stuff… I can do it, but it’s not where my gifts are, I don’t think! Mitch: You’re singing the title track to, “Even So Come.” Tell me about that. Kristian: I’m singing the single (on radio), but Chris actually sings “Even So Come” on the record. Chris wrote it with Jeff Cates and Jason Ingram. WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

Product Review

By Eric Dahl

DigiTech Trio... A New One Man Band? How many of us have played one or two piece gigs and wished we had some kind of rhythm section backing us up?

It even has built in Guitar FX to fit the Genre of music you are in and an Alt Time button to change up the pattern. You can also have three independent parts loaded for a single song. This comes in really handy when you’re involved with a small worship band, like the one I play in, and you don’t have the space or budget for the full instrumentation you or the congregation would like. The same is true if your regular bass player is out sick for a Sunday or your drummer breaks a toe! It can also act as metronome to keep your backup singers or choir vocalists on beat with the rest of your band at the service.

Harman’s DigiTech has come up with some game changing pedals over the years from vintage Whammy pedals to JamMan loopers. Their latest innovation, the Trio Band Creator is taking a new approach and it scored “Best in Show” at the 2015 Winter Namm Show. The You Tube demonstration videos you see and the descriptions you read really don’t do this device justice. When they sent the demo to my house for review I couldn’t wait to unbox the Trio and see what tonal tricks it had to offer. DigiTech really did their homework on this one and laid out the control knobs, lights and buttons in a very stage/user friendly configuration. It has two input jacks on the right side of the pedal, one for using an optional footswitch (for hands free operation and I recommend one for gigs) and the guitar input. On the left side is the mixer output and an amp output, plus a computer output. On the front of the pedal you have a headphone input with an independent volume control and 9 volt dc power plug in for the included adapter.

The only downside I’ve found is that they’re so popular most online music stores and brick and mortar stores can’t keep them in stock. But the Trio is worth the wait. I recommend buying the FS3X footswitch for hands free switching on song parts too, small investment for added control. For a street price of $179.95 the Trio Band Creator is a great deal for worship bands, practice or other live gigs, it really is a Band in a Box!

Style (12 different styles for each of the 7 Genres), Tempo (speed) Bass (controls level of Bass guitar in the mix), and Drums Eric Dahl resides in (controls drum level in the mix). Nashville TN with his wife

To start having fun with the Trio just click the footswitch when you are ready to play your guitar, then after you have strummed Top side controls include Genre (Blues, the chord progression in the key you want Pop, Alt Rock, Rock, Country, R&B, Jazz), release it and the bass and drums join in.

“Editor’s Corner” Cont. from page 7

resolve to stick to the plan. But I really wanted my mother and step-father to experience this Christian service celebrating a risen Savior among the waves breaking and sandy shores… all while the sun arose over a new day. It seemed like a terrific way to do Easter that year. So we woke up, got ready and drove to the beach. The elements were harsher than I had expected. The cold breeze off of the water and shifting sands keep us bundled

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

and daughter. He is the author of “B.B. King’s Lucille and the Loves Before Her” and he does a weekly TV gear review show called the FOX 17 Rock and Review.

up. But the gospel message warmed me He will draw nigh to thee” kind of moinside and over all, we all seemed to get ments and there is something special (and something significant out of it. awe inspiring) about being out in nature Looking back now, I am grateful for that with the Creator of all heaven and earth… Easter sunrise service so long ago and if I planned one now I would probably have the same reaction, “How early to we need to wake up? Yikes!” But I know, once I had the resolve to go, that I would get something out of it again. It is one of those “draw nigh to God and

In His Grip!

Bruce & Judy

Product Review

By Bruce Adolph

Center Point Stereo’s Spacestation V.3 I picked up the phone to call and introduce myself to Aspen Pitman. Who is Aspen Pitman you might ask? He is a well-respected seasoned inventor, engineer, marketing professional and entrepreneur of all things relating to the musical instrument industry since 1963. For 30 years he was the founder and CEO of Grove Tubes, giving birth to the tube replacement market and also inventing some pretty cool recording studio gear while at it. If you use speaker emulation in any of your guitar or studio gear you have Aspen to thank for that too. Now as impressive as his resume may look now, with his latest product - the Spacestation V.3 - you might think he is just now hitting his stride. What is the Spacestation V.3? It is a single powered speaker/PA that delivers stereo performance to everyone in the room. What? You ask, “How can that be?” Good question. Here is Aspen’s explanation… “Stereo has been wonderful for enhancing the recording process, but it has never been possible and/or practical for live performance until Center Point Stereo. CPS delivers wide 3D Stereo it all. The audience and performers hear stereo image with a perfect mix for everyone on stage, everywhere!” in the audience and in every direction. And, it That is a pretty big claim. Let’s dig a little deeper does it with just one speaker!” before we test-drive this unit. OK, but how does it do it? Aspen continues, Aspen Pittman and Drew Daniels invented CPS, “CPS electronics encodes the Left and Right signals to be Front (L+R) and Side (L-R) signals. and were awarded US and International Utility Then it’s unique 2 speaker system, which are po- (broad) patents for this groundbreaking technolsitioned “out of phase”, do not “mix”, but instead ogy. The Fender company now licenses CPS for repel each other and drastically increase their use in their award winning Acoustisonic amp, undispersion. Technically this is called an “acousti- der the SFX Trademark, which stands for “Stereo cal space vortex.” The repelling energy of the Field eXpansion”. CPS spatial vortex keeps these signals separate, To help you get a better idea of how it operates and the stereo effect in tact until they reach your let’s look at how conventional stereo works… ears. Therefore, the stereo image stays “in tact” two spaced speakers (Left & Right) that produce and will never collapse to “messy mono”, no mat- a small “sweet spot” (where you can hear the ter where you stand in the room, or on stage. The stereo effect) somewhere in the center of a room. CPS signals reflect off each other, then off walls, This is where Aspen contends, “But less than 2% floors and permeate everywhere, even into other of the audience (and none of the performers) will rooms, maintaining the 3D stereo image.” hear stereo. All of the performers, and 98% of “Of course room acoustics can vary, so the the audience, will not hear stereo, but instead player or sound engineer can balance the Side the “sour spot”. CPS changes everything. 100% and Front sound levels by tuning the CPS Width of both the performers and the audience will control; more width for those acoustically dead be immersed in the 3 Dimensional CPS “sweet rooms (or outside gigs), less for those really live spot”. CPS works audio miracles for keyboards, rooms. The room does the rest, reflecting CPS guitars, drums and vocals.” signals everywhere to produce an enhanced steIf all of this doesn’t intrigue by now Apsen’s fireo effect for both player and listener. And be- nal comment might hook you, “Additionally, as cause it all comes from one point source, the mix multiple amps and speakers are replaced by a is exactly the same for everyone listening. The single CPS Speaker, the typical intermodulation CPS Spacestation V.3 speaker, placed anywhere distortion found in most live venues is eliminated. in the room, can reproduce a whole band in ste- This drastically improves the ambient clarity in the reo; vocals, instruments and backing tracks. It’s room, so the audience can talk to each other perfect for those challenging small rooms like a without shouting! This may be the most rewardrestaurant or church. Just one CPS speaker does ing side benefit of using a CPS system”.

With a foot print of less than one square foot, it works as a powerful stereo instrument amp, a stereo PA for the whole band, or install it as the perfect stereo sound system for small clubs and churches where space (and budget) are limited. Use with a mixer to combine the whole band; vocals, instruments, backing tracks... then feed the signal to a single Spacestation V.3 speaker to eliminate all the bulky amps and PA speakers a band would usually require. It weights it at only 40 pounds. For our demonstration we plugged in a stereo keyboard (sounded great and the stereo was prevalent around the room). Next, a stereo CD music source (Bridge of Sighs by Robin Trower ). The stereo guitar parts were killer. Then, a “coffee shop vibe” song by Neil Young (just acoustic guitar and vocals)… I liked that a lot. Next, a fretless electric bass; it sounded warm and full. And finally, an acoustic guitar with an omnidirectional vocal mic with two vocalists singing harmony, that was a winner! I would recommend getting a small 8 channel mixer to run your instruments, mic and CD source music through (about $75.00). I can easily see a church use the Spacestation V.3 several different ways as a portable PA for small group meetings (home groups, women’s meetings, prison ministries, youth meetings, retirement home ministry etc.) as well as coffee shop gigs. The possibilities are as wide as the CPS stereo effect. Retail $899.00 MAP $749.00 www.centerpointstereo.com

WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM MAY/JUN 2015

A Few Moments With…

Tom Kraeuter

What’s Your Real Job as a Worship Leader? A big part of our calling as worship leaders is to train others. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul tells us that the purpose of leadership in the Church is “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). As a leader, if I do all the work myself, I’ve missed the point. My job is not to demonstrate how talented and capable I am. It is to help equip others to do the work. As a worship leader, I must be involved in preparing others to lead worship, mentoring them, discipling them. When I have that mindset, the question shifts away from, “What should I be doing as a leader?” I know what I should be doing. I should be training others. So the new question – the really big question that replaces the “what” question – is, “Who should I be discipling?” That question totally alters my focus.

(worship leading) if someone had not seen in her to leave her at that level. Although it in me.” Carlee needed another person, she had come a very long way, I was cersomeone with more experience and matu- tain she had a long way to go. rity, to draw those gifts out. The fact of the matter is that the Lord generally works through His people. Carlee said that leading worship was not where she was headed. By nature, she is shy, not what she would call an up-front type of person. She didn’t feel qualified and, therefore, likely would not have pursued it on her own.

It requires wisdom that only God can give. Unless we tap into His heart and His plans, then we’re just shooting in the dark.

To answer that question forces me to ask God to give me His eyes. I need to see people as He sees them. I need to see not just the outward person, but the potential that the Lord has placed inside that person. It requires wisdom that only God can Carlee’s road to becoming a worship give. Unless we tap into His heart and His plans, then we’re just shooting in the dark. leader was a process. In looking back on my own journey, I didn’t go through a thought-out training process. It seemed Let me give you an example. Many more accidental than intentional. years ago, I had the opportunity to mentor a young woman named Carlee. The Carlee, on the other hand, had the benfact is that I was privileged to recognize some of her gifts while they were still in efit of a more systematic approach. She the embryonic stage. That didn’t happen began simply as a pianist/vocalist. When because I’m someone special. I’m not. I she joined the worship team of our church, am asking the Lord to guide me, and I’m she felt out of her league, at least at first. trusting that He’s doing that. That guid- But she learned and grew in her confiance will be manifested in tangible ways, dence, both as a singer and as a piano like seeing gifts in others who need to be player. She eventually became one of our main keyboardists and a strong mainstay mentored. for our vocalists.

Carlee readily admits that she had not It wasn’t until she reached a level of even begun to recognize such gifts in herself. She said it this way, “I’m pretty confidence in those areas that I pushed convinced that I would not have done this her past those. I saw too much giftedness

I liken this entire process to athletic coaching. Whatever the sport, no coach will let an athlete remain at a certain level. They will push the athletes to their absolute limits, thereby increasing those limits. That’s what I did with Carlee. When I saw that her piano playing and singing were second nature, I started to push her to begin actually leading worship. I was confident that she had the necessary music skills, but I also recognized that music alone wouldn’t carry her in leading others in worship.

MAY/JUN 2015 WORSHIPMUSICIANMAGAZINE.COM

That was more than twenty years ago. Carlee now leads worship at a church that is more than fifteen times the size of our church where she grew up. Today, she is quite a gifted worship leader, in large measure, because of the mentoring that she received from me and others.

This article is adapted from the new book, Mentoring Worship Leaders: Training the Next Generation, compiled and edited by Tom Kraeuter. There’s a lot more to Carlee’s story. Read the rest – and lots of other worship leader mentoring stories – by getting your own copy of the book at www.MentoringWorshipLeaders.com. Kraeuter is author of 20 books including Worship In Heaven ... and Why on Earth It Matters, Worshiping God in the Hard Times and The Great Soviet Awakening. He has attended Christian Outreach Church near St. Louis, Missouri, for more than thirty-five years. He and his wife Barbara have three adult children.

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