Category: Uncategorized

Phillip Edwards, Interactive Worship Live

–          Always uses click track and loop track

–          Loop track – percussion, ongoing – no set song structure

–          Why run MultiTracks?

• Some have tough time with the idea of using something that’s not live onstage
  • But, many do it – MWS, Coldplay
• You can fill in missing players – drums, bass, etc… if you’re missing it
• MultiTrack Masters can be your whole band.
  • You can adopt technology to your band to sound more current
• Or just part of your band…
  • Loops for percussion
    • Gives you a sonic sound that’s in the house
    • Doesn’t lock you in to a specific part of the song
  • Leave in the live strings, real horns, synth noises, key melodic hooks
  • Replace a missing musician
  • Video Capability
  • MultiTracks can become another musician on the stage
• Incredible Teaching Tool!
  • Solo parts in rehearsal so musicians can learn their parts
  • Export mixes so musicians and singers can learn parts for rehearsal purposes
    • They can rehearse with it during the week
  • Mute what you have live on stage and you sound like the original with the right mix

–          Ableton Live – Berlin, Germany

• Created for DJ Market
• How does it work?
• Video track, too – pre-produced, so it follows the song in time
• You can assign a few measures to loop, so if you want to repeat the chorus, you can just push a key on computer and repeat the intro as many times as you like.
• Or, you can push a button and it can go to the Bridge, or go the Chorus, so at the end of the current section, it will jump to a new section.
• You can play it like you’re playing an instrument
• PC or MAC
• Can have a Guide track – tells people in ears, “Intro – 1,2,3,4”;
• The click track just disappears – to them….
• With only one electric guitar player, we could add in all those other sounds.
• Audio interface, you can split the sound into more than two.
• Long-term – use audio interface, not 1/8 inch cable with L-R split
• Training videos available
• Live Intro – $99 – does everything except the video track

–          How do we do this at my church?

• 1. Foundation = Click Track
  • Main hurdle – getting drummer to play with click track
  • Lovingly encourage them to stick with it
  • It may seem strange to hear the click track, but our goal is to play in time.
  • If they get off, just stop the click, and restart
  • It helps keep the tempo without always having to have either the drummer or piano always pounding the beat. They can hear it, and know when to come in
  • Band has to have click tracks, they let the singers decide whether or not they want it.
  • TAMA Rhythm Watch – Click track
  • Westone UM2’s Dual Driver In-Ear Monitors ($279)
  • Call and talk to Dale, tell him you took this class, and get 10% off
• 2. Choose a Music Director
  • Goal of a MD is to bridge communication between band and worship leaders
  • Pro Co Panic Button ($175)
    • A/B button – A singing voice; B, talk to Band
      • Mic into it, one goes to house, one to band.
  • WL communicates to
  • This would allow me to talk to people who I want to (band, tech) and not to the whole house, using the same mic.
• FC200 Roland
  • Foot pedal for guitar players where you can control from pedal
• Open Labs Keyboards
  • Open Labs Neko keyboard
  • Built in computer to the keyboard – with Ableton Live on the keyboard
• ProSonus Firebox – audio interface
• When you sign up through Interactive Worship Live – , you get some free tracks
• Need:
  • Laptop connected to audio interface via firewire
  • M-Audio Firewire 410
  • Recommend FW 400 6 pin connection to laptop and connect hard drive thru audio device
  • Get the Firewire 400 to connect to audio interface!!
  • Buy computer – 7200 RPM drive; that would fix the lag
  • On the Go 100 GB drive

–          IWL Lite

• Play from iPhone or iPod touch, iPod
• Very lite program

This week I’m privileged to be a part of the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City, KS, put on by Worship Leader Magazine. The week kicked off with a pre-conference seminar on the topic of “Stewards of Technology in the Service of Worship”. It really was a very interesting 4 hours, filled not just with a boatload of practical tips, resources and ideas, but also a challenge to really think about the whys in what we do with technology.

The seminar was led by Chuck Fromm, Publisher of Worship Leader magazine, DJ Chaung, Network Developer at WL Magazine and other guests, including Dr. Mark D. Roberts and our very own Ben Abu Saada, co-host of the All About Worship Podcast.

There were so many great thoughts that came out of this, but I thought I would just share a few.  Dr. Roberts asked the question “How do I exercise my stewardship of technology in a worshiping community”.  He really challenged us to focus on three main areas of our job as a tech steward.  We are to think critically, biblically, and spiritually about each new technology we would like to add. Technology is both good and bad, Roberts said.  We’re also to ask questions, such as why are we doing this, what are the benefits, and other theological and psychological questions in regards to how we should be involved. Finally, we’re to pray about how God would want us to use technology in worship.  It  was a good reminder that just because we can, doesn’t mean we should, in every circumstance.

Both Dr. Roberts and Chuck Fromm did a great job of helping us look critically at the use of technology in worship. It’s so easy to just add this new feature, or add this new avenue of communication, just because it’s out there, and the latest thing. While it may be a good thing, is it really helping us do a better job of being the Body of Christ, or is it just cool?

DJ Chaung is the network developer at Worship Leader Magazine, and he gave us some very practical ideas on how we can use technology in a worship setting.  He gave a great presentation, and wanted everyone to make sure to know that his presentation is available at the website for this event,  which is http://www.techsteward.net/ You can actually find the slides and presentations for all the speakers from this morning’s event at this site. You should definitely check it out!!

DJ explained how he defines a tech steward,  and after hearing his explanation, I think a lot of us might identify ourselves as one! A Tech Steward is involved in four different areas in the church: researching, selecting which social media tool to use for your church, coordinating and training.  Researching involves knowing your community, knowing technology, and knowing the Bible. He said that we need to research and know our own community because every community has a way of communicating that will work best with them. We can’t assume that just because Facebook works with one church, it will work in every church. He also said a tech steward should be resourceful, trustworthy, optimistic and open to new concepts.

Following that, the morning ended with a panel discussion with all the speakers. Ben Abu Saada joined the panel and fielded some questions from the audience (even ones sent in via text message or Twitter during the workshop, of course…)  Ben did a great job, and explained what tools his church uses to reach his community.

I would really encourage you to check out the Tech Steward website for all the notes from today’s workshop. I’d also love to hear your comments on this topic. Let’s share ideas of how you use technology in your churches!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

Well, we’re here in Kansas City for the National Worship Leader Conference, which starts tomorrow. Today was our travel day. We left Janesville at 7:30 a.m. for the long road trip. We stopped in Rockford to pick up someone else.  The road trip was long, but not unbearable.  We had 3 drivers this year, which helped a lot.

When we got to Kansas City, we quickly checked in and headed over to Jack Stack’s BBQ for a wonderful meal! I had heard so much about it, and it did not disappoint!

Tomorrow we start the conference! We have a group of 11 people from our church attending the conference this year, and I’m so excited for everyone to experience it!

I’m attending the Pre-Conference Seminar tomorrow about how to be a Tech Steward (stewarding technology in the church). After that we have our rehearsal for the conference choir with Stan Endicott. I can’t wait for that! We sing tomorrow night with Keith and Kristyn Getty, which should be fun!

I’ll try to give daily updates as we go. But for now, goodnight!

We are going to see so many wonderfully talented artists next week at the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City. But, one of the groups that I’m really looking forward to hearing is One Sonic Society. Here’s a short video from the group inviting you to the conference.

Video

Hope to see you there!

I always wait with great anticipation for the next release from Hillsong Live, hoping to find at least a few gems that I can use with our teams at church. After listening to their latest release, “A Beautiful Exchange”, I’m glad to say that I was not disappointed, and there are several songs that I can’t wait to incorporate at church. Beyond that, as I sat and listened to the entire project from beginning to end with just me and my headphones, I was ushered into a time of worship right there in my living room.  Thank you Hillsong, once again, for giving us such great tools to use in the church to lift His name on high!

Here is the complete track number, title and songwriter list:

1. “Our God Is Love” (Joel Houston, Scott Ligertwood)
2. “Open My Eyes” (Reuben Morgan, Braden Lang)
3. “Forever Reign” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram)
4. “The One Who Saves” (Ben Fielding)
5. “Like Incense/Sometimes By Step” (Brooke Ligertwood, Rich Mullins, David Strasser)
6. “Greatness Of Our God” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram, Stu Garrard)
7. “The Father’s Heart” (Gio Galanti, Jorim Kelly)
8. “You” (Joel Houston)
9. “Love Like Fire” (Matt Crocker)
10. “Believe” (Reuben Morgan, Darlene Zschech)
11. “Beautiful Exchange” (Joel Houston)
12. “Thank You” (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)
13. “Forever Reign (Radio Version)” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram)

The album opens with “Our God is Love”, a great call to worship written by Joel Houston, who was featured recently on an All About Worship podcast, and “Open My Eyes”, an upbeat, vertical prayer for God to open our eyes and let us see all the wonders and power of His name.

Then comes my favorite track of the entire project, “Forever Reign”, a soaring anthem of praise.  While the verses declare who God is: “You are good, You are good, when there’s nothing good in me…”, the chorus is vertical: “Oh, I’m running to Your arms, the riches of Your love will always be enough”.  You may already be familiar with this song, though, as it was recently released by One Sonic Society on their 5 track EP.  Reuben Morgan teamed up with Jason Ingram, a member of OSS, to co-write this song (along with “The Greatness of Our God”, another title on this CD).

You can watch and listen to “Forever Reign” below:

This CD was not without its surprises. As I was listening to “Like Incense/Sometimes By Step”, all of a sudden I said – hey, I know that song! This song takes the very familiar chorus “Sometimes By Step” by Rich Mullins and pairs it with some rich new verses by Brooke Ligertwood. There’s the other surprise – as I was listening to this song, I was sure I heard Brooke Fraser’s distinct, beautiful voice, but the credits said Brooke Ligertwood. Now I was confused… Until I did a bit of research and discovered that Brooke married Hillsong member Scott Ligertwood recently and has changed her name.  Needless to say, regardless of her name, Brooke has done a wonderful job pairing these two songs into a seamless flow, and has once again brought this powerful anthem for the church to a whole new generation.

Other songs that are on my shortlist include “Love Like Fire”, a song of surrender to God’s love; “A Beautiful Exchange”, a story of salvation; and “Thank You”, thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. Those are just a few standouts for me, but the entire album is filled with great songs for the church to sing. If you’re a fan of Hillsong, then you’ll definitely want to make sure to add this CD to your collection!

Barry Westman

Today I’ve been listening to the new “Beautiful Things” CD by Gungor (formerly known as The Michael Gungor Band”). If you haven’t heard it, you have to give it a listen!! It’s fresh, unique, creative, and I love the use of alternative instruments and sounds.  It’s filled with rich lyrics and passionate music. A few of the standout tracks for me are “Beautiful Things” and “The Earth Is Yours”.   You can check it out on iTunes here.`

Here are a couple of videos that will give you a feel for the group:

Enjoy!!

After giving this some thought for a while, I’ve decided to move my blog away from this site at Blogger over to a new site at WordPress.  So, this will be my last post from this site. Please follow my new blog at www.barrywestman.wordpress.com  I know at this point there are only 9 followers, so I’m hoping to see you all at the new site!

Thanks!
Barry

Here’s our Sunday morning recap from Bethel this morning, June 13th. It was a big day for us here at Bethel with a lot of firsts!! We launched a new service today, called Cafe Connections. We just completed the installation of a camera system in our sanctuary, which opened up a whole bunch of new doors, including this new service.

Our Cafe Connection took place in our Family Life Center, which was reinvented as a coffeehouse style video venue. We had a live worship team, with the message on the screen live via video. Our pastor preached in the Traditional service in the sanctuary, and the feed was sent down to the gym.  All last week was the installation of the system, and it was so fun to see it all come together! I acted as the Producer today, not leading in either service.  I had two very capable worship leaders lead in each service, so I was able to go back and forth between the two services and coordinate the timing of coordinating the two services.

The songs we used in that service were:
“Majesty (Here I Am)” – (Stuart Garrard and Martin Smith)
“Glorious” (Chris Tomlin)
“From the Inside Out” (Joel Houston)

We had one more song scheduled, but in coordinating the two services, we had to cut one in the Cafe. I can already tell that’s going to be the hardest part of this new service! All of the technical stuff with the camera/audio feed worked fine, but it was the timing out the switch was the trickiest part!

Here’s a little video of the new service:

Then, during our two Contemporary Services, we had the worship choir join the team, which is always great!

We did:
“Promises” (Jared Anderson)
“The Lord Reigns” (Klaus Kuehn)
“Glorious” (Paul Baloche)
“A Mighty Fortress” (Christy Nockels)
“A New Hallelujah” (Michael W. Smith)

The other first today was that we began today to stream our services online at http://www.livestream.com/bethelbaptist.  That feature also came off without a hitch! We had people watching our services here in Wisconsin from Indonesia, Brazil, and other places around the country! So, if you like, you can watch our services from yesterday here.

It was a great morning!!

This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community.

I’m here again to give you the Sunday recap from our services this morning. We had a good morning, but it was not without its glitches.  We had a cool start to our service with a tribute to our veterans for Memorial Day weekend. We had a serviceman (different one in each service) who just returned from active duty carry the flag down dressed in uniform. We said the pledge of allegiance, then showed a neat video “Remember Their Sacrifice” by Jitterbug.


Songs used:
‘For All You’ve Done” (Reuben Morgan)
– This one went well; everyone knows it, and people were singing out strong!


“Where the Spirit of the Lord Is” (Chris Tomlin, Christy and Nathan Nockels)
– I love this song! It’s the second time we’ve used it in church, and I thought maybe this second time we did it, that we would see more participation from the congregation. But, there were many people not singing during this one.  Now that I think of it, I should have taken the workshop by Fred McKinnon at the All About Worship Retreat about increasing corporate participation during worship. I’m not sure if I’ll bring this one back or not.


“Hosanna” (Brooke Fraser)
– Another great song! But, I’m not sure what it was about today, people were just not singing on this one either.  I did let people sit during this one, and I’ve noticed people tend to become more like observers when they’re sitting down.Starting with a solo may also have led people to think it was more of a performance-type song.


“Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)” (Brenton Brown)
– Another great song that everyone knew, and a great one to close our service.  


Read other worship recaps from around the country at The Worship Community Sunday Setlists Blog.