Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Pleasing God, Not Man - Darlene Zschech
Two weeks prior to the recording of our new album For This Cause, a number of different people came up to me and said things like, "I bet you're feeling under pressure ...", or "How are you going to outdo the last album ..." or "Glad it's you and not me!"
That got me thinking about the high pressure and extreme expectations placed on myself and the team to come up with the goods! We can all feel this type of pressure in life - a very "performance measured" pressure that I find was never birthed in God and can so easily wind "off course" if we strive to please the heart of man and not the heart of God.
Let me encourage you, dear worshippers, from Paul's letter to the Philippians, Chapter 2:
Know Your Mission - Be In Unity (Verse 1&2)
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the (Holy) Spirit, and by whatever depth of affection and compassionate sympathy, then make my joy complete by living in harmony and being of the same mind and one in purpose, having the same love being in full accord and of one harmonious mind and intention.
Let Nothing Be Done Through Strife Or Vain Glory (Verse 3)
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition (through contentiousness, strife, unworthy ends of factional motives) or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance or vain conceit."
Obey (Verse 5, 12 & 13)
"Let this attitude of humility be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - continue to work out your salvation with reverence, awe and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."
Be Blameless (Vese 14)
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe ..."
You Do Not Labour In Vain (Verse 16)
"Holding out and offering all men the Word of Life, in order that I may boast that I did not run or labour in vain."
Open Your Mouth With The Praises Of God And Close Your Ears To The Praises Of Men! (Verse 10, 11)
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Seek first the Kingdom of God ... there is nothing more rewarding in life than to use your God given creativity and gifts to promote the King and to further the cause of the Kingdom.
The work that was started by Him will be completed by Him.
"There is nothing more rewarding than using your God-given creativity and gifts to promote the King."
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Great Guitar and Bass Sound - John J. DiModica
How do you get that quality sound in the studio? Producer John J. DiModica explains how...
Ever listen to some of your favorite recordings, including those produced by Integrity Music, and wonder why the bass and guitar sound so good? There are a number of factors involved. Many reasons for a great tone are found in the player. Obviously, you can't have a great sounding part if the player is not doing his/her job. One of the most important skills to develop to prepare to play in the studio (or live, for that matter) is to learn to play consistently with a metronome! Beyond that, assuming you have a measure of ability on your instrument, the following should be helpful in getting that much desired "studio sound."
Let's look at your instrument first. Recording reveals any flaws you or your instrument may have. Instruments of less quality will have buzzes and poor tone which degrade the sound. If you want a professional sound, you must start with a professional instrument. Once you have secured one, here is a checklist to follow before recording:
1. Put on a fresh set of strings (I prefer nickel for my basses).
2. Adjust each string height so that you eliminate all buzzes and fret noise.
3. Make sure your instrument is intonated meaning that it is in tune with itself. This often requires making subtle adjustments at the bridge. If you are unsure of how to do this, call your local music store and either consult with their guitar/bass tech or have them do it. It is not that difficult or expensive and it should be done every time you change strings. Using the same type and gauge of strings will minimize the adjustments you may have to make every time you change strings.
4. Install a fresh battery if you have active electronics.
5. Use an electronic tuner and check your tuning during every stoppage of recording (between takes).
Audio Engineers can have a great deal of influence over the sound of a recorded instrument, too. There exists a number of tools usually found in the recording studio to enhance and change the sound of a bass and guitar. Some of the most basic tools are compressors, equalizers and preamps. These tools are available to bass players and guitars players as well as audio engineers.
Without getting into a lengthy explanation of each, I will touch on the use of each one when recording a bass and/or guitar. Simply put, compressors even out the sound of an instrument eliminating notes from "popping out" and becoming a distraction in the mix. Ratio, attack time and release time are the main variables in a compressor. With the proper adjustments, a compressor can be a great asset in getting a smooth track. Start experimenting with a ratio between 2:1-4:1, attack time of 1-10ms and release time of 100ms-500ms. These are just a starting point. Your ears are always the best judge!
Equalization is another tool available. By getting rid of unwanted frequencies and/or accentuating desired ones, you can help get a great sound out of your instrument. For example, getting rid of "thump" in the bass track can be attained by lowering (rolling off) frequencies below 50Hz. If too "boomy" try cutting frequencies between 125-200Hz. Experienced engineers should both have a good idea of a musical bass sound and the know how to achieve it using compression and EQ.
Also, you can employ a preamp to help shape your sound. Some of the new amp modelers are very good in imitating the sound of vintage and contemporary bass and guitar amplifiers. There are many to choose from. Many people including myself like the Line 6 bass pod and guitar pod.
Many preamps include effects to add "spice" to the sound. Often, the bass sound is hampered rather than helped with an effect. Sometimes a chorus can work in a slower (fretless) part and a little distortion can be appropriate for more aggressive "alternative or pop" kinds of tracks. Remember, however, what happens to food when too much spice is added!
There are a couple of factors to consider when placing a mic on an amp to record rather than taking a signal direct into the mixing board. Here are some very basic steps:
1. Put the bass amp in the biggest room. Avoid putting it next to a wall. Moving an amp 6"-12" can change its sound in a room so experiment.
2. Isolate the amp as much as possible to avoid issues when fixing mistakes (Punch-ins).
3. Place mix 1'-2' from the speaker on axis. Move the mic 45 degrees to the side to eliminate buzzes, fret noise, etc.
When striving for great tone recording (and live playing), ultimately, it starts with the player... then the instrument. The sound engineer is a factor, too. When all three of these components are optimized, there is no reason not to have a great sounding bass and/or guitar track that compliments both the song and the mix.
For more detailed information about getting a great bass sound please refer to Electronic Musician Magazine, August 2000, "The Bottom Line" article by Michael Cooper.
John J. DiModica served as Worship Leader and Assistant Pastor at a thriving church in Miami, Florida for nine years. Now living in Tennessee, he has been touring and teaching with Integrity Music since 1995 including performing with Don Moen, Paul Wilbur, Lenny leBlanc, Ron Kenoly and Alvin Slaughter. John has a music degree from the University of Miami (FL), and additional studies at the Eastman School of Music (NY) and Berklee College of Music (MA). Currently, his activities include composing, music production, session musician and private bass instructor. For help in producing a recording or to schedule John to speak, visit his website. www.InFocusMusic.com
Friday, February 1, 2008
Worship Graphics
Don Chapman
As I've said many times, contemporary worship is >not< business as usual! Gone are the days of three hymns and a sermon. Today's worship leader must know a little bit about everything: pop music, praise bands, worship flow...
and design.
There's a bunch of bad PowerPoint out there. But you don't do art, you say? If you have enough creative energy in you to be involved with worship, you have enough creativity to maintain decent graphics. You might not be able to produce the graphics yourself (although I believe anyone can learn to create good, basic graphics) but you should at least be able to recognize graphics that >aren't< good.
More and more churches are combining worship with video and presentation software for wonderfully professional results that would have cost a fortune a few years ago.
However, I'm afraid the technology is getting ahead of us. We have the latest bells and whistles, yet with this incredible technology I've seen the most horrific cheesiness projected on some church screens!
Let's start with a few basics. Of all places, I ran into a nice, quick and concise art lesson at the US Post Office in the form of a pamphlet. They've put a copy online, take a look:
http://www.zairmail.com/articles/simpleformula7.asp
There are a few things here we can apply to church graphics.
1. One thing dominates the page (or screen.) Don't try to cram the entire song/sermon on one slide.
2. Minimize typeface variety. Don't mix and match 5 fonts just because you can. Stay away from weird type styles - you don't want your worship to resemble a used car commercial.
Choose one or two nice, readable fonts and stick with them throughout your service. Times Roman is bland - start with Helvetica, Arial or Verdana. Whenever you use a new font, try it out on the screen before worship. What looks good on your computer monitor might not look so hot enlarged.
3. Easy to read text. Tiny text is hard to read on screen. Centering lyrics is the trend, but in my Art 101 college class I learned that this tires the eye - lyrics should be "flush left" - like a newspaper column. See how hard it is to read the following. The eye has to search for the beginning of each line:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
4. Use relevant illustrations. Avoid cartoonish, goofy clip art (unless you're preparing slides for a junior high lock- in!)
Take a look at your PowerPoint or overhead master for this coming week. What can you tweak that would make the presentation cleaner and more professional?
>Bottom Line: Avoid graphic cheese in church!
This article originally appeared in the 09.02.03 issue of WorshipIdeas.com. Read an archive of past articles at the paid website WorshipMax.com
Article Source: http://www.worshipideas.com/Worship-Graphics.shtml
As I've said many times, contemporary worship is >not< business as usual! Gone are the days of three hymns and a sermon. Today's worship leader must know a little bit about everything: pop music, praise bands, worship flow...
and design.
There's a bunch of bad PowerPoint out there. But you don't do art, you say? If you have enough creative energy in you to be involved with worship, you have enough creativity to maintain decent graphics. You might not be able to produce the graphics yourself (although I believe anyone can learn to create good, basic graphics) but you should at least be able to recognize graphics that >aren't< good.
More and more churches are combining worship with video and presentation software for wonderfully professional results that would have cost a fortune a few years ago.
However, I'm afraid the technology is getting ahead of us. We have the latest bells and whistles, yet with this incredible technology I've seen the most horrific cheesiness projected on some church screens!
Let's start with a few basics. Of all places, I ran into a nice, quick and concise art lesson at the US Post Office in the form of a pamphlet. They've put a copy online, take a look:
http://www.zairmail.com/articles/simpleformula7.asp
There are a few things here we can apply to church graphics.
1. One thing dominates the page (or screen.) Don't try to cram the entire song/sermon on one slide.
2. Minimize typeface variety. Don't mix and match 5 fonts just because you can. Stay away from weird type styles - you don't want your worship to resemble a used car commercial.
Choose one or two nice, readable fonts and stick with them throughout your service. Times Roman is bland - start with Helvetica, Arial or Verdana. Whenever you use a new font, try it out on the screen before worship. What looks good on your computer monitor might not look so hot enlarged.
3. Easy to read text. Tiny text is hard to read on screen. Centering lyrics is the trend, but in my Art 101 college class I learned that this tires the eye - lyrics should be "flush left" - like a newspaper column. See how hard it is to read the following. The eye has to search for the beginning of each line:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
4. Use relevant illustrations. Avoid cartoonish, goofy clip art (unless you're preparing slides for a junior high lock- in!)
Take a look at your PowerPoint or overhead master for this coming week. What can you tweak that would make the presentation cleaner and more professional?
>Bottom Line: Avoid graphic cheese in church!
This article originally appeared in the 09.02.03 issue of WorshipIdeas.com. Read an archive of past articles at the paid website WorshipMax.com
Article Source: http://www.worshipideas.com/Worship-Graphics.shtml
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Worship In Holy Land
Worship with Darlene Zschech, Don Moen, and Paul Wilbur + A Worship Leader Seminar. Plan today to be part of this great Israel 2008 worship experience - an inspiring trip for individuals, worship teams, and church choirs. Enjoy a live recording, a Holy Land tour and great speakers like Pastor Jack Hayford and Pastor Robert Morris.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Worship Trends 2007
Don Chapman
Over the past few weeks and months I've been pursuing one of my favorite hobbies: churching! I love to visit all types of churches to see what they're doing. Here are some things I've noticed:
- The Bible is making a comeback. Surprisingly, in two of the most cutting-edge contemporary churches I've visited lately, I've witnessed the re-introduction of real, live Bibles into their services! When the preacher begins his sermon and reads the passage, ushers rush down the aisles carrying a stack of Bibles, handing them out to whoever wants one [plus, the text was displayed on the screen.]
- No pay for play. I've noticed that some baby-boomer-led seeker churches are stopping the practice of paying professional musicians in lieu of using less-talented volunteers from their own congregations. These same churches most likely began in the 90's with the reputation of having the best band in town, but are shifting from that value to one of participation. They often lose the "pros" in the process.
I've also noticed many of the new, gen-x-led churches seem to be picking up where the baby-boomers left off, and have the standard of either paying pros or only letting those with professional abilities participate musically.
- Graphics. In the worship background arena, I'm seeing less nature scenes and more abstract images.
- It's worse than I thought. I knew some churches struggle with worship flow, but I didn't know it was really that bad. I've recently endured some of the most ill-conceived worship services ever.
For instance, I attended a mainline, staunchly traditional church that has started a contemporary service [haven't they all!] The first 15 minutes of this service (yes, 15 minutes) was spent doing Bible sword-drills with children on stage [remember that from Sunday school, where the teacher tells you to find a passage and then you race to see who can find it first?] 10 minutes into this I was so incredibly bored that I wondered why I had gotten out of bed. Follow that with a CCM song [not worship], a boring sermon filled with abstract theology, offertory and 10 minutes of announcements and I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Obviously, this contemporary service was "contemporary" because they simply substituted a band for piano/organ, and was geared for their regular church members who wanted to get a little more hip on Sunday morning. Visitors? If I was bored stiff, I doubt a seeker would return.
One more bad thing - the church had absolutely no lighting on stage. People on stage had house lights just like anyone in the congregation. I'm so used to contemporary churches with stage lighting that I forgot how important this is, and how odd things looked without it.
My uncle Hank, who worked for years with the Billy Graham organization, taught me this. He said that even simple stage lighting is necessary - when the speaker is illuminated, you subconsciously are drawn in and focused on him or her.
- Video churches. I talked about the video church movement last year...
http://worshipideas.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
...and it continues to gain momentum. Major churches are planting video venues. Seacoast Greenville is thriving with over 400 regulars and the network is gearing up for expansion. I visited the local Andy Stanley Catalyst franchise and was surprised to see almost 200 meeting in a local theater with heart-felt worship, great music and a relevant message that I could actually remember after I got home.
As I said in my blog last year, what's going to happen when Rick Warren decides to start a church in your town? How long do you think Bible-Sword-Drill-Church will last?
Read an archive of past articles at the paid website WorshipMax.com.
Article Source: http://www.worshipideas.com/Worship-Trends-2007.shtml
Over the past few weeks and months I've been pursuing one of my favorite hobbies: churching! I love to visit all types of churches to see what they're doing. Here are some things I've noticed:
- The Bible is making a comeback. Surprisingly, in two of the most cutting-edge contemporary churches I've visited lately, I've witnessed the re-introduction of real, live Bibles into their services! When the preacher begins his sermon and reads the passage, ushers rush down the aisles carrying a stack of Bibles, handing them out to whoever wants one [plus, the text was displayed on the screen.]
- No pay for play. I've noticed that some baby-boomer-led seeker churches are stopping the practice of paying professional musicians in lieu of using less-talented volunteers from their own congregations. These same churches most likely began in the 90's with the reputation of having the best band in town, but are shifting from that value to one of participation. They often lose the "pros" in the process.
I've also noticed many of the new, gen-x-led churches seem to be picking up where the baby-boomers left off, and have the standard of either paying pros or only letting those with professional abilities participate musically.
- Graphics. In the worship background arena, I'm seeing less nature scenes and more abstract images.
- It's worse than I thought. I knew some churches struggle with worship flow, but I didn't know it was really that bad. I've recently endured some of the most ill-conceived worship services ever.
For instance, I attended a mainline, staunchly traditional church that has started a contemporary service [haven't they all!] The first 15 minutes of this service (yes, 15 minutes) was spent doing Bible sword-drills with children on stage [remember that from Sunday school, where the teacher tells you to find a passage and then you race to see who can find it first?] 10 minutes into this I was so incredibly bored that I wondered why I had gotten out of bed. Follow that with a CCM song [not worship], a boring sermon filled with abstract theology, offertory and 10 minutes of announcements and I couldn't wait to get out of there.
Obviously, this contemporary service was "contemporary" because they simply substituted a band for piano/organ, and was geared for their regular church members who wanted to get a little more hip on Sunday morning. Visitors? If I was bored stiff, I doubt a seeker would return.
One more bad thing - the church had absolutely no lighting on stage. People on stage had house lights just like anyone in the congregation. I'm so used to contemporary churches with stage lighting that I forgot how important this is, and how odd things looked without it.
My uncle Hank, who worked for years with the Billy Graham organization, taught me this. He said that even simple stage lighting is necessary - when the speaker is illuminated, you subconsciously are drawn in and focused on him or her.
- Video churches. I talked about the video church movement last year...
http://worshipideas.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html
...and it continues to gain momentum. Major churches are planting video venues. Seacoast Greenville is thriving with over 400 regulars and the network is gearing up for expansion. I visited the local Andy Stanley Catalyst franchise and was surprised to see almost 200 meeting in a local theater with heart-felt worship, great music and a relevant message that I could actually remember after I got home.
As I said in my blog last year, what's going to happen when Rick Warren decides to start a church in your town? How long do you think Bible-Sword-Drill-Church will last?
Read an archive of past articles at the paid website WorshipMax.com.
Article Source: http://www.worshipideas.com/Worship-Trends-2007.shtml
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Rules of the Tape - Louis R. Carlozo
A technical and artistic blueprint for quality live recording on a budget.
You've got the worship team, a solid band of musicians and you've got the opportunity, but you're a little short on know-how, when it comes to recording your own live CD. Look no further than this practical, low-budget blueprint for quality live recordings.
Recently my six-member band, the Blue Lit Souls, faced a creative dilemma. We wanted to release our first CD, but didn't have enough money to work in a big studio. Nor were we sure a studio recording could capture our unusual sound, which includes mandolin, tin whistle, log drum, a stack of flower pots played like marimbas and a digeridoo made of PVC pipe.
It didn't take us long to settle on a cost-effective, exciting alternative: recording in concert. Using Alesis ADAT machines, we taped a live show and as of this writing, we're polishing the tracks in my home studio. Will a similar strategy work for worship bands? Absolutely. In fact, if there's any genre ideally suited to live recording, worship music is it. It not only features colorful interaction with an audience, it requires it.
Speaking to recording experts-including a worship artist who has made a name with his live CDs-we've assembled an outline for making your own album, even on a bare-bones budget. Of course, that should not imply skimping; the preparation can in fact be more demanding, as we'll see. But if you and your worship team follow this blueprint, you could find yourselves reaping musical, ministry and even monetary rewards.
Technically Speaking, Less can be more, and there's no place like home.
Tim Vear, a senior applications engineer at Shure microphones, has plenty of experience helping houses of worship bring their technology into the 21st century. Here are his tips for getting set on the knobs and wires end.
1. First time out? Consider a two-track recording. It's simple as recording to a CD burner or a DAT machine. "A lot of big acts will drag ADATs and DA88s along and record every microphone. But that's a very time consuming process," Vear says. If you feel you need more flexibility, "There's kind of an intermediate approach where you can submix certain parts of the live mix-the drums, the vocals, and some of the other instruments-onto eight tracks... Again, the philosophy is not to allow punching in or overdubbing, but you do have some means of balancing."
2. Don't forget crowd noise. Because your live tape will likely come off the sound mixboard, it could be stripped of crowd response if you use just stage mics. "One of the most obvious thing is the audience mic, or congregation mic. Typically you'll bring up more of that room sound towards the end of the tune, and lower it during the bulk of the song." If your engineer is mixing live to two track, "You either have to do it on the fly," Vear says. "Or, if you record it on a separate track, you can edit in post production."
3. Vibe first, perfect audio second. Don't forsake a moving performance because of a small technical glitch or some mild distortion. "It's like those Chuck Berry records; guys who go back and record those tunes 20 years later can never get the same result. It may be cleaner but the energy is gone. People are pretty tolerant of some technical imperfections in live recordings."
4. Play on the home court. You'll likely do better in a familiar setting than some strange venue where comfort level and acoustics are unknowns. "If I was comfortable with the congregation and the setting I was in, I'd definitely do a direct-to-two-track mix," Vear says. "If I'm not that familiar and coming in cold, I'd probably request a four-track mix and record the congregation with a stereo mic, and let the band rip on a two-track. If it gets any more complicated than that, you're going to have to have two people [record] it. It's not going to be possible for the guy who's mixing the sound to do a good job recording."
5. Tech Speak: Use auxiliary busses and great mics. The auxiliary busses-those knobs on the mixboard that allow for a totally separate mix-can mean a cleaner signal to tape or CD. Don't forget to mic the full drum kit so that tom fills can be picked up (again, it doesn't have to go over the PA, just to the mix for tape!) "A couple of nice condensor mics over the drums will help pick that up," Vear says (Shure condensors mics include the SM 81 and KSM 137). Other Shure mics Vear suggests: for vocals, SM 58s or Beta 58s; acoustic instruments, SM 81s or KSM 137s; guitar amps, SM 57s. Bass can use a DI box. "Piano is difficult to mic, and a lot of guitar might bleed into the mics. Get the lid open to put the mic in there."
6. Get the recording engineer decent headphones. What better way to make sure you're getting a balanced mix? Larger churches may also have a splitter that send a separate signal out for radio broadcasts. Using the broadcast splitter can guarantee a cleaner recording, Vear says.
Artistically Speaking. Practice, prep work and prayer!
Among West Coast artists, Tommy Walker has a reputation as someone who knows how to translate worship energy into musical electricity. Together with his C.A. Worship Band, Walker cranked out a double-CD of live material in 1999; he's known for songs such as "He Knows My Name," "Mourning Into Dancing" and "That's Why We Praise Him." Here's his advice on live recording.
1. Record the same set at least two or three nights. Doing so, "You can alleviate a lot of the pressure," Walker says. "The more pressure and nervousness, the less authentic worship you will be able to capture."
2. Use a great drummer. In a multi-track format Walker uses, bad performances can be fixed later. "But the tempos that the drummer sets and the sound from his drum kit will be irreplaceable. On that note, keep the drums, more than anything else, as isolated as possible. For example, if the drum mics are picking up mistakes from other instruments and vocals you won't be able to fix those mistakes later."
3. Record backup singers on separate tracks. "It has been my experience that even with the greatest singers and the greatest monitor situation you will almost always have to re-do all background vocals," Walker says. "It can be very freeing to know that you don't have the pressure to make that aspect of the concert perfect. This will allow you to use different people if you want and or any number of people because you will be re-doing them in the studio later."
4. Save horns and percussion for the studio. "In this case it's definitely better to put the icing on after the cake is done," Walker says. "I have rarely had a percussion performance that I was able to keep because everything leaked into the percussion mics. The less cluttered and added sounds on the recording night, the better. On this note, every instrument should be as well baffled off to eliminate as much leakage as possible.
5. Be prepared to do your best lead vocal live. "Lead vocals and lead instrumental solos are performances that need to be kept. If you re-do everything to make it perfect you will lose the energy and electricity from the live performance-so that's where I draw the line. All keyboard comping, guitar parts, bass, all those arrangement aspects can be re-done. But the drums, lead vocals and the lead instrumental performances should be kept. Because of this, I like to put the lead vocalists and lead guitarists or sax player as far away from the drummer as possible.
6. Use vocal tuning software such as VocalTune. "Thank God the age of tuning
lead vocals has finally come," Walker says. "I suggest everyone who does live recording purchase a vocal tuner. What makes them especially great is that you are able to keep those passionate, energetic performances and tune them up. People don't realize that even the greatest singers on the planet all have pitch problems somewhere in a live performance... Vocal tuners are also very helpful for single line instruments, like bass guitars, saxophones and lead guitar solos."
7. Use in-ear monitors as opposed to monitor wedges. Shure makes a PSM series that has become a huge hit with bands from The Strokes to Big Head Todd and the Monsters. "In-ear monitors are definitely the way to go with a live recording," Walker says. "Though many churches can't afford to own them, they are worth renting for the recording. Not only can you hear yourself better, but they alleviate a lot of stage sound. This enables you to have less leakage in the microphones." One note: Have the sound engineer mix in some crowd noise so you can hear that in your in-ear mix!
8. In closing: capture the real stuff. "More than anything what we are trying to accomplish in a live recording is to capture those holy moments," Walker says. "I have found that holy moments never seem to happen when I'm nervous and concerned about what's being recorded to tape. Therefore, I suggest much, much rehearsing and even recording your rehearsals before you even get to the recording nights. Do your best to stay focused on what ministry God is doing in the moment. By the time the red button is turned on, you need to be able to forget about all technical aspects of the recording."
You've got the worship team, a solid band of musicians and you've got the opportunity, but you're a little short on know-how, when it comes to recording your own live CD. Look no further than this practical, low-budget blueprint for quality live recordings.
Recently my six-member band, the Blue Lit Souls, faced a creative dilemma. We wanted to release our first CD, but didn't have enough money to work in a big studio. Nor were we sure a studio recording could capture our unusual sound, which includes mandolin, tin whistle, log drum, a stack of flower pots played like marimbas and a digeridoo made of PVC pipe.
It didn't take us long to settle on a cost-effective, exciting alternative: recording in concert. Using Alesis ADAT machines, we taped a live show and as of this writing, we're polishing the tracks in my home studio. Will a similar strategy work for worship bands? Absolutely. In fact, if there's any genre ideally suited to live recording, worship music is it. It not only features colorful interaction with an audience, it requires it.
Speaking to recording experts-including a worship artist who has made a name with his live CDs-we've assembled an outline for making your own album, even on a bare-bones budget. Of course, that should not imply skimping; the preparation can in fact be more demanding, as we'll see. But if you and your worship team follow this blueprint, you could find yourselves reaping musical, ministry and even monetary rewards.
Technically Speaking, Less can be more, and there's no place like home.
Tim Vear, a senior applications engineer at Shure microphones, has plenty of experience helping houses of worship bring their technology into the 21st century. Here are his tips for getting set on the knobs and wires end.
1. First time out? Consider a two-track recording. It's simple as recording to a CD burner or a DAT machine. "A lot of big acts will drag ADATs and DA88s along and record every microphone. But that's a very time consuming process," Vear says. If you feel you need more flexibility, "There's kind of an intermediate approach where you can submix certain parts of the live mix-the drums, the vocals, and some of the other instruments-onto eight tracks... Again, the philosophy is not to allow punching in or overdubbing, but you do have some means of balancing."
2. Don't forget crowd noise. Because your live tape will likely come off the sound mixboard, it could be stripped of crowd response if you use just stage mics. "One of the most obvious thing is the audience mic, or congregation mic. Typically you'll bring up more of that room sound towards the end of the tune, and lower it during the bulk of the song." If your engineer is mixing live to two track, "You either have to do it on the fly," Vear says. "Or, if you record it on a separate track, you can edit in post production."
3. Vibe first, perfect audio second. Don't forsake a moving performance because of a small technical glitch or some mild distortion. "It's like those Chuck Berry records; guys who go back and record those tunes 20 years later can never get the same result. It may be cleaner but the energy is gone. People are pretty tolerant of some technical imperfections in live recordings."
4. Play on the home court. You'll likely do better in a familiar setting than some strange venue where comfort level and acoustics are unknowns. "If I was comfortable with the congregation and the setting I was in, I'd definitely do a direct-to-two-track mix," Vear says. "If I'm not that familiar and coming in cold, I'd probably request a four-track mix and record the congregation with a stereo mic, and let the band rip on a two-track. If it gets any more complicated than that, you're going to have to have two people [record] it. It's not going to be possible for the guy who's mixing the sound to do a good job recording."
5. Tech Speak: Use auxiliary busses and great mics. The auxiliary busses-those knobs on the mixboard that allow for a totally separate mix-can mean a cleaner signal to tape or CD. Don't forget to mic the full drum kit so that tom fills can be picked up (again, it doesn't have to go over the PA, just to the mix for tape!) "A couple of nice condensor mics over the drums will help pick that up," Vear says (Shure condensors mics include the SM 81 and KSM 137). Other Shure mics Vear suggests: for vocals, SM 58s or Beta 58s; acoustic instruments, SM 81s or KSM 137s; guitar amps, SM 57s. Bass can use a DI box. "Piano is difficult to mic, and a lot of guitar might bleed into the mics. Get the lid open to put the mic in there."
6. Get the recording engineer decent headphones. What better way to make sure you're getting a balanced mix? Larger churches may also have a splitter that send a separate signal out for radio broadcasts. Using the broadcast splitter can guarantee a cleaner recording, Vear says.
Artistically Speaking. Practice, prep work and prayer!
Among West Coast artists, Tommy Walker has a reputation as someone who knows how to translate worship energy into musical electricity. Together with his C.A. Worship Band, Walker cranked out a double-CD of live material in 1999; he's known for songs such as "He Knows My Name," "Mourning Into Dancing" and "That's Why We Praise Him." Here's his advice on live recording.
1. Record the same set at least two or three nights. Doing so, "You can alleviate a lot of the pressure," Walker says. "The more pressure and nervousness, the less authentic worship you will be able to capture."
2. Use a great drummer. In a multi-track format Walker uses, bad performances can be fixed later. "But the tempos that the drummer sets and the sound from his drum kit will be irreplaceable. On that note, keep the drums, more than anything else, as isolated as possible. For example, if the drum mics are picking up mistakes from other instruments and vocals you won't be able to fix those mistakes later."
3. Record backup singers on separate tracks. "It has been my experience that even with the greatest singers and the greatest monitor situation you will almost always have to re-do all background vocals," Walker says. "It can be very freeing to know that you don't have the pressure to make that aspect of the concert perfect. This will allow you to use different people if you want and or any number of people because you will be re-doing them in the studio later."
4. Save horns and percussion for the studio. "In this case it's definitely better to put the icing on after the cake is done," Walker says. "I have rarely had a percussion performance that I was able to keep because everything leaked into the percussion mics. The less cluttered and added sounds on the recording night, the better. On this note, every instrument should be as well baffled off to eliminate as much leakage as possible.
5. Be prepared to do your best lead vocal live. "Lead vocals and lead instrumental solos are performances that need to be kept. If you re-do everything to make it perfect you will lose the energy and electricity from the live performance-so that's where I draw the line. All keyboard comping, guitar parts, bass, all those arrangement aspects can be re-done. But the drums, lead vocals and the lead instrumental performances should be kept. Because of this, I like to put the lead vocalists and lead guitarists or sax player as far away from the drummer as possible.
6. Use vocal tuning software such as VocalTune. "Thank God the age of tuning
lead vocals has finally come," Walker says. "I suggest everyone who does live recording purchase a vocal tuner. What makes them especially great is that you are able to keep those passionate, energetic performances and tune them up. People don't realize that even the greatest singers on the planet all have pitch problems somewhere in a live performance... Vocal tuners are also very helpful for single line instruments, like bass guitars, saxophones and lead guitar solos."
7. Use in-ear monitors as opposed to monitor wedges. Shure makes a PSM series that has become a huge hit with bands from The Strokes to Big Head Todd and the Monsters. "In-ear monitors are definitely the way to go with a live recording," Walker says. "Though many churches can't afford to own them, they are worth renting for the recording. Not only can you hear yourself better, but they alleviate a lot of stage sound. This enables you to have less leakage in the microphones." One note: Have the sound engineer mix in some crowd noise so you can hear that in your in-ear mix!
8. In closing: capture the real stuff. "More than anything what we are trying to accomplish in a live recording is to capture those holy moments," Walker says. "I have found that holy moments never seem to happen when I'm nervous and concerned about what's being recorded to tape. Therefore, I suggest much, much rehearsing and even recording your rehearsals before you even get to the recording nights. Do your best to stay focused on what ministry God is doing in the moment. By the time the red button is turned on, you need to be able to forget about all technical aspects of the recording."
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