Music Ministry Tips

6 Tips for Landing the Perfect Job in Music Ministry

2011-10-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Because I have a full time job in industry, I never thought I would be able to land a job in Music Ministry this side of retirement. I thought I would need to finish raising the family so that I would be able to pursue a degree in music. But lo! My dream has come true much earlier than I ever thought! I now work part-time at a small church as the Music Minister, and am loving it! What a great year its been!

For those of you still looking for a job in Music Ministry, I thought I would share a few tips that I believe helped me. If you have been looking for some time now already, this is for you. Warning: These tips are not the standard (e.g., find and review the "Wanted" ads every week, etc.). Rather these are items to do above and beyond to set yourself apart.

1. Prayer! Is this the path God is calling you? I have seen several outstanding musicians within Music Ministry that are focused on themselves. They are in it for many things including attention and notoriety. As I have noted in the past, this job is not a "me" job it is a "Him" job. Hymns for Him! See my earlier post on the Purpose of Music.

2. Leadership. Music Ministers are leaders. It is first and foremost working with people. Volunteers. Take a self assessment on your leadership desires and abilities. See Worship Leader, Church Music Leadership Blog websites. If Catholic, consider joining the awesome network of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

3. Volunteer. This is another form of networking. Get your name out. Volunteering to help music ministries at several churches is a great way to get into the network. Another great idea: volunteer once a month at one church frees you to volunteer and network at other churches.

4. Start a Blog! Having a blog enhances your image and skyrockets your credibility.

5. Publish. Demonstrate your proficiency with music. Compose! Publish! Publish your sheet music. Again this enhances your credibility. See this article (Attention Composers!) reviewing a great site to do this for free, HolyMeasures.com. Once complete, be sure to link your compositions back on your blog.

6. Practice, practice, practice. Multiple instrument competence. Most musicians excel at one instrument. Few at two. Make yourself stand out from the rest.

Let me know if any of these have been helpful to you in your search within Music Ministry. Leave a comment and share your experiences with other musicians that are likely in the same situation.

Related Posts:
The Purpose of Music
Not to Us, O Lord
Attention Composers!

Our Most Embarrassing Moments...III

2010-11-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't resist! Yep, the laughs just keep going. I enjoyed pulling together the first couple posts on our most embarrassing moments in music ministry, that I just had to put another one together. What a gift to be able to laugh at ourselves! And what a greater gift is His forgiveness of our blunders! Enjoy.

If you're like me, you will likely find these painfully familiar, especially the last one down below (ugh!).

Ring-a-doodle-do!
"The bass player at my last church accidentally left his phone on stage turned on with a chicken clucking as his ringtone. Well it started ringing during the sermon much to the pastor's surprise, and my friend's embarrassment!"

Breathtaking!
"At my small rural, traditional Methodist church we were doing a hymn sing service where I let the congregation request any hymn from the hymn book. Someone requested "How Great Thou Art". As they tend to enjoy this type service, they really get passionate and into the singing and so do I (and keep in mind we are really laid back and comfortable with each other on Sunday nights). So when we got to the end where you would put in the fermatas, I really held them out long.

I saw one of the lady members about my age kinda motion to me when we were done singing and seemed to be panting a bit. I wanted to....heck, I don't remember what I wanted to do, I think I just wanted to be conversational with the folks in between the songs. So when I saw her motion and pant after the song, I held my hands and arms out in front (to signal to fill up your lungs) and said, "Big breaths, Martiele!"

Only in my southern drawl and the fact that it was spoken fast, it didn't sound like I said "big breaths". I'll let you figure it out from there. And BTW, Martiele just happens to be a sizeable woman.

I still cringe and get that "hot all over" feeling when I think about that one. As I back-peddled and stepped all over myself to explain what I had really said, everyone just laughed and laughed..............."
-moosicman

"New Faith, New Faith"
"This is one that an elder in Nurnberg Germany was telling me happened about 2 weeks ago.

Paul Wilbur was playing at their church and it was packed out with many visitors and quite a few were Americans living in Germany. There came a time towards the end where they invited people who needed prayer to come to the altar and this elder was standing there when a rather overweight American woman walked up to receive ministry and simply said she was "struggling"

Now...you should understand that there is no "th" sound in the German language so it's not an easy thing for them to translate. Often the "th" sound is translated as either a hard "t" sound or an "s"

So the elder begin praying that the Lord would give this woman a new faith...but it came out as "Oh Lord, give zis woman a new face"

She was not amused."
-yod1948

Where's the Nearest Hole I Can Crawl Into?
"Once when playing guitar I couldn't hear myself, so I attracted the sound mans' eye, pointed at my acoustic and then pointed up, indicating 'turn me up'.

Sadly, I was holding a pick with my thumb and first finger, and used the next available finger: my middle finger.
Yes, I pulled the fingers, in church, onstage, in front of about 500 people."
-bbrunskill

What are yours?
What is your most embarrassing moment in music ministry? Dare to share!

Related Posts:
Our Most Embarrassing Moments II
Our Most Embarrassing Moments...
May God Bless the Leaders of Song!
Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence
Prayerful Song: Refocus

Replacing Ye Olde Sound System

2010-11-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Our current church sound system is old. Real old.

I would venture that it was installed by my predecessor's predecessor's predecessor's predecessor's predecessor! And it sounds old as well.

From a music ministry perspective, the importance of a good sound system cannot be understated. Even the best sounding music ministry can sound worse than AM radio with a poor system. Our system easily falls into this latter category. I've heard it. During our practices, I always take the time to go into the pews and listen to how we sound. How do we sound? Honestly, our sound is comparable to the utterances of Charlie Brown's teacher, "wha-wha-wha-wha".

But given this situation, I am very happy. Why? I have the full support of the church to replace the system. Yes! The need for a new sound system is fully recognized and appreciated by the church as well as the church council. How many music ministries have this support? What a treat!

Now, it has been up to me to answer the question: what do we want? What should our new system be? And how much will it cost? These are not easy questions to answer. Other music ministers often farm these questions out to a sound consultant company. Our church is small and would prefer to avoid this extra expense. I am also rather handy on the technical side of things, so welcomed this challenge.

I compiled the result of my investigations into a concise report. I thought I would share this report since I am sure my church is not alone in the need of a new system. Here below are just the first few pages.

Introduction

The sound system at our church has provided many years of use broadcasting the Good News to parishioners. The system now shows main signs of age prompting requests for a new system.

For this report, the current system was examined and assessed. Then work was begun in developing a proposal for a new sound system. Care was taken up front to ensure that the proposed system would meet the needs of our church. The author tallied the functions today’s system performs to ensure the new system would also fulfill those functions. Additionally, the new system proposal was developed with an eye towards value and size.

Current Sound System Assessment

Inspection of the current sound system quickly revealed several interesting characteristics.

First, it has poor sound reproduction capability. It muffles all clear sounds. From the altar and ambo, consonants are difficult to perceive. From the music ministry cantor, lyrics are difficult to discern, and instrument sounds bleed together.
Much of the current sound system equipment is severely dated.
The system is a patch-work quilt. It is readily apparent that the components have been pieced together from available hardware by well-intentioned members of the church.
The wiring is under gauge for this application, and shows signs of corroding.
Some of the speakers have been blown from over-powering. There is a buzz sound that can be discerned from several of them.
One of the mixing board channels is no longer functional.
The mixing board channels are all in use allowing no expandability.

Additionally, it is worth pointing out the frequent complaints received about the poor quality of sound during Masses and other functions. It is likely the above points are key contributing factors.

New Sound System Selection Process

It light of the current sound system shortcomings, a new sound system proposal was developed. Throughout the development care was taken to ensure the new sound system would meet the needs of the St James Catholic Church Community.

What Does the System Need to Do?

Development of a new sound system was done with a focus on relevant practicality and value. To ensure that the sound system selected would fulfill the needs of the our church community, several parishioners were consulted. These parishioners highlighted the main needs of a church sound system:

· At Church. The sound system should function well for the reader, at the altar, the wireless microphone, and the Music Ministry.

o Reader. Today’s reader roster contains an impressive spread of height and vocal capabilities. From Sunday to Sunday the microphone is positioned and repositioned to its extremes. As such, the key distance from the reader’s lips to the microphone varies widely. Additionally, some reader’s voices boom and resonate while others peep. Another interesting point is that the reader today has little understanding of his or her vocal level in the main church room. The reader can’t hear his or her own voice from the ambo position. This sometimes leads to some speakers tendency to appear to “eat” the microphone while speaking rather loudly.

o Altar. Today the altar microphone is flat, dynamic. Father speaks into this microphone while being several feet away. To compensate for such a relatively small sound to amplify, the mixing board gains must be increased to the point of initiating ringing noises and the occasional feedback din.

o Wireless Microphone. Today Father wears a wireless microphone for speaking away from the altar and ambo. This signal is picked up by a wireless receiver and plugged into a mixing board channel.

o Music Ministry. The Music Ministry today consists of a cantor, several choir members, and three instruments (guitar, keyboard, and flute). Today only the cantor and the instruments are connected to the sound system due to a lack of available channels in the mixing board and limited number of microphones.

· Cry Room. The sound system should allow the ambo, altar, wireless, and music ministry microphones to be heard clearly in the cry room.

· Church Overflow. The sound system should allow a degree of “upscaleability” in the social hall. During the highly attended Easter and Christmas services, extra seating required and is set up in the social hall. During these Masses the sound system should broadcast slightly more sound over a much broader area than just the cry room area.

· Air Conditioner Compatibility. Today’s air conditioning system activations suddenly and sporadically drown the muffled mutterings of the current sound system.

Right Sized

When designing the new sound system, a few precautions were taken to avoid constructing a system that is oversized.

Dimensions. Our church does not have space to spare. As such the speakers, subwoofer, monitors, and mixing board were sized to optimize every inch.
Loudness. Our church is not a large church and the walls are constructed of resonating concrete blocks. An overbearing speaker could quickly lose its transmissions within its own reflected sounds.

The Proposal: Cost Overview

The sound system proposal was also developed with a focus on value. Below is the proposal cost overview table. All the expected new purchases, quantities, and cost are listed and tallied here. The cost numbers were recorded at a local music store. These numbers do not contain an expected volume discount, and, as such, are considered conservative.

The Proposal: Hardware Overview

Speakers

Main Church Area Speakers. The speakers recommended, the JBL CBT 50LA, were selected after careful consideration.

Discretely sized. These speakers have an unassuming profile. Since they measure only a few inches wide and deep, they will not draw attention to themselves. We think the cover is paintable, and would plan to spray paint it a shade of brown to match the church support columns.
Strength. Although small, these speakers can handle the job. Each of these speakers has enough strength to adequately cover a quarter of the church. It is planned to have 4 located in the main church room in same location as the current speakers.
Clarity. This speaker’s frequency profile shows it produces clear sounds across an impressive range of the sound spectrum.
Wall-Mountable. With included mounting hardware, mounting these speakers on the church columns would be straightforward.

Social Hall Speakers. The speakers recommended for the Social Hall are the same as the Main Church Area Room speakers. However, these speakers would be ordered in white (as opposed to black) to match the Social Hall wall color. At this time, it is unclear how to mount these speakers in the Social Hall since the Social Hall lacks the Main Church Area columns.

Mixing Board

The mixing board is the heart of the system. In a word, it takes all the microphone and instrument inputs and balances the sound going to the speakers and monitors.

The proposed mixing board has 22 channels allowing more flexibility than the current board with 12 fully utilized channels.

The mixing board would be located on top of the rack in the music ministry area.

Microphones

Two different microphones are proposed.

Main Vocal Microphone. The vocal microphone proposed is the Sennheiser E835. This is a quality vocal microphone at a good price. One is planned for the cantor. One for the keyboardist. One for the guitarist. One for the choir.
Instrument Microphone. The instrument microphone proposed is the Shure SM81. One is planned for the flute, and one for acoustic guitar.
Existing microphones. At this time, it is proposed to keep the existing ambo, altar, and wireless microphones.

Monitors

The monitors allow Father, the ambo speakers, and the music ministry to hear themselves. The proposed monitor, the TC Helicon VM200, provides an excellent sound, but in a conveniently small package.

One is planned to be positioned for the ambo speaker. One for the altar. One for the cantor. One for the keyboardist. One for the guitarist.

The Purpose of Music

2010-10-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was invited to give a reflection on music at a teen and youth retreat from church. I thought I would share the text with you in the hopes it benefits you and your music ministry.

I was recently asked to speak about my views on music. I immediately thought, "Wow! What an easy topic! There is so much to say!" But then I thought, "Wow! There is so much to say!" How do I keep this to a reasonable time? So I'll keep this focused to just the main point. What is the main point?

Of course, music is universal. Each culture has a unique and distinct flavor. It is an amazing array extending across the globe. Within this vast spectrum is yet another spectrum of occasions and emotions each yielding to the variety. It is an amazingly diverse and beautiful myriad of melodies continually streaming from humanity. And yet within all of these varied tunes and multiple motivations for music,

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

Music conveys emotion, feelings, power, and beauty. It can change how we feel. It can pick us up from a dreary day. It helps us celebrate grand occasions. Celebrate birthdays, beautify weddings, formalize graduations, and what is a party without music? What else can do so much?

It envelops us. It is words and melody. Meaning and feeling. Cerebral and emotional. It is a full expression of us as humans.

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

When I was in high school and college, I used to listen to all the stations on the radio. After a while all the songs started feeling empty to me. I couldn’t put my finger on why. I still listened. Then Christian songs starting finding their way back to the airwaves. Then I heard songs inspired, written, and sung from the heart for Him. These songs had meaning. Not empty, but brimming with the fullness of life! That was the day I switched. That was the day when LOVE came to town!

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

I now fully believe that the reason God gave us music is to praise Him. Yes, music also has other fun roles to uniquely express emotion. But, Music in its ultimate form, in its purest form lies in prayer. It joins our souls closer to His.

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

Music is no stranger to God. As a form of prayer it goes back very far in the bible. It is filled with them!

In one of the first books of the bible, Exodus, Moses sings a prayer to the Lord, “I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant!”
The 150 Psalms were composed as song prayers. The definition of “psalm” is scared song. My favorite one to sing and pray is Psalm 40:4 “He put a song into my mouth, a hymn unto our God.”
David’s song of victory in 2 Samuel 22“O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer!”
The Song of Songs sings symbolically of the love of Christ for His church.
Mary’s song of praise “ My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!” Luke 1.
The early church (Philppians 2) sings “So that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord!”
Such powerful words would feel naked and powerless without the vessel of musical song!

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

Here are a few beautiful phrases I found in some of our Church's documents on music in worship. "Among the many signs and symbols used by the Church to celebrate its faith, music is of preeminent importance. As sacred song unit to words it forms a Necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy…The quality of joy and enthusiasm which music adds to community worship cannot be gained in any other way.”

We see in the book of Revelation the worship of our Church itself is a union of earth and heaven where we join with the ever praising and proclaiming angels and saints!

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

Have you heard the commercials for one of those high tech phones "There's an app for that"? My Dad has a variation on this theme. Now retired he is quick to respond to any request requiring this least bit of exertion. "Dear, the yard needs mowing." There's a nap for that! "Honey, the dogs need to be walked." There's a nap for that. I even have heard that the dusty garage floor is worthy of a satifying snooze.

In a similar fashion, I have found that for all the varieties, styles, and themes of prayer, there is a song for that. This will be merely a hint of the possibilities.

Prayer is a form of communication. Communication is a two way street, so listening is a form of prayer. There is a song for that. I'm sure, like me, you can think of several songs on this theme.
On the other side of listening is speaking. I like to form the speaking part of my prayers with this simple structure: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

Adoration. Adoration means worship. Begin your time of prayer by adoring and praising God. Praise Him for who He is and for all that He has done for you. God delights in your praises! There is a song for that.
Contrition. Contrition is agreeing with God about the things that you have done wrong. There is a song for that.
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving means being thankful to God. This is my favorite part of prayer next to listening. I'll spend most of my prayer time here counting the countless ways I am cared for and blest. There is a song for that.
Supplication. Supplication should be the last part of your prayer. This is praying for your needs and for the needs of others. There is a song for that.

Some of you might be saying, "Wow, that's a lot to fit into a prayer." And what if you don’t have time to pray? We always have time. Even if only a second. I tell my kids the shortest, most beautiful prayer is “I love you, Lord”. And wouldn't you know, there’s at least a zillion songs for that.

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

The early Christian theologian St. Augustine once argued that to sing is to pray twice. I take him to have meant by that that to sing is to communicate with God twice as fully.

For music enables us to worship God and to express our love for God with more of ourselves—with our heart and soul and strength as well as our mind.

Music is a gift from God that leads to fuller communion with God. For music has the power to unloose and emancipate energies from deep within us so that we may soar into the realm of transcendence where earthly sorrow and grief are transfigured.

Music is a gift to us of joy and delight, a gift with which God graces creation from the beginning of time to its ending.

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

I invite you to experience with me a simple example of the power and grace of music. Here is for me one of the most beautiful biblical passages. John 3:16. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.”

I will ask this surprising looking, highly capable, but above all willing volunteer to read the following passage for me. As it is read I will grab my guitar and not play a note. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.”

Now we’ll read it with a gloomy background tune from my guitar. (Something in a minor key.) “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.”

Notice a difference? Did the meaning of the passage change? Did something different feel emphasized to you? Now we’ll ready it with a beautiful background melody. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have eternal life.”

What did you feel that time? See how music can awaken deeper meaning in a simple text example?

There is no higher purpose for music than for prayer.

Let us conclude this brief reflection together in prayer:
O God, we thank you for the gift of music, the gift of song, the gift of worship itself, and the gift of musical prayer. May we sing to You not only with mouth, and voice, and heart. May we sing to you as well with our whole life. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.

Related Posts:
May God Bless the Leaders of Song!
Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence
Prayerful Song: Refocus
Music Ministry Tips: Part I of Seventy Times Seven

Most Embarrassing Moments in Music Ministry II

2010-09-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist! I enjoyed pulling together the first post on our most embarrassing moments in music ministry, that I just had to put another one together. If you're like me, you will likely find these painfully familiar. What a gift to be able to laugh at ourselves! And what a greater gift is His forgiveness of our blunders! Enjoy.

Phone Fumble

I had my phone ring right next to the microphone during a silent prayer. I was so embarrassed!
-Janaki

More Phone Fumbles...

Here is the most recent done by our lead pastor.

Each week during the greeting, either brent or I say, "Please remember to turn off your cellphone or pagers." We have learned to say it many different creative ways. Sometimes I say "if it rings, hums, beeps or vibrates turn it off so you don't miss God."

One week, because we had a guest speaker our lead pastor wanted to do the greeting. His quote....
Hey everyone, reach into your pockets and turn off your phones, into your purse and turn off your vibrators or whatever else would make noise.

He kept going not realizing what he said but he KNEW he said something corny, because there was that slow embarrassing laugh that began to trickle across 2,000 people. After the service, he came up to me and said, "Oh no, what did I say." When I told him he almost died.
- worshiptrench

Remember to Leave the Church Without It
We once had a guest speaker leave his lapel on while going to the bathroom - I figured out what was happening and was giving the "slash your throat" signal to the sound guys - they hit the mute button on that channel, but as you know, the mute only mutes the house - and the mic was up plenty loud enough in the stage monitors for us to hear it all the way through to the flush!
-twc_admin

So That's How the Pied Piper Did It...
I was leading the music for VBS. It was a sing-along with the tracks provided by the publisher and the first day we were to have the kids sing chorus/verse 1/chorus and stop.

So I was teaching the hand motions as we went and when it came time to stop the tape, the sound guy was not paying attention so I gave him the "slash". I about fell out when 100 little kids followed suit and "slashed their throats". It was so funny.
-garyhodges

Muppet Mayhem
A few years back we had a joke about Muppets in the band, and our keyboardist sequenced in the Muppets theme tune on his keyboard.

You can guess what happened - right in the middle of a particularly intimate and quiet moment on a Sunday night, complete with atmospheric lights and smoke machine, most of the 200 congregation on their knee's, and Ben rests his forehead right on the button that plays the Muppets tune... I think our pastor saw the funny side

In Conclusion
Think twice before bringing your cell phone in church, doning a mobile microphone, teaching sign language, and playing keyboard. Other than that you should be safe! I think. So, do tell! What has been your worst experience in music ministry?

For proper balance, I'll reference a few articles below on how to regain focus after moments like these!

Related Posts:
Our Most Embarrassing Moments...
May God Bless the Leaders of Song!

Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence
Prayerful Song: Refocus

Top 4 Tips for Music Ministry Sound System Help

2010-08-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

Are you one of the music ministries struggling with your sound system, especially your mixing board? You are not alone! I've share some of my struggles in previous posts. Just about every music ministry with a sound system has struggles! Here are a few of the cries uttered:

"Who can we get to run the board?"
"Why can't the congregation hear the singers?"
And so on...

Over the years I've tried many things, monitored the results, and tried new things! Here are my thoughts and recommendations.

1) Get Help: It's Out There
Believe it or not, even in small churches, there are people in the congregation that know how to run a sound system, and mixing board. In fact, you likely won't know this, but they want to run you mixing board! Why? Look at things from their perspective. Every week, they come to church and hear poorly mixed sound. They can't hear the vocals. The instruments are muffled, faint, or lost in the room acoustics. To them, this is painful to endure every week! Well, if they are out there, and have a burning desire to help fix the sound, why don't they? It is a simple answer. They haven't been asked.

This happened to me at my last church. We had a full band, but none of the people in the band could simultaneously play and set the board. We tried setting the board once for one song. Then we hoped that setting would be adequate for all songs, from Sunday to Sunday. It wasn't. We found that and hoped it would work

2) Run an Ad

So, I recommend a simple advertisement in the church bulletin. Make the position sound formal, so worthy of a commitment. Note in the advertisement that this person would make an invaluable contribution to the quality of music, prayer, and worship every week. Also note that prior experience is not necessary.

3) Angle for a Teen

I recommend angling for teens. Why? Hey, why not! :) Teens bring energy. Teens have a passion for music. Teens are eager to learn. Finding the right teen who is interested in learning more about music production is key.

4) Don't Loose 'em!

Once a sound person has been identified and selected snsure that this person is treated as a member of the music ministry. In fact go overboard in this treatment. Why? By definition the sound person is not a singer, and not an instrumentalist. As a result the sound person will feel like an outcast.

For me, I mentally treat the sound board as any other instrument. It must be tuned and must be played. Therefore I treat the sound person as an instrumentalist just like the other instrumentalists.

These are the tips that have worked for me. What has worked with your music ministry? Please add a comment and share your invaluable experiences with the rest of the music ministry community.

The Dreaded Mixing Board!

The History of Worship Ministry Sound
Unfolding "Testing 1-2-3"

History of Worship Ministry Sound

2010-08-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

If it is one area I find many small and medium-sized church music ministries struggle today, it is in the area of sound. Not in talent. Not in practice. Not in faith, motivation, or worship. It is in sound. Why do I say that?

To answer this, I invite you to take a brief journey back in time. We'll head back to a time before the sound systems existed and see what life was like. Ready? Let's rewind the clock more than an handful of decades. OK, here we are back in the mid twentieth century and we find that the organ, piano, and choir dominate the church worship music scene. As we walk into a church during this time we find that these instruments and choirs have no trouble filling even the biggest churches with beautiful, prayerful song and sound. Note that these instruments had volume enough to fill even the biggest churches.

Now we fast forward in time a couple of decades to about the 1980s. Now in these same churches we see a variety of other instruments engaged in the sacred art of worship music. We find acoustic guitars, violins, flutes, etc. These instruments don't have the volume their earlier cousins had, so they struggle to fill the church with sound. Congregations struggle as well to hear.

Now we fast forward back to the present day. Welcome back! :) What do we see at these struggling churches? Most of these churches now have purchased and installed a sound system. The sound system is supposed to solve the problem of the soft instruments. It should amplify their sound and balance it with the other (perhaps louder) instruments for a beautiful mix. It only requires someone to operate the sound board and dial all the confusing rows of dials properly.

And this is the point where I find things usually break down.

At smaller churches few, if any, know how to operate the sound board. Who knows what all those dials and sliders do? It looks like something out of Star Trek! What is it doing in a church of all places? Often it is set by the knowledgeable people who installed it at the time of installation. Then it is seldom touched. As a result, the sound is not mixed properly for the various music groups at each service.

It is in this way that I feel so many music ministries and churches struggle chiefly with finding a good mix of sound. What is your experience and thoughts on this? Please share your thoughts by adding a comment for the greater music ministry!

Image courtesy the Warwick and Kenilworth Choral Society

Related Posts:
The Dreaded Mixing Board!
Unfolding "Testing 1-2-3"

Is This Thing On? Tossing the Tap

2010-07-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

Most of us in music ministry use a simple technique to determine if the microphone and the sound system is ‘On’. How many times have you seen someone tap on a microphone to see if it and the sound system are working? It is a simple, quick test.

But did you know that it could cause damage?

Depending upon the type of microphone it can shorten microphone life, cause quality problems, and promote fidelity loss. Tapping on the microphone is like punching the internal, sensitive diaphragm. Try this simple test. Lift your typical tapping finger next to your ear, and tap the ear canal opening. You can feel the painful thud deep in your ear. I find this to be not so pleasant, and so do our microphones.

So, what to do? How do we safely test to see if the microphone and sound system are working? Here is a simple tip.

Of course, it is best to check the microphone and sound system before service or during practice. If this is the case see the previous post on “Testing1-2-3“.

But many times in church having open access to test the sound system is not a luxury available to us. Like the Body of Christ the church is composed of many varied groups and activities. Often these groups or activities will need exclusive access to the church, sometimes just before service. How many times have you and your group been in this situation? Perhaps a wedding scenario or pre-service prayer? Most times, we just turn the sound system power on and lightly tap on the microphone to check. But here is a simple tip to help give confidence in the sound system without hurting the microphone.

In big churches with a sound person, a hand signal could be used to have the system turned down for a quick check in the headphones.

For small churches I have found this trick to be useful. I lightly make the ‘b’ sound into the mic. This sound nicely blends into most background noise (assuming there is background noise), but can be detected by the discerning listener. If there isn’t ANY background noise and there is a need to be discrete (perhaps a formal wedding), I will usually wait a few moments for the inevitable cough, sneeze, or other noise blurt. At that moment, blend the ‘b’ to the blurt!

Will this work for your church? Do you have other helpful tricks for these moments? Please share with the rest of us in the music ministry community! Add your comments to this post.

Related Posts
Unfolding Testing 1-2-3
Microphone Technique for Church Singers: Cozy Up to the Mic
Microphone in Music Ministry: Technique for Angle
Which Microphone is Best for You?

That Annoying and Embarrassing Feedback

2010-07-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

What music ministry hasn’t experienced that annoying thing called feedback? By feedback, I mean the high pitched noise or low pitched hum that occasionally arises from a hyper-sensitive sound system. It is annoying at best and in church it is distractingly embarrassing. Where it comes from and what causes it depend upon a number of factors, but the bottom line effect is the same, it is annoying! What is the most frequent cause?

In my experience, and likely yours, it is simple. It is pointing the microphone in the wrong direction.

One time in church service I angled the microphone down and away so I could whisper a question to a fellow band member, and zeeeeeeeep! (It reminded me of the coming of the Christ in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief, and the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise.”!!) Well, I figured out later that that was the wrong direction to aim it—right at the monitor! Embarrassing! Another fool was born in need of forgiveness!

Angling the microphone in the direction of a live speaker or monitor quickly facilitates the rise of din. A microphone aimed at a speaker creates an amplification circle. The microphone sends a sound to the sound system to be amplified. The sound system sends it to the speaker which is picked up by the microphone, and … you get the point.

Keeping the back of the microphone to the speakers is the best policy. Just think of it this way. Just like we can’t see what is behind our head, a microphone can’t hear anything behind it. Nothing. Nada. It is totally deaf back there where the wire comes out.

(Also having the speaker volume set high is also a frequent source of feedback, but that is a great subject for another day!)

So, next time you hear that annoying feedback try to rear its ugly head, pay attention to the sound system speakers. Where are they? Aim the microphone away (and its back end toward) the speaker, and ding the awful din!

I’m curious to know if feedback is as common in other church sound systems as it has been in my experience. What has been your experience? Would anyone care to share their feedback nightmare experience for the music ministry community? Click on "View and Add Comments" to share with us!

Related Posts and Links
Our Most Embarrassing Moments...
Wedding Woes...
Unfolding "Testing 1-2-3"
The Microphone in Music Ministry
Wiki: Audio Feedback

All Tuned Up? Tuning Tips

2010-07-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous article, "All Tuned Up? Tuning Frequency" there are three ways that I know to tune an instrument.

Tuned to itself. Set one string as the pitch foundation, and tune the rest against it.
Tuned to another instrument. All instruments are tuned according to one that is selected as the tune foundation. This instrument is the one most trusted, or the one most difficult to tune.
Tuned to a tuner. All instruments tune to a calibrated instrument.

These are simple enough, but how does a multi-instument music group, tune when the piano is off-pitch?

Over time my poor piano drifts in pitch. This is natural and is periodically resolved by a professional piano tuner. However, it is in the few weeks before the piano tuner arrives (per the tuning schedule) to perform his trade where matters get sticky.

Now we return to the multi-instrument music group attempting to tune. Although electronic tuners may be present, my professional piano tuner isn't due for another few weeks, so all instruments must tune to the out-of-tune piano. In doing so, all instruments are now equivalently out of pitch. Is this the best solution? In my experience although all instruments are "tuned" together, the dissonance seems to be more audibly apparent in the other stringed and brass instruments and less so in the piano. In other words, the piano sounds "OK", while the other instruments sound like death warmed over! Why? I can't say. Perhaps it is just me?

My best suggestion for these scenarios is to segregate the piano and other instruments by song. That is, categorize the playlist by piano-only and non-piano instruments. In this way the other instruments can be tuned to a tuner. Of course, this may not work for many groups where the piano is the music focal point, but may help many other groups who may also have a guitarist or keyboard on hand.

What routine seems to work best for your group? Please contribute your valuable experience to the church musician community and add a comment.

Related Posts:
Great Blog on Care and Feeding of Pianos
All Tuned Up: Tuning Frequency

Note: Image courtesy Crystal Tones.

Tom Booth Interview

2010-07-05T05:44:00.000-07:00

Today we have a very special guest to the Music Ministry Tips community!

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an honor and a pleasure to introduce Tom Booth.

I will most certainly fall short in attempting to describe Tom. He is an artist, a musician, a husband, a father, but above all, a man of God. He has been nominated for two Unity Awards, for Rock Album of the Year, “Cry the Gospel” and he won for Rock Song of the Year for – “Taste of Heaven.”

I could go on and on, so I think I will! Tom has now composed three Number 1 hits on the Contemporary Christian Music charts: “I Will Choose Christ” (composed with and recorded by Kathy Troccoli) which also received a Dove Award nomination from the Gospel Music Association, “Nothing is Beyond You” written with friends Mitch McVicker and the incredible Rich Mullins (recorded by Amy Grant), and “Love Has a Name” (composed with and recorded by Kathy Troccoli). He has written and performed songs for both Mother Teresa (including "Prayer of Abandonment") and Pope John Paul II.

These accolades are indeed stunning, but more importantly for this blog community is Tom's vast experience in music ministry. Tom has led numerous music groups, voice ensembles for over 20 years at my last count. And this experience spans nearly every spiritual event I can contemplate this side of heaven, from church to prayer groups to prayerful concerts.

Lastly on a more personal note, to say that Tom has been an influence in my life would be an incredible understatement. Along with the Lord, he has been a guiding light for my music and music ministry. I have been listening, playing, and praying Tom's music for years. A few of his pieces that are my absolute favorites are I Will Choose Christ, Go Ye Out, Cry the Gospel, Find Us Ready, and Prepare the Way. All of these pieces speak to a prayerful heart and a tremendous soul.

Now I thought I would ask our special guest his thoughts today on a couple of tough topics that are significant issues we face in music ministry.

Interview

Music Ministry Tips: Here is a topic that many struggle with in today's music ministries: music quality. Today’s music has amazing quality compared to only a few decades ago. It is stunningly produced and meticulously written and performed. Now with music outlets such as iTunes, and mobile music devices like iPods, this music is readily available and convenient everywhere. It is unavoidable that our music is compared to these well produced pieces.

Given your vast music ministry experience and recording industry experience, how do you approach music quality with your choir and music groups?

Tom Booth: The industry may have perfected recording, but we have far from perfected worship by any means. Recording is a science. Engineers are behind the production of recorded music. Humans who are involved in the worship of God will always be imperfect and make mistakes.

I led music ensembles for almost three decades, as a young man and throughout my twenties, thirties, and forties. There was a time that I really worked towards some sort of perfection. Now I would rather think that an approach that is musically sound, but genuine, friendly and well, human, is fine. Mistakes are a part of the human experience. I don’t expect to hear mistakes at the symphony, but during worship a mistake doesn’t betray the reason I am there. I need to worship God, hear the Word, gather with my faith family, etc…

Quality music for me means well chosen regarding lyric, theology, variety of style and “performed” in a way that the community can sing and participate.

The question is this: did we prayerfully choose this music, rehearse this music and perform this music?

MMT: Furthering this topic, what are some things that you do with your music groups to ensure quality worship, or to promote oneness with the Lord?

TB: If someone is involved in music ministry, I assume they are motivated by a sense of service, worship and a gift of musicality. When any of these elements are missing is when we run into trouble. Someone may have a gift of music, but possess no real desire to worship and serve others. That can lead to the American Idol syndrome. It’s great that this person wants to sing and perform, but that is not what we are about with worship. Worship is about serving the person next to you – helping others to discover the divine within.

Jesus said the “kingdom of heaven is within (Luke). We need to not only worship with hands raised and voices loud, but in silence and in adoration. God came to dwell with and in us. Our music needs to lead out to the God in the heavens, but also IN to the indwelling Christ.

(Part II of the interview will follow in a future post. The topic planned is Youth in Music Ministry.)
Images courtesy www.tomboothmusic.com

Comments? Questions?

We invite you to add your thoughts, comments, or questions to this post. Share your experiences with the rest of the music ministry community! Simply click on the "View and Add Comments" in red letters to the right.

Related Links
Our Most Embarrassing Moments

Attention Composers! HolyMeasures.com Interviewed

2010-06-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

In an earlier post, I described the new website HolyMeasures.com for music ministry composers. It is a site where we can upload our sheet music that can be viewed and shared with other churches around the world. For us composers, it is a free process. For those downloading, a token fee is charged, and part of it is passed on to us.

After viewing the site and uploading a song, I still had some questions about the site and the team behind it. Recently I had a chance to interview the founders of the site, Matt Wessel and Bryan Paull.

Interview
MusicMinistryTips: There are other sites where one can upload music, but what makes HolyMeasures.com unique?
HolyMeasures.com: There are several features about Holy Measures that, although not independently unique, when combined truly make our site a new, fresh offering for composers. There is no registration fee for composers to begin sharing their music with Holy Measures. Rather, there's a revenue sharing model that only comes into play when a song is sold. So composers can upload as many songs as they like with absolutely no financial risk to them. We accept all songs submitted to us, provided that they fit our mission (religious, spiritual music), that they abide by copyright laws and that they are in at least lead sheet form (they have to have that melody line to go with the chords). Our technology allows composers to upload simple PDFs

(meaning they can use any notating program they want) that are displayed dynamically on our song preview pages - with no software downloads required to view the sheet music. It's a dream come true for composers who want to create an online marketplace for their music.

Holy Measures is also unique in that we accept music from all faith backgrounds, giving visitors to the site a more robust collection of music to search through. Of course, visitors can search for songs of a particular faith if they wish. And the best part of all? Music purchased on Holy Measures is instantly delivered to an individual's account page and can be printed from the comfort of home. We also allow composers to sell MP3s for any of the sheet music they upload, which is another benefit to both the buyer and the seller. When you combine all of this, you end up with a truly unique model that aims to bring to light thousands of never-before heard pieces of worship music.

MMT: For me, HolyMeasures.com seems to be the perfect solution for part-time composers with one-church wonder songs, or songs that are well loved at one church. HolyMeasures.com helps broaden the horizon for those songs and their composers. Does this seem to reflect your composer population?

HM: Our composer population is very diverse - in age, gender, faith, style, experience, etc. It's a wonderful thing. Many of our composers have been writing for years, but have either never been published or never before thought about sharing their music outside of their local worship community. We do have several pieces that have been beta-tested by composers in their communities and our site aims to bring these local favorites to a national audience. When possible, we encourage our composers to use the "Song Description" field on their pages to explain why they wrote the song and whether or not it has found favor somewhere. It's neat to hear the stories behind different pieces.

MMT: To the best of your knowledge, tell us about the kind of people that search the site and download music. Help us part-time composers understand who they are. Are they music ministers as I would imagine? What are the things they are looking for? How have they rated your service so far?

HM: We are too new of a site (barely six months old) to have a true sense of who is coming to our site with the intention of making a purchase. From what we can tell, many are worship leaders and music directors looking for new pieces of music for their communities. Some have heard of a specific composer directly and come to Holy Measures to search for that person's music. Some have needed a specific song for a specific season or event and have used our site to find new songs to consider. We also have composers who come to the site with the intention to sell their songs, but who also end up buying music that they find while at Holy Measures.

But ultimately, when talking about who we're marketing the site to, the answer is worship leaders and music directors - individuals who use religious music on a weekly basis who might be interested in seeing an entirely new collection of songs.

As for what they're looking for, we can't stress this enough: they want to see lyrics and they want to hear audio. Seeing the piece of music is important, but because we're dealing with unpublished, never-before-heard pieces, it's important that composers take the time to upload their lyrics and any audio they may have of the song. The more they can give a visitor, the better the chances of them making a sale. Even at a bargain price of $5 per song, no one wants to purchase a piece of music if they're not convinced they like it or that they'd be able to use it.

MMT: Tell us about the moment that inspired you to create HolyMeasures.com?

HM: I was driving on the highway. It was during a week when I was re-tooling my personal website so that I could sell sheet music and I was finding the process of displaying a PDF on my site to be very difficult. I'm not sure where I was headed, but I remember driving down the highway and the thought just popping into my head - "Someone should create a site where people like me can upload their liturgical pieces and sell them to the world." After thinking about it some more, I decided it was something I wanted to pursue. I brought the idea to my friend Bryan's attention and shortly thereafter we started mapping out a site that was to become Holy Measures.

MMT: Give us a view from behind the scenes. What are your priorities now? What is next? Let us know of any plans you have for the site...or another site?

HM: We continue to work on various features to improve the Holy Measures experience for both composers and site visitors - a combination of things we have had planned from day one and things that individuals have suggested to us. We love receiving feedback about the site and suggestions on how to improve it. One thing we're currently working on is a resource page for composers - a page that answers various questions and offers tips and suggestions on scoring music, creating PDFs, creating audio, marketing songs, etc. But the main functions of the site are live and our number one priority now is promoting the site to an external audience. We want to focus our time and energy on making people aware of Holy Measures and the great new music that's available in our library.

MMT: What has been the reaction to the site so far?

HM: Incredibly positive, from both composers and visitors. Composers are very appreciative to have a new home for their compositions and an opportunity to bring their talents to a wider worshiping community. Many of our users were simply posting PDFs on their personal pages in the hopes someone would find it, download it and use it. Now they're able to put their music on a site that reaches a much wider audience, while at the same time offering visitors to their personal site a more professional way to purchase their music. We've also received many e-mails from musicians who comment on the site's purpose, the site's design and the site's offerings. They seem to enjoy the opportunity to browse new music and tell us they look forward to using the site.

MMT: What would you suggest to a music director or potential buyer visiting your site for the first time?

HM: Take some time to look around. We have over 1,100 songs from over 100 composers. The songs are all over the place in terms of style and complexity. The best way to find that gem of a song you're looking for is to take some time to browse the catalog and listen to the audio previews. It's a pretty rewarding feeling to hear a song and say, "That's it!" and know you've found something special that your worshiping community will love.

MMT: Give us a feeling for how many songs have been downloaded to date, and a current downloads per month estimate.
HM: It is difficult to answer since we are so new. We anticipate adding a "download counter" to the site in the near future so that people can see the results for themselves.

MMT: OK, here is the tricky question that several people have asked me. How are copyrights handled with HolyMeasures.com? Does HolyMeasures.com file a copyright for the individual composer, or is the composer required to sign a document outlining their rights and share of any possible income?
HM: Composers who share their songs on Holy Measures retain full copyrights to their music. They can remove their music at anytime and are free to sell their songs elsewhere at the same time they sell their music on Holy Measures. Holy Measures simply provides a service to composers - by which they can upload and sell their sheet music in a digital, convenient format, to a wider audience. But we leave the rights to the song 100% in the hands of the composer. We do offer copy licenses to buyers that plan to make photo copies of their music, or to those who wish to re-print the music in a worship aid or program (this is very similar to the service that CCLI offers).

Related Posts:
Attention Composers! Review of HolyMeasures.com

Attention Composers! Review of HolyMeasures.com

2010-06-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

I am quite excited about this post! This one is for all the part-time worship music composers out there in music ministry. This is for those of us that don't have professional songwriting contracts. This is for those of us that have composed popular praise and worship songs at our churches and would like to share our them with the rest of the world.

I recently came across an article describing the purpose and motivations behind a new website: HolyMeasures.com. It is described as a "Place for Independent Religious and Spiritual Sheet Music"

It is a site where we can upload our sheet music that can be viewed and shared with other churches around the world. For us composers, it is a free process. For those downloading, a token fee is charged, and part of it is passed on to us.

Now, I'm not in it for the money. But I do have many songs that have been popular at a small number of churches. Many now sit in a stack in my basement or in the back of a drawer. For me this seems like a great way of sharing our worship songs with the rest of the church.

My experience

I tried the site on one of my songs, Into the Light, and it was a very easy process. Like I said, it is free for us composers, so there were no credit card pages to worry about. The sheet music must be in pdf format. This wasn't an issue for me and the songwriting software I use. And an audio track is encouraged to be uploaded as well. It needs to be in mp3 format. Again, this wasn't an issue for me, since mp3 is by far the most popular audio format available.

Next up, were several categorical questions. Answers to these questions placed my song in various categories that facilitate searching and locating by interested churches. These questions ranged from song arrangement type, to faith, to holy season, and so forth. Usually more than one category at a time could be selected. I liked this, since my songs can be multi-faceted. I took a snapshot of the category screen so you can get a feel of how it works.

Lastly, after I submitted the song, I received a message saying that the sheet music would be reviewed within 24 to 48 hours. I was told that this was a simple precaution to ensure that submissions are indeed religious music. Sure enough, in about a day I could view my sheet music online after a simple search.

Limitation

For some music ministry groups, I know this site will have one key limitation. This site isn't for every composer. This site is really aimed at composers of formal sheet music. Many music ministry composers I know don't write out formal sheet music, but rather scribble a chord chart over the lyrics and then record an mp3. Maybe there is a place for that kind of sheet music, but probably not here.

Questions

For me, it is unclear who the audience is for this site. Who are the types of people that search, view, and download songs? What songs and what song type would best be suited for this audience? For these questions and more I have arranged for an interview with the founders of HolyMeasures.com. This interview will be in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

Conclusion

So what do you think? Would this site be of use to you in your music ministry? Are you planning to upload your songs there today? Let us know. Add your comment of your thoughts and experiences to benefit other music ministries.

Not to Us, O Lord

2010-06-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would throw out some food for thought as well as a bible verse pertaining to prayer before the first song is sung. Given all the effort that is instilled in music ministry such as song selection, setup in church, practice, and the inevitable last-minute-adjustments, the focus can easy become blurred. We may feel that the attention is on us.

Certainly, there is some attention that will be given to us. During live music, the congregation will naturally be curious about the music source. Without seeing the music group, it would feel eerily disembodied, wouldn’t it? In addition to this proverbial spotlight, in some churches there may be physical spotlights as well on the music group.

What are we to do with this attention? Redirect it.

It is at a time like this that I like to reflect upon the bible, specifically Psalm 115:1: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"

This moment is not about us. It is all about him.

If this doesn’t work, I think about myself wearing a shirt with “It’s not about me” emblazoned on the front! (For the self-centered music group member, this shirt would not be recommended as a gift! As a gift it would make a powerful impression, wouldn’t it?! But that would signal uncontrolled haughtiness, I suppose.)

We should act to redirect that attention. I like to think of good church music groups as a lens, focusing the attention on Christ.

How is this accomplished? Three words: prayer, prayer, prayer.

Or perhaps it is best to frame it as three prayers in one. First I start with Prayer One.

Prayer one is for our us and our instruments. It is a prayer that we may use our voices and instruments to the best of our ability.
Prayer two is for us as His Instruments. It is a prayer that we may be used as His Instruments to do His will.
Prayer three is for the congregation or assembly. It is a prayer that His people may shortly hear the beauty of Christ.

The easy way to remember this is Our Instruments, His Instruments, His People. Three steps to Prayerful Song.

Do you pray before the first song is sung? How does your music ministry pray?

Related Posts
May God Bless the Leaders of Song!
Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence
Prayerful Song: Refocus
Music Ministry Tips: Part I of Seventy Times Seven

Image courtesy an awesome T-shirt that can be purchased at Zazzle

Our Most Embarrassing Moments...

2010-06-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

Although we'd like to think we'll be flawless in front of the microphone, Mr. Murphy's law inevitably catches up with us!

When it happens to me, I quickly remind myself what a loving and forgiving God we have!

What is your most embarrassing moment in Music Ministry?

I recently asked this question to a forum of music ministers and here are a few of the mortifying tales.

Paul's Pickle
But, first here is my most embarrassing moment.

I must have had the previous song in my head, and started the intro in 3/4, when it should have been 4/4. I didn't realize what I was doing until several others started looking at me. By 'looking', I mean, staring at me with laser-beams! Once I realized what an absolute mess I was in, the only way out was to switch cold into 4/4 at the next down beat! Humiliations galore!

Dude's Dud
This one is from "Pian0dude."
"Ok this had to be my worst....I had one of those overly confident whacky transition ideas flowing through my head between two songs.

How Great Is Our God
Jude Doxology

So picture this... I know... it's compeltely horrible... but I tried it and totally screwed it up.

"All will see how great, how great is our God" hold the A chord...
"Is our God" do the F - G - A progression for "forever more" on Jude doxology... repeat this a few times...while singing "Is Our God" and then work in to "Forevermore" a few times.

That part was going OK, but I forgot to change my timing from 4/4 to 6/8 or whatever Jude Doxology is in... I didn't notice it until the verse and my poor band was trying so hard to follow along with me, but I eventually realized there was no smooth way out of this, so I kind of chuckled in the mic and said "I'm sorry folks" and immediately slammed in to the right timing/groove for Jude Doxology.

So, again, as I said... it was one of these super spiritual (not!), super creative (not so much), absolutely have to do it (um, really?) moments and it totally back fired on me.. DOH!

Fortunately I have a forgiving congregation and they kind of chuckled." :)

Locke's Lack of Luck
"Two words: string breakage." -Locke

Frisch's Freak
"Occasionally I'll transpose my keyboard to play a tune. One Sunday I had shifted down a half-step for the last song of the opening set and forgot to put it back afterward. The closer started with about 2 1/2 minutes of piano & vocals only and then had a big band entrance... you can imagine what that sounded like!" -Eric Frisch

Kregster's Crash
"Most embarrassing moment for me would be forgetting the words to the second verse of 'Enough' by Chris Tomlin.......I just muttered and mumbled along until the chorus" -Kregster

Thank goodness for God's forgiveness! What is your most embarrassing moment in music ministry? Add it in a comment.

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May God Bless the Leaders of Song!
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Image courtesy smart.fm

The Dreaded Mixing Board!

2010-06-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

"We can't hear any of the singers!" "Um, I think I accidentally did something on the The Mixing Board." At many small- and medium-sized churches these are perhaps some of the most feared words in Music Ministry. Why? It means that the dreaded mixer must be adjusted!

This fear manifests itself in other seemingly innocuous ways. Considering the churches I've played in the recent past, one music ministry has such a fear of the mixing board that no one is allowed to touch it. A large sign is taped to the top pleading, "Do Not Touch!" At another church, the mixer gathers dust in the darkness under lock and key. It is never opened. Early in its life it was cared for, calibrated and set by an "expert." Now years later those settings are used for all the differing music groups from the choir to the contemporary band.

What is it about the mixing board that exudes such terrors? I'm sure you'll agree the answer is simple. With all those knobs, sliders, and flashing lights, it looks like something right out of Star Trek. (Hmm, maybe it could even be alien?!) No wonder it is put under lock and key. Its crime? Guilty of Wanton Complexity!

[Now I consider my personal reaction to the Dreaded Mixing Board as differing from the general norm. I have a technical background. So my reaction is more of intrigue, as a child approaches a fun puzzle. Combining that with a musical ear (adhering to thick skull!), I can often feel right at home with the Board o' Numerous & Countless Knobs (i.e., the BoNCK!).]

Let's face it. Mixing boards' greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness. Even today's lower-end mixing boards have countless features and functions. It is truly stunning. (What an age we live in!) With so many knobs, sliders, and blinking lights, they are ready for any musical job. But at the same time this marvelous capability quickly translates to overwhelming complexity for the untrained and non-techy majority.

I've been waiting for innovations in the mixing board industry to bring this tool from the techie realm and into the rest of humanity. Once this occurs, then much of the music ministry community worldwide will benefit. But progress seems agonizingly slow.

My hopes grew somewhat during a recent visit to a music store where I had a chance to see today's latest mixing board offerings. I noticed that a number of new sound effects are available. These included reverb options, delay, chorus, echo, etc. Although somewhat helpful, I don't think this is a step entirely in the right direction.

What is the step in the right direction? I can simply summarize it in one word. Automation.

Think about it. What if we had a mixing board that could automate several if not many of its functions? We could have a "user friendly" mixing board! Would it be compatible with most musicians? Would it be ready for music ministries in small and medium churches?

What do you think? Am I crazy to put "user friendly" and "mixing board" in the same sentence? I am dreaming? Let me know what you think. Once I review your feedback, I'll add some detail to the proposal in an upcoming post.

Image courtesy of The Mixtape Monster Blog.

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Music Ministry in an "App"?

2010-05-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Remember my earlier post about having affordable instruments in music ministry? It focused on mainly iPhone light percussion instruments "apps". It seems that in a short time, many other instruments are now available for a convenient price on the iPhone. Imagine a whole music ministry built upon iPhone instruments! This video blew me away!

Of course, this does not spell the end of the instrumentalist. Note that the players are still picking "strings" and pressing "keys". For a moment, one shakes his phone for an "egg" percussion sound.

The possibilities are amazing! Could this be a vision to the future of music ministry on some level?

Have you seen something similar? Could this benefit your music ministry?

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Playing Together: Dynamics Part II

2010-05-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

This post continues the Dynamics theme from an earlier post.

Have you been a part of a music ministry where every instrument played on and throughout every song? Have you noticed that each song somehow seems to sound like the other? I have been in several bands like this. This seems to be a tendency of many bands. But, honestly, I must be the first to admit that I have also been guilty of this from time to time!

Sometimes we can become fully engrossed in our own instrument and performing the music piece, that we don’t, in a manner of speaking, ‘hear’ the full picture. This is certainly often true of music ministry groups without a designated music leader, but can also be true of groups with music leaders that are singers or instrumentalists as well.

All songs need color. Variation. Beauty. A comparison can be made here to another art form, painting. Imagine an artist painting on a canvas. To this canvas the artist applies all available colors continuously across the entire canvas. The result is likely uniform, nondescript, bland. Beauty often lies in the variations of the subtle and the contrasting. Some of the music equivalents in this comparison are song arrangement and dynamics (I'm sure there are others that I can't put my finger on just now).

Varying dynamics can add beauty to a song. It can be difficult to introduce the concept of varying dynamics in a music ministry. An instrumentalist who is conditioned for constant playing may be surprised to hear his or her services are not required, however temporarily.

Here is an idea help introduce the concept of dynamics. Pick a particular song and say you would like to try building energy slowly from the Intro throughout the Verse and into the Chorus. For the Intro, start with one flowing instrument. Add another at the Verse. Add another (perhaps light percussion?) at the Chorus. The variations on this framework are, of course, excitingly endless!

This is just a beginning. Once a music ministry grasps this concept, the next step lies in developing individual intros, blends, and exits for each instrumentalist.

Would this work for your music ministry? Have you been in a band like this? What have you done to introduce dynamics or other elements to the bands’ repertoire?

Related Posts
Playing Together: Dynamics

Welcome Sunday Musicians to Our New Home!

2010-05-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

We certainly agree with Shakespeare that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet! Welcome to our rose with a new name! Welcome to those that have been following us at Sunday Musician. Welcome to our new home. Welcome to Music Ministry Tips!

Although under a new name, as you can see it has the same great look and feel. The same thoughtful authors, Paul Schmitt and Lisa B. are still here with our years of music ministry background and experience. We will continue to share our thoughts, tips, and recommendations. We hope you continue to share yours by adding comments to our posts.

Above all, our goal continues to be to build a blog community of musicians who love to worship Our Lord, Jesus Christ, every moment, but especially at church in Music Ministry.

We are excited about this, and we hope you are as well!

Please take the opportunity to reset your bookmarks now. Reset your RSS accounts. And don't forget to help get the word out! Tweet it out! Friend it out! Use the Tweet and Facebook links below.

Welcome to Music Ministry Tips! What do you think about the new name? As always, please share your thoughts on this and anything else on your mind by adding a comment to this post by clicking 'View Comments."

May God Bless the Leaders of Song!

2010-05-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

We fall under many labels. We can be called Worship Leaders, Music Ministers, Youth Band Leader, Contemporary Band Leader, etc. We lead the music in church. We lead music ministry. We lead the congregation in song and praise.

We have many jobs within our job. Yes, we lead the music, but we also recruit musicians (always recruiting!), search songs, find songs, select songs, locate sheet music, learn and follow copyright law, arrange songs, organize very generous and dear volunteers, lead practice, foster musical teamwork, but above all we strive to motivate souls.

Some of us are full-time, most are part-time. Usually it is not seen as a job, but as a passion or a calling. We consider it an honor to be the one who breathes musical life into the service and bible verse.

Sometimes it can be easy to get down. We are trying to do so much with so little. We’ll probably never sound as good as today’s mass-and-meticulously produced music. Most of us lack pop-star voices. We rely upon part-time musicians who strive to give their best. We strive to accomplish all this with a minuscule budget. We sometimes struggle with the basics: keeping tempo, developing instrumental confidence, and perhaps keeping the key!

Through all the struggles, tumult and strife, somehow God's grace is poured out upon the thirsty souls. Sometimes in drops, sometimes in buckets! How beautiful is the work of the Lord, working through us, His music ministry, His humble earthen vessels.

May God bless the Leaders of Song!

"Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!" Psalm 150.

Related Posts:
Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence
Prayerful Song: Refocus
Prayerful Song: Part I of Seventy Times Seven

All Tuned Up? Tuning Frequency

2010-04-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is a fundamental subject for all music ministries, and is not one to be overlooked:

How often should we tune our instruments?

Sometimes in the rush of setting up, organizing music, and practicing pieces this can go unnoticed and be forgotten even with the best of intentions. How are we to “make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise”? Psalm 95:2

For us as church musicians, we might not see our instruments but once or twice a week. For me I strive to tune my instruments every time I pick them up. As we know a variety of factors can cause instruments to ‘drift’ from tune: temperature, humidity, string stretching, reed age and moisture. Several of these factors can and will change from Sunday to Sunday resulting in pitch changes in our instruments.

The key for me, and I think many instrumentalists is to tune after warming up the instrument. For my guitar, for example, I have a quick pattern I play that is, shall we say, note intensive and is excellent for warming the strings. I have played with brass and woodwind players that also have a warm up and tune routine.
But what are we to tune to? This is perhaps not as easy.

There are three ways that I know to tune an instrument:

Tuned to itself. Of course, this doesn’t apply to woodwinds and brass, but mainly the stringed instruments. Set one string as the pitch foundation, and tune the rest against it. This only works for single instrument arrangements.
Tuned to another instrument. This applies to every instrument. All instruments are tuned according to one that is selected as the tune foundation. This instrument is the one most trusted, or the one most difficult to tune. Usually, this is the piano unless there happens to be a piano mechanic in the music group! :)
Tuned to a tuner. All instruments tune to a calibrated instrument. In the past this meant tuning forks, but nowadays there are a variety of electronic tuners available. These electronic gadgets are costing less and less. Here is one of my favorite.

For most groups, I think the best tuning method readily presents itself from the list above.

However, I've seen significant tuning issues in music groups with a piano. I'll elaborate on the dilemma and posit a possible approach in my next post Wednesday.

What routine seems to work best for your group? Please contribute your valuable experience to the music ministry community and add a comment.

Note: Image courtesy Crystal Tones.

Which Microphone Is Best for You?

2010-04-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

This post will be most helpful to the singers in music ministry and is a continuation of our series on "Getting to Know Your Microphone."

Ever notice that your voice sounds different when using different microphones? One makes your voice muffled and flat while another, tinny.

Different mics response to your voice differently. This is by design and is simply a reflection of the fact that there is no perfect mic for all occasions and uses.

Professional singers have their favorite microphone brand and type. It is the one that has been carefully selected after listening to multitude of others. It is the one that brings out the best in their voices. Many carry it gingerly from gig to gig in its own felt case. If they’re successful enough to have someone carry it and set it up for them, they’ll scratch their name in it so they’ll recognize their faithful friend atop the mic stand. If the friend isn’t there, the show will not go on until it is found!

I don’t have a favorite one today that I could recommend off the top of my head. And even if I did, it likely wouldn’t work for your voice. I’m a baritone singer (who often masquerades as a tenor out of necessity!), so my vocal characteristics will be different than most singers I imagine.

What is the bottom line? Find the one that is right for you. That is, if you are lucky enough to have a church with a little music budget. Try different types at the music store. Sing a few notes of your favorite prayer-song, a song you are passionate about. Listen carefully to the response through the sound system.

Does it feel like someone else singing on an old AM radio station? Then it probably isn’t the one for you! :) Then again, do you feel like singing more? Do you feel like rejoicing in song?! Then that’s the one for you!

What is your favorite microphone brand and type? It would be interesting to see what the most popular recommendations are in music ministry today. Please share by adding a comment. When we get enough responses, we'll tabulate the most popular.

Related Posts
Microphone in Music Ministry: Technique of Angle
Unfolding "Testing 1-2-3"

Helpful Music Ministry Gadgets: Tuner App

2010-04-20T19:09:00.000-07:00

Again, let me begin this by saying that this church musician is not sponsored by any products or services. If I see a product or service that seems to have great value for us in music ministry, then I genuinely mean it.

This one seems intuitively perfect for us.

I previously wrote about a light percussion program for popular smartphones. This is another "app" for the iPhone. That is Silicon Valley speak for another "program for a particular Apple smartphone called the iPhone." It is called Cleartune Chromatic Tuner. Yes, it simply turns a phone into a handy tuner. Great idea, but how does it work?

It uses the phone's microphone to listen to your instrument, then displays the pitch on the screen. The display is quite intuitive with an easy-to-read pitch dial or "note wheel" indicating the current pitch.

Why does it work for church musicians? Simple.
First it is very portable. This is especially important for those of us who often lug our own instruments to church. Avoiding the weight and bulk of a tuner is a smart way to go. Second, the price can't be beat. It costs under $4. For churches and musicians on a budget, as most of us are these days, this cannot be beat. No other tuner I know comes close to this price.

What are the downsides? Yes, this is limited to those with a particular type of phone, the iPhone. For now. But for those of you in music groups check with your musician friends. Perhaps someone else may have this iPhone since they are quite popular. I don't have one of those phones (still on the outside looking in), so personally, I am hoping this handy app is ported to other phones soon. Believe me, I will let you know when this happens!

Having not used this I would be curious to know how it functions in, say, a noisy church with other instruments warming up nearby. Also, how jumpy or jittery is the pitch dial? As many of us know, it can be difficult tuning to a nervous tuner! Having said this, though, I can't wait to try it! Has anyone used this Cleartune Chromatic Tuner? What are your findings? Would you recommend it to others in music ministry?

Related Posts
Holy Cowbell?!

Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence

2010-04-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am continuing a theme developed in some earlier posts about the importance of prayer before the first song is sung. Gather the music group together in a circle and pray.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, it is an anxious time before that first song. "What is that first song again?" "Where is the music for it?" "I’m not sure I practiced this tricky part enough." It is important to refocus our attentions back onto what should be our main task: leading souls in prayerful song. It is amazing what a simple prayer will do to help refocus the music ministry.

If time is short (and it often is!), I'll simply pray that He bless our voices and instruments. Bless our humble music ministry. May Your will be accomplished through us. ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10)

One side benefit I’ve noticed about this prayer is the grace of confidence. I’ve noticed my level of anxiety drop after this prayer. I feel the spotlight fade. It is almost as if I am joining in the choir of angels. Since I also ask that the Lord bless our voices and instruments, I also feel His ownership of the song enter. He Himself is blessing the instruments, making them holy instruments of His will. Who can miss a note when playing blest instruments?! Honestly!

Even when I am most anxious, this prayer can relieve me of that burdensome baggage.

Has anyone else noticed this gift or am I the lone blest one? ;)

Related Posts:
May God Bless the Leaders of Song!
Prayerful Song: Refocus
Prayerful Song: Part I of Seventy Times Seven

Music Ministry Tips

6 Tips for Landing the Perfect Job in Music Ministry

Our Most Embarrassing Moments...III

Replacing Ye Olde Sound System

Introduction

Current Sound System Assessment

New Sound System Selection Process

What Does the System Need to Do?

Right Sized

The Proposal: Cost Overview

The Proposal: Hardware Overview

Speakers

Mixing Board

Microphones

Monitors

The Purpose of Music

Most Embarrassing Moments in Music Ministry II

Top 6 Free Tutorials on Mixing Sound

Top 4 Tips for Music Ministry Sound System Help

History of Worship Ministry Sound

Is This Thing On? Tossing the Tap

That Annoying and Embarrassing Feedback

All Tuned Up? Tuning Tips

Tom Booth Interview

Attention Composers! HolyMeasures.com Interviewed

Attention Composers! Review of HolyMeasures.com

Not to Us, O Lord

Our Most Embarrassing Moments...

The Dreaded Mixing Board!

Music Ministry in an "App"?

Playing Together: Dynamics Part II

Welcome Sunday Musicians to Our New Home!

May God Bless the Leaders of Song!

All Tuned Up? Tuning Frequency

Which Microphone Is Best for You?

Helpful Music Ministry Gadgets: Tuner App

Prayerful Song: The Gift of Confidence