What Do You Say When You Lead Worship?
by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links, Leading Corporate Worship | No Comments »
Bob Kauflin has been cranking out another remarkable series of posts at his Worship Matters blog, this time on the subject of “What do you say when you lead worship?” This is valuable reflection from a man who has been doing this for decades over one of the more difficult aspects of our job, especially for younger worship leaders. Check it out:
“The World Will See” by The Unlikelies – Now available!
by Travis Swan | Posted in Announcments, New Music | No Comments »
Announcing – “The World Will See” by The Unlikelies. Now available on iTunes and Amazon.com! Also check out the free full quality preview mp3 of “Almighty.”
When Travis Swan and Katrina Stone collaborated for the first time in 2005, it was unlikely that anything would come of that four-hour songwriting session. Facing differences in musical influences and disparate upbringings, they penned the first track of their new album The World Will See. “When we wrote Only By Your Grace, I had no idea it would spawn into an entire album, ” says Stone. And nearly 5 years later, it finally has.
Continue ‘“The World Will See” by The Unlikelies – Now available!’ »
Crafting A Melody
by Travis Swan | Posted in Song Writing | 1 Comment »
The Unlikelies are Travis Swan (founding member of rockworship.com) and Katrina Stone – once a week or so we’ll be posting insights gained in the writing/recording/worship leading process of our album, “The World Will See.”
The marriage between a set of lyrics and the perfect melody is an often overlooked prerequisite in the art of songwriting. So much of the music we hear today has a melody that was poorly crafted without thought to creating an interesting and engaging as well as long lasting effect on the listener. This wasn’t always the case; the “pop” songwriters of the 1930’s and 1940’s focused greatly on writing melodies. In many cases the melody was the basis for a song, with lyrics and chords added later. Currently in pop/rock music, so much of the song is written based on a groove or guitar riff. The chorus of the song will be added after the fact and almost all of the song is pieced together after the instrumental aspect of the track is done. This leads to melodies being an afterthought that most people tire of quickly. Continue ‘Crafting A Melody’ »
On Guitar Tone
by Travis Swan | Posted in Gear, Production | No Comments »
The Unlikelies are Travis Swan (founding member of rockworship.com) and Katrina Stone – once a week or so we’ll be posting insights gained in the writing/recording/worship leading process of our album, “The World Will See.”
I’m going to start with one word. Simplify!
The main thing to remember in both live and recording applications is that whatever you send into the mix is what will come out on the other end – no amount of processing can fix bad tone. Take everything back to the signal source – your guitar.
Turn off your effects – the distortion, the delay, the flange, the compressor, set the EQ on your amp flat, and plug a great guitar into your amp. Yes, all by itself – then turn your amp up! Learn what each pickup selection option sounds like, mess with the tone knobs in all possible combinations. Let your guitar sound like itself – just like there’s no way to make me sound like Todd Agnew when I sing, no amount of effects will make a Les Paul sound like a Stratocaster, and vice versa. Continue ‘On Guitar Tone’ »
On Co-Writing, Pt. 2
by Travis Swan | Posted in Song Writing | 1 Comment »
The Unlikelies are Travis Swan (founding member of rockworship.com) and Katrina Stone – once a week or so we’ll be posting insights gained in the writing/recording/worship leading process of our album, “The World Will See.”
I’ve been told at multiple conferences and by multiple books that writing music with someone else is absolutely the only way to do it. I really hated that idea for a long time. I had the understanding that good songwriters don’t need help from another writer, and there are those exceptions out there. From time to time, I can stumble onto something pretty good on my own. But for the most part, I really agree now that joining forces with someone else is critical in the development of a songwriter.
I see songwriters go through stages much like I did, and it goes something like this:
- They have a desire to write music.
- They can grasp the basic structure of most songs.
- They begin to write songs similar to the ones they admire.
- They experiment with non traditional structures. (i.e. no choruses, long instrumentals, key changes)
- They eventually come back to writing simpler songs.
- They begin to understand where their weaknesses are.
- They collaborate with someone else.
Continue ‘On Co-Writing, Pt. 2′ »
On Co-Writing, Pt. 1
by Travis Swan | Posted in Song Writing | 1 Comment »
The Unlikelies are Travis Swan (founding member of rockworship.com) and Katrina Stone – once a week or so we’ll be posting insights gained in the writing/recording/worship leading process of our album, “The World Will See.”
There are a lot of fundamentals behind good song writing: rhythm, rhyming, verse-chorus-bridge flows. However, I don’t really want to touch on those much – they can be learned, go get a book about songwriting. I’m going to instead touch a little on my own experiences in co-writing. There are a lot of thoughts out there about writing and productivity, but what finally worked the best for me was having someone else with me that could handle the pen and paper the entire time. Every time I sit down with the pen, my brain switches modes to a very non-creative space and just starts processing the physical act of pushing a pen and making letters with it. Melodies and lyrics pop into my head much faster when I’m doing the “walk around the room playing my guitar singing random stuff” thing. Continue ‘On Co-Writing, Pt. 1′ »
Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace Interviewed By Sojourn’s Mike Cosper | Sojourn Music
by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links | No Comments »
Mike Cosper of Sojourn Music recently conducted a short (5 min) interview of Kevin Twit of Indelible Grace. We do several IG songs at The Rock in Ames and Stonebrook church. Some neat insights into how and why they do what they do. Specifically he addresses:
- The background of Indelible Grace
- How Kevin Twit plans worship services at R.U.F.
- What criteria does Kevin look for when choosing songs
- How does he deal with complaints (and how did Marva Dawn inspire him in * dealing with complaints)
- What does Kevin Twit think of Guitar Hero (seriously)
How can you tell if music is “Christian”?
by Matt Heerema | Posted in Song Selection | No Comments »
Ed Stetzer posted an excerpt from his book Perimeters of Light (co-written with Elmer Towns) on How to Test Your Music. Because music is not inherently Christian, no matter the artist, label or (to some degrees) words used in the song, how does one tell what is “Christian” music? Ed and Elmer offer seven tests.
The message test. Does this song express the Word of God?
The purpose test. Choose songs that reflect our emotions or are likely to produce the emotion we wish to feel.
The association test. Does the song unnecessarily identify with things, actions, or people that are contrary to Christianity?
The memory test. ‘Does the music bring back things in your past that you have left?’
The emotions test. ‘Does the music stir our negative or lustful feelings?’
The understanding test. Is it understandable? Easy to find the meaning and the melody?
The music test. Looks at the song to determine its merits based on hymnology. It seeks to determine if the song is singable, if it flows comfortable from one line to another. Does it make your heart join in the song?
The Story of the Bible in Four Minutes
by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links | No Comments »
The story of the Bible in a four minute rap. I have no idea how this shakes out in terms of quality of art (as I don’t listen to rap much) but it’s a lot of fun and well written.
(Via Justin Taylor.)
What a Church Planter Should Look For in a Worship Pastor (Acts 29)
by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links | No Comments »
Mike Cospter of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Tim Smith of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and Josh Dix of The Journey Church in St. Louis weigh in on what church planter should look for in a Worship pastor.
