Space – the scary frontier

As musicians, we often feel it is our job to make noise, after all who can argue when the Bible says, "May a joyful noise unto the Lord." (Ps. 100:1).

The thing is, not playing and not singing often takes much more discipline than playing all the time. As my orchestra teacher used to say, "Never, never, ever play a rest," we too must leave space at the right times.

Take the song "Sacred Silence" as recorded by Tom Booth or Jenny Pixler (available through www.spiritandsong.com). It is a lovely, sparse song that grows, ebbs, flows and resolves. At almost no point is the entire band playing at the same time. Yet, the beauty and completeness is achieved with so little.

The same is true for more upbeat songs, like "Trading My Sorrows" (Darrell Evans). The verse doesn't need a lot of things going on. You might find more people sing when there is more space for them to do so. For example, next time your team plays this song, try using just drum and bass on the verse along with the vocals. You might find the space is just what the congregation needs to find a home in the song.

The congregation, just like us as musicians, has the desire to be needed in worship. We should do our best to give them the space to feel desired. We, as musicians, should provide holes for them to fill in, like the name tags: "My Name Is:
".

As musicians, we all have egos. Just admit it. It may be checked at the door, but it is still there waiting to come out. We should all have the ears and guts to know when we don't need to play. And it does take guts. Even more so, it takes professionalism I

Over the weekend I had the honor and privilege to play a mass with Jesse Manibusan, David Yackley, Jackie Francois, Paul Nuyen, Becky Rameriez, and Rufino Zaragoza (among others). David and Rufino, both gifted, talented pianists traded off on piano, Jesse played where needed, and not all singers sang on everything - and it was awesome and beautiful. All had the professionalism and talent to demonstrate:

1. the worship experience is more important than for them to hear me play
   
2. I am secure enough in my skill that I don't need to fill the entire space with my notes for me to be satisfied with my contribution.
   

If your team isn't carrying these notions every week, you might think about some of the following questions:

• Have we reinforced our team's skills with compliments or with criticism?
  
• Have we made clear the need for space in our music? (Does your team know it's okay to not play?)
  
• Are we personally comfortable enough to let go and not play, and yet still feel valuable to the worship experience?
  
• Is our team's working environment competitive or collaborative when it comes to dividing arrangements?
  
• Do we (as directors) always rely on the same people to fill the same roles, or do we also provide space for others to grow?
  

God bless you in your ministry.

Directing from the Piano

Yeah - I am a pianist. I love leading from the guitar, but it's not always practical. Or in my case - ever practical.

Here's some tips that will help anyone trying to lead from the piano:

• Try not to make yourself critical to performing a song. This is especially true of your left hand. Let the bass player do his job. He / she will thank you for it.
• Position yourself so that you can clearly see the drummer, and the drumer can clearly see your hands.
• Use simple hand signals with your left hand to cue the drummer.
• Get a drum stool or keyboard stool that will let you sit higher than the expensive artist bench the church invested in. Sitting higher just even a few inches will make you more visible to the band and the congregation.
• Be in constant visual communication with the drummer, the same way he / she is with the bassist. As long as the to of you agree, you will have a much easier time moving the song musically.
• Position the piano in such a way that you are looking at your singers.

Alternatively, you can do what so many others have done: Give up, get a guitar and someone else to play keys. :-)

It's taken me a long time to get the balance between playing the piano and directing - and I'm still learning. It's much more difficult to do both from the piano as it is so easy to hide behind a behemoth instrument (we're gifted with a grand piano at St. Vincent).

Go fight your pianist intraversion with a few sparser inversions.

God bless you in your ministry.

Lock step - the drum and bass

"Never uttered words more true." - Angus McDonell

This is the response I got when I said the fllowing at a conference recently where I was playing bass for Angus McDonell (who is himself a wicked bassist!):

The kick drum and the bass should be in sync at virtually all times.

Seriously.

What does that really mean?
If the kick is on the one - the bass is on the one and generally doesn't hit another "big" note until the kick does. The two parties are in lock-step with each other at all times. If this is news, then there is something else the two parties will need to start doing: communicating.

The drummer and bassist need to talk little about most songs. That means that the drumer and bassist have to be solid enough to know what the grove is and what they're going to play before they play it. You can "wing-it", but you have to agree what wing you're talking about.

One case in point: Raggae. Raggae is one of those places where you can play it "white", or you can play it "right". The key to doing it "right" is the ghost note on the one. That means no bass or drum is played. Often times I've heard demos where its just kindof got a raggae feel, but to paraphrase Jesse Manibusan, if you don't have the ghost on the one, then the groove is to raggae like Taco Bell is to Mexican food.

If you've got the kick on the one, the bass should probably be right their with it. If the bassist has a note change on the upbeat of 2 (as a lot of our modern CCM music does), he/she should communicate that to the drummer so the change can be reinforced by a well-placed kick.

(If I get some comments here, I'll post some charts to explain what I'm talking about.)

A lot of times we have willing musicians, but not the most skilled. The key thing is to be willing to learn and be of service. Often too we have musicians that are more skilled than the task calls for - and thats awesome. Again, the key is to be a willing servant.

In the case of the drum and the bass, I don't think this is any more true. These two people (often half of the band) has to provide the spine of the group and be happy doing it, knowing full well that their abilities will likely never be used to their full potential at mass. And that's okay - it's being part of the Body of Christ. If the band is the Body of Christ, the body needs its spine - or else it will fail. As musicians, if we are not skilled, we should invest to become skilled to serve effectively. If we are skilled, we should bring the mind of the teacher, and the heart to serve and communicate.

God bless you in your ministry.

Can I see your License, please?

We've all done it: violoated copyright law. Most of us without knowing it.

More often than not, the key thing people aren't aware of in music ministry is how to manage copyrights and make sure that they are legal. They don't understand the differnces between a mechanical reproduction and performance rights. Here's the skinny on what I've come to understand as what we all need to know.

The FIRST thing you need to know is that I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever played one on T.V. I am not offering legal advice and this article should not be construed as such.

Here are the types of licenses / rights you need to be concerned with:

• Performance rights - the right to perform a piece of music
• Mechanical royalties - the right to mechanically reproduce a perforance of a piece of music
• Reprint license - the right to mechanically reproduce printed music

I'll go through each of this as suscinctly as I can:

Performance Rights

In the United States, when used for a worship service, no performance royalties can be collected. However, when broadcast or played for any other situation (concerts, etc.) performance royalties of the song are due to the songwriter. This is paid by the venue (i.e. bar, coffee shop, concert hall) to the Performance Rights Organization (i.e. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) in order to pay the songwriters and their publisher. The performer is required to turn in a songlist to the venue, and the venue is required to submit the songlist (with composers) over to their Performance Rights Organization.

In practice, this rarely happens in small clubs and venues. Same with college radio. Larger companies like ClearChannel-run radio do actually turn these over and people do actually get paid for their work.

Again, this royalty is not owed the songwriter when a song is used for worship. But publishers and songwriters have other means of getting paid for their work.

Mechanical Royalties

Mechanical royalties are due a company when a work of theirs is reproduced in any means. For example: copying a CD, or a tape.

When your singing group makes a recording of a song, they must pay the songwriter* a statutory rate of $0.08** per song produced. For small runs of privately funded CD's, a more low-cost fee may be reached, but it is your duty to contact the publisher to get permission and pay their fee.

*songwriter and their publisher, actually

** this may be out of date.

Reprint License

THIS IS THE THING that as a music minister, YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW.

• A reprint license grants you (most often) the right to make copies of the lyrics of a song to be consumed by a large number of people for public performace (like at mass). This applies to song sheets and overheads.
• It does NOT grant you the right to copy sheet music. (With notes.)

The sad news that you probably don't want to hear is that there is almost no legal way to license music to make tons of copies for your 300 member choir and accompanying orchestra. The cost per sheet is roughly equal to that of what the publisher would charge you anyway - so just buy the sheet music.

In order for your favorite artist to get paid so they can buy food (and I know quite a few good artists that have trouble affording FOOD), you must turn in your songlist quarterly. The funds that you surrendered at the beginning of the year will be distributed to the songwriter and publisher based on their percentage of the total amount of songs paid for in the year.

Penalties

You're going to love this. Copyright infringement is a simple calculation: lost revenue x 3. That's right - TRIPPLE DAMAGES. And the law doesn't care if you're doing the Lord's work.

This is a vast, vast, vast over simplification of licensing and is by no means complete or definitive. It is however BRIEF.

God bless you in your ministry.

Compose your Composure

It's been a little while - okay a LONG while since I've written. For those new to reading: many of the opinions in this column are my own. While I'd love for this to be a definitive guide, its' really just my own opinions and observations on musical liturgy.

I've got a renewed sense of purpose right now, and I've also got some new subjects to write about. So I'll just get to it.

What is your composure saying about you?

At some point or another, it happens to all of us: our body language speaks louder than the hymns of praise we extol from the ambo. We are not always aware of the hidden - and not so hidden messages - that our body language sends to others, especially when we are in the role of ministry.

I have a case in point: I am at a Catholic conference this weekend and a m having a great time. Last night I attended mass, which is good because - well... it's mass. But the one thing I remember isn't so good. I remember the psalmist flipping her hair incessantly. I'm a little ashamed to say I let it bug me quite as much as it did, but it did.

The real question is, "Why did it"? It was a number of things that are both personal to me, and general to most people. Firstly, the Psalmist was a young and up and coming Catholic artist. Every flip of the hair appeared more and more arrogant and dismissive of the assembly than the next, as if to say, "I have surpassed the need to be a part of you." I know that's not at all how she meant to convey the Psalms though. Secondly, her delivery came across to me as if the Word of God was a means to convey her own personality and talent. The Psalm setting was very stylish and vocally energetic, and did her voice well, but her presentation distracted from the fact that it IS the Word and requires a deliberate approach to its recitation that negates the need for personal style. I would have been willing to let the stylizations go, but that with the hair flips put me over the edge - I was distracted.

And that's the point - we must be free of distraction from the Word of God. Everything from our clothes to our hair, to our musical prowess, to our ability to distract ourselves with page-turns, last-second directions or mike stand adjustments builds at best a distracted environment and at worst and air of irreverence for our Lord's message. We send out constant signals about our own personal level of reverence for the Word and for the Eucharist. These signals are subtle but set the tone and example for the congregation to follow - especially when that example is not up to the task at hand.

Our own reverence is key - and it is present in our body language - not just in the words we sing. As our music is deliberate to the purpose of the liturgy, so too our movements should be deliberate, key as a part of the function in which we serve. Liturgical music does not serve us. It even refuses to do so by definition. Music that serves our own purposes is not Liturgical - it is secular by nature and therefore does not serve the liturgy. Our job is to do our best to not corrupt that purpose with our own bad habits.

While all of this is most relevant when the band can be seen by the congregation, it is also important when the band is behind the congregation - in a loft for example.
Try the following:

Take two minutes before mass to make sure everyone's music is in order: one page turn is all that is required to get to each successive song.

Take another minute (or five if needed) for the entire band to walk through the entire mass before engaging the congregation to worship to answer any remaining questions.

Right before mass starts, set the tone of reverence by an example of silence.

• Throughout mass observe the following:
• All eyes in the band should be on the Word when it is read
• All eyes should be on the Eucharist during the Communion Rite
• There should be no more than the absolute minimal retuning during mass
• Singers should not converse with each other at any time between songs
• Communications with the director should be made non-verbally - hand signals should more often than not be sufficient to handle most crises.

I predict your example will set the tone for a more reverent, and therefore more vibrant and relevant liturgy. What good is it when we distract from the liturgy? It serves no one - least of all those we serve.Other things to watch out for:

• Singers: don't touch the microphone at mass - especially for emphasis. This is not a concert.
• Guitarists: make sure if you must tune, you can do so at near silence.
• Singers: know your music well enough to sing it without the page.
• Singers: Participate in mass essentially leading the congregation in every word - not just the sung ones.
• Singers: Dress appropriately.

Directors: I don't get the wild, over enthusiastic hand motions of some directors. Enthusiasm is good, but some of you need to switch to decaf (in my opinion).

If you've ever seen Val Lamar Jensen, that's not what I'm talking about. She's got the right idea with her temperance.

God bless you in your ministry.

Vintage Keyboards

I love some of the equipment I've collected over the years. I have also acquired a fair amount of junk as well. No place is the line more blurry than in the "vintage" gear. But that old Hammond M-100 may only fetch $200 on Craigslist.org, but it may be worth $1000 to you with some work and a good Leslie speaker. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read on.

Vintage – an important but meaningless word

"Vintage", a word that comes from wine-making, is simply a word that describes the year something was made. For example, the vintage of a 1999 Chateau St. Michelle Merlot is 1999. Simple, right? But for musicians, a piece of "vintage" gear is one of enough historical significance so as to warrant its continued relevance and value today.

"Vintage" keyboards (and instruments for that matter) are that category of instruments that pre-date Rainbow Brite™, often fail to shine aesthetically, but can (if taken care of properly) knock the socks off most anything else made in the last 20 years. They come with "character" rather than scratches, and sound, rather than shine.

Not all old instruments are considered "vintage". For example, a 1981 Samick acoustic, is not, and probably never will be considered a "vintage" instrument. The key here is desirability. However, I got the privilege of playing Matt Maher's 1945 Gibson acoustic guitar – which sounds great even now! As is the case with good acoustic instruments, it will often sound better after 10 or 20 years than it does new!

Here are a couple examples of "vintage" instruments, if you can find them:

• Pre-WWII Martin guitars (good luck finding one)
• Stradivarius violins
• 1965 Fender Stratocaster
• 1960 Gretsch Nashville or Tennessean
• 1971 Fender Jazz bass
• Hammond B3 Electric Organ
• Fender Rhodes 73 Electric Piano

What makes these instruments special?!

1. Most importantly, none of them are manufactured anymore. Even if they are in "re-issue", meaning similar look and electronics, they were not made at that time
2. Often, they represent a particular sound associated with that part of history, or were made popular and became desirable
3. Sounded great

A couple of reasons for these instruments being important is that they produce a sound you can't produce any other way.

For example, Stradivarius violins are so highly sought after because the builder was a master and has died, the woods used no longer exist because the climate in the 1800's when they were built was especially wet, and they sound fantastic. You simply cannot build a better violin today for some of those reasons! (I especially love the climate reason.)

Vintage Keys

Vintage keyboards are a little different breed from other instruments when it comes to vintage and value. "Vintage" keyboards still tend to be electric in nature, and therefore not always a better pick for use in worship.

The key drawbacks to owning a real vintage keyboard: tuning, hums, buzzes, fuses, weight, and cost of repair. But, the key reasons to own vintage gear: character, authenticity, expressiveness, grittiness, and… well it's just cool.

I guess the big thing I love about vintage keys is authenticity and expressiveness. For example, I own a Wurlitzer 200. Its preamp is noisy. Its keys often need tuning. The action needs work. It's as heavy as my 88-key digital piano. None of this would be a problem if I had bought a Clavia Nord Electro and used their model. But, the sound of the reeds being struck be hammers is so honest, you can't replace it. The fact that things are slightly out of tune – it's not all bad!

I like to think of this as the difference between polished singers and singer/songwriters. You may disagree with me, but I often find more sincerity in the unpolished honesty of a songwriter like Ben Folds or Elliot Smith than I find in the overproduced sounds of Justin Timberlake or David Coverdale.

Here are a couple models to watch out for on Craig's list or eBay and save up for. You may need to have a friend with a pickup for some of these!

• Hammond B/C3
• Wurlitzer 200(A)
• Farfisa
• Fender Rhodes 73
• Yamaha CP80
• Rhodes Suitcase EP

What makes these instruments interesting to list to is that they use real, physical means of producing sound. For example:

Hammond – spins a wheel ("tone wheel") at a high rate past an electric pickup to cause the pickup to modulate (vibrate like a microphone).

Wurlitzer – uses a hammer like a piano to strike a "reed" to make it vibrate, and is picked up via a pickup like an electric guitar.

Rhodes – Uses a non-articulated hammer to strike a "tine", like a xylophone to make a sound, which is then picked up like a guitar would.

CP80 – works just like a piano but with an electric pickup (again, like a guitar) on the soundboard.

The problems here with producing physical sound, especially for worship, is that they often have issues:

• They often go out of tune
• These instruments are often electrically noisy
• Can be unpredictable (try finding a fuse for these during a sermon or homily!)
• Are heavy to lug around
• Are often quite fragile and sensitive to climate changes

The sad part is that many of these issues cannot be worked around without good maintenance, and even then can cause you pain on Sunday! So, now we've come to the very crux of the matter: "Vintage" does not mean "good", especially when it comes to keys. But there are alternatives available.

Alternatives

Your typical keyboard will have settings for Hammonds, Wurlys, Clavs, and the like. Most of these are "PCM" based (sampled recordings of actual instruments). While this sounds good, it's not the same as the real thing – nor will it sound good typically on its own.

Each of the real versions of these instruments (Hammond, EPs) use actual physical means of making sound – yes, even though the instruments are electric! A single recording of these instruments (as most digital keyboards have) is never enough to represent the range of sounds producible by the original, and its inferiority honestly is apparent.

But, there are instruments out there that model the physical nature of the sound, and even give you control over the creation of that sound to come up with some of the best available emulations out there – without the price or unpredictability.

First are the hardware based instruments like the Clavia Electro, Korg CX3 and Roland XK-8. These instruments offer a lot of options that will suit your needs well. For example, all offer a major feature of real organs called "drawbars" that let you configure the sound of the organ on the fly! (We'll talk about playing with this in a future article.) You can also configure your rotary speaker emulation to work just the way you want it, recreating those great sounds you hear today.

Roland VK-8

Also available, for those tied to the latest computer technology, are plug-ins and the like that can be run on a portable laptop computer that will create those great sounds in a controlled fashion, like Apple Logic's EVB3 and Native Instruments' B4. Both of these have great organ emulations. You can model the age of the instrument, it's noise, tuning, speakers, and even how much noise would be made hitting the keys! The disadvantage is that you have to rely on your laptop, so have a GOOD, clean low latency output. You'll still need to bring a keyboard to control the computer.

However it's still not the same as playing the real thing. So, if in my opinion, if you ever get a chance to play the real thing and can't have it all the time, DON'T. You'll wish you could, and you'll always be comparing the emulation to the real thing. ;-)

Models to check out: Clavia Electro, Korg CX3, Roland VK-8, Hammond XB-3, Apple Logic's EVB3 and EP88, Native Instruments B4 II.

My personal take

My favorite keyboard to play live by far is my old Wurlitzer 200. It has a single output jack that I plug into a DI box (because after carrying this thing around, the last thing I want to do is carry around another amp.) It's old, it clunks, it buzzes, it only makes one sound, goes out of tune, and is heavy. I take the laptop with me occasionally and play Hammond sounds though Logic. I also sometimes play the emulation in my Roland RD-700sx (which also emulates tone wheels).

I use a variety of tools to create the sound, and when it comes down to it, I try to do what's going to work best for the music. If the buzz is a distraction, I stay away from the Wurly. If I need to lead, I'm on the piano or guitar.

Do what's right for the ministry, and be ready for the answer to not be any ONE thing.

Life on Speed

I need to slow down.

There's a lot going on in all of our lives. Performing music and praising God is fun and rewarding, challenging and consuming all at the same time.

Most of us involved in ministry have families, loved ones, lawns, jobs, bills, and weeds. The oil in my poor car hasn't been changed in nearly 9,000 miles. I just haven't had the time. That said, I drive 35 miles each way twice a week (yes, 140 miles a week) solely for LIFE TEEN masses and rehearsals.

Often, I have to remind myself to slow down. Life will be okay... mass will go on, and for crying out loud, pick another song rather than staying up until 3am to write a new setting or transcribe one that OCP can't be bothered to put online.

Our Holy Father, Benedict XVI recently reminded us that being busy all the time can lead to spiritual hardness of heart. I know I've felt it. It's in those times that I have trouble experiencing Jesus' love in the everyday. I haven't given enough time to let him into my day, let alone those moments of ferocious panic trying to put liturgical music together because I haven't given enough time to sleep, let alone pray.

As teens, we're reminded to leave six inches for the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, this is said jokingly, but I think if you turn this around to our busy lives, it can be equally important - leave six minutes for the Holy Spirit. Leave an hour. Leave something for God to breathe into your life. How much better decisions, better living will we experience if we are spiritually and emotionally grounded in every day, not just the few hours of our week after mass.

God is there with us always. Let us take the time to acknowledge his presence, allowing us to let Him rule our lives. If we keep Him a priority, perhaps we'll come to terms with "busy" not being equated with "productive", "important", or even "good".

God bless you in your ministry.