Vocal Blend - The Spice Analogy

You may recall that I took a few moments at our Sept. worship team meeting to talk about the "continuum of style", illustrated by a diagram I drew on a whiteboard (actually, it's still up there, and believe me, that says a lot more about how often we use the whiteboard than the profundity of my diagram). When I say "style" I mean a genre of music, like pop, jazz, gospel, etc.


When it come to "style" each of us have different backgrounds and influences. Some of us lean more towards jazz or R&B; others more rock and independent. Clint loves drip-hop (inside joke). So the reality of being a part of a larger team is that there are any number of various styles of singing & playing "in the mix" when we come together to lead others in worship.

Why is this important to understand? Because, by definition, singing & playing as a "team" assumes that we are striving to create a unified sound on any given song/set. Not uniform (meaning no room for interpretation, personal touches, etc.) but unified. So, with the awareness that we all fall somewhere on the style continuum, you can see that achieving a unified sound doesn't just happen. It requires awareness, intentionality, and humility.

Acknowledging that we all have different influences, instincts and sensibilities, how do we come together as singers and players? At some point all of our various instincts must boil down to a blend that's appealing - much like all of the spices that go into a soup have to blend together well enough to be appetizing. Too much of any one spice will overpower the soup. Likewise, put in the wrong spices for a certain recipe and you may have a culinary disaster on your hands!

Some thoughts on achieving the unified sound:

1. Awareness - being aware of our musical influences and sensibilities is so important. Maybe you've never thought much about your own - but you have them. Having an awareness of these will allow us to appreciate what we bring vs. what someone else might be bringing. We can't assume that the other person will interpret something the same way.
   
   
2. Intentionality - with an awareness of our style, we become that much more intentional on what we will be contributing to the "mix". As the band leader communicates what he/she is looking for - something close to the original recording, or something altogether different - I need to (as a singer and player) consider how I can support that vision. For instance, I like to add the spice of a triplet piano feel (a style made popular by bands like Coldplay) - but this probably won't work on "Only a God Like You"! So, I switch to more B3 sounds to support the style that the leader is shooting for. Or, if you're a drummer, you may love tom rolls, but unless we're doing a cover of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" it may not be appropriate. I'm having fun here :)
   
   Each band/team gravitates towards a musical center...you can see a hypothetical illustration in the above diagram. Being aware of our team's musical center - at this time and place, pop/contemporary/rock - we thus tailor our contributions to support the musical center. Does what I'm singing/playing compliment the center?
   
   ALSO - This has significant implications for those of us who are vocalists - see below.
   
3. Humility
   When we're trying to achieve a unified sound we will - if we're doing it right - be consistently asked to lay aside our own personal instincts, influences, styles for the sake of the common goal. Let me again be careful to say that it's not a matter of leaving all sense of your musical identity on the sidelines! We each have a unique musical story worth celebrating. But, if all of us think our own interpretation needs to be heard we are going to end with a sound that is, at best conflicted, at worst, schizophrenic. So we listen to what the leader is asking for. We listen to each other. Above all, we SERVE THE SONG!

VOCALS
This idea of being "unified" is especially important for vocalists. It's the difference between having 3 soloists or 1 unified voice. You can't have one person singing soulfully, the other person singing straight and the other with a folksy approach - well, you can, but it won't be a pleasant experience. We need to strive for a unified sound.

Came across a helpful video that goes into some detail on how vocalists can blend better - thinking about tone vs. breath, active listening. It's not just a matter of supporting vocalists making their voice jive with the worship leader, it's everybody being aware of their styles and adjusting to serve the song!

CCLI TV video clip

Something to Chew On

"The problem with the church today is not that there are too many people who are passionately in love with heaven. Name three! The problem is not that professing Christians are retreating from the world, spending half their days reading Scripture and the other half singing about their pleasures in God all the while indifferent to the needs of the world. The problem is that professing Christians are spending ten minutes reading Scripture and then half their day making money and the other half enjoying and repairing what they spend it on"

John Piper from message "The Fruit of Hope: Love"

Psalms Update, "How Great is the Love"

Hello friends...

I sent out an email yesterday in which I reminded some folks that we are just about 9 weeks away from Christmas. I'm already starting to listen to the "sounds of the season" and I'm worried I'll be sick of Christmas music by Dec. 24th! Actually, it's hard for me to be sick of good Christmas music (not the cheesy stuff they constantly play on the radio) as I love Christmas and the music that goes along with it.

But back to the present...this week we are reading through Psalms 21-25. I'll be posting a reflection on these in the next day or so. Please continue to share your thoughts, insights, interactions with the text as you spend some time reading and meditating.

Yesterday morning I attended Men's Fraternity here at Living Word. When we broke into small group time our leader Gary started it by having us listen to Paul Baloche's song "How Great is the Love". This song has ministered to my heart as a beautiful response to the gospel. We sang it as a special at last year's Thanksgiving service, and I've been meaning to introduce it as a worship song. But hearing it again, I sat in my chair, surrounded by several other men, and tears began to pour down my face. It was a great reminder of His love, His sacrifice.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to this song - perhaps with the lights lower, or in a prayerful state - and let its message speak to your soul.

Sunday Setlist - Oct. 17th

Here was the setlist for Sunday, Oct. 17:

You are Good (with brass)
Yesterday, Today and Forever
Our God
Mighty to Save
King of the Broken-Humble King
To Be Like You

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-117/

Bonfire TONIGHT!

A quick reminder that TONIGHT @ 7 pm is the Bonfire @ Brian & Bonnie Lauer's home. You should have received an email with all the details. It is windy today, so if it's too windy to have a bonfire we'll head inside and play games, chat, etc. Hope to see many of you there, bring the fam!

Here are directions from the church to the Lauer's home:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=2530+Cape+Horn+Road,+York,+PA&daddr=Gun+Club+Rd&geocode=Fah2YQIdoG5u-ynbCSOiOYbIiTHu-TI2-4Jfmw%3BFXe6YQId27pv-w&gl=us&hl=en&mra=ltm&sll=39.949975,-76.60632&sspn=0.040334,0.090551&ie=UTF8&z=14

Psalms 6-10, 11-15 Rewind; This week, Psalm 16-20

OK, so, a few observations from the past couple weeks:

1) Time flies. This is an especially busy season of ministry and life (for me).

2) Being a consistent "blogger" does not come naturally for me (my wife is much better)

3) It's been great to hear (and read) about your interactions with the Psalms!

So, this week we are technically on Psalms 16-20...what I think works best is for me to post a reflection on the previous week's Psalms the week after we read them. I need time to process and reflect - sometimes I'll read something and then only later realize how God was (is) speaking to me. Or I'll find myself praying the words of a Psalm that I recently read.

So, since I haven't reflected on Psalms 6-15, here are a couple things that stood out to me...and PLEASE, feel free to share your own thoughts, observations, etc., by posting a comment below this blog entry (you need to click on the "comments" link).

• God's justice. The psalmist declares in multiple psalms that the "Lord judges" (7:8; 9:8). And not only does He judge, but He judges with uprightness and perfect understanding. If you look at the context, it's clear that the psalmist takes refuge in this fact. The question is, why would David (or you and I) take heart in knowing that our God is a righteous Judge? I think there's at least a few reasons why this attribute of God is reassuring.
  
  One, David believed that God would ultimately vindicate those who trusted and obeyed in Him. The prayer of the psalmist is that God would judge those who oppressed the poor, the righteous - that he would "right the wrongs" done against them. But judging is also used in the sense of testing "minds and hearts" (7:9), and rewarding those who are upright, who fear the Lord. Thus, David puts his confidence in the fact that the Lord will judge - both the righteous and unrighteous - and intervene on behalf of the righteous.
  
  Another reason to take heart in God's judgments is that God can be our justifier. Looking back to the time before Christ, the Apostle Paul explains that God had, in divine forbearance, "passed over former sins" (Rom. 3:25). But now, we know that through Christ's "atoning sacrifice" God is shown to be both just and merciful. Jesus experienced God's righteous wrath so that you and I did not have to. God cannot ignore sin ("sweep it under the rug"), for that would make Him unjust (and unworthy of our worship). But at the cross justice and mercy kiss.
  
  
• There is room for lament in the vocabulary of worship. Psalm 13 is a well-known lament. We can express our heartaches, our disappointments, our anger to God, all the time knowing He cares for us and wants to hear our heart's cries. I can recall some specific seasons of my life (loss of a family member, sickness, waiting for the house) where the laments became the language of my prayers. I would love to see us make more room for "laments" in our worship services, knowing that so many who come to our services are experiencing various trials and sorrows.

If you have been reading Psalms 16-20, you've discovered that Psalms 17, 18, 19 are lengthier. Spend some time reflecting on these psalms, they cover different themes.