PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Advice for Live performance

I am leading worship at a small church where we have a limited number of instrumentalists and sometimes all of them cannot particpate. I have several questions about what might work best for my set-up. Here are some of the details:

1. I want to have midi or audio tracks which can be brought in or muted seperately. Let's say the person on bass cannot be there for a Sunday. I would like to be able to bring the track up for just bass. There will be other times when it will just be me with guitar and the pianist or myself and the drummer. I would like to add in instruments as needed.

2 I have several choices. I have a laptop and have purchsed Cakewalks V-20. Once I create the tracks I believe I can control them by using the VS-20 as a controller for the volumes and just pull the sliders up and down that are needed.

3. I have wondered about just putting everything in audio and just using one of the smaller digital recorder/mixers to control things.

4. I have been looking at the Roland Mobile Sound canvas but cannot get a solid handle on A. Whether it would add anyting flexibility wise to the solution. B. What types of sounds does it really have. I have been comparing it as best as possible on line to the Ketron. It appears from my limited availability to demonstrations that the Ketron is a little stronger in acoustic sounds where the Roland has more lush piano's and synth sounds. I really wish there were a standard soundfile that companies would use to demonstrate. There is not any chance someone could provide and MP3 of both the Mobile Sound Canvas and the Ketron performing the same song for me to get a better idea is there? I do mostly Southern Gospel and Praise and Worship stuff so it is very Guitar, Bass and Keyboard focused.

Anyway I thought I would just put this out here as I know some of you have some pretty deep experience with this type of thing and could give me some things to think about.


Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Thanks, Mac and Mike:

Sometimes I amaze myself with how difficult I can make things. Now that you both have pointed out I can do that on BIAB I feel a little foolish. I think I have a bad case of always wanting more.

Mac, I understand what you are saying about real-tracks but sometimes I like some of the Midi styles or parts in BIAB which I think might benefit from a better sound module. That is why the interest in the SD2 and Mobile Canvas. Would you mind giving me your insight as I know you have looked at both of these and let me know your opinions of what might work best in my style of music. If as an example you took your user submission on the Ketron site and played it through the Mobile Canvas do you think it would sound as good as it does on the Ketron.

Merry Christmas to both of you and thanks for bringinb back to reality!

Thanks,

Terry

Thanks Mac,

Your advice as always is useful. What you say makes sense. Maybe more time working with Real Tracks and Real Band would be a better use of time. (And a lot less expensive ) I do have to say though everytime I listen to the Ketron demo's I do get a we little bit of gear lust.

Happy New Year!

Terry

Terry,

I thought I had replied to this post but I don't see evidence of it.

I can't bring any advice about MIDI setup and what not. You're in great hands with the advice already given.

I would like to challenge you to think of your situation from a different angle.

I have led worship in many different situations - some with success, and others without, earlier in my life.

There's what I would call a trap in leading worship. Please don't think of it as a performance. That's the trap.

Here's one very concise definition of worship I read in a magazine long ago and I constantly go back to it whenever I'm called to lead worship, or when I hear people complaining about worship at their church.

Wrong Definition:

God is the Prompter
Congregation is the Audience
Worship leader/team are the Performers

Right Definition:

God is the Audience
Congregation are the Performers
Worship leader/team are the Prompters

No matter what style of music or spoken word is being used - when people get that definition mixed up and think that it's the first definition, that's when problems occur with hurt feelings, 'I don't like that kind of music' attitudes, etc.

Worship is not about us - whether we are the leaders or the congregation. It is an offering to God. God is the audience.

It should be skillfully played. That's scriptural. Doesn't say what kind of music or how you go about it.

Your other option with limited instrumentalists is simply to 'Run what you brung'. If that means it's just you and a piano or guitar - then that's what you use. Skillfully played, as an offering. K.I.S.S. principle applies here as well.

There's a good chance the technology 'solution' might actually be a distraction to some in your congregation and accomplish exactly the opposite of what your goal should be - engaging your congregation in offering a gift of worship to God.

If you do decide to go a technology route, then you probably need to practice how to run that by yourself so it is completely unnoticeable to the congregation. It should be a smooth as a one-handed capo change on a guitar, or a simple preset change on a keyboard between songs. You should be able to talk or sing naturally while going through song changes, repeats of song sections, etc. No fumbling with buttons and mouse movements, menu picks, volume adjustments, etc.

You should be engaged with the congregation, not your sheet music, your computer, your CD player, etc.

Well, that's it from me - I just wanted to offer you a little different perspective on what your real solution might be.

-Scott