Why Do We Sing at Church? Pt. 1

Posted in Audio, Church, Creating, Leading, Music, Songs, Sound, Sunday, Uncategorized, Worship on September 7, 2011 by mattywayne1

Church music is a really a fascinating and peculiar thing. It’s such a broad subject that I have a hard time wrapping my head around it most days. On one hand, church music is the heart-felt cry of generations of congregations connecting to and glorifying God, and on the other it’s a hundred million dollar industry that lives in some pretty shady areas and carries the potential to split churches right down the aisle.

It might seem simple, but church music takes a ton of work. Before a single note is played in an auditorium somebody has to sit down and decide among hundreds of song options, and every time a choice is made a potential attendee is alienated. Traditional or contemporary? Choir or band? Guitars or pianos? Hymnals or Keynote? Worship leader or minister of music? Jeans or suits? If we do rock n’ roll style music will we need a bigger sound system? Where do we get the money for the bigger sound system? Do we pay the musicians? Do we pay the musicians but not the singers or pay the singers and not the musicians? Do we pay the sound people? How loud is it supposed to be? What’s a decibel? Can somebody please turn the drums down? How do we decide which songs to sing? Do we play Hillsong or North Point songs? Israel or John Mark? How many songs should we sing each week? How often can we do new songs? and so on and so on…

And even after you prayerfully decide all of that, people are still gonna hate the music. Very rarely will someone go to church because they love the music and patiently bide their time during the teaching, but every Sunday plenty of people “suffer” through music they hate and that’s too loud to get to the preaching that they love – and guess what? I totally get that.

Maybe it’s just because we do church in Music City U.S.A. where every other guy in the pew could probably outplay everybody on stage, but I think we’d be hard pressed to find a large majority of attendees that genuinely “love” the music (volume, style, duration, etc). I’ve even got guys that play on the music team that don’t love the style of music we do.

So here’s the question, if church music is so stinking polarizing, why do we spend almost half of our 1 hour program doing it? What intrinsic value does music have that makes it worth all of the effort? Why go to all of the trouble?

I’ll let you know what I think in part 2, but for now – what do you think?

Why do we sing at church?

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Drill down

Posted in Uncategorized on August 25, 2011 by mattywayne1

I have always loved having options. My wife would probably call it lack of commitment, but honestly it’s just a realization that being flexible provides a bigger pallet of choices. Options typically provide freedom and opportunity and that has always felt better than a lack of choices. I usually fear pursuing any “one” thing because of the opportunity cost associated with the pursuit.

I had lunch with one of the smartest guys I know yesterday and it really helped solidify a gut feeling I’ve had lately. He used a football analogy. He said “Peyton Manning will go down as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, maybe even THE best. He never worked on catching the ball, he didn’t want to be a wide receiver. He never spent time practicing his punting, he never wanted to keep his options open to the kicking game. He never spent time working on tackling, he didn’t want to have a defensive position as a fall back plan. He pursued one thing – being a great quarterback. He drilled down.

If I’m ever going to grow in life I have to give up some things I might be good at so I can drill down at something I might be great at, and it totally goes against my “keep my options open” philosophy. It’s incredibly tough handing off something you like doing (and are probably good at), but chances are there are other people in your world that could do those things as good or better than you and nothing else but clearing your plate can give you the opportunity to focus on what you’re great at.

What tasks could you give up to gain “drill down” focus? What’s the one thing you’re going to drill down?

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How much can you handle?

Posted in Church, Creating, Leading, Process, Uncategorized on August 23, 2011 by mattywayne1

I love the word capacity.

ca·pac·i·ty noun

1. the ability to receive or contain: This hotel has a large capacity.
2. the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained: The inn is filled to capacity. The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.
3. power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability: the capacity to learn calculus.
4. actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand:
I think #4 is my favorite. I’ve always wanted my work identity to reflect a capacity for capacity (a #1 for #4!). I always want my plate to be full.
Our culture is currently fascinated with the word hustle, and I get it – as a rule exceptionally hard work pays off.  But personally, as I seek out new projects and more responsibility I’m impressed with the feeling that now is a great moment to slow down and learn something about the character of God.
I hear people frequently talk about their dependence on God in difficult or challenging moments and it’s always been hard to relate. Frankly, I’ve always been dependent on Matt. In arrogance I’ve decided that my capacity for “more” is a result of my own doing, and if/when I reach the end of that capacity I’ll  lean on God, but until that day comes – I got this.
This is such a dangerous inclination, and I’m ready for a shift.
I want to start and conclude every day knowing that anything good (or bad) that happens in, around, or through me is only a result of what God has orchestrated. This is my new prayer: “Increase my dependence on You and decrease my dependence on self.”
For all of you hustlers out there with a crazy capacity to work, take a minute and thank God for the ability to do so.

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I compare

Posted in Uncategorized on June 2, 2011 by mattywayne1

Gonna be honest here. I struggle like crazy with comparison.

There are two things that frequently remind me how I don’t measure up. One thing is the Dave Ramsey’s show. If you don’t know Dave Ramsey, he helps people gain control over their finances and get out of debt. Dave asks every caller how much money they make (so invasive, right?) Whether they’re calling to scream that they’re debt free or to ask for help getting out of money trouble, it feels like everyone is more successful than I am.

The other thing is driving through more established neighborhoods in town. I look around at the amazing homes and wonder what all of these people do for a living? Again, I feel like everyone is so much further ahead in the game of life.

Most of the time I’ll try to excuse their success. It goes like this –

“Somebody in their family probably got them their job.”

“They just got “in” at the right time.”

“They just got lucky.”

Being in Music City, USA – I feel the tension from a completely different angle. “Why did that artist make it?” “How did that song become a hit?” “Why did they get a pub deal?” “Who did they sleep with to get a record deal?”

I’ll totally admit that I’m not a journey guy – I’m all about destination. The bottom line is that I spend way too much of my time comparing and trying to figure out where I’m trying to go professionally, personally, and financially, and not enough time enjoying my current rung on the ladder. There’s an amount of planning and dreaming for the future that is healthy, but living in a state of constant discontent and comparison is bad for the soul and it steals your joy.

I constantly need to be reminded that what others do and have is none of my freekin business and to put my nose to the grindstone and handle what’s right in front of me.

Dear comparison, I hate you!

 

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Steering boats

Posted in Church, Creating, Guitar, Music, Musicians, Process, Songs, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , on May 9, 2011 by mattywayne1

Anybody can steer a ship in open water. It’s only when docks and shorelines loom that driving the boat becomes challenging. Parameters and boundaries inevitably change your reality.

Almost a year ago I had a haunting conversation with a Cross Point member who happens to be an exceptionally successful writer/producer. He asked a simple question, “Why isn’t there one church in Nashville (Music City USA) that has a voice in the world wide conversation on corporate worship?”

After months of dreaming and planning, today marks a huge step in finding that voice. Today 20 songwriters from multiple Cross Point campuses are picking up guitars and pens to write songs for our church! At first I thought through a list of rules for everyone to play by: Write corporate songs (easily singable), write in keys that guys and girls can both sing, write songs that are less than five minutes long, etc…

But, I’ve decided to throw all of the rules out the window. If the boat is easier to steer in open water then I want to wipe away all of the shorelines and every last dock to clear the way for  hearts and minds to dream up something great.  Many projects benefit from clear expectations and boundaries, but raw creativity can only be hindered by rules and regulations.

This creative gathering is gonna be a blast!

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Greatness doesn’t have to apologize

Posted in Creating, Leading, Process, Songs, Sound, Sound engineer, Team with tags , , , on May 4, 2011 by mattywayne1

Frequently I find my self qualifying or even apologizing for the work I produce. It goes something like this:

“Hey, check out this recording, but just so you know it’s not mastered yet.”

“Hey, listen to this song, but just so you know it’s just a guitar/vocal rough.”

“Hey, just so you know I don’t have my A team available this Sunday so things might not go smoothly.”

“Hey, just so you know we don’t have the budget to make things sound as great as that conference (or that church).”

A really close friend of mine tours with a group of amazing musicians and production professionals. He was telling me how their production manager tends to be a big fat know-it-all. This production manager walks into the clubs and concert venues they play and immediately tells the owners how bad their sound system sounds and how poorly it’s wired. He then proceeds to gut their wiring and reconfigure their equipment (usually without permission). I know this boils the club owners’ blood. BUT – This particular manager is a significantly talented engineer and has an amazing ear for sound. When he finishes reworking their system the owners almost always say, “Wow! It has never sounded this good before.” The production manager never apologizes.

Here’s the deal, I’m not telling you to be a jerk when you work, but when the work you do speaks for itself, you’ll never have to qualify or apologize for the way you do it.

Finish the work you start. Don’t turn in your work with a side order of excuses – Just turn in something amazing. Don’t expect people to see the diamonds in the rough – Just be a diamond. Don’t let people say you have potential – go ahead and realize it. Don’t just “get by,” HUSTLE!

Do great work.

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Easter check list

Posted in Uncategorized on April 21, 2011 by mattywayne1

Here’s what’s running through my mind right now…

Absolute must. Make sure all my campuses have batteries.

Foamies! Make sure the campus bands have enough in-ear foams sleeves.

New drum heads – seated and tuned!

Get Blake Bergstrom a ballin’ new headset mic so he can be as cool as Pete Wilson.

Verify the bands are ready to rawk at all campuses!

Verify everyone involved knows all the call times for bands and production…

Double check the audio feed to the satellite campuses.

Verify that numbers charts line up with click tracks and count ins.

Change strings

Find time to sit down and actually practice the songs for the Easter set.

This list should definitely include…

Prayers for Sunday. Prayers for Pete, for worship leaders, band leaders, drummers, keyboard dudes, guitar guys, singers, bass players, sound guys, and every last person involved in the program.

Prayers for every person that walks in the door, every person who hesitantly decides to visit, that they will actually see and hear the inspired story of God’s love that can make a difference right now in this very moment of their lives.

If you’re helping out at church this Easter in any capacity, what do you have left to do?

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Pullin’ back the curtain

Posted in Uncategorized on April 18, 2011 by mattywayne1

Our department has recently taken on a monumental project. This Easter we launch Cross Point’s Internet campus. The amount of data we crunched (production interface systems, design concepts, wiring diagrams, and eventually awarding the installation contract) left our heads spinning.

When it came to the actual web content we knew exactly what we wanted to do –

1. Pete’s message would be a primary focus.

2. Pete would also need a way to interface with the on-line community after his message.

3. The corporate worship segment would have to rock.

Points 1 and 2 would be pretty straight forward, but I knew that point 3 would take some work.

There are tons of reasons why live worship music for the web is not an easy thing. First, it takes a 2nd audio engineer on a completely separate mixing console to build a mix exclusively for the web. Second, the band has to execute flawlessly. Any mistakes the band makes are broadcast for the entire world to hear. And lastly, it’s tough to make the worship segment look great without proper lighting and video equipment.

In a live environment there’s grace. The sound energy, the lighting, and the momentum of the live experience captures and engages more of your senses. At a live event the average listener rarely notices subtle mistakes, but when you just sit and listen to music from the web small imperfections that should unnoticed, are made very apparent when isolated to the web stream.

Enter our solution…

We periodically have all campus worship nights where we stack in extra production. We record the band to protools, design extra lighting for the room, and bring in extra video gear. After those nights we can take the recorded tracks and overdub a couple instruments, tweek the vocals, and bolster the entire sound. I used a producer/engineer friend of mine, Joe Causey, to produce the final project. We used his studio space to grab some extra guitars, vocals, and mix the tracks down. This enhanced mix gives our in house video genius a solid track to edit all of the camera shots to.

So take a listen to a before and after of the live mixdown…

Mighty to save live

Mighty to Save “live”

PS – Your favorite live worship records are never 100% live (Hillsong, North Point, Passion etc…)

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ROI

Posted in Creating, Leading, Team, Uncategorized with tags , , , , on March 29, 2011 by mattywayne1

Who has two thumbs and likes a little bit of math? This guy right here…Un-mathy people hold on tight!

I’m not really into stocks, but I know a couple things about the market. One stat that traders look at is “return on investment.” ROI is simply the benefit (return) of an investment divided by the cost of the investment. Don’t worry, I didn’t bring you here to talk about stocks.

I want to be good at what I do, so it comes naturally to evaluate the results of the investment I make at work. I’m constantly faced with the realities of my skill set and the lack of time to accomplish the things I really want to accomplish. Often it seems like there aren’t enough hours in a day, and that I have a limited number of tools in the shed. I often find myself asking these questions: “How do I maximize every opportunity? How do I squeeze out the biggest result for my efforts?”

Most of the time I think it’s pretty simple. I try put my greatest effort into things that I know will have the greatest return, i.e. I know what I’m good at and I try to spend most of my time doing that. I don’t cheat the things I care about the most by spending my limited time on things I do poorly. Now I realize everybody has to do things they aren’t good at some of the time, but that’s why I love working with a team. My team can help pick up the slack for my shortcomings, and hopefully I’ll pick up theirs.

Take a step back and try to get a decent perspective of the work you do. Evaluate how you spend your time, and try to find ways to spend more time doing the things you do the best.

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Ready for work?

Posted in Church, Leading, Music Director, Musicians, Process, Production, Rehearsal, Sunday, Team with tags , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2011 by mattywayne1

Have you ever gone to work unprepared, or showed up to a meeting empty handed? I hate the feeling that I get when I know I’m not pulling my weight, but I know there will always be days when I just don’t have the time or space to get adequately prepared.

For church workers Sundays are “go time,” and it’s on Sundays when my preparedness or lack there of is most apparent. When I’m not properly prepared I retreat into default mode, and default mode is all about safety, fear, and survival.

When I’m in default mode I…

-Play the safe parts I know I can pull off, not the great parts that require a little bit of moxy.

-Lose sight of the main goal and let little things distract.

-Don’t listen (musically) to the rest of the team because I’m focused on myself.

-Try to cover too much ground and don’t trust the team to play their roles.

-And worst case scenario, I let a negative spirit affect the team’s ability to effectively lead worship.

So many things are outside of our control on a Sunday. Technical issues will happen, systematic problems will rear their heads, and things will never accidentally go smoothly. The one thing you can control is how prepared you are.

Preparedness:

-Covers a multitude of sins.

-Is the responsibility of anyone who wishes to lead.

-Gives us flexibility. Flexibility is crucial to navigate the unknowns.

-Minimizes surprises.

-Will require investment.

-Most importantly it breeds confidence. Confidence is engaging, and if we wish to engage people through worship or through a message we have to do it with confidence.

 

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Mission critical

Posted in Creating, Leading, Process, Uncategorized with tags , , on March 10, 2011 by mattywayne1

Being critical will not change your reality. You will rarely (if ever) gain influence through criticism. In fact, you will almost always lose influence because of your critical spirit. You will not move up the ladder simply because you have an uncanny ability to point out small systematic flaws (flaws that I guarantee leadership are already well aware of). Vocal criticism might lead to changes in some small aspects of your life, but only for the short term. Long term change is the result of creative solutions, not your ability to pinpoint the problem.

Every chance to criticize is an opportunity to implement change. Create solutions for things that are within your reach to change. Fix things that other people might not even be aware are broken.

Most of the time I’m the chief critic.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt


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Guitar player round up

Posted in Amps, Church, Creating, Guitar, Leading, Process, Reinhardt, Sunday, Team with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2011 by mattywayne1

Last night I hosted a group of guys at Cross Point with the hopes of starting the dialogue about great guitar playing in church. I’m not talking about great finger tapping solos or great sweep arpeggios, but tasteful, truly artistic playing that benefits the ensemble that in turn benefits the entire worship experience.

We have musicians that span three or four decades, so it’s important to establish what the vision and goals are in very specific terms. My number one goal was to reinforce that the art of listening is always the most important part of playing great. You have to listen honestly to your parts and tones, and you have to listen to the guys you’re playing with to know when and how to play. My secondary goal was to define the foundation of getting great tone and playing great parts.

Almost a year ago I decided to direct a handful of instructional videos specifically for church musicians. Last night was the first time I’ve been able to use them. Here’s one of my bud DeeWeezy talking about where to start with setting your overdrive pedals.

I’m glad we started the conversation and I’m pumped to see all of my players further develop their gifts.

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Sensitive guitar players

Posted in Audition, Church, Creating, Fender, Guitar, Leading, Music, Music Director, Musicians, Practice, Process, Rehearsal, Sound, Sunday, Team, Uncategorized, Worship with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on March 2, 2011 by mattywayne1

I’m a guitar player, so I think I’m allowed to admit this – guitar players tend to be a sensitive bunch. I can still remember the first time my church MD gave me constructive feedback. I was about 16, and like every good guitar player I thought I was hot stuff, so when he critiqued my playing I took it personally. All he said was “Hey, just because you’re holding the guitar doesn’t mean you have to play the whole time.”

His quick jab stung for a minute, but the musical wisdom behind his statement has stuck with me through the years. That moment helped shape purpose into my playing, and moved me in a specific musical direction.

If you play guitar (or any instrument) on a worship team, check your pride at the door and be teachable (I love working with teachable musicians). Understand your purpose. You’re there to make a contribution to the team that helps everyone in the room experience an undeniable encounter with a very real God.

Also, if you’re a worship leader or music director, be confident in your giftedness and leadership. Don’t be afraid to tell your players exactly what you need from them. Crystal clear communication is imperative to lead effectively. Know where you want to take your team (musically), and communicate how to get there.

Make sure you carve out time to lead your team offline (i.e. not always on Sunday mornings). Next Tuesday night I’m holding an electric guitar seminar for our worship team. I can’t wait to share my heart and experience with this great group of dudes. It’s gonna be one fun night!

If you had the chance to tell your church’s guitar player anything (and weren’t worried about hurting his feelings), what would you say?

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The sound of now

Posted in Creating, Music, Musicians, Songs, Sound, Uncategorized with tags , , on February 15, 2011 by mattywayne1

Muse, Cee Lo, Kayne West, Mumford and sons, Taylor Swift and Arcade Fire…..

How will the music our generation creates be remembered? Twenty years from now which artist will stand the test of time, which ones will be remembered? Music and culture are so fluid that it takes years to develop a legitimate perspective.

Generally speaking, every generation’s most influential artists have made unique contributions to pop music and stamped their legacy into culture and time. Those select few artists from every generation become the icons that last forever.

Here’s a quick pop music history overview by decade.
Fifties music was the birth of real consumable pop music (think Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis). In the Sixties music became the soundtrack to a cultural upheaval (think the Beatles, James Brown, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Who). The seventies were all over the place. Even though this decade brought us disco, there still were some great artists. (think Led Zeplin, the Eagles, Stevie Wonder, Queen, Elton John). Eighties music fed and reflected the excess of a decadent culture (think Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Van Halen, Run DMC, Def Leppard, the police)…

You get the point; every generation has a beat, every generation has a sound. Looking back, it’s easy to pinpoint who was truly great and who was significantly influential from each time period. We can look back to see what was really important from each generation of music, but it’s taken twenty, thirty, or even sixty years to gain the perspective.

Only time can prove, but I do think we can start to identify the sound of this generation, and who could potentially become our legends. I mean when Elvis took the stage I think people knew something really special was going on. When Jimi picked up a guitar people had to know something ground-breaking was occurring, and when Bono sang his heart right into the microphone the world stopped to listen.

What song is being written, who’s playing an instrument, or singing something right now that will last forever? What music is being created right now that’s really special, who’s doing something truly ground-breaking, who’s voice is causing the world to stop and listen? Please tell me that a woman who shows up to the Grammys in a giant egg isn’t our Elvis!

What sound/artist do you think will characterize this generation?

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Year one

Posted in Church, Creating, Leading, Music, Music Director, Musicians, Process, Production, Songs, Sound, Sound engineer, Sunday, Team, Uncategorized, Worship with tags , , , , , , , on February 12, 2011 by mattywayne1

It’s been 1 year since I officially started to work at Cross Point. It has been an amazing time of growth, struggle, joy, frustration, and elation. I thought I’d be nice to run through some of my favorite moments and highlights from the past 12 months. I’ll try to write these out chronologically.

– Revamped audition process. It was one of the first things I wanted to do when I started. We’ve grown the team in huge ways this year.

– I learned how to program strings. I’ve always dabbled in music production software, but this was my first chance to really try something new. I love getting to make accompanying tracks for the bands. (I use Cubase SX with Halion symphonic orchestra, in case any techies were curious)

– The 2010 Easter service. We played Chris Tomlin’s “Awakening” as our special. I first thought of doing that song on a long, cold morning run.

– The May Nashville flood. Some of my closest friends lost everything. Their endurance and faithfulness through the struggle was incredible to watch. It was also a “hinge” moment for Cross Point church and our community. I feel like we “grew up” in this moment.

– The Bellevue Campus launch. Right in the middle of our efforts to assist flood victims we still had to launch this campus. It was a big challenge to balance flood relief efforts while putting the finishing touches to the campus. It’s been great to see how God uses this campus and it’s people to impact the community.

– Something creative this way comes! In June Stephen Brewster joined the team. We haven’t been the same since. Not only is he a crazy creative thinker, he’s a snazzy dresser too.

– Catalyst conference. I loved the communicators, the bands, and the worship. I loved it all. Pretty killer conference.

– Blog beginnings. I actually decided at the Catalyst conference to get this thing off the ground.

– My first staff retreat. I’ve heard about these for years (My wife’s been on staff for 6 years), but it was my first chance to experience it. We stayed in a VERY nice cabin, tucked in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. It was a beautiful setting to learn and grow with the team.

– First ever writers night. We wanted to raise money for our missionary to the Dominica Republic, Jeff Rogers. He runs a killer organization Go Ministries. I was pumped to help plan an event that featured 16 of Cross Point’s premier songwriters. The night had a killer vibe and the place was buzzing with energy.

– First ever worship night. We invited people from all of our campuses and had a time of intense corporate worship. We had no clue what to expect, but we learned so much that night and can’t wait till the next one. We’re working to do this every 3 months.

– Songwriting. I picked up the pen and guitar and started writing again. It had been 2 years or so since I had even tried.

– Christmas Eve creative logistics. We were a little lean on music and production volunteers, so we had the idea to create a traveling team and programed services to start at staggering times so the team could travel to multiple campuses. It was wild, but we found a way for each campus to have a special Christmas experience.

– Downtown campus launch. We pulled this campus off in about a month. Once we found the venue we put it in 5th gear and crushed it. We were able to pull together the necessary resources to make church happen in some very creative ways. Now college students and young adults have a very special place to call home and a place to worship together.

I know that’s a long list, but it only begins to tell this year’s story. It really has been an incredible year. I love the people I work with and I love the work we do. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 12 months.

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