CMS Productions Blog

Charts: Worth the Effort!

2012-02-25T17:51:00.001-08:00

From 'The Band' article by Tom Lane, found in Worship Musician Magazine.
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One thing that's proven true for me is I never regret putting time and effort into being prepared. My bad dreams usually involve me showing up for a gig and my amp and guitar are miles away, and I have to carry them up hill-through the snow-both ways before we count off a tune in 2 minutes. Crazy! But it shows that I hate being caught unprepared for sure.

It's hard to be critical of those who volunteer their time every week to be involved in worship at their churches. Above all else, it's a sacrifice that God sees and that's what matters. Yet there are things we can do better, which help the overall excellence factor with our music. If we're doing all we can do already, then that's all anyone can ask. Obviously we have lives to live and greater priorities than the worship team. But given that we're counting the costs, setting good boundaries, and doing what we commit to do... there's more we can do! For one thing we can prepare our music.

For most teams, the band has rotating members, making it hard to have consistency. Charts are normally words with chords above them which tell you little about the song unless you already know it or play through it a few times. Even when you know a song, playing with different leaders the same chart will likely be different. As a rule of thumb I like to know the road map before driving down the road. I can wing it no problem, and sometimes you have to, but it's better to have a heads up, especially if you're serving different leaders. I prefer a real chart with bars, repeats, notation, etc. As a leader, if I want my band to follow I should provide them with cues or charts with notation or specific marks or else give them the freedom to "wing it and fly by the seat of their pants" without letting it bug me.

The "All Skate" approach to a song is not my favorite. It means that a band is really just getting through the song, playing without considering what the rest are doing. Very little dynamics or thought put into specific parts. Just rhythm, chords, and everyone playing all the time, all the way through. It's best to play much less, at least until you know what's going on and make notes for the sections of a song. Even if you're not a reader you can make notes.

At the very least I do something like this for each song:

Song Title
Key= E, 4/4
I (Intro)- melody line
1v- pad/ethereal
2v- chunk
C- eighth notes, w/delay
3v- driving/bigger
C- power chords/Big!
O (Outro)- melody line, ends on 4

To not know where you are or what you're playing is simply winging it. Again, that's fine but if it affects other players or hinders the overall picture, then just do some homework! More often than not, I actually chart out a song onto one page using the Nashville Number system which assigns a number for chords and doesn't require re-charting to change keys.

So here's how simple a chart can be.

Mighty To Save
Key= G, 4/4
I ||: 4 1 6- 5 :||
1v ||: 4 1 6- 5 :||
4 5 4/6 5/7
C ||: 1 5 4 1 6- 5 :||
2v same
C same / / / / >
B ||: 4 1 5 6- 4 1 5 :|| 5
C same/down
C Big!
*Underlining a bar means it’s a true split bar unless otherwise notated. Meaning in 4/4 time each chord gets half of the count = 2 beats.

Good players can play a chart down having never heard the song and still make it sound good. Not every leader provides good charts and that's why I've learned to write my own. I'm not the best reader out there but I compensate for my limitations by putting forth the needed effort. It's not about know everything, it's knowing what you need to know to do your best!

Over time it becomes second nature and instinctive. In the time it takes to learn to use your cell phone you can learn the number system. At a glance here's how it works: * For a more comprehensive look see: Chas Williams, "The Nashville Number System."

Scale in the key of C...
1=C, 2=D, 3=E, 4=F, 5=G, 6=A, 7=B

For keys with sharps and flats: Note, we don't normally write out sharp chords, we use the flat of the normal number for each chord in the scale. eg. in key of D: the normal 3 chord is F#, if you play an F it is called the flat 3 (b3) instead of 2#, and the normal 7 which is C# is called the flat 7 (b7) instead of 6#.

Scale in the key of D
1=D, b2=D#, 2=E, b3=F, 3=F#, 4=G, b5=G#, 5=A, b6=A#, 6=B, b7=C, 7=C#

Scores are great but I find most can't read them or they're so long you need two stands on stage to see them. Most worship songs really can be reduced to a one-page chart. However, for songs with hits, riffs, and other notation, a score is likely best. Most Nashville Number charts I see actually notate the rhythms and accents above the bar as needed and that usually suffices. Find what works best for the team you're leading or teach them how to read!

The way I look at it, even if you’re a band doing your own thing, the more work you put into charting out your songs coming into a rehearsal, the more your own ideas become solidified. For leaders, the best thing you can do for your team is take time to commit your thoughts and needs to paper; leaving far less to imagination and improv unless that’s what you desire.

A great thing about worship is that it’s about heart more than our skills or rules. There’s a lot of room to be creative, expressive, improvisational, and spontaneous. I find the more prepared I am, the more I can let go and be flexible to enjoy the presence of God and making the music.

A lot of other people's time is wasted simply because someone doesn’t take the time to prepare. Try to not let it be you!

(Nashville, TN is home for Tom Lane though he is involved in ministry and music around the world. As a singer, songwriter and guitar player, Tom has been teamed with worship leaders and artists. He continues to record his own work, lead worship, and writes regularly for various worship publications worldwide).
This article appeared originally in the September/October 2011 issue of Worship Musician Magazine.

Great Tools for Improving Your Project Studio

2012-01-03T19:50:00.000-08:00

Here’s the latest from the Garaffice studio (garage/ office). A few tid-bits about some gear I’m using...

REFERENCE MONITORS
KH 120A nearfield monitors, Neumann

Last November at our Christian Musician Summit conference, Kent Margraves from Sennheiser hooked me up with a pair of KH 120 active studio monitor speakers from Neumann. In 2010, Neumann assumed the product line from Klein + Hummel speakers. As you might expect from the industry’s leading transducer manufacturer, along with the incredible sound quality of K+H, these nearfield monitors are second to none in performance.

At first listen, I was very impressed by the frequency response from these small boxes. There was no coloring in the spectrum. It was a very flat and real reproduction of the sound source. As Kent Margraves warned me, “you’ll want to remix everything you’ve done, because you’ll hear things in your mix that you never heard before!” It’s true. The highs are transparent and clear and the lows are solid and punchy.

Another thing I love about these little guys (5.25” low frequency driver, and 1” high-frequency driver) is that you can adjust the acoustic response of the speakers based on your own environment to get the truest sound possible. There are switches on the back that enable you to adjust bass, lo-mid, and high EQ. So, if you’re speakers are up against a wall (like mine), you can reduce your bass by -2.5dB, -5dB or -7.5dB. Or if you have a large desk between your sitting position and the speakers, you can adjust those troublesome lo-mids. In the quick start documentation, it gives you some help on how to make good decisions here.

The KH 120’s include a Mathematically Modeled Dispersion (MMD) waveguide which helps create a very large sweet spot for the listening position. Very handy for a project studio. They are powered with 100W bi-amped for each driver and are shielded for use next to your video monitors. They come with a low & high limiter to protect the speakers, very wise.

KH 120’s are the best sounding reference monitors I’ve ever used! They sell for $750 each.

DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION
StudioOne 2, PreSonus

For a couple years now, I have been exclusively using PreSonus’ StudioOne software. Recently, they released version 2... Wow!

I’ve already converted a few ProTools users, and I’m on a mission to change the industry standard. StudioOne Version 2 is far and away the best DAW I’ve ever used. The workflow is intuitive and fast with drag & drop functionality that just makes total sense! And with improvements like integrated Melodyne pitch correction, transient detection & editing/quantization, and multi-track/ layered comping tools, StudioOne makes tracking and editing a breeze! Not to mention the audio quality with 64-bit processing (even on 32-bit machines).

I’ve always loved the built-in project mastering portion of StudioOne. Now, mastering requires skill and a well set-up room and reference monitors... yet with the ‘Project’ side of StudioOne 2, it makes the process of mastering attainable in a project studio. Mixes are updated automatically, and you can prep your masters with Red Book CD burning standards, and also create digital releases.

StudioOne 2 comes with a plethora of great plug-ins, instruments & effects, as well. They are all outfitted with some great presets to get you pointed in the right direction. The pro version sells for $399, and you can get a great audio interface like the PreSonus AudioBox 1818VSL for $499 (look for a review of that soon).

AUDIO PLUG-INS
Chris Lord-Alge and Tony Maserati Signature Collections, Waves

Waves plug-ins are well-known for their high quality, and they are preferred by many top-notch producers and engineers, including yours truly :) (not that I’m top- notch, I just like ‘em).

I had an opportunity to audition Waves’ new Signature series bundles inspired by 4 great engineers; Chris Lord-Alge, Jack Joseph Puig, Eddie Kramer, and Tony Maserati.

The purpose behind these 4 collections was to give engineers several ‘application specific’ plug-ins (e.g. vocals, guitar, bass, drums) inspired by world- class engineers who use Waves. They are great for beginner engineers who are still figuring out compression ratios and appropriate EQ settings in various applications. However, this is not to say that they are only for the inexperienced... many pros jump to these plug-ins when they’re looking for that ‘sound’ and they don’t have time for tweaking.

I absolutely fell in love with 2 of the bundles, the Chris Lord-Alge (U2, Creed, Foo Fighters...) and the Tony Maserati collections (Black Eyed Peas, Beyoncé, John Legend, Jason Mraz...). Both the CLA Bass and the CLA Vocals are go-to plug-ins for me. The Maserati Group Processor (EQ/ Comp) is a must-have in just about all of my busses, as well as in mastering. And the Maserati Acoustic Guitar Designer does wonders for dull strings!

The controls are simplified, yet powerful enough to give you the kind of results these great engineers get every time, drawing from their favorite Waves plug-ins. MSRP for each is $500, but they usually list around $375-$400.

MICROPHONE
TLM 102, Neumann

The TLM 102, shown in the picture above, is a workhorse of a mic, and it’s perfect for a serious project studio. If you only have enough money for one great mic, get this one, and you’ll be surprised by what you get for the money!

It’s a simple condenser mic with no switches, but it contains all of the superior quality that you’d expect from Neumann. It has a large-diaphragm cardiod capsule with a max SPL of 144dB. I use it on loud guitar amps, but also on the most critical sound sources like vocals and acoustic guitar. It has a slight boost above 6kHz that helps with vocal presence, and honestly, I rarely adjust EQ with this mic... maybe high pass filtering, but that’s about it. This gem sells for only $700.

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These are all great tools to help you get better results in the studio, but simply having great gear does not make one a great producer/engineer... Do like I do, and learn from those who are better than you and keep moving forward. As with any hobby or profession, there’s always more to learn! Matt Kees, Director of CMS Productions, is a free- lance producer, endorsed by Neumann/Sennheiser and PreSonus. Visit www.mattkees.com or www.producedbymattkees.com

Gungor, Ghosts Upon the Earth Tour...

2011-12-13T22:05:00.000-08:00

CMS Productions & Christian Faith Center present

Thursday, March 15, 2012
7:30pm
Christian Faith Center
33645 20th Ave South
Federal Way, WA 98003

VIP Tickets - $25 (includes a 30 minute Q&A with Michael Gungor before the show, plus early access to the venue... this is not a meet & greet).
General Admission - $15
(+ $2 service charge p/ ticket)

> BUY TICKETS

He's Coming...

2011-12-03T21:38:00.001-08:00

Are you preparing?...

Are you waiting expectantly?...

We should be... It's Advent.

He came 2000 years ago... He's coming again!

While we know when we celebrate the coming of our Savior as the infant King, we do not know when Jesus Christ will return again as the Savior of all who call him such.

There is so much to do as we prepare for this season of Christmas... we purchase gifts for our loved ones, we bake cookies and treats, we watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" and "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown," we listen to and sing Christmas carols, we don our homes with lights and trees and nativity scenes, we send cards to friends and family to let them know we haven't fallen off the edge of the planet, we go to church and help out with service projects and giving trees for folks in our community... These are ALL wonderful things and important parts of the Christmas season. Doing these things help us get into the Christmas spirit, for sure.

More importantly, as believers, we all know that our focus ought to be on Christ during this time of preparation... remembering how the promise of a Savior was to come as a child, a human, born where the animals take shelter... Born to save us. We ought to take this time before Christmas to prepare our hearts for the coming of the King... not just as the infant 2000 years ago, but as the triumphant, victorious King of kings... Who will come to reclaim His creation and all of those who believe.

If you're anything like me, you might not find yourself fully prepared at any given moment for the return of Jesus Christ. We don't know when it will be, but we should be prepared nonetheless. It's much easier to prepare for a few days at the end of the calendar year than it is for a time that will come when we least expect it... all the more reason to be prepared, eh?

If nothing else, Christmas is a great time to be reminded that we need to be prepared and watchful at all times... join me in December 2011 as well as all of 2012 to prepare... and wait expectantly!

Matt

Christian Musician Summit Northwest 2011 - Thoughts

2011-11-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how quickly November 10, 11 & 12, 2011 flew by... As with any large event, so much time and preparation goes into the conference, and then when the time comes for it to happen, it seems to fly by in the blink of an eye.

I do my best prior to every event that we produce to be well prepared, to have my ducks in a row, to make sure all the T's have been crossed and I's have been dotted. But it never fails... something happens to throw a wrench into the cogs of the wheel. There's always something... and there's always chaos at the top of any event... meeting the needs of all the registrants, exhibitors, artists and clinicians... dealing with production issues, dealing with transportation issues, dealing with lodging issues... it's all a part of the game... but regardless - at the end of the day - when all is said and done... God is glorified... and God is moving... and God is reigning...

This is a just a reminder for me to keep my eyes trained above. In the midst of chaos, I'm reminded to raise my head and lift my eyes, and give thanks to God who allows this craziness in my life so that I might give glory to Him. He is my sustainer, my provider, my reason...

So, even when needs are not met, equipment fails, flights are delayed... God is still God. It's all for Him, and He is glorified.

My hope and prayer is that our little celebration is pleasing to Him. My hope and prayer is that our desire to equip and provide resources to the modern Levites is pleasing to Him. My hope and prayer is that folks who attend are blessed.

Much love to everyone who joined us at CMS Northwest 2011.

Matt

Let Everything That Has Breath...

2011-10-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was sitting out on my back deck with my wife, grilling some chicken... enjoying a clear, chilly October afternoon in the Northwest. We sat quietly, listening to the wind in the trees, the crows squawking, birds chirping, dogs barking, kids playing, cars on the road beyond the woods behind our home, a siren, the sizzle of the chicken on the grill, the clinking of the ice in our glasses, my wife's beautiful voice as she spoke to me... and it struck me that everything is music. Everything creates noise at a certain pitch, and in a certain rhythm, at a certain volume... Don't believe me?

Well... What is music?

Here's the Wikipedia entry... Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture.

Think about it... just because we don't recognize the sound as 'musical' doesn't mean that all the stuff around us is not creating music. We may not recognize the notes, or the rhythm as music, but that's because we simply don't know the key or time signature, or the instrumentation. But if you were to analyze the sounds, I'm sure you could notate it.

So, maybe the noise we hear in our backyards doesn't qualify as "art," but then again, maybe it does... God certainly plays a part in the orchestration of the earth's noise. God created it all... He created rhythm and time, He created voice boxes and wind and breath, He created the frequencies and timbres, He also created rest and silence... He created us in His image... the Creator God created creative children... and whether we are musical or not, music runs through the veins of every culture.

Music is simply one of the most powerful ways that we've been given to express ourselves and our emotions. It's no wonder that we utilize this outlet, this tool, this gift to give praise to our Creator God!

Join in on the sound...

Matt

A New Look...

2011-09-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

We are excited to share our new website with you... ChristianMusician.com is phase 1... phase 2 will include our conference pages. You will now be able to find all things CMS Productions in one clean and sleek design that is easy to navigate. A huge THANKS goes out to Well Water Design. Does your church, band or small business need a new web design at an affordable price? I highly recommend Rob at Well Water... you can't go wrong.

On our homepage, you will find links to each primary category... 'Conferences/Live Events' - 'Magazines' - and 'Gear/Resources'...Under 'Conferences/Live Events' you will find details about each of our Christian Musician Summit events... locations, line-ups, schedule, workshops, registration, exhibitors, etc. Under 'Magazines' you'll find info on Christian Musician Magazine and Worship Musician! Magazine... as well as viewable issues. With 'Gear/Resources' you will have access to our store, where you can find deals on special gear (cool stuff we think musicians like us will enjoy) as well as our Conference in a Box video training series. You'll also be able to keep up with us in our blog and twitter feeds.

It's been many years since we've upgraded our online presence, and we hope you like it!

Matt