Music Dept. Roles…

Les, at one of our international partner churches, is doing some hiring, and asked about job descriptions for Music staff.

You might be interested in my answer… (Or not - I don’t know!)

—

Les,

I’m not aware of any of those descriptions off the top of my head, but I’ll look around…

We’ve actually taken the route of molding jobs (at least within music) to the strengths of our team members. It’s also based on folks outside schedules (3 of our team members are part-time).

Also remember that we have 2 stages (East and West) happening simultaneously. That’s 2 Worship Leaders and at least 10 musicians and at least 2 BGV’s each week. So over the course of a month we book 8 WL slots, about 40 band slots and around 8 BGV’s.

But here’s a brief overview:

Music Director - Eddie Kirkland:

Responsible for overall health and vision of Music Department, overseeing team members, booking Worship Leaders, overseeing song selection, Department budget, assist SPD in service planning, floating live Music Producer

Eddie is also one of our main Worship Leaders and leads 1 or 2 X per month as part of his job duties (meaning he’s not paid extra).

Associate Music Director - Reid Greven:

Responsible for booking all musicians, floating live Music Producer, music technology creation (loops, tracks, programming, etc.) and maintenance, oversee rhythm chart creation, instrument maintenance, liaison to SPD tech teams, assist in song planning, assist in SPD service planning, oversee North Point Music content creation, and all the other stuff…

I also book myself on stage 1 or 2 X per month as a job duty (meaning I’m not paid extra).

Music Assistant / Vocals Director - Karyn List (Part-Time):

Responsible for compiling lyrics and copyright, entering lyrics into Pro Presenter, booking and working with Background Vocalists and special vocals, floating live vocals Producer, rehearsal CD duplication, assist with song planning, benevolence and celebration items for musicians and singers (cards, gifts, etc.), assorted duties as needed…

Music Assistant - Jared Hamilton (Part-Time):

Assist with Rhythm chart creation and music technology, assorted departmental administration duties (check requests, etc.), assorted North Point Music creation and maintenance needs.

Head Worship Leader - Todd Fields (Part-Time):

This is a unique position created to take advantage of Todd’s natural strengths, and would probably not exist without Todd.

Lead Worship at least 2 X per month (as part of his job duties, meaning he’s not paid extra), assist in song selection, North Point Music guidance and steering committee, album project guidance and steering committee.

Todd also has a unique gift as a Pastor / Shepherd to our Worship Leaders, and spends significant time pouring into their lives.

Again, each of these roles have evolved over time to each person’s unique abilities and passions.

In staffing, we’ve seen success in a two step process:

1 - Identify your organization’s / department’s weakness and need.

2 - Identify the individual who, through their own existing day-to-day life, naturally fills that role.

Allowing people to do what comes naturally to them redefines the workplace experience. I tell people that even though my role is not the most glamorous, it’s what flows out me naturally.

Only then do I get to say that “this is not what I have to do, but what I get to do!”

Hope that helps!

…

Sunday Summary - Music: June 08, 2008

Father’s Day…

Dudes - If you’ve got kids, you’ve GOT to get a copy of John Woodall’s sermon from this past week called “Fathering On Purpose”.

He outlines 3 key points to parenting: TEACH, MODEL, PRAY.

Oh wow, it was good.

We also had week 2 of our 3 week Spanish Service pilot series.

And, because lots of other stuff is going on in life today, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of this past Sunday…

WORSHIP:

East - Mike Gleason

West English - Eddie Kirkland

West Spanish - Duane Nisly

Salvation Is Here

Everlasting God

From The Inside Out (our own custom 4:30 edit)

Great, familiar tunes - and again, reaching back a bit as to assist with the translation burden for the Spanish service. Hillsong has already translated their songs into Spanish, so we have been taking advantage of that, and slowly doing some North Point - based songs along the way.

From The Inside Out is still kind of new (we’ve only done it about 5 times), but the crowd has picked it up really quick! Very surprising… That Joel Houston - he writes some guuud tunes…

CLOSER:

The closer was certainly the high point of the day - at least musically. It was the perfect punctuation to John’s incredible message, and I’m really glad we did it:

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

Yeah, it’s a little dated, and has a bit of that “Butterfly Kisses” vibe - but GOSH!!

As a father of a little girl, I was a mess. All Tuesday afternoon while transcribing and programming the strings and tracks, I kept breaking into sobs. It was embarrassing.

And I was replacing the lyrics with: “And I will dance with my little Ella“.

Emotional torture… Good thing no one was around…

And then when we finally saw the silhouette video on Sunday morning, we were all a wreck. Mike Gleason, who sang the tune, opted to not view the video at all, just to be able to keep his composure during the performance.

He still hasn’t seen the video…

But I can’t rave enough at how great Mike was doing this tune. Sure, 4 or 5 of our other guys could have sung it as well, but he’s the only one who could deliver the song with such a convincing parental authority. He actually has raised 5 kids to adulthood, and so the performance was not only musically excellent, but from a place of authenticity.

Bottom line: message delivered, and not a dry eye in the house.

At least that’s what it looked like through the strange water that mysteriously filled my eyes…

Okie Dokie - I’ve got to go give Ella a giant hug…

—–

East Band - Mike Gleason, Danny Howes, Brad Long, Scott Meeder, Earl South, Jared Hamilton, Rachel Gillis

West Band - Eddie Kirkland, Duane Nisly, Danny Grady, Jeremy Moyers, Ashley Appling, Brad Gage, Keith Thomas, Rebecca Iraheta

—

What touched YOU this week?

…

(P.S. - POD X3 Live count - 4)

Sunday Summary - Music: June 8, 2008

Bienvenido!

This was no ordinary Sunday. This was a marathon. And it started last Wednesday night.

Yesterday was the first of a three week pilot series for North Point en Espaniol - a Spanish language service at North Point.

Here’s the short version:

We normally have 3 services in the East Auditorium (9:00, 11:00, 12:45), but only 2 services in the West. So the idea, at least for this pilot series, is for a traditional North Point style service to take place in the West Auditorium at 12:45 (the 3rd service time).

So how does that happen?

It started months ago with choosing an older series that Andy preached about a year ago and had it professionally overdubbed in L.A. And not some hack interpreter, but someone literally “acting” the voice of Andy - inflections, pauses, idiosyncrasies. Just imagine Andy speaking Spanish, plus a little extra “machismo”…

It also started with a grassroots base of Latinos and Spanish speaking folks within the church to partner with Host Team to be greeters, information tables, etc.

As for the music, we did the same worship songs as the first two English services - but in Spanish! How’s that for a brain twist!

Casey Darnell led the English, and newbie Duane Nisley led the Spanish, while Rosie Iraheta sang BGV for BOTH languages! Rehearsals were almost comical, as the band just played the same worship tunes over and over as we rehearsed both languages.

Throw in a closer for the English services AND a different closer for the Spanish, and you’ve got one crazy week on your hands.

In all, everyone was a real trooper, enduring long rehearsals on Wednesday night and Sunday morning as we all adjusted to the learning curve.

We learned a lot from week 1 of the Spanish pilot, and have since adjusted rehearsal schedules, call times, off-stage production personnel, Host Team strategies - you name it.

Fortunately, due to our typical over-preparation and trying to solve every little problem before it happens, the needed tweaks and adjustments are minor. So that’s good news.

It’s great to be surrounded with other folks that agree that foresee and fix issues even before they happen.

WORSHIP:

East - Todd Fields

West English - Casey Darnell

West Spansih - Duane Nisley

- Salvation’s Chorus

- Mighty To Save

- How Great Is Our God

- How He Loves (English closer) **also be sure to check out THIS version!!!!!

- My Savior My God (Spanish closer)

We’re revisiting a few older, more familiar tunes over these 3 weeks to aid the Spanish service - doing a few songs that have already been translated (to cut down the translation workload) and that our Spanish Worship Leaders Duane and Seth are already comfortable with - again, to reduce the learning curve for them.

—-

East Band - Todd Fields, Ashley Appling, Pat Malone, Steve Thomason, Danny Grady, Chris Arias, Jen Carrozza.

Yep - a band so good so good, it’ll make you slap yo mamma…

West Band - Casey Darnell, Duane Nisley, Scott Meeder, Richard Meeder, Bill DeLoach, Mike Hines, Jeremy Moyers, Rosie Iraheta

Yep - a rhythm section so good, it’ll make yo mamma slap you back…

—

POD X3 LIVE count: 5

All 4 electrics plus Todd’s acoustic.

—

What challenged YOU this week?

…

Planning Center and Legal Downloads

Darin asks:

“Hey Reid,
I hope your doing great. I have a NP / Planning Center question I was hoping you could help me with. Do you have your Planning Center preferences set to allow downloads or playback from the Planning Center player only. Our musicians really like Planning Center but….they don’t like the fact that they can’t put the songs on their ipods/cd’s. They have to practice the songs at a computer. I would greatly appreciate your insights on the subject.

Thanks,
Darin

Well Darin, I’ve got good news and bad news.

The bad news is what you’re already experiencing - the curse of legal downloads and file sharing.

It is actually illegal to share copyrighted files (like MP3’s via email), but it IS legal to stream the content, such as the playback only option from Planning Center.

There are, however, two exceptions:

1 - If you are given direct permission by the copyright owner to distribute a certain quantity of songs, like a song you or a colleague has written and permission has been granted. An example for us is anything that Todd Fields has written, he has given us permission to distribute to North Point Ministries players.

NOTE: That only applies to the 3 NPM campuses. Everyone else needs to pay for them so Todd can feed his family, and give them clothing and shelter.

2 - If you have signed up as an Organizational Member of North Point Music you may distribute that material according to your user license.

OK - so other than that, what are our options? Well, there are two legal options:

1 - iTunes:

I got this idea from the Willow Creek guys (see - we don’t just think of everything ourselves!). They presented the brilliant idea of giving their musicians iTunes Gift Cards.

They started giving $25 Gift Cards - not as a thank you, but to purchase songs from iTunes over the coming months as needed. These are for songs that will be performed in church that the musicians need to learn.

Plus, after a short time, individual musician’s libraries would grow to the point that most (if not all) of that week’s songs were already part of their library (which obviously includes their iPods and/or their burning it to a CD for the car, etc…)

Remember - The initial startup can be high and a bit hard to swallow, but think of how long those cards will last:

I thought about it, and there’s probably only 20-30 songs that you are CURRENTLY performing at church on a regular basis - but they already know those. So let’s deal with the NEW songs (since that’s the root of this problem).

We add a new song an average of once a month. Plus we do a special song (opener of closer) about twice a month. That’s a total of about 36 “new” tunes a year - or $36 per musician.

I’d say that’s a good deal.

For most churches that’s a financial commitment of under $1000.00 per year. If that’s too high, you may choose to cast vision to your musicians and ask them to commit to buying their own songs, which averages to less than $1.00 per week.

Either way, they then own the songs and have the rights to transfer it to an iPod and/or burn it to a CD for their own personal, private use.

Plus, I wouldn’t trust a musician without iTunes capability. I mean the software is a FREE download for both Windows and Mac!

2 - Distribute CD’s:

This is how we used to do it, but it’s a total logistical hassle, requires significant pre-planning, and strains flexibility.

It’s the old - and still valid - method of choosing a month’s worth of content, burning it to a master CD, duplicating the master for the number of musicians you have, ensuring the labels have all the required copyright mumbo-jumbo about the disc being illegal at the end of one month, buying CD sleeves, packing envelopes, addressing them, postage, and mailing them. Oh, and having the man-power to perform all those tasks.

Plus, you still need to report all those songs to their respective copyright collecting agencies (ASCAP, BMI, etc.) and pay the copyright fees.

And the musician is only allowed to listen to the song using the physical CD, and only for one month. It’s actually illegal for them to import the CD and keep the file beyond the one month limit.

And then what happens if you add a song the musicians need to hear after the CD has been mailed? Huh??

See? Like I said: It’s a total logistical hassle, requires significant pre-planning, and strains flexibility. But it’s legal.

.

.

Um, I’ll take the iTunes Gift Cards, thank you very much.

And remember - they’re not “gifts” or “payment” - it’s a tool that assists the musician - or Front Of House mixer - to do the job you’re asking them to do.

2nd Most Poular FAQ - Rehearsal Schedule

I promised I’d talk about the 3 most popular questions I received during the round-tables and Q&A sessions.

The 3rd most popular is HERE.

Here’s the 2nd most popular: REHEARSALS

“What are your rehearsals like?” or “What’s your rehearsal schedule?”

I guess this is a big issue for lots of folks. And, after discussing our philosophy on rehearsals with them, I was reminded of why it’s such a big deal for us.

The bottom line for us - both music and service production - is that anything less than our absolute best is a disappointment and, frankly, unacceptable.

The first and most important key is to surround yourself and build your team with people that constantly inspire you and push you - professionally AND spiritually. People that don’t settle for mediocrity are the kind of people you want in your life, on your team, and facilitating a Sunday service.

I guess the first thing you have to ask yourself is “am I going to settle for a half effort or am I only satisfied with 100%, 100% of the time - from me and the people around me.“

Now that doesn’t mean you’re exhausted and overworked. On the contrary - It should be a pleasant experience because everyone functions at a high level of ability in an area at which they are gifted and experienced. That doesn’t mean they’re lazy or slackers, but rather that they also reach a place of inner satisfaction when everything - including their role - works at a level of excellence.

SO… How’s all THAT happen each week, assuming you have the “right” people in place?

The same way that you get to Carnegie Hall:

Practice, practice, practice.

Step 1 - PREPARATION:

Before our Wednesday night rehearsals, I email all the musicians (Worship Leader, Band, Singers, etc.) what we’re doing that week. We have our final pre-production meeting on Tuesday morning, in which the final details of the service are, well, finalized. There’s usually no change in music content, but every once in a while we’ll tweak something based on a sermon change, service length, etc.

Now a Tuesday afternoon email for a Wednesday night rehearsal might be too late for some of your musicians. That’s a judgement call for you to make. Maybe a week or two is more realistic for your program - even though they’ll probably not work on the songs until the night before anyway

Getting them the songs is a different story. Distributing a worship song through a North Point Music organization membership solves a lot of legal issues. Another great way is sending the iTunes link (iTunes song URL) for a song, and having them download it. Just find the track in iTunes, then right-click on the name of the song and choose Copy Link. Then paste it into an email. No Brainer.

If they’re too cheap to pay $0.99, just give them an iTunes gift card. NO BIG DEAL.

The bottom lines on preparation are:

- WE need to be at least one step ahead of them.

- THEY need to be given realistic time to prepare on their own before rehearsal.

- THEY need to know what is realistically expected of them as individuals before a group rehearsal.

- THEY need to be assured that we know what we - both as individuals and as a church - know what we’re doing.

I believe people will follow leadership that is PREPARED.

Step 2 - MID-WEEK REHEARSAL:

We have ours on Wednesday nights, but that’s not to say Tuesday or Thursday aren’t viable as well. Monday’s too early - you’re recovering from the day before. No one wants Friday, and Saturday afternoon interferes with family time.

It also allows a Thursday evaluation of Wednesday’s rehearsal, and gives ample time to enter final lyric arrangements into Pro Presenter, as well as time to tweak as needed.

So we have dinner ready at 6:00 PM in the Green Room. Might be Italian or Mexican, maybe Subs or pizza, Chick-Fil-A or Chili’s. It’s good, it’s often a hot meal, and there’s enough for seconds. Oh, and dessert. It tells the musicians and audio volunteers that we care enough about THEM to put some time, effort and resources into making them feel valued and comfortable. It also creates an atmosphere for them to chill out for a while, visit with old friends, and go deeper with new ones.

Everyone arrives sometime between 6:00 - 6:30. Guys set up their gear, drummers work on their in-ear monitor mix with the Monitor Engineer (so as to not waste the band’s time later), and then get food when they’re ready.

We found that having a set call time in Atlanta during rush hour is a battle we’d never win, so the 6:00ish method has worked well.

IMPORTANT: At 6:45, while in the Green Room, I’ll pass out stapled packets of the Rhythm Charts for the songs, and we’ll listen to them on the small PA system - together, both stages, as a group. Guys review the charts with pens-in-hand, bassists and drummers talk about kick patterns, guitarists talk about voicings and parts, vocalists talk about harmonies, and - most importantly, Worship Leaders are reminded of song forms, etc.

This exercise has been one of the biggest paybacks we’ve ever implemented. It’s been such an asset to talk out songs, forms, and special aspects of the tunes, especially with both stages’ musicians in the same room. Plus, what they gain from the collaborative experience is invaluable!

After that, we all - including Audio volunteers - gather up in a circle and have what has become one of the highlights of the week. It’s a time for us as staff to remind everyone that we’re glad they’re here, and that they are here this week for a special reason. We cast vision for the upcoming Sunday, the message and series, and some of the details in why we might be doing a particular special song.

We talk about what’s going on in each other’s lives, address any specific prayer needs, and encourage them to use Sunday’s services not as another gig, but as a specific, intentional time to enter into worship to our God and Creator!

We remind them that our rehearsals are for just that - rehearsing. We rehearse effectively so that, by Sunday services, the notes, chords, patches, rhythms, forms, monitors, and all the other distracting elements are ingrained into our subconscious - so that it’s second nature. That allows us to focus on God during the service’s worship, and not have our nose buried in charts.

Then I or one of our Worship Leaders share scripture that is appropriate for the day or topic or song, and then I have a 2 or 3 people pray for us and any specific needs or issues.

And, as often as possible, we’ll have one of the Worship Leaders play acoustic and lead us in a chorus or song.

These brief Wednesday night encounters have birthed an awareness in our players of the importance of the spiritual aspect of worship - and that it’s OUR chance to worship God. There’s nothing more attractive to an unbeliever than witnessing true, authentic worship.

Then we hit the stage.

What’s great about the Green Room time is that we, as staff and Worship Leaders ahead of time, have determined the arrangement, which eliminates all the second guessing and “input” from opinionated band members.

That way, once we hit the stage, the Worship Leader acts as bandleader - running a good, focused sound-check (that’s another topic altogether!) and then rehearsing the tunes.

We, as staff, sit back at the Front Of House (FOH) mix board with the FOH engineer and essentially “produce” the songs. We help address mix issues with the Audio team, and answer any questions that the band has on stage. And troubleshoot and put out fires.

The tough thing at North Point is splitting your time between auditoriums, but we make it work…

Once the rehearsing part is over, we run the worship set and specials just like we would on Sunday and record it to a CD Burner. We then duplicate about 15 copies on a CD duplicator and give a copy to everyone to take with them to listen and evaluate their playing, singing and mixes. This exposes rough spots, and helps folks refine their parts before Sunday.

Lots of weeks see us making calls or emails on Thursday morning to singers and players regarding certain “not-yet-perfect” parts…

It also allows us final song times for the service producers and lyrics for Pro Presenter.

Part 3 - SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY !!!

A typical Sunday AM consists of 8 parts, at least for music:

1. Call Time - 6:45 AM: We set call time 15 minutes before down beat so guys can check their lines and monitors, review any specific musical elements, and sip down a coffee and tell some stories before down beat.

2. Down Beat / Tech Rehearsal - 7:00 AM: The tech teams (cameras, video crew, etc.) come out of their meeting and are ready to rehearse their (volunteer) roles at 7:00. This rehearsal is mostly for them (camera shots, lyrics, shaders, video elements, etc…), but it is also for the musicians and FOH - dusting off the cobwebs.

They’ll also rehearse any extraneous elements (videos, speaker mic check, etc.)

3. Full Run Through - 7:45 AM: This is a full run-through, from the video elements during the pre-service, through the opener (if there is one), announcements, worship set, offertory transition, title package video, set piece movements, speaker (preacher) check, prayer, more set piece movement, and closing song (again, if there is one).

All in real time (except the sermon).

This, again, helps make sure that everyone, no matter what their role, is adequately rehearsed and prepared before the service. ALL questions are answered.

4. Recap and Prayer - 8:30 AM: All 50+/- people involved in the East and West services gather in the Green Room over a quick breakfast (mmmm, more food!). The lead (East) producer gives a verbal final order, noting and reminding of any tweaks that were made, or special issues that need reminding.

We then circle for a couple minutes for prayer.

5. More Prayer! - 8:52 AM: Recently we’ve been meeting with all the musicians from both stages back stage just before we go out on stage. It’s a time for Todd, Eddie or I to once again remind them of the importance of what we’re about to do, to encourage them to enter into worship themselves, read scripture over them, and pray specifically for them as they lead our people in worship.

6. 1st Service - 9:00 AM: Pretty self explanatory, I believe!

7. 1st Service Evaluation - 10:20 AM: After the first service, about 10 key people meet to evaluate the service, to encourage the good stuff, and address the stuff that needs changes or adjustment, or in some extreme cases needs to be removed altogether!

The SPD Director and Associate Director (staff), 2 producers (staff), Audio Director and Assistant (staff), Production and Technical directors (staff), video directors (volunteer and/or staff), Lighting guy (staff), music dude (me), and maybe a couple other folks are in this 15 minute meeting.

We then go address any concerns or issues with folks. For me, it’s usually Worship Leaders or singers.

8. 2nd & 3rd Services - 11:00 AM & 12:45 PM: Again, self explanatory.

Part 4 - MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK:

About 12 of us from the 3 campuses meet at 9:00 AM Monday morning to do an in-depth evaluation of the services at each campus. No holding back at this meeting - hope you have thick skin!!

—-

So, class, what have we learned?

1. One reason rehearsals exist is so that the music becomes internalized, thus allowing musicians a more freeing on-stage worship experience, and ultimately lead the congregation in worship.

2. Everyone is given an opportunity to be adequately prepared, no matter their role.

3. Extensive evaluation is the mirror which celebrates the good and exposes what needs to be improved and/or changed.

Sunday Summary - Music: May 25, 2008

Wow - what a great weekend!

And we had church, too…

Yes, the long Memorial Day weekend saw my family in Jennie’s parents’ neighborhood pool. And yes, the first swim of the season is cold, even in Atlanta!

That said, today we’re playing “catch-up” with work, so this’ll be brief.

OPENER:

We finished up Andy’s 5-part series called “Faith, Hope and Luck” this week. This particular series was done at Buckhead Church (one of our campuses) first, and we took their lead. This is rare, but a welcome reprieve every once in a while.

A couple weeks ago they did a song called “Hope” by Twista and Faith Evans. We liked the idea of the song, but they had Kenny Yasuda re-write the lyrics of the rap (the main body of the song) to be more appropriate to the sermon series.

It was great there, and was great here too. My initial reaction was that the rap was hard to follow, especially for 4 minutes, but the Buckhead media guys made a great graphics video that selected key words and phrases of the rap, and laid it over top the camera shots. It gave the listener some lyric anchors which helped the listener journey through the song. Cool.

Not the type of song we’d do a lot, but effective when done strategically and performed well by the right people.

We also had Joni Portee, Monique Anderson and Chantae Cann on BGV’s (who were wonderful), and that helped sell the song as a legitimate Hip Hop / Rap tune.

WORSHIP:

Faithful

The version from Fee’s “We Shine” album is faster than the one on our Louder Than Creation. And we all like the faster version better!

Lift High

Great song, man. Great song.

CLOSER:

Never Failed Me

This is one of Eddie’s tunes off his album. The bridge is my favorite part, and James David Carter and Ashley Appling’s harmonies did the song justice.

—-

East Band - James David Carter, Ashley Appling, Wayne Viar, Earl South, Chris Arias, Danny Grady, Brad Long, Kenny Yasuda, Joni Portee, Monique Anderson and Chantae Cann

West Band - Todd Fields, Matt Adkins, Heath Baltzglier, Brandon Coker, Jared Hamilton

—–

X3 Live count - 3 out of 4 electrics

—-

How many Brats and Ribs did YOU enjoy this holiday weekend?

…

Sunday Summary - Music: May 18, 2008

Murphy’s Law or “The Enemy” - either way, this was one for the books…

It’s already a long, long weekend when we do Married Life Live (Friday rehearsal, Saturday rehearsal and show, Sunday AM - 6:45 call, and Sunday night MLL).

So, needless to say, I was already a little numb.

So here’s a glimpse…

- 5 minutes after call time, I called and woke up one of our guitarists. He lives 30 minutes away…

- We decided to shorten the intro of a song, but I forgot to tell one of the Worship Leaders (that one’s my fault)…

- After run-through, we had to call the West band back out from the Green Room to do the closer (again) so we could keep tweaking the mix…

- And the big kicker… Half way through the closer the power supply for the West lighting console died. Yep - that means the Auditorium went pitch-black. All that was left was audio and the words on the screen. Everything else was black. Pitch, pitch black.

Good thing we had the closer memorized!

So about a minute later, once they figured out what happened, Luke sprinted to the back of the room and flipped on the big florescent overhead work lights. It was certainly the right thing to do, but was a total buzz kill. At least for those of us on stage…

There they were: 2500 people - faces staring at us like were animals at the zoo. As though they all came to a Wednesday night rehearsal (to judge us!!).

But Julie Arnold (our Service Programming Director - and boss!) said that the experience ended up being quite the opposite - that it created a revealing. A transparent and authentic experience. People knew something had gone wrong, but that through the recovery that a greater intimacy had been created between the people in the audience and the band on stage.

Anna Houston did the song, and she and the band didn’t miss a beat. Obviously that helped make that experience all the more powerful.

Speaking of the closer, our good buddy and resident “most-incredible-male-vocalist-of-the-year” Ryan Stuart did the closer in the East. Yep, he’s the man.

WORSHIP:

Mike Gleason lead in East and Chrystina Fincher lead in West. Obviously they did a great job - and kudos to Mike for adapting song forms at the last minute!

All Because Of Jesus

Marvelous Light

From The Inside Out

** We’ve found a great 4:30 version of that song - which is important, especially if we want to keep doing it in 3 song sets (as opposed to the 6:15 Hillsong album version…)

—-

East Band - Mike Gleason, Danny Howes, Danny Grady, Joe Lee, Richard Meeder, Mike Bielenberg, Ryan Stuart

West Band - Chrystina Fincher, Todd Fields, Steve Thomason, Ashley Appling, Pat Malone, Me, with Anna Houston on the closer.

What lead YOU to worship this past week?

…

Amplifier Isolation Boxes, part 2

Chris Briley, one of the masters of the universe and designer of our most recent version of our Guitar Amplifier Isolation Boxes, passed along the specs for you.

Make sure you check out Part 1 first, and don’t forget this video about the fan.

ISO Cabinate Wiring and Parts

Sweet!

Sunday Summary - Music: April 13, 2008

WOW! Apparently lots of folks found yesterday’s post helpful. Or at least thought provoking

So let’s keep this train runnin’…

Jeff Henderson - the lead pastor of our Buckhead Church campus - began his 2-part series called “What Went Wrong”, a study on the life of Soloman, and how the wisest man in history still made choices that left him a shell of a man by the end of his life - and how we can use his example to help our lives.

So we opened with a tune Jeff brought to the table that set up his series, and also set up an illustration in his sermon.

“Letter To Me” by Brad Paisley.

(Did you know that Brad Paisley and I were both at Belmont University at the same time? Yeah, I know: big whoopty doo!)

I know what you’re thinking: What? Not a big, fast, high energy tune? Nope.

Instead, a great song with a great story sung by a great singer with great instrumentalists doing a great job. And THAT is engaging - and THAT is the point of the opener.

Our good buddy Todd Fields sang the tune, Bethany Dick-Olds added some great country fiddle and Mike Hines came over from the West and played some sweet mandolin. Mike, along with Rachel Gillis , added some great harmonies.

This was one of those times when I’m so proud of the incredible musicians that are part of our church. Their musicianship and versatility continue to amaze me. And I’m hard to impress, trust me!

It’s really amazing when you think that these boys and girls turn around and play killer worship!

WORSHIP:

Salvation’s Chorus

Let Me Sing

These are two incredible tunes by one of my music heros, Todd Fields. I know I brag on Toddy a bunch on my blog, but it’s all deserved. His song writing inspires me, he’s got a great voice that I’ve never heard out of tune, he’s one of the greatest all-round guitarists I’ve ever worked with, and his passion for Christ and worship is contagious. No - I do not have a man-crush. I’m just glad he’s a great friend.

Todd and Danny Dukes (West) both lead worship with humor and passion, and talk to the crowd as though they’re hanging out having coffee with each and every person in the audience. That transparency is incredible and invaluable.

A great worship experience doesn’t happen every service, or even every week, but something just clicked for me during the second service (11 am) this past week. Being on stage playing and singing songs I love, with people that I respect and love working with, worshipping my Creator and Savior - wow. Incredible.

Maybe sometimes it just starts with CHOOSING to worship. The sounds and tones are dialed in, the notes and chords are deep in muscle memory, and you just focus your attention on God.

Well that’s something to chew on.

And while you’re chewing, here are some candid on-stage photos for you to enjoy. I took them during the welcome which was fed from the West Auditorium (after the opener, before the worship).

East Band - Todd Fields, Danny Grady, Ashley Appling, Earl South, Rachel Gillis, and me - along with Bethany and Mike on the opener.

West Band - Danny Dukes, Mike Hines, Daryl Lecroy, Scott Meeder, Brad Gage, Mike Bielenberg and Dee Dee Maillian

What helped YOU worship this week?

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Touring Worship Leader problem…

Someone emailed me today with the following question. You might find the answer interesting, or may affect you and your church’s Music Staff and Sunday worship. You can also find lots of answers to lots of these types of questions at North Point Music.

Hello -
I am on my church staff committee and we are struggling with how to make our music program work. Our worship leader has recently begun touring as lead singer for a group … and is away during Sunday services often due to the touring schedule. We are trying to find a balance so that he can continue with our church and follow the opportunity God has given him … I was told that your church also has touring musicians … and wondered if you would be willing to share some information with me about how North Point balances a touring musician who also serves as a (full time, on staff) worship leader (of each week’s Sunday service). How do you cover services when they are away? What is the job expectations of the worship leader (AV support, musician prep, leading worship for service, etc.)? Do you have a salaried staff person for music or do you contract out each service?

Thanks.

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Here’s my reply…

North Point Ministries and our 3 campuses function differently than how many churches have traditionally operated when it comes to Music Department staffing.

Let me explain…

Many churches are familiar with the “Music Minister” or “Worship and Arts Pastor” role:

A full-time employee who leads Sunday worship and is responsible for all things music related, as well as all things production related - service preparation, sound system, lights, video, graphics, etc.

Needless to say, this is often a daunting task for a musician! And, as a result, areas that are not his/her expertise or interest often lack in quality and vision.

When North Point was started just over 10 years ago, this issue was addressed, and a new (and at the time experimental) hierarchy was implemented.

It started with a new position - Service Programming Director - one that was not a regular stage performer, but a creative/administrator/manager of ALL service elements: Music, Drama, Video, Media, Sound, Production, Host Team (ushers, greeters).

This also gave birth to SPD (Service Programming Division), responsible for all things related to the main Sunday services.

And, as we grew, specific people were put in place to be Directors of each of the specific elements, yet were under the ultimate authority and vision of the Service Programming Director.

This means we added a Music Director to handle all things music, then a Production Director for all things technical (cameras, audio, video, sets, etc.).

Currently we have the following positions, all under the SPD Director:

Associate Director – responsible for all staff service producers and logistical implementation of Sunday services

Production Director – responsible for all things technical (cameras, audio, video, sets, etc.) and subsequent personnel.

Music Director – responsible for all things music related (worship, special songs, bands, worship leaders, instruments, music technology, etc.) and Departmental personnel.

Media Director – responsible for all production of media (videos, graphics, title packages, etc.) and media export (DVD’s, Streaming Web content). This department has grown substantially as we’ve added campuses, Strategic Partnership churches, increased our export of resources (sermon series DVD’s etc.), and added deeper, richer content to the Sunday morning service experience.

Host Team Director – responsible for aspects such as parking lot and personnel, greeters, ushers, security, city police traffic officers, etc.

So you can see how specific individuals with specific gifts, talents and experience have been asked to oversee and lead specific areas of the Sunday morning service experience.

NOW… AS IT RELATES TO MUSIC….

The Music Director, and subsequent departmental staff, are NOT on stage every week. The Music Department staff are all professional-level musicians, but are only one stage once, maybe twice per month. That is a significant part of what allows us to maintain a high level of quality each and every week. Here’s why:

1 – We are able to evaluate the rehearsals and services from the audience’s perspective, produce the music and parts being performed on stage, and work out sound and mix issues with the Production Department’s Audio Staff and audio volunteers.

2 – We do NOT have the same people (Worship Leaders, instrumentalists, singers) on the same stage every week. Instead, we have a pool of musicians and Worship Leaders that we book for different stages at different time. Some of them play and lead at all 3 of our campuses, as well as some of the local Strategic Partners, some play and lead at just 1 or 2, and still others tour and travel around the country as professional musicians and/or Worship Leaders.

This has proven to pay dividends as these WL’s and musicians learn from other musicians and their experience at other campuses, venues, camps, retreats, conferences, sessions, ministries, gigs, etc. They help spread some of the great songs that have been birthed here and share tips and techniques with other churches and players. They also bring back great stories of their experiences that have proven so valuable to us as we find new songs and plan services.

This philosophy also allows us to have no dip in quality if one - or many – people are unavailable to participate on a Sunday. Vacations, sickness, tours and other conflicts or issues become a thing of the past. This applies to all areas of Sunday morning personnel – including staff, not just stage musicians!

We are also able to book personnel based on OUR needs. If we need a specific ability (the “right” singer for a song, a specific instrument, etc.), we are able to book accordingly. We are not “stuck” with specific, limited personnel.

For instance, this past week we selectively booked players from our pool that would perform a Brad Paisley song almost as good as Brad himself!

Now there are obviously deeper issues, such as a “gifted Worship Leader” versus “Performance Singer”, and who deserves to be on stage versus who should be on stage, not to mention Spiritual issues concerning the players and leaders themselves. Those are all different stories…

So in summary to your question, between staff, volunteers and contract labor, we have a deep enough pool to adequately maintain the same level of quality week in and week out (including a few worship leaders that tour and may be away for weeks or months at a time).

Even at our Strategic Partnership church plants, a SPD Director is hired as full time staff, with worship leaders and musicians as volunteers or contract labor.

Hope that helps – even though it sounds like the answer is to remove many of the weekly planning duties from your Worship Leader and give them to their new boss!

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So, what do YOU think?

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Sunday Summary - Music: April 6th, 2008

We wrapped up the 2-part series “Say” this week. Sean Seay, lead pastor of one of our Strategic Partner churches - Athens Church - spoke about the positive power of words.

And so, it the spirit of all things fun, and since we had the right arsenal - a.k.a. people - we dug out an old fave that, well, at least had “words” in the title.

Alas, I present one of the greatest “metal-band-does-acoustic-ballad-duet-circa-1990” songs of all time:

More Than Words by Extreme. (Yeah, you know it - sing along!)

And now, this picture, to inspire you…

What was so funny about this tune is that it was a huge Adult Contemporary radio hit. Controversy arose once all those soccer moms bought the cassette, popped it in, and were slammed with some serious glam metal. Good times.

We did it on both sides:

West - Michael Olson and Ashley Appling

East - Eddie Kirkland and Steve Thomason

The best part was Eddie and Michael setting up the song as a fun blast from the past, and inviting the crowd to sing along. And then chastising them halfway through for not singing loud enough.

And then a 180 degree turn into some great worship…

One thing about Eddie Kirkland (East) and Michael Olson (West) is that these two boys were born to lead worship. Singing specials - well, they’re good at that too.

I told them that they both LEAD me in worship. And that’s awesome, ’cause that’s tough to do when I’m walking the rooms, analyzing everything and everyone onstage.

WORSHIP:

God Is Alive by Steve Fee and Eddie Kirkland

Everlasting God by Brenton Brown

Son of God by Starfield

East - Eddie Kirkland, Scott Meeder, Richard Meeder, Steve Thomason, David Norwood, Jared Hamilton, Rosie Iraheta

West - Michael Olson, Ashley Appling, Pat Malone, Danny Grady, Jeremy Moyers, Chris Arias, Jen Carrozza

What lead YOU to worship this week?

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Sunday Summary: Music - March 30, 2008

Umm, hellooo?? Why didn’t anyone tell me I forgot to do this past weekend’s Sunday Summary?

I know - you’re all off in a corner somewhere making fun of me…

This was a neat week. We introduced a new worship song and Andy announced it during the welcome, giving it some “mad props”. Andy (or whoever is doing the welcome) normally doesn’t set up new tunes, so it was cool to get his “endorsement”. OK - I’ve exceeded my limit of “quotes”…

We started a 2-part series called SAY - based on the power of words. Andy did part 1 on Sunday, and Sean Seay is giving part 2 this week. Sean used to be on staff here until a few years ago he stepped out and boldly started North Point’s second Strategic Partner church, Athens Church, in Athens, GA. Guts, I tell ya - guts!

OPENER:

“Say” by John Mayer.

Cool tune to set up the series. James David Carter sang lead, killed it, and made John Mayer look like a tone-deaf little girl.

WORSHIP:

Because we were doing a new tune, we bookended it with a couple of oldies-but-goodies (that will now see an unofficial retirement…)

Salvation Is Here by Hillsong United

From The Inside Out by Hillsong United

** Funny how songs get around. These 2 songs aren’t that much older than one another, yet one is brand new to us, and the other is ready to be put out to pasture. Interesting.

We also trimmed this one to about 4:45. Not as long as I’d like, but sometimes we need to trim some elements of the service here and there to fit them all in the service. Plus, the 6:20 version is loooong…

Glorious One by Steve Fee

Again, a case study in how a song gets around. This song is nominated for a Dove Award, yet it’s time for us to put it on the back burner.

Leading us this past Sunday were:

East:

Michael Gleason, Mike Hines, Danny Howes, Joe Lee, Pat Malone, Jared Hamilton, Jordan Baker Watts

West:

James David Carter, Brad Long, Daryl Lecroy, Wayne Viar, Brad Gage, Trammell Starks, Jennifer Carrozza

What lead YOU to worship this week?

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Sunday Summary: Easter - March 23, 2008

Man, what a cool morning. We were able to experience some cool stuff yesterday, and prove once again that creating a decent, powerful service is a collaborative effort with dozens and dozens of people involved.

And most of them are volunteers that have real jobs

OK - BEFORE WE GO ANY FARTHER, go scrounge up your BEST pair of headphones. The ones with the most bass! Or, at the very least, plug your computer into a some speakers with really big woofers - the kind that bother the neighbors.

You’re about to experience something epic - something 18,000 others experienced at North Point this past Friday and Sunday.

NOW, instead of me regurgitating what we did for the opener, Brad’s already explained it quite well. He created the graphics and I wrote the music. Keep in mind that the center part of the video was on the giant (approx) 30′ x 20′ Hi Def middle screen, with the side screens coming in 2/3ds of the way through.

Then, farther down Brad’s post, be sure to check out the Title Pack video. Matt did an amazing job on the video, and I used some vocal samples of Todd to create the music. Once again, use good headphones…

Ready? OK, click HERE.

The ALIVE! Opener then lead into a chorus of a new Steve & Eddie tune called “God Is Alive”. The problem was that we needed a buffer for the big screen to raise, and the band to walk out. So I programmed an intro with a sample of Steve’s vocal. The band then kicks into the tune. Here’s the INTRO with a teaser of the song.

(Don’t worry - I used Melodyne to pitch correct Steve’s “overcome” before we did it live. He wasn’t out of tune - I had changed the chord progression, so that’s why that note feels weird in this “pre-corrected” version.)

Continuing in our “louder, faster” set, we did:

All Because Of Jesus by FEE (NO - Casting Crowns did NOT write that song!!!)

Salvation’s Chorus by Todd Fields

Lift High by Eddie Kirkland and Steve Fee

After the message, we came back with the back-half of Lift High (from the bridge) and a verse and couple choruses of Happy Day .

Poor, poor audio systems. That’s a lot of boomin’ and shakin’ for one service! Let alone 4 plus rehearsals.

In all, it was a great, celebratory weekend, and it was a pleasure to be a part of it, especially with these guys:

East - Todd Fields, Ashley Appling, Pat Malone, Steve Thomason, John Carrozza, Jennifer Young, Mike Gleason

West - Steve Fee, Eddie Kirkland, Matt Adkins, Heath Baltzglier, Brandon Coker and Chris Arias

But even through all the Shock and Awe, the boys lead with a passion for our risen Savior, focusing our praise and glory to Him. That’s the only important thing at the end of the day…

Easter IS the best day of the Christian faith. Without a risen Savior, everything else is moot.

What got YOU excited about the best day of your faith?

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6,000 Good Idea-ers

For the second year, we here at the ol’ North Point Community Church opted to have our Good Friday service exactly the same as the Easter Sunday service.

This, in my opinion, was a stroke of brilliance by the powers-that-be that decided on it a couple years ago.

It has 3 distinct points.

#1 - It allows Andy to record an Easter message that will then be shown on Sunday morning at our two other campuses (Buckhead Church and Browns Bridge Community Church).

#2 - It offsets the traditionally out-of-control Easter crowds we’ve previously experienced at NP. If you’ve ever sat in the traffic on even a normal Sunday, you can understand the dilemma.

Last night we had one service, with live music in both Auditoriums, with standing-room-only crowds - that’s over 6,000 people with good idea of coming Friday, and avoiding Sunday morning.

#3 - Staff Stress Reducer. While I’m the first to admit I like the reverence, along with the musical and spiritual journey our past Good Friday services have had, the workload was overwhelming. I mean, just plain killer.

And then, Sunday AM was kind of an after thought.

So, instead, we put all our (chocolate Easter) eggs in basket, and did some cool stuff for the “Easter Weekend” service, including 5 1/2 songs, and some epic video. More about all that in tomorrow’s Sunday Summary

What did YOU do for Good Friday?

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Brain… Ears… Hurt…

Nothing like a religious holiday to make you work some serious overtime.

Personally, my ears are shot. Along with everything else a week brings, the last 3 days I’ve been composing, editing and mixing the score and tracks for our big, epic opener.

Add to that the revelation that we couldn’t get synch rights in time for the Title Pack song, so I composed, edited and mixed that this morning and early afternoon.

I’ll post those after Easter for your enjoyment! (Don’t want to spoil the surprise!)

Plus, we just finished with East Auditorium rehearsal, and the West gang arrives for their rehearsal in 1 hour.

So I’m going to let my mind rest for the next 55 minutes.

What do YOU think I should do with this hour?

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