Waffle Day at Fridley this weekend!

 Current Sermon Series:

Search: “Epic Failure” – Pastor Rob Champion

Campus Band Leaders:

OC & NWC: Sam Hodgett
SLP: Aron Clark
Fridley: KK Brink

Setlist:

Lead Me To the Cross – Hillsong United
Devotion – Hillsong United
The Time Has Come – Hillsong United
Shine (SMS) – David Crowder Band

WORSHIP NIGHT is TOMORROW NIGHT with Benjamin Dunn & Friends: Click Here to RSVP!

I talk to a lot of people that are really interested in how we do the drum/synth programming and incorporate it into our sets like we do.  If you are one of those people, than this post is for you!  I’m going to try and breakdown how we do it, what kind of gear we use and how to make it work for you.

For most people, this is a whole other world that they have no idea how to get into.  It’s actually pretty easy if you have some basic music production experience.  Even if you don’t, it’s not that hard to learn.  If I’ve taught myself everything I know on this stuff then you can too!  However, let me just say that I’ve been doing this for close to ten years and gone through lots of different software and hardware in the process, and all that experience has really given me some valuable knowledge on what each does well.

What kind of gear would I need?

Let me break it down for you.  Every electronic drum or synth part you hear on a Sunday morning is coming from a MIDI clip.  The MIDI notes in this clip are playing virtual software instruments, which generate the sound that then goes into the sound system.  To make this happen, you’ll need several things:

• You’ll first need the computer and software that will allow this recording/triggering of MIDI clips.  We use Ableton and I’m of the opinion it’s the best software out there for this kind of thing!  Depending on what version of Ableton you get, it will come with some instruments and sounds, but we use 3rd party virtual instruments as well. We use Omnisphere (Spectrasonics) for all our synth sounds.  We use Stylus RMX (Spectrasonics), BPM (MOTU), and Reason 5 (Propellerheads) for synthetic drum sounds.  Virtual instruments can get expensive though and there’s an endless supply to choose from!  If you could only get one or two, I’d recommend Omnisphere and Reason.
• Then you’ll need the hardware to record the MIDI notes into a clip in Ableton and then trigger those clips live.  I highly recommend the Akai APC20 or APC40.  These controllers are built for controlling Ableton specifically, so they’re extremely easy to use and don’t require a lot of mapping and such.  This particular piece will work great for programming/triggering drum loops.  However, if you want to record synth/keyboard clips, you’ll need some kind of MIDI keyboard.  This keyboard won’t need any sounds on it, as all the sounds will come from your software.  It will just input the MIDI information (note on/off, velocity, etc.) into the software.  The Akai MPK series or M-Audio Axiom series would be great keyboard controllers.  These can be used to either record the MIDI data into clips or to actually play the virtual instruments live.
• In addition to MIDI hardware, you’ll need some kind of audio interface.  You could use the audio output of your computer, but I don’t recommend it.  The internal audio card isn’t very good and could cause software problems.  Plus, you’ll want multiple audio outputs.  I’ve been very happy with the M-Audio Profire 610 as an audio interface.

Substance Ableton Session

Akai APC20

Akai MPK49

M-Audio ProFire 610

M-Audio ProFire 610 Backview

How does this all come together for use in a live band?

Well first of all, it’s incredibly important to have a corporate commitment to integrating these elements.  One band member cannot implement this live on their own, it has to take a commitment on the part of the whole band.  For instance, your drummer will need to be pretty solid on a click track.  If a drummer is not playing to a click at all, or is consistently getting off the click, there’s no way this will work.  Once a decision is made to incorporate programming into a band, the process will look something like this:

Whoever is doing the programming spends time before any kind of rehearsal putting MIDI clips together in Ableton for drum loops, synth parts, etc.  Whenever clips are triggered in Ableton, they will start on the next bar and be synced to the click track.  Thus whoever is running the programming also controls the click track.  Because you have an audio interface, you can route the click track to one output and route the programming to another (or multiple) output(s).  Here at Substance, I route the click track to one output, the drum loops to another, and the keys/synth programming to another.  This way, the front-of-house engineer can mix the loops separately from the keys and the click is only heard by the band.  The only downside is that takes up 5 channels!  Oh well, us geeks are also prima donnas.  In all seriousness though, the audio routing is really up to you and how you want things to work.

Many people hesitate to use programming because they think it locks them down and inhibits freedom of song form and such.  On the contrary, setting your programming up this way enables complete flexibility as individual parts are brought in and out on command.

There are endless possibilities for creativity within this stuff and we’re only scratching the surface here, but hopefully this makes it a little less intimidating for you! Feel free to ask more questions below!

Sermon Series:
Search

Campus Band Leaders:

OC & SLP: Aron Clark
NWC: Collin Malaney
Fridley: Randy Kowlessar

Setlist:

Song of Hope – Robby Seay Band
God Be Praised – Elevation Worship
Savior King – Hillsong United
I Love You Lord
Be Thou My Vision

MAY WORSHIP NIGHT FEATURING: BENJAMIN DUNN AND FRIENDS!!! FACEBOOK INVITE COMING SOON!! May 15th!!!

Hello again friends!

It’s been about 3 months since I last shared my current stream of songs flowing through my computer, iPhone, and car stereo on a regular basis. As many of you know, that’s pretty much all I listen to. I used to be so into to finding the latest and greatest mainstream bands…but I have been carried away with worship songs. I guess its a good thing! I’m going to “my top 10″  as often as I can, because they are constantly changing and we got a great response last time! Enjoy!

10. “Turn Your Eyes” – Vicky Beeching
This is pretty much “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” but a little updated and a little something else added! It’s so beautiful! The first time I heard it, was on a late night drive home after a movie. It was one of the more peaceful drives home I’ve had in a while. Sunroof open, heat up a bit, maybe driving a little fast.. and blasting this song. I wanted to take the long way home.

9. “Does Your Heart Break?” – The Brilliance
I so admire, honesty. This song is basically full of  incredibly heavy questions…and the music reflects that so beautifully. This is a MUST download.

8. “One Desire” – Kari Jobe
I believe this is a must sing in churches. The Church NEEDS to sing this song. The lyrics & melodies are simple but great! This is a wake up song for me

7. “Love Came Down” – Bethel Live
Last week, one morning, I woke up with these lyrics on my heart. “I sing out and remind my soul, I am Yours, I am forever Yours!” This song is an incredible reminder of who we ARE in Christ, and when you’re going through a hard time, sometimes you just need a “reminder.” So beautifully written.

6. “My God” – Desperation Band
I love songs that boast about who God is. As Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” (2 Corinthians 10:17) This song is a beautifully sweet proclamation of who God truly is and a tender call to worship Him. LOVE IT!

5. “You Know Me” – Bethel Loft Sessions
I listen to this song a lot in my quiet journaling time. These words are so descriptive and shoot straight to the heart. She ends with this line that is probably one of my favorites ever, “You memorize me.” Can I get a big AMEN!?

4. “Mystery” – Passion: White Flag Album (Charlie Hall)
Oh my gosh…I LOVE this song! It reminds me of a song from “Lord of the Rings” or something. Just get it.

3. “Those Who Wait” – Bethany Dillon
Goosebumps every single time I listen to this song. God has been speaking to me a ton about waiting on Him. Trusting Him lately has been honestly kind of fun. I just tweeted this today : “ waiting = brings beautiful trust, strength, peace & and a joyful expectancy!” This song explains how I feel…

2. “Love” – Theroyalroyal
Easily one of my favorite bands these days! We’ll probably be doing a lot of their songs in all of our services! Now would be the time to get their stuff on itunes and start learning them!

1. “You Revive Me” – Christy Nockels
I think I get all teary eyed everytime I listen to this song. I encourage you to look up the lyrics. This song is so anointed to refresh it’s listeners. Every season in life, I believe, we need to be singing this out to God. Sometimes, when you are pouring out so much to the people around you, you yourself need to be refreshed, for your cup to be filled again. If there is anything you take from this blog…get away, be still, lift up  your hands in your weakness, I promise you will come out strong.

Love you guys!! Looking forward to the next playlist!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave some songs that have been ministering to you! I would love to share in that!

-KK Brink
@katylinbrink