Happy Birthday to me!! Happy Birthday to me!!
So, this is how it feels to be 42, huh? Not too bad. It appears that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the July Baby Birthday Bash! We had such a blast!! The presence of the Lord was definitely felt in the place. We had everything from dancing to laughing to worship. We were told that the food was great. I hate that I didn't get to have any of the shrimp. It looked so good. But, the guests fully indulged themselves. It was on point!!
Recently, I completed the book of Hebrews (again) - this time reading the NIV and The Message in parallel. It was so awesome. There was a lot that I never saw in that book which just jumped out at me this time. The bible is amazing like that... you can read something 1000 times and still get something fresh out of it. I learned so much about faith and believing.
Growing up, I always heard "faith" taught with an emphasis on waiting and believing. The common theme was that if you believe that God will do something and follow His directions, it will happen. It's innumerable the times that I've heard that if you have faith and speak to the mountain and tell it to be cast into the sea that it will have to be cast into the sea. But as I read Hebrews chapter 11 this time I saw something to which I never paid attention before.
The writer, Apostle Paul, listed several persons that are noted for their faith. He listed their acts of faith. But later in the chapter, Apostle Paul clearly explained that these people died believing what they believed - but never saw what they were hoping and believing for materialize. It did not happen while they were living. Still, these people didn't waiver in their faith. They trusted God beyond death. This changed my perspective on life. So often I expect God to do things based on what I understand to be His will or His plan. But faith is what I need when I trust God whole-heartedly and follow His directions explicitly and things still don't work out the way I trusted that they would.
When you are on the calm shore enjoying life and God says get in the boat and go across the water... and you get in and start moving... and a storm catches you beyond the halfway point... and your boat is on the verge of capsizing... and you see Jesus walking on the water... and you cry out to Him... and He tells you to take courage and not be afraid... and you say, "God, if it's really you then call me close to you"... and He tells you to walk on the water... and you step out of the boat... and you get four or five good steps away from the boat while walking on water... and suddenly the bottom falls out and you are no longer walking but on the verge of drowning... THAT is when you need faith! You have to know that - even if the results are not what you believed God would do - even if they are disastrous - it doesn't change God's faithfulness. God is timeless, limitless and boundless in His wisdom and His power. If He said that all things work together for our good then we can bet our lives on it. And even if we lose our lives - doesn't He have the power of ressurection?
So, I have grown in faith over the past two months. God is teaching me - and I am enjoying the lesson... well, mostly enjoying the lesson... some of it is quite nerve-rattling. But those are the moments that cultivate the most growth.
So, Hallujah Anyhow!!
Shalom.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
There is so much to learn about the "live performance."
It's easy to think that - because you do well on Sunday Mornings in your local church's Praise & Worship setting - you are ready for a big stage. Duh-Duh!! Not so. It's a completely different animal. I used to wonder why it took so long to get the stage ready for national artists. It appeared that their soundchecks took forever. Now I understand why. Sound makes all the difference in the world.
When you are in the audience listening to one of the national actists you expect every note to be perfect. The artists know that as well. In order for that to be the case, the artists have to be able to hear themselves clearly. That is where the long soundchecks come in. They are necessary to get the perfect mix on the stage so that the performer/artist hears everything clean and clear. When you can hear clearly you can sing on pitch. If what you hear in stage is all garbled, you won't know when you have drifted.
The last three large engagements have taught me a lot...
AF'RAM... we didn't do a real soundcheck. We were so happy to take the stage that we went with whatever mix we were given. So, the BGVs (background vocalists) couldn't hear themselves - and I certainly couldn't hear them. The band sounded great on stage to me - but they couldn't hear themselves very well. The audience could hear me and some of the band but not everything - and certainly not balanced. So, our execution wasn't great. Still, the crowd got with us. But I know it could have been a lot better.
Issachar Conference... due to the weather we didn't have time to do a thorough soundcheck. So we roughed it out. It was much better than AF'RAM in the live setting. However, I just got the DVD with the direct sound. It was not good at all. The vocals drifted a lot - and it was evident that they couldn't hear themselves. When the music was low ans soft - the BGVs were on point. When the music got loud, the BGVs drifted from pitch. Also, if the BGVs were singing softly they drifted because they couldn't hear themselves distinctly.
Gospel Block Party... there was no soundcheck - but it wasn't necessary to do one because we were using a track. The mics were hot and the track was hot. The blend on the stage was great and the execution was on point! The BGVs could hear themselves clearly and that made all the difference in the world.
So - we have two rehearsals before the July Baby Birthday Bash. I know exactly what we need to work on. I have a tool that I'm going to try to implement that should make a huge difference. I'm going to have the BGVs use an earplug in one ear. We've also implemented stage separation - having the BGVs on one side of the stage and the band on the other side. That way the BGVs won't be completely absorded in the volume of the instruments. I think that combination will help a lot. I'll let you know what happens.
Shalom!!
It's easy to think that - because you do well on Sunday Mornings in your local church's Praise & Worship setting - you are ready for a big stage. Duh-Duh!! Not so. It's a completely different animal. I used to wonder why it took so long to get the stage ready for national artists. It appeared that their soundchecks took forever. Now I understand why. Sound makes all the difference in the world.
When you are in the audience listening to one of the national actists you expect every note to be perfect. The artists know that as well. In order for that to be the case, the artists have to be able to hear themselves clearly. That is where the long soundchecks come in. They are necessary to get the perfect mix on the stage so that the performer/artist hears everything clean and clear. When you can hear clearly you can sing on pitch. If what you hear in stage is all garbled, you won't know when you have drifted.
The last three large engagements have taught me a lot...
AF'RAM... we didn't do a real soundcheck. We were so happy to take the stage that we went with whatever mix we were given. So, the BGVs (background vocalists) couldn't hear themselves - and I certainly couldn't hear them. The band sounded great on stage to me - but they couldn't hear themselves very well. The audience could hear me and some of the band but not everything - and certainly not balanced. So, our execution wasn't great. Still, the crowd got with us. But I know it could have been a lot better.
Issachar Conference... due to the weather we didn't have time to do a thorough soundcheck. So we roughed it out. It was much better than AF'RAM in the live setting. However, I just got the DVD with the direct sound. It was not good at all. The vocals drifted a lot - and it was evident that they couldn't hear themselves. When the music was low ans soft - the BGVs were on point. When the music got loud, the BGVs drifted from pitch. Also, if the BGVs were singing softly they drifted because they couldn't hear themselves distinctly.
Gospel Block Party... there was no soundcheck - but it wasn't necessary to do one because we were using a track. The mics were hot and the track was hot. The blend on the stage was great and the execution was on point! The BGVs could hear themselves clearly and that made all the difference in the world.
So - we have two rehearsals before the July Baby Birthday Bash. I know exactly what we need to work on. I have a tool that I'm going to try to implement that should make a huge difference. I'm going to have the BGVs use an earplug in one ear. We've also implemented stage separation - having the BGVs on one side of the stage and the band on the other side. That way the BGVs won't be completely absorded in the volume of the instruments. I think that combination will help a lot. I'll let you know what happens.
Shalom!!
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