Pastor Tim’s new band (someday they will be named, but for now they are non-committal) is wrapping up some various overdubs this week mostly doing guitars and vocals.an interesting track we did a few weeks ago was some stomps and claps on “What Wondrous Love is This?’ harkening back to Radiohead’s “We suck young blood’ and Queen’s “We will rock you’. We had about 10 people in a small studio with a tube U47 micing the floor. Everyone would sway back and step forward at the same time. We must have tracked this group 4 or 5 times, giving the illusion of 50 people slamming their feet on the floor it had a killer low end thump a la hip hop records.

We had a wicked string recording sesh last week. A group of Mars Hill string players came in 3 violins and 2 cellos (does anyone actually play the viola? Come talk to me if you do.). Brian Eichelberger (E-Pop) put together some outstanding string arrangements, which really took the songs to the next level. We sat the players up in a semi-circle with 2 AKG 414s (through GML mic pre’s) doing a close stereo pair thing. They sounded great and we ended up dumping the Coles 4038 ribbons which we had hoped to use as well, but were far too mid-rangy. I also put up a FET Sony C-37 (a mic which has grown on me a ton during the making of this record) in an omni-pattern in the middle of the group. I threw it into a Summit EQF-100 for some mid-sweeping goodness and slammed the Urei 1176 as well. This created a very full string sound with only 1 mic. Most songs we tracked either the Sony or the AKGs for 4 to 5 takes, again giving the illusion of many more players than were actually present.

On a more geeky level, I’m going to touch on some actual recording techniques and general nerd talk on how we’re getting those sweet sounds to tape.

For the drums on “Solid Rock’ (which is being done by Epop), Brian wanted to get a very pulse-y sound. The drums play only on Bass Drum and cymbals, and build throughout the song to a loud 8th-note crescendo at the end. Brian said he wanted to hear the compressor “breathing’, which is essentially where something is being compressed in such a way as to be very noticeable for effect. It makes you feel like the drums are slamming against a brick wall on every hit. To achieve this effect, we pulled out an old omni-directional EV microphone similar to what would have been used on an on-site news report in the 70’s. This was run through a Shure level-loc (popularized in modern recording by an amazing recording engineer - Tchad Blake), which is an insane compressor originally designed to be used for announcements on a P.A. in a bowling alley or something of the like. Lots of fun!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve written about our studio project, (which is a hymns compilation of several Mars Hill bands) largely because I’ve been really busy working on it. We are now knee-deep in production, and we’ve finished 4 of the 5 bands’ basic tracks. Pastor Tim’s new band will be going in to do their basic tracks at the end of the month.

We are seeking to capture Mars Hill Church’s missional perspective on corporate worship in a way that shows our diversity and inspires other churches and musicians not only to worship Jesus, but to do so in a way that is in tune with their local culture Christian or not.

I’m really excited about the way things are turning out we’ve been able to hone in the already great existing arrangements, which has been great for Brian and I (the producers) as well as a nice time for the bands to be able to step back and get new perspective on songs that many of them have been playing for a long time.

This is something that we as bands at Mars Hill wrestle with and as music director, I am trying to address (forgive the bad analogy) the need to keep the “wheels turning’, but never getting a chance to really work on the engine. We’ve grown at a very fast pace and have just barely been able to create enough new bands for new campuses as they crop up, so stopping to re-group or record has rarely been a luxury we’ve had. Though Projects like this one are a nice “break’, we’ve opted to do this one while keeping most of the bands in current Sunday rotation because of necessity. While this has been difficult and a lot of work, I feel it has gone well so far and we haven’t burned out any of our volunteers.

For the next blog, I’ll geek out a little on some tech-y stuff and discuss how we got good sounds in the studio…

We’ve been gearing up in the Music and Productions department to record a studio compilation CD consisting exclusively of re-vamped versions of old Hymns. I will take on the role of Executive Producer along with Tyson Paoletti as we guide the big picture process of the recording including overall aesthetic and general production values. Tyson will also be our “outside ear” so-to-speak and he’ll help us shape what we do to reach a broader audience.

Our own Brian Eichelberger of E-Pop fame will be producing and engineering two of the five bands’ songs including:

• I Sing the Mighty Power of God
• What Wondrous Love is This?
• Here is Love
• Man of Sorrows
• Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
• I’ll Fly Away
• Solid Rock

I will also be producing and engineering three of the five bands’ songs including:

• All Creatures of Our God and King
• We have not known Thee
• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
• Tomorrow
• Come Unto Me

We hope to make this the best CD that we’ve done yet at Mars Hill, and most of all, we want to see Jesus glorified by showing the unique ways that our congregation collectively responds to his work in our lives. We have a lot of good bands and this album will showcase a select few of them that we feel mesh together the best. Stay tuned as the studio project ensues!

I grew up in the church with folks that had a very narrow working definition of the word “worship”. Generally, in the evangelical world I was entrenched in, “worship” is essentially translated into Christian-talk to mean “praise and worship music”. Now that I’m a deacon in charge of the sound at Mars Hill church, I’m privy to the ins and outs of service production. So that common, yet narrow definition of “worship” just won’t do anymore.

Worship in the context of the church service doesn’t simply include singing songs of praise, but the technology needed to make that happen. This would include the technology associated with the whole production and the people that operate all the “stuff”.

The tech gear used in our services include-but is not limited to-the use of mixing consoles, video switchers, projectors, microphones, and lighting fixtures. Each is a tool that we believe helps to create texture to draw people into an environment that’s most conducive for worship. (more…)