Loops in Worship Blog

Motu releases DP control app for Digital Performer

Will — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:15:52 +0000

Today Motu the makers of Digital Performer (among other things) released a control App for Digital Performer. It works with iPhones, iPod Touch, and iPads. It uses the Open Sound Control Protocol (similar to TOUCH OSC) to control DP over a wireless network. Here’s some of the features of the app as listed on the DP control page:

Real two-way communication — everything that you update in DP updates in DP Control, and vice versa.
Editable time counter with selectable format (including real-time, SMPTE time, samples, and marker names).
Main transport control and many other transport-related Control Panel functions (click, countoff, memory-cycle, etc.)
Page-controlled, scrollable mixer with animated, recordable pan knobs and volume sliders, plus level meters and peak indicators.
Solo, Mute, Record-enable, Play automation, Record automation and automation mode settings for each track.
Track list for your DP project, complete with collapsible nested track folders and dynamically linked track organization that matches your currently open DP project on your Mac.
Infinite undo, with a view that shows you the names of the next and previous tasks in your DP document undo history.
Marker creation and naming.
New Take, Previous Take, and Next Take functions that operate on all of the record-enabled tracks at once (essential for tracking drums).
Take selection, by name, for individual tracks. Also New Take, Delete Take, and Rename Take for the current take on any individual track.
Save function for saving changes made to the DP document.

The best feature though is that the app is completely free! You’ve obviously got to have a copy of DP 7.2 and a mac, but all this functionality in a free app that can run on your iDevice, is pretty awesome. We discussed the direction of music app development for iDevices previously (here and here) and one point we’ve discussed quite a bit is how software manufactures will soon be developing control apps for their software that re-translates the UI (User Interface) of the program into a more friendly format for an iDevice. The ability to mix and control your software using what you’re already carrying and a device that you can make calls on, browse the internet, read books, AND control your software makes it a better choice then just a normal controller.

So.. I think this is just another sign of what’s to come, first Seinberg’s Cubase iC control app Cubase iC app for iPhone and now DP’s control app and before we now it the app store will be full of apps from Ableton and Digidesign, etc all giving us the ability to control our software from our pocket!

Check it out!

On the web

In the app store DP Control app Free

Have you used the DP control app? If so what do you think of it? Let us know in the comment section below!

About the Author: Will Doggett is a guitarist, worship leader and wanna-be DJ based out of NC. He spends most of his time running and blogging for Loops in Worship, as well as creating custom loops. You can reach him by email at will@loopsinworship.com and find him on Twitter @willdoggett

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“I want free loops” contest winners and another special treat!

Will — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:17:28 +0000

We had a blast running our “I want free loops” contest these past few days via twitter and facebook. We had over 30 people submit their names to win our entire collection of clicks & loops. We’ve used the Random Number Generator from Random.org to select two random numbers, and then reviewed our Twitter feed to determine who won. And the winners are:

Chad Cottle and Bill Kunkel!

Congrats to both Chad and Bill, and thanks to everyone who submitted their name in the contest. We’ll be running a similar contest again very soon, so make sure to stay in touch! Even if you weren’t lucky enough to win the entire collection we’ve still got a special treat for you.

Between now and Monday we are offering 25% off all products on the site! All you’ve got to do is use the code “1weekendonly” when checking out and make sure to do it before Monday rolls around! Plus if you’ve been interested in our Live course we’ve opened up registration for our next session that starts September 5th! So get your buns (okay just your mouse really…) over to the rest of the Site and see what we’ve got available!

It’s a great time to purchase stuff because we’re uploading our brand new Kits as we speak! They’ll be live later tonight and you’ll be able to use the discount code to get 25% off of them as well.. So hurry!

Check out the preview for Essential Kits!

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Free Stuff and a #NWLC2010 Discount!

Will — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:31:41 +0000

This week is the National Worship Leader Conference in Leawood Kansas! We’ve seen tweets flying left and right from attendees talking about how much fun they are having! We weren’t able to make it this year, but in honor of the conference, we’re offering free stuff!

Free Stuff!

Who doesn’t like free stuff? We’re running a contest to give away (drum roll please…..) Our Entire Elements and Foundations Collection to not just one..but TWO lucky people! All you’ve got to do is send a tweet with the words “I want free loops!” to @loopsinworship . The best part about the contest? You don’t have to be attending the conference to enter, just send us a tweet and you’re entered to win. We’ll tally up the tweets and announce a winner on Friday at noon!

Good things come to those that..attend NWLC

Even if you don’t win the contest, NWLC attendees we’ve got a treat for you! If you’re attending this year we want to offer you 30% any product on our site, any Elements collection, any version of Foundations.. and if we can get our act together before Friday.. even our soon to be released Kits! All you’ve got to do to is follow us on twitter @loopsinworship, and ask for it, then we’ll DM you the code! If you’re not on twitter then just shoot me an emailWill@loopsinworship.com and I’ll send it your way quicker then you can say, “Cut capos are only half the capo a normal capo is” (what?)

Get a tweeting right away and we’ll talk to you on Friday! For those of us not able to make it to the conference this year you can watch all the main sessions here.. Check it out!

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The Basics of Filtering…Not just for Nerds anymore!

Will — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:50:27 +0000

So…let’s all be honest. We’ve all worked with filters before, but how many of us really understand how they work? I don’t mean the nitty gritty knowledge that only the top nerds among us know, how many of us even know the basics? Do you know the difference between a Low Pass & High Pass filter? I’m sure alot of us are in the same boat, we’ve worked with Filters but don’t really understand them. This article is a 50,000 foot view of Filtering. You’ll be able to walk away understanding the basics of filtering and how to use filters in your music. Lets get started!

How a Filter Works

A filter works essentially in three ways:

Selects a frequency or set of frequencies
Cuts (remove) the frequencies from the mix, or only passes (allows) the selected frequencies through
Boost frequencies near the boosted area (Using the Resonance)

Low Pass Filter

A Low Pass Filter essential works in two ways:

It cuts out high Frequencies
It “passes” or allows Low Frequencies to come through in the mix.

If you have a sound that is too bright, or you want a more subdued sound a low pass filter is perfect. It works great on Pads to take a very bright synth sound and turn it into a Pad to fill out your sound.

High Pass Filter

A High Pass Filter works the opposite way of a Low Pass Filter:

It cuts out low frequencies
It “passes” or allows high frequencies to come through the mix

If you have a sound that is too boomy, and has too much low end you can use a Low Pass filter to trim the low end away. It works great on Vocal Mics (aka.”Low Cut”) where you can remove frequencies that aren’t necessary on a mic.

Notch Pass Filter

A Notch Pass Filter is a bit more specific then a High Pass and Low Pass Filter:

It “cuts” or removes a specific frequency
It “passes” or allows all other frequencies in the mix

A notch filter works great to preserve the quality of your mix while removing a specific frequency. It works great to remove “problematic” frequencies while keeping the rest of your mix unaltered. It is commonly used in Live sound to remove feedback ridden frequency ranges. It’s also common on a lot of Acoustic Guitar Amps/DI’s.

Band Pass Filter

A Band Pass Filter is essentially a low pass and high pass filter combined:

It allows a set of frequency ranges to “pass” through
It cuts all frequencies above and below the selected frequency range

A Band Pass Filter is good for fine tuning a instrument to find it’s “sweet” spot. If you’ve got a Pad sound that you want to trim some of the low’s & some of the high’s a band pass filter is great.

Got it now? Can you better use Filters now that you know the Basics of them? Spend sometime purusing the net to dig a little deeper and experiment with your DAW of choice to experience the results of each!

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Music You Should Be Listening To…Brett Younker edition

Jake Sumner — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:55:04 +0000

In this week’s edition of “Music You Should Be Listening To,” we are taking a look at Brett Youker’s new CD, “The New Has Come.”

Brett Younker is an Atlanta-area worship leader who has been faithfully serving the local church for many years. You may not have heard of him yet but get ready because he is making an impact on worship music. During the year, he regularly leads worship at places like Buckhead Church, Elevation Church and North Metro’s student ministry, Sublime. This summer he is leading worship at several Student Life camps. Most recently, he’s also begun regularly leading worship at Passion City Church in Atlanta.

There are some great songs on the new CD that are perfect for congregational worship. “Bless Your Name” and “King Forever” are both uptempo songs that people can quickly learn and participate with. “New Creation” is a full-on rock song great for kicking things up a notch in your next worship set. My favorite song on the whole CD is “All Things New.” This 6/8 rocker features an incredible message of hope and renewal. The album includes covers of “Our God” and “Rise and Sing” that should give you some fresh ideas to incorporate if you are already using these songs. Overall, this is a great CD full of songs created for the church to sing.

Even better, all the chord charts are available for free at Brett’s website. I love it when worship leaders make their chords available for free – it just makes it so much easier to incorporate their music in your next worship set!

Finally, I’ve personally known Brett for the last 4 years and can say without reservation that he is the real deal. It’s so exciting to see bigger opportunities open up for Brett and to know that he is an authentic worship leader who really has a heart for leading people to glorify God.

Pick it Up!

Via iTunes

On the web

Brett’s website

Brett Younker will be leading worship at the upcoming Unlimited Conference: Worship Band Training event on September 25 in Atlanta, GA.

About the Author: Jake Sumner is the Student Life Worship Coordinator at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth, GA and enjoys equipping the next generation of worship leaders. He blogs here and you can also find him on twitter @jakesumner.

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5 Exciting Uses for Live besides running loops!

Jake Sumner — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:55:25 +0000

We all know that Ableton Live is great for running loops and clicks with a band. We talked extensively about why we use Live in this previous post. In that post, we hinted at a few other uses for Live. Today we want to take a look a few other things that Live does really well.

Transcription Tool

One of the overlooked features of Live is that it is a great transcription tool. If you are learning a new song, just drag it right from iTunes into Live (I prefer dropping it into Arrangement View so I can see the whole song). It will take a second for Live to analyze the audio but once that’s done, just double click on the track to bring up info in the Clip View area. Live automatically calculates the BPM of the song which is really handy. If you set the tempo of your Live set to match, the track will play back at it’s original speed. If there is a difficult part you want to listen closely to, just bring down the tempo of the Live set and you can listen to it slowly without changing the pitch. This is great for learning tricky guitar parts. If it’s a 16-bar solo, it helps to turn on the Loop feature and have Live repeat that section until you’ve got it.

If I’m creating charts for our band, I insert markers in the song and name them by song section – Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, etc. When I’m done, I have a visual layout of the song that I can use to create accurate chord charts. Seeing it on the screen makes it really easy to tell that the intro is 4 bars or 8 bars or to see where an extra measure was inserted between song sections. If you are trying to replicate the arrangement of a song exactly (or just get an accurate map so you can rearrange it and make it your own) Live is a huge help!

Sound Effects

You may not need sound effects every week in your regular worship service (although that would be pretty cool) but if there are special events that you need effects for, Live is an easy way to trigger them. I can imagine that many drama productions could find this useful. In our youth ministry, we sometimes trigger sound effects for games. For example, we replicated a game show one night and used sound effects as buzzers for wrong answers, bells for correct answers, applause, etc.

All you have to do is drag your sound effects into Session View to create a separate clip for each one. I used a small midi keyboard and mapped each sound to different key. Then when it was time to trigger it, all I had to do was press the correct key. It was super easy to set up and made the game that much more fun.

Multi-Track Recording

Although most people don’t think of Live as a program to produce multi-track recordings with, it is surprisingly well-suited for the task. Live Intro and Live LE are limited in the number of tracks you can create but the full versions of Live have track counts that are only limited by what your computer can handle. I use Logic as my main recording software but I’ve used Live extensively in the past to record demos. If you already have a familiar workflow in Live, you can probably produce tracks quickly and easily in Live. If you do transfer to another program like Pro Tools or Logic to finish your project, it’s easy to export the tracks or just Rewire Live into the other program.

Songwriter’s Tool

Live is a great program for songwriters to quickly capture new ideas. It is easy to setup a template with frequently used instruments and have it ready to go right when you open Live. I start with a few audio tracks to capture vocals and acoustic. Another bonus is that the warp feature is great for locking in scratch tracks that weren’t recorded to a click. I like to have a mini controller (AKAI LPK25) connected to my laptop. Then I can insert a few midi tracks for Bass, Pad/Organ, Drums, etc and play them in quickly with the mini controller. It will allow you to quickly capture ideas without thinking about the technology before the inspiration disappears.

Orchestra / Extended Band

Live also makes it easy to supplement your band with additional instruments like a string section, horns, additional percussion, etc. When used tastefully, these additional instruments can really help expand the sound of your band by filling in missing instruments or supplementing what you’re already doing. The mantra “less is more” definitely applies here. Using these instruments creatively can provide a very effective background for your band. Resist the urge to program an entire symphony though!

Conclusion

Well, as you can see, there are a lot of other uses for Live besides running loops with your band. These are just a few ideas that we’ve used Live for in the past. What are some creative uses that you’ve found for Live? Or, did this list make you think of some new possibilities that you haven’t tried yet? We’d love to discuss it more so be sure and leave a comment below.

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iPad Performance Sighting!

Will — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:50:15 +0000

Thanks to Jacob Carscadden for reminding me of this performance, and encouraging me to skip ahead in the episode to check it out!

During my weekly game of catchup watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon..It’s almost impossible for me to be able to make it till 12:35 these days, I noticed a very cool performance from one of the bands. The band was Squeeze a band that was popular in the 70′s-90′s (I’ve never heard of them either) but what was appealing about the performance was that the Keyboard player was using an iPad! We’ve talked quite a bit about using iPad’s for performance specifically here and here and I’m a huge fan of the iPad so this caught my eye. He was playing a Roland Keyboard for organ sounds, but was also using the iPad for a piano part, and even did a Piano solo, that wasn’t too shabby either!

What’s most impressive though is that the iPad Piano sounded way better and realistic then the crappy sounding organ patch he was using! It’s pretty crazy too that he played a solo on it, and again it was a pretty good. It looks like the app he was using was the app Pianist Pro $9.99 itunes link and as you’ll see in the video, it sounds pretty good!

If you didn’t see it you can check out the clip of the band playing the song on You Tube or watch the whole episode here.

BONUS: Here’s a clip of Classical Pianist Lang Lang performing “Flight of the Bumblebee” on an iPad

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8 ways to assure your loops ALWAYS work

Will — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:25:27 +0000

For those of us that use loops frequently we know the majority of the problems and issues we have on stage with loops is in part due to us forgetting something ( a piece of gear, a setting in the software) and getting too overwhelmed or stressed to figure it out. Here’s a list of things to think about and review before Sunday morning to help assure your Loops always work!

Turn off your volume feedback/pops

Mac users… This is for you! There is nothing worse then hearing the Mac feedback sound cranked through the house or in your in-ears. If you have the feedback sound activated and you turn up your computer during the service, it will be very noticeable and distracting. Please for the sake of our hearing and sanity turn your volume sound off!

Turn off your screensaver/disable spaces

This will annoying the heck out of you and possibly ruin your transitions if your screen dims at the wrong time. If you’re a Mac user then you may want to turn spaces off as well, at some point your going too go to far in one corner and everything will go crazy!

Don’t forget your charger

Duh..I know but this is such an important part. If you’re prone to forgetting it at home or you’ve got some extra cash laying around…buy another one. It’s always something handy to have around.

Bring a stereo 1/8 to 1/4 cable

If you’re using an interface for loops make sure you’ve got an 1/8th to 1/4 inch cable incase something goes wrong with your interface. If you’ve got the cable hanging around you’ll be able to quickly switch it out and roll on without any issues.

Make sure everything is done before Sunday

Don’t wait till Sunday to prepare your loops. Even if you’re only triggering a few samples or clicks get them done far in advanced. You’ve got way more important things to worry about then your loops working.

Practice triggering loops during the week

The same way that we practice guitar or piano, we’ve got to practice triggering loops. Make sure you’re comfortable with the interface of your program and you’ve got your “moves” down. What do you trigger for each song? When do you trigger it?

Have a backup playback device

I know we all aren’t rolling in the dough, so I’m not suggesting we all go out and buy backup laptops. But.. If loops are crucial to your sound and you’ve been practicing with them, what will happen when someone drops your computer 5 minutes before the service and your hardrive stops spinning? If one of your bandmates has a laptop and Live installed on it then send them your Live set before Sunday and have them bring it with them. Don’t have a laptop? Load your tracks on an iPod or your iPhone as your backup plan.

Have a thumbdrive handy

Worse case scenario your computer is fried, your drummer forget his laptop and your phone is at home…have a thumbdrive available with your tracks loaded on it, or transfer them from a computer if it isn’t fried. If you can find a laptop you’ll atleast be able to open itunes and play the mp3′s out of the computer

This may sound intense but if you want to ALWAYS be confident that you’ll ALWAYS have loops for your services then have a backup plan. Rest assured at somepoint things WILL go wrong, there’s no escaping it. The question is will you be prepared and have a backup plan in place when that time comes?

What tips do you have? What do you do to make sure your loops always work?

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Live Blogging: Sennheiser Installed Sound Academy

Will — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:21:03 +0000

I’ll be attending Sennheiser’s Installed Sound Academy today and tommorow and I’ll be posting updates throughout the conference here on this blog post. If you want to stay up to date you can leave this post up in your browser and refresh if needed or you can go to the link on the Scribbe Live site here or follow the conversation on twitter! If you want more info on the conference make sure to check out this post from earlier in the week! See you guys on the other side!

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Music you should be listening to…Worship Rises Edition!

Will — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:55:13 +0000

This week’s music you should be listening to proudly goes to “Worship Rises”. This CD is birthed from the church and for the Church. Worship Rises was started by Canadian Worship Leader Chris Vacher with the purpose of developing “worship resources for and from the Canadian Church”. They gather together a bunch of Canadian worship pastors for “writing days” and essentially pen songs that are on their heart, inspired by God and for their people.

The Purpose

One of the reasons I think this CD is so important is that it’s from a gathering of worship leaders with the goal and purpose to create songs that serve their congregations and help lead their congregations in worship. Their goal isn’t to become the next big worship leader or to get a record deal. It’s simply to write great songs that will serve their people.

A Catalyst

I think we’ll actually start to see more and more of this. Chris and the people he’s helped gather together are setting an example for the Christian music industry. They didn’t get permission or seek big label support to release a project. They gathered a tribe of like-minded people and pooled their efforts to create a project that will impact their community. They used social media to spread the word and are doing a heck of a job at it. Worship Rises is more then a CD and a gathering, I believe it’s a catalyst for how worship music will be produced and distributed in the future.

We’ll soon be seeing community and church wide songwriting groups popping up releasing self-funded and financed projects that will impact the world. Social media and the internet have changed the rules and we are only in the beginning stages of seeing their impact on the church and worship music.

The great thing about the songs on this album are that they all are very accessible to any church. Your band will be able to easily tackle these tunes and they are very singable. My personal favorites are “Maker of My Heart” and the title track, “Worship Rises.” If you’re looking for some new fresh worship songs birthed out of the church and for the church then make sure to pick up the Worship Rises EP. If you’re looking to support a new fresh movement of worship songwriters then pick it up. In other words…whatever the reason, just pick it up, you won’t be disappointed!

Pick it up!

Via iTunes

Via Amazon

On the web

CD Preview Tracks

Chris’ Blog

Worship Rises (Acoustic) from Joshua Seller on Vimeo.

Worship Rises (Live In Chicago) from Joshua Seller on Vimeo.

You can follow Worship Rises on Twitter /Facebook and get charts of the tunes on Praise Charts. Make sure to follow Chris Vacher on Twitter and his Blog as well.

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