Gear Failure

Gear breaks! It’s a reality, but I’ve never had just one thing break down. Bad things always seem to compound. My gear finds ways to break in multiples.

This month must be busted amp month. My 66′ Bandmaster blew it’s power tubes and now my Reinhardt Titan’s rectifier tube is shorting fuses. The only amp I have left is a Vox AC-15, but it’s on loan to Carlos Whittaker right now. I can’t wait to see what breaks next.

I could make some spiritual correlation about the accumulation of broken equipment and life/sin, but I’ll spare you the obvious. Well okay, maybe just one take away – Know that whatever compounds in your life, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.

“God can’t fix brokenness that we won’t acknowledge to Him.” Justin Davis

Set the tone

I’m a MD. No, not a medical doctor, but a musical director. It’s one part of my job that I absolutely love. I spend time during the week picking music apart and putting it back together in my head. I work to get an idea of how I want my bands to play the songs and transitions for our corporate worship experience. The weeks are great, but Sundays are go time! That’s where I find out if I prepared enough.

Sunday’s at Cross Point start early. I’m usually in the building by 6. It’s important to start Sunday mornings off in a positive way. Early rehearsals can be so hectic, and there are many things that can throw a rehearsal in a downward spiral. I have to ready myself to lead the teams. These are some of the items on my Sunday morning “set the tone” check list:

-Be early. This let’s me get in and gather my thoughts. I hate being in a rush when I don’t have to be.

-Be prepared. I need to know my parts and the bands’ parts. I need to know what I want to hear from everybody else. I also have to be prepared spiritually. I need to know my heart before I do anything else.

-Be steady. I have to lead with steady direction. It lets the team know that regardless of the chaos, I won’t cause them more stress. I can get more of what I need out of a rehearsal with calm, cool, and collective than fire breathing.

-Be flexible. I never know when someone might call in sick, or somebody didn’t have time to learn the songs, or maybe the worship leader wants to sing a different song than we planned on. It’s live music and sometimes things don’t pan out the way I hear it in my head. And sometimes that’s a good thing.

-Be accountable. I also need to be ready to own things that don’t go well. If I’m accountable then I give myself the chance to make changes for the better in the future.

What do you do to set the tone?

Law of diminishing marginal utility

I actually enjoyed economics in college. A musician that understands econ, who knew?

Stated simply, diminishing utility explains the negative relationship of buying more stuff, and how it brings less and less satisfaction. For instance if you eat one McDonald’s hamburger it brings you a satisfaction value of 10. So, you buy another one – it satisfies you, but this time it feels more like a 7, and so on and so on until you buy your 10th burger and that 10th hamburger gives brings you no additional satisfaction.

I find this law frequently reaches outside the bounds of economics. At some point putting more effort into projects doesn’t yield any more benefit. At some point putting more hours into work can hinder my output. At some point over thinking problems won’t help me find a better solution. Sometimes the first creative idea is way better than the 10th.

I can obsess about guitar tone or finding the perfect part. I can put blinders on when I mix a band live or mix a recording, but at some point I have to know when I’m finished. I don’t need to get bogged down with tiny details that don’t matter. Sometimes the best use of my time and energy is to move onto what’s next. I want effort to be justified by measurable outcomes.

I know there are always exceptions. And some people do their best work with a last little push of inspiration. Sometimes that last immeasurable detail is the difference between good and great. Everyone is wired differently.

Where does the bulk of your creative utility (satisfaction) come from? Do you get your best stuff at inception or do you have to work it out to the end?

Make a Joyful Noise?

How do you build a worship team? I suppose there are plenty of ways to do it.

-Run an announcement in the church bulletin. “We need musicians. Come as you are. Any willing heart can serve. Come make a joyful noise with us.” (In Dana Carvey’s church lady voice, of course.)

-Find a handful of washed up Christian band kids and point them to the stage. (They’re easy to come by and are readily identified by their hairdos.) That’s how I got my job.

-Start a Chris Tomlin cover band.

-Buy one. Put an ad on Craigslist or at your local music store, and just pay the dudes to show up.

-Or, you can grow one. That’s what we’re attempting at Cross Point. It’s a slow and meticulous process, but for us it’s worth the effort. We’re seeking worshipers who are willing to make the investment with us. It takes an army of volunteers to staff worship teams at all our campuses every Sunday. The demand is high, so we need a team that can serve with everything they’ve got.
Building our team starts with a simple music team application. This is the start of the relationship. We want to know the individual’s story and hear about their musical experience. We follow up with a music team interest meeting. This is our chance to gather ten or so people and tell our team’s story and explain why we do what we do and how we do it. We lay out our expectations as clearly as possible. If those stories and expectations don’t scare them off, we schedule an audition. That’s right, an audition. We audition anyone who wants to join the team – musicians and singers.

It’s not meant to be scary. It’s about trust, and trust has to start somewhere. We only have one shot on Sundays to lead Cross Point in worship. We place a high value on authentic corporate worship. We don’t take that lightly and we don’t hand off that responsibility to just anyone. The audition lets us know where the player/singer stands. It lets us know how they prepare, how they hear parts, and how they execute. If they’re not ready, we’ll have that conversation and work with them to get ready for the next audition if they’re willing to give it another shot.

If the audition went well, we start the next phase of the relationship: starting to serve. But it’s service under a watchful eye. We want them to succeed, so we make tweaks along the way. At this point they’ve gone to the trouble of applying, attending meetings, learning and practicing material, and executing the material at a high level in the audition. It speaks to someone’s character to go through all of that just to serve. We gradually start adding them into serving rotations, and continue making adjustments as they develop.

We’re still fine tuning the process, and it’s not a perfect system, but were developing a killer team of amazing musicians, singers, and most importantly–real worshipers.

We love our volunteers and are incredibly fortunate to serve alongside such an amazing team.

Can Jesus feel the decibels?

I work on a team that strives to create an experience that moves people towards God.  I love utilizing production to help accomplish that goal. I know that the way church “sounds” is vitally important in creating an irresistible environment.

I don’t love this, but perceived loudness often affects my corporate worship experience. When it’s too loud I get distracted, it hurts my ears, and it usually drives me to criticism. On the contrary, when it’s not loud enough I get very distracted, the experience feels empty, and it drives me to criticism. When I can hear myself sing over the sound of the music, I withdraw.

There is a balance. The sound energy needs to keep pace with the people energy in the room. It’s easy to recognize when it’s too loud, but very few can identify lifeless sound that deflates a worship environment. Be mindful of the latter.

My experience over that last few months at Cross Point has been that when we push the envelope just a little, we engage exceedingly more people than we upset. We’re on a path to lead people deeper into authentic experiences every week. The more distractions we prevent, the better chance we have of continuing to deepen those experiences.

What distracts you from worshiping on Sundays?

Amateurs practice till they get it right. Professionals practice till they can’t get it wrong.

Every week I have the opportunity to lead the worship teams at Cross Point. We’re in Nashville, so we blessed with some incredibly gifted musicians. I love it. 52 times a year I decide how to prepare for Sunday.

When I practice, I have two choices. Choice 1 –  Work on the material until it’s familiar. It works, but it’s an easy way out. I’ve played music long enough that I can get by with a casual listen. I choose “familiarity” when my week is too busy, or I think I can get by and put it on cruise control. When I cheat the discipline of practice, I rely primarily on my talent (my head) to get me through. My focus turns inward. I end up worrying about parts and making mistakes. There’s nothing worse than trying to lead worship with my head stuck in the charts.
Choice 2 – Ingrain the material so far in my head that when it’s “go time” I at least create the space, the opportunity to play from my heart. I listen and rehearse the parts over and over till it sticks without having to think about it. I want to know the material so well that I give myself the best shot at leading with confidence.

Here’s the funny thing. God moves in corporate worship regardless of my preparation. Sometimes, when I’m least prepared he shows up in the biggest way. But, I know that when I’m prepared and have a heart that wants to serve with my personal best, he is honored.

Go practice.