the wire / SLAM 12/14/08

The band was phenomenal this morning! Not only was the music great, everyone did a great job leading worship. Today was by far, the most fun I've had playing in a while. This morning really set the bar for how we want every week at SLAM/the wire to be.

Lineup:
Brady F. - Drums
Jake S. - Bass
Scottie F. - Electric Guitar
Jon N. - Keys
Kelsey A. - Vocals, Acoustic
Trevor M. - Vocals, Acoustic

Setlist:
I Will Go - Starfield (new song!)
Sing Sing Sing - Chris Tomlin
Consuming Fire - Tim Hughes
To Speak Your Name - Jami Smith
From the Inside Out - Hillsong United

I'm so proud of the band for learning "I Will Go" this week! For a new song, they did an incredible job and this will be one song that we will continue to use as we head into 30 Hour Famine and Mission Trips in the spring.

Intense Youth Staff Meeting-All Problems Resolved!

j/k - i think we found more problems than answers...
Today, we had an incredibly intense staff meeting (in a really good way!). A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to take our annual trip to the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville, TN. This weekend was filled with thought-provoking speakers and workshops all designed to challenge and equip people working in youth ministry.

Well, today we finally got the chance to discuss what we learned...

Here are a few questions we wrestled with this morning:
1. Where is the Church headed? Is the megachurch movement over? Will smaller ministries that focus on connecting people (and may even meet in public or rented facilities) flourish in the future. Is the American Dream dead? How do we lead parents/students through this transition?
(thanks to Tom Sine's seminar: "Where is the Church Headed and What's our Response?")

2. As a youth ministry, what is our response to the gay/lesbian community? Andrew Marin's approach: quoting Billy Graham: "it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love." How can we effectively and intentionally balance love/acceptance and presenting biblical truth?
(Andrew Marin - General Session with Tony Camp0lo and Shane Claiborne)

3. If we only have a limited amount of time, energy, resources, etc. is it most effective to invest heavily in the "few" that want to go deeper or the "many" who need to hear? Jesus did both but obviously invested heavily in the 12 disciples and even more intensely in just 3 of the disciples. Are we doing ministry to students or with students?
(Mike Pilavachi - General Session)

4. Is a big ministry a good thing? Jesus' teaching was upsetting to people and many left when they found out what He was really calling people to. Are we setting the bar for commitment to Christ much lower than where Jesus would have?
(Francis Chan - General Session)

So, we asked a lot more questions than we answered this morning. I'm glad we're thinking - I'm even more excited that we are doing this together.

I'd love to hear others thoughts - comment away!

the wire / SLAM 12/07/08

Band Lineup:
Eric I. - Drums
Jon N. - Bass
Trevor H. - Keys
Sam E. - Electric Guitar
Brady F. - Acoustic/BGV's
Matt P. - Acoustic/Lead Vocals
Jenny P. and Hannah P. - Lead Vocals

Set List:
"Neverending" - DCB
"Happy Day" - Fee
"How He Loves" - Kim Walker
"Hosanna" - Hillsong United
"From the Inside Out" - Hillsong United

This morning was quite an adventure! As we make the transition to a completely student-led worship team, there are a few setbacks along the way. The Wire had a few rough moments but it was like there was a totally different band playing at SLAM! Everyone really pulled it together and it is amazing to see this process unfolding.

We added a new song today - "Neverending" by David Crowder Band. It turned out really well - Matt P. did a great job learning it this week along with the rest of the band. Trevor H.'s electronic key sounds were awesome. Brady F. moved from behind the drums to play acoustic guitar and sing for the first time today. Sam E.'s electric guitar parts on "Hosanna" took the song to a whole new level! Jenny P. really got everyone participating in "Happy Day". Hannah P. brought the house down with "Hosanna". Eric I. nailed the drum beats for all the songs today and made some great smooth transitions. Jonathan N. did a great job jumping in on bass and gave a great spoken intro to "Hosanna".

Pro Tools 8 Sneak Peek Event!

Tonight I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the new version of Pro Tools before it is officially released next month. Jonathan N. accompanied me and we had quite a good time. There were about 75 people at Atlanta Pro Audio as one of the Digidesign reps walked us step by step through the new features coming soon. I've been to events like this in the past and honestly, I expected more a of a style over substance approach - you know, a big splashy presentation to get everyone excited about the new release but not a lot of details. What I got was exactly the opposite. The rep did a brief presentation about the history of Pro Tools but then he just opened a copy of the new version on a big projection screen and jumped right it. The tech-geek in me jumped for joy! We got to see how the new improvements in Pro Tools specifically impact the everyday use.

Here are some of the highlights:
* Darker, more modern overall look
* Ability to customize track colors, window size and arrangement.
* Extra plug-ins and virtual instruments
* Even more total tracks available
* Easier to create comp tracks from multiple takes
* Ability to lasso sections to make group changes faster
* Basic notation software included for creating sheet music

I have to admit I was simultaneously excited/dissappointed. I'm super excited about getting the new features that will improve workflow. I know that several of these features will save me time compared to the way I currently work in Pro Tools. The disappointing part is that so many of these features have been available in Logic, Live and other programs for years. It's frustrating to realize that Pro Tools is so far behind on some of these basic features that are considered standard in other DAW's. In many ways, Pro Tools 8 doesn't feel like a step forward as much as it feels like they finally caught up with the innovations others have enjoyed for quite some time.

Pro Tools is still the industry standard software for music production. I think it will stay that way for quite some time. However a few other programs have emerged that do many of Pro Tools tasks better/easier. So as someone who runs a project studio I'm forced to choose between innovation of newer projects or being confined to a very reliable set of features. In the end, I'm sticking with Pro Tools but I seriously wish they would incorporate new features faster rather than just maintaining their position.