i am an offering

Have you ever wondered when you read in your CD jacket, “Produced by so-and-so” what that actually means?  When I was first getting really into music I never understood what that meant and who the “producer” was.  These next few posts aim to educate a little bit on what a producer does and how important it is for worship leaders to know.

What is a Producer?

A producer is someone who does just that - produces.  A music producer produces the overall sound of the music that is on any given album.  The producer works closely with the album artist and songwriters to decide what the best sound will be for any given song.  The producer has the final say in whether or not guitar or piano will be used on a certain song, how long a song is, if there should be backing vocals or just a solo voice.  Honestly, the producer does a lot more than he gets credit for!  Sure, he gets his name in the CD jacket - but beyond that, did you know that most artists wouldn’t be where they are today without having a producer?

The Importance of a Producer

Sure, the artist and/or songwriter on any album has some say in what the music will sound like.  But, what most of the listening public doesn’t realize is that the process of making an album goes something like this:

• Songwriter writes song.  It could be amazing the right out of the gate but most of the time only parts of it are amazing.
• Songwriter submits song to producer.
• Producer listens to song and says, “You need to change that line, move that note somewhere else, shorten the verse, lengthen the chorus…” or any number of different things.
• Songwriter wisely agrees to do what producer says and also tries to explain any type of sound or feel he wants in the song.
• Producer works with songwriter to figure out what instruments should be in the song and what and when each instrument should play.
• All parts are recorded (under producer’s supervision).
• Songwriter’s song hits the radio and is now amazing.

Of course, the song needs to be decent in the first place to even make it to a producer, but the producer is the one who makes it polished.

Recent Example

For those of you who watch American Idol© and for those of you who listen to KLOVE radio, you’ve probably witnessed this process take place without even knowing it.  Chris Sligh, a contestant on American Idol from two years ago made the top ten.  He didn’t end up winning and has now gone on to have his own album.  A while back on the KLOVE morning show with John and Sherry Rivers Chris Sligh sang one of his songs he wrote.  It was just him and a piano.

While it was quite nice to listen to, something just wasn’t quite “right” with the song.  Fast-forward about a year.  Chris is able to have his album produced by an award-winning producer, Brown Bannister.  The new version of his song is now played on KLOVE and it’s a completely different song.  A few notes were changed here and there, different instrumentation was added and the song was arranged in such a way that now it is stellar.  It is amazing what a good producer can do.

Brown Bannister took something that was decent and made it excellent.  As worship leaders, we act as producers every week as well.  How do we do it?  We’ll look at that in the next post.

Well, it has been a light couple of weeks of blogging from me and I apologize for that! Family’s been coming first lately as well as getting the house ready for some company this weekend. I hope to get back into the swing of blogging again full-on next week, but there will be a few posts this weeek.

You’ve probably seen this story already, but it was brought up at devotions this morning and man, it’s powerful. While the story doesn’t mention if anyone involved is a follower of Jesus, it’s good for us to see that these sorts of things still happen in the world. It is also good for us to remember that we should be the people that are making these things happen. Enjoy.

Normally I don’t post two times in one day, but I had to pass this along.  We used to watch American Idol regularly, but didn’t watch this season.  I had heard about the show using “Shout to the Lord” on it during the “Give Back” episode and wasn’t sure what to think.  As always, Bob Kauflin gives a great, thought-provoking response.  Check it out.

I totally apologize to Craig Groeschel for trusting me to write a review of this book in a timely fashion and taking months to do it! I want to live up to my word, however, and make sure this does get reviewed, as this book is a very valuable resource.

Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv recently wrote a book called “Going All the Way - Preparing for a Marriage that Goes the Distance.” It is a fantastic book. It’s easy to read in the fact that Craig’s humor and writing style are very personal and it is easy to relate to him. It’s hard to read in the fact that there are a lot of challenges to popular culture’s view of love and marriage that might be hard for some folks to get through. But bravo, Craig for hitting the nail on the head. From the first chapter:

Let me warn you: this book may require a radical shift in your thinking. If small changes would do the trick, everyone would be making them. Minor adjustments produce marginal results. Most of us need to overhaul our thought processes. To experience the kind of relationships we long for, we must, with God’s help, prepare to be genuinely different.” (pg 7)

Well said. The one thing I appreciated most out of all of this book was that after the introductory chapter, the first chapter is about “finding the one.” In common cultural language, we immediately think that he’s talking about finding the one person we’re meant for on this earth. But he doesn’t write about that at all. He writes about Jesus being the one. Jesus being our first love. The person you marry will always be “the two” and Jesus will always be “the one.” Fantastic way of opening the book.

The rest of the book goes on to present some great challenges in how we handle relationships. Friendships, romantic relationships, engagements, roles of husbands and wives.

This book is a very, very good resource, especially if you are struggling with wondering how to handle a romantic relationship in a godly way while being immersed in a culture that’s full of lies about relationships and sex. Craig breaks through the confusion and lies of our culture and sets things straight.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on “How to Be an Offering” and, since that is the theme of this blog, I thought I’d catch up a bit! While the past ones have been all focused on Scripture passages (which I will continue to do) I wanted to just share some thoughts on simple ways that you can be an offering with your time.

I’ve been thinking about my roles in life a lot lately. Follower of Jesus, Husband, Father, Graphic Designer, Worship Leader. While our lives are ultimately to be offered to God in worship daily, we are also to serve others and offer our lives in each role we are in. How could fifteen minutes a day serve others that come in contact with your given role? I’ll list mine:

• Follower of Jesus - fifteen minutes a day of mediating on God’s Word (I would suggest much more than that, which I’m still working on, but fifteen minutes is a good starting point)
• Husband - fifteen minutes a day of small housework items. Christine has just gone back to work after maternity leave and is exhausted. If I spend fifteen minutes a day doing easy work, her stress load lightens exponentially. She can spend time with our daughter at night instead of seeing messes around the house.
• Father - fifteen minutes a day praying for my daughter. (Again, this could and should be way more, but I’d rather pray for her fifteen minutes out of my day than no minutes at all!)
• Graphic Designer - fifteen minutes a day going through a tutorial and learning new techniques. I always want to learn how to better my skills.
• Worship Leader - My fifteen minutes in God’s Word already impacted this one, as a worship leader should be first and foremost a student of God’s Word, then a musician. Fifteen minutes a day practicing my instrument(s). Now, granted, some of you who read this play several instruments so this could turn into 45 minutes a day. But think of the impact it will have on your confidence and skill level!

I just planned one hour and forty-five minutes of my day (I’m including fifteen minutes for three instruments). That short time will impact my roles, those who come in contact with me in those roles and my impact on God’s kingdom significantly more than an hour and forty-five minutes of many other things. How much TV does the average American watch??? I don’t even watch that much TV at all, but I know I could be spending my time doing much more beneficial things.