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 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.

(photo by Jacob Bassing)

God was kind enough to bless me to be able to be one of the winners in a contest to win Bob Kauflin’s new book, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God. I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. It has shifted my thinking in many ways. It has challenged me, encouraged me and convicted me. One of the requirements of getting the free book from the contest was that we would write a review. So here it is. Forgive me for the length of this post, there’s just no way to do a short review of this book.

Content

Like any book of these matters (no pun intended, well, maybe a little bit intended), the content is king. It doesn’t matter how good the writing style is or how funny the author is because we’re dealing with a serious, eternal subject. The content in this book is broad, relevant to any worship leader at any stage and very easy to grasp. Bob could have gone into much more doctrinal and theological depth (he has the capability) but made sure that those things were stressed without going over the heads of those who might not yet realize the immense importance of correct doctrine and theology.

At first I wasn’t quite sure if I liked the format of the book. It seemed like every chapter had a bunch of lists and sublists and seemed a bit mechanical. I continued reading, however, I realized just how helpful those lists were and how simple Bob made things easily remembered and marked. There are several sections in the book that I have underlined Bob saying something like, “Here are five ways that…” or “Here are five things to remember…” and then numbered these things in my copy.

The best part of Bob’s Content is “Part Two: The Task” where he unpacks his definition of a worship leader. My pastor was browsing through the table of contents and said, “Wow, this guy’s got his thesis right in the table of contents.” Indeed he does. This section was so helpful amidst so many different cultural expectations and definitions for worship leaders present in today’s society. Bob constantly keeps the focus on Jesus, and that He is the ultimate worship leader and the only one that has the ability to bring us into God’s presence. I loved these thoughts from the chapter on “…A Faithful Worship Leader…”

If our leadership focuses on musical experiences, we’ll reap a desire for better sounds, cooler progressions, and more creative arrangements. If we sow to immediate feelings, we’ll reap meetings driven by the pursuit of emotional highs. If we lead in such a way that we’re the center of attention, we’ll reap a man-centered focus, shallow compliments, and ungodly comparisons.

On the other hand, if we sow to God’s glory in Christ, we’ll reap the fruit of people in awe of God’s greatness and goodness. But to do that we must faithfully paint a compelling, attractive, biblical picture of the Savior.” (pg 59-60)

And the book never strays from those words. All the content is aimed at learning how to “faithfully paint a compelling, attrative, biblical picture of the Savior.” There are plenty of practical tips on music, teams and real life examples, but the majority of the book rightly focuses on builidng a community of worshipers that sees God’s glory in a new way and magnifies Him every day.

Writing Style

As I mentioned before. Bob keeps the writing style simple and easy to follow. Almost every chapter is made up of great lists that are easly applicable to any leader or team, no matter their stage of growth. Bob is mostly serious, but adds some great humor in several spots that helps to lighten things up.

Application

This book is written in such a way that it applies to any worship leader and any worship team, from any denomination or church background for any length of time these ministries have been established. It is also extremely applicable to pastors. In fact, Bob even saves the last chapter specifically for pastors and encourages pastors to read through the whole book. He mentions that

Humanly speaking, the pastor is the worship leader. He is the one responsible before God for the corporate worship of the church…” (pg 54)

I’m very glad to see Bob taking the Pastor’s role so seriously and highlighting the wonderful relationship he had with his senior pastor when first coming on staff at his current church.

Extra Goodies

If the extremely thoughtful and helpful content of the book isn’t enough, Bob goes on to add a “brief, annotated bibliography” and a whole section of “notes.” Both of these sections of the book are worth the price you’ll pay for it. Don’t skip them, as they include many valuable resources and some great extra thoughts from Bob.

Definitely Worth Many Re-Reads

I highly recommend this book. If you’re just beginning worship ministry, this will provide a solid foundation that will last your whole ministry. If you’re an experienced worship leader, this will challenge and convict you to really think about what your doing. No matter who you are, this book will ultimately cause our “view of, trust in, and desire for God’s glory in Christ and him crucified to increase…” (pg 79)

You can order Worship Matters here. You can read more from Bob about matters of worship and why worship matters here.