Playing in Church.

[ezbass]

Best get back into the trials/joys of playing in church, rather than drifting into dogma, otherwise the mods will come along with their chains, padlocks and keys.

[bass_dinger]

55 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Nothing personal, but I do find it somewhat amusing to read of 'not telling lies' coming from anyone going on about God and Heaven and the like. A question of defining 'lie', I suppose; to me, anything blatantly untrue stated as truth is a 'lie'. Just sayin'; carry one, folk. 

An understandable point, politely made.

 

Let's call it "off-brand messaging".

 

 

[bass_dinger]

13 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Best get back into the trials/joys of playing in church, rather than drifting into dogma, otherwise the mods will come along with their chains, padlocks and keys.

 

I was in a different venue this morning. I had rather got used to my standard set up of a large room, hard walls, individual foldback mixes, and a separate room mix.

 

So it was a real struggle to find myself in a smaller room, 45 feet high, deep, and wide.  Wooden flooring made for a lot of resonance, and the drum kit in the corner was overpoweringly loud.  

 

At one point in the rehearsal, I was having to lip read the lead singer to follow the song, and this morning I was watching the pianist and guitarist's left hands more than usual. 

 

However, for all those struggles, the congregation were much more responsive than my usual "gig", and I was reminded why I play in church. 

 

This morning felt like a pub gig- hard work, raw, but happy punters. My usual gig is more akin to a rehearsal with an audienced that joins in.

 

I probably learnt more about playing at this morning's gig, than I have over the past year.

 

 

 

[Ralf1e]

On 18/11/2022 at 22:37, Owen said:

I am thinking of our Carol Service for this year. If we have a "standard" carol service it can be great for believers, but for non-believers they can be in, hear some vaguely familiar songs and readings and just let it wash over them. If we throw something in from the left field then it could turn some heads. I am not looking for a congregation sing thing - it is not as if the world is short of good Carols. I am looking for some features. So, does anyone have any suggestions?

 

This has been suggested. I have not actually watched it yet so make no comment.

 

 

This is one I have used in the past.

 

 

 

 

You could try having a look at what rastafari do on you tube. They did a Christmas gig somewhere on their tour and it went very well. Just a different kind of feel using reggae 

Might be worth a look to see if that thows up ideas.

Also have a worship leader guitarist friend in his 70's who came up with the idea of putting the words of

"There is a green hill" to the tune of "The house of the rising sun"

It actually fits really well and because its a slower tune it helps the words have time to sink in instead of just blasting through it.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Ralf1e
Added idea

[Grahambythesea]

6 hours ago, Ralf1e said:

.

Also have a worship leader guitarist friend in his 70's who came up with the idea of putting the words of

"There is a green hill" to the tune of "The house of the rising sun"

It actually fits really well and because its a slower tune it helps the words have time to sink in instead of just blasting through it.

I’ve done that for years too, “when I survey the wondrous cross” fits to Rising Sun too. It’s one of those tunes you can sing just about anything too.

[TrevorR]

10 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

I’ve done that for years too, “when I survey the wondrous cross” fits to Rising Sun too. It’s one of those tunes you can sing just about anything too.

As does Amazing Grace! The Blind Boys of Alabama do a cracking version of that…

 

https://youtu.be/B0EN_Hmq534

[xgsjx]

That's my days of playing in a CCW team done.

 

I told the WL that I was stepping back a couple of months ago, but remained in the Team chat.  I've not been to church since, & during that time no one from the church has been in touch to see how I'm doing (One person got in touch to ask how the renovations are going, but that's only because we're both bassists & regularly talk.  We didn't talk about church at all).

So last week, I decided to leave the worship team's WhatsApp group.  4 days later the pastor's eldest daughter (who was the WL until about 4 months ago) got in touch and just said "Hi, hope you're okay.  Saw you came out of the team chat.  You're missed this season & hope it's just temporary".
 

It leaves me feeling only valued for my bass playing & not actually valued as a person.

 

So on that, I think I'm done with organised religion.  I do still believe in God, just not this cliquey false compassionate organisation that claim to represent God.

[ezbass]

28 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

That's my days of playing in a CCW team done.

 

I told the WL that I was stepping back a couple of months ago, but remained in the Team chat.  I've not been to church since, & during that time no one from the church has been in touch to see how I'm doing (One person got in touch to ask how the renovations are going, but that's only because we're both bassists & regularly talk.  We didn't talk about church at all).

So last week, I decided to leave the worship team's WhatsApp group.  4 days later the pastor's eldest daughter (who was the WL until about 4 months ago) got in touch and just said "Hi, hope you're okay.  Saw you came out of the team chat.  You're missed this season & hope it's just temporary".
 

It leaves me feeling only valued for my bass playing & not actually valued as a person.

 

So on that, I think I'm done with organised religion.  I do still believe in God, just not this cliquey false compassionate organisation that claim to represent God.

That’s sad to hear, G.

[Ralf1e]

4 hours ago, xgsjx said:

That's my days of playing in a CCW team done.

 

I told the WL that I was stepping back a couple of months ago, but remained in the Team chat.  I've not been to church since, & during that time no one from the church has been in touch to see how I'm doing (One person got in touch to ask how the renovations are going, but that's only because we're both bassists & regularly talk.  We didn't talk about church at all).

So last week, I decided to leave the worship team's WhatsApp group.  4 days later the pastor's eldest daughter (who was the WL until about 4 months ago) got in touch and just said "Hi, hope you're okay.  Saw you came out of the team chat.  You're missed this season & hope it's just temporary".
 

It leaves me feeling only valued for my bass playing & not actually valued as a person.

 

So on that, I think I'm done with organised religion.  I do still believe in God, just not this cliquey false compassionate organisation that claim to represent God.

I understand that completely. Have been the victim of churchianity several times where authority is taken over by arrogance and bullying by high ranking non- believers.

Plenty of very good teaching online available if you are careful to ensure it is in line with the written word.

Be of good cheer.

[LeftyP]

12 hours ago, xgsjx said:

That's my days of playing in a CCW team done.

 

I told the WL that I was stepping back a couple of months ago, but remained in the Team chat.  I've not been to church since, & during that time no one from the church has been in touch to see how I'm doing (One person got in touch to ask how the renovations are going, but that's only because we're both bassists & regularly talk.  We didn't talk about church at all).

 

Did you not think to keep in touch with them?  I've known people who have left church or clubs and complained that no-one kept in touch, but it is a two-way street.  I don't know why or how you withdrew from the team, but people can feel awkward in those situations.  Don't expect everyone to run around after you if you show no signs of keeping in touch with them.  I hope the situation resolves itself and you can mend bridges, but it will take effort on your part too.

[TrevorR]

12 hours ago, xgsjx said:

That's my days of playing in a CCW team done.

 

I told the WL that I was stepping back a couple of months ago, but remained in the Team chat.  I've not been to church since, & during that time no one from the church has been in touch to see how I'm doing (One person got in touch to ask how the renovations are going, but that's only because we're both bassists & regularly talk.  We didn't talk about church at all).

So last week, I decided to leave the worship team's WhatsApp group.  4 days later the pastor's eldest daughter (who was the WL until about 4 months ago) got in touch and just said "Hi, hope you're okay.  Saw you came out of the team chat.  You're missed this season & hope it's just temporary".
 

It leaves me feeling only valued for my bass playing & not actually valued as a person.

 

So on that, I think I'm done with organised religion.  I do still believe in God, just not this cliquey false compassionate organisation that claim to represent God.

Sad to hear and I hope you’ll find a congregation/community where you do fit one day. We’re in transition too. All over Covid and the aftermath reopening we were isolating as much as possible because we were helping look after my father in law and his fight with prostate cancer. Going into a room full of 200 or so people even with a mask and risking giving Covid to him just on wasn’t on the cards. And I worked from home as much as I possibly could to help the isolating. He continued to deteriorate and finally passed away last February. Haven’t been been back to church since and not sure we want to go back to the old church as there’s a lot of history for my wife which is painful. Shame as I loved playing on the team but it would be too stressful for my wife - too many hurts to be dredged up. Then, over the summer my best friend in the worship team passed away from complications allied to Covid. So my main personal friendship tie with the church is gone too. We need to start looking for other local churches but haven’t felt the impetus to actually do so. I’m sure we will be back sometime soonish but right now I’m not sure when or where.

[xgsjx]

15 hours ago, LeftyP said:

Did you not think to keep in touch with them?  I've known people who have left church or clubs and complained that no-one kept in touch, but it is a two-way street.  I don't know why or how you withdrew from the team, but people can feel awkward in those situations.  Don't expect everyone to run around after you if you show no signs of keeping in touch with them.  I hope the situation resolves itself and you can mend bridges, but it will take effort on your part too.

Yes, I did try to keep in touch, but many of the messages I sent to the team chat went unanswered. 
I’ve not left on bad terms. I told them I needed to step back to get the house renovated (which itself is true), but I’ve also had enough of the nonsense. 
 

The Mrs has been largely ignored & they only ever contact her when they want something done, never to ask how she’s keeping. 
 

Anyhoo, I’m not gonna derail the thread & don’t want to get it locked, so keep up the Lord’s work & be blessed. 

[Ralf1e]

On 19/11/2022 at 17:34, oldslapper said:

 

 

Edited November 26, 2022 by Ralf1e
somehow its come out twice

[Ralf1e]

Just a couple of days ago I had an email from a Vineyard church quite local to me. It was an invitation to a Worship jam they are doing. It is an initiative to build a new worship band as they feel they need more bodies to cover extra services they are putting on including an evening service which will be all worship without any teaching or sermons.

I sent a yes to attend and got back lead sheets for the 3 songs they want to try out to start with within hours.

I've been trying to get the gospel church where I play to use lead sheets for 18 months with no results. This looks like I might be on the move to serve much closer to home than the 44 mile round trip I have been making for the last 18 months or so. Please pray for me that all is well and according to Gods will.

[Risk101]

On 22/11/2022 at 21:54, TrevorR said:

Sad to hear and I hope you’ll find a congregation/community where you do fit one day. We’re in transition too. All over Covid and the aftermath reopening we were isolating as much as possible because we were helping look after my father in law and his fight with prostate cancer. Going into a room full of 200 or so people even with a mask and risking giving Covid to him just on wasn’t on the cards. And I worked from home as much as I possibly could to help the isolating. He continued to deteriorate and finally passed away last February. Haven’t been been back to church since and not sure we want to go back to the old church as there’s a lot of history for my wife which is painful. Shame as I loved playing on the team but it would be too stressful for my wife - too many hurts to be dredged up. Then, over the summer my best friend in the worship team passed away from complications allied to Covid. So my main personal friendship tie with the church is gone too. We need to start looking for other local churches but haven’t felt the impetus to actually do so. I’m sure we will be back sometime soonish but right now I’m not sure when or where.

Sorry to hear this Trevor, and hopefully you’ll find a new “home” where you can use your talents.  First time I’ve posted on here but I’ve enjoyed reading your contributions.

I’m the main bassist at a large church in Essex. It’s a full band, and I usually play a 5 string Fender PJ or JJ although with the curse of GAS have used loads of different basses over the years!!

Signal goes into TC Electronic Staccato head with post-EQ D/I and although using IEM I like to also hear the low end via a Vanderkley cab. We control our own in ear mix via “Visi Listen” and use OnSong but I’m nowadays only using it for the occasional prompt. The stuff goes out on livestream with mixed results!

Edited November 28, 2022 by Risk101

[SuperSeagull]

We’ve just moved from a large church in Mid Sussex to a much smaller one on the other side of town. It’s a very “high” church, a small and welcoming congregation and a new vicar with a great vision. So I’ve left a full band every week with a brilliant music director and great tech team to playing once a month with a much smaller band, although top notch musos inc my favourite drummer from the same church we have moved from. I’m using what I now call my St Ed’s bass, a 62 RI p bass with flats rather than my rather more shouty and in your face Status, different gear for different circumstances. 

[dmc79]

@TrevorR Sorry to hear about what you've been through the last couple of years. I thought you did a sterling job bringing together all the online worship stuff during the lockdowns, and enjoy your posts both here and on Talkbass. I hope things become more steady for you and that you settle into a new church. The guy at our church who did most of the donkey work for the online services (alongside a busy shift job and raising a young family I might add) was I feel sadly underappreciated. Perhaps not many people knew it was him who did a lot of that, but some did, and I feel more honour should have been given to him for that. Sadly he & his family left the church a while back, and to this day I bet not many people realised how much he did over that time. Not that we are in it for being patted on the back, but I feel it's right to show our appreciation to people like that.

 

After last Sundays carol service, I went and spoke to everyone I could find who took part, to thank them for their hard work and congratulate them on a job well done. I've played in them before and appreciate the time sacrifice that goes into the rehearsals (which start early Oct), so felt they should all be thanked. Several people, including singers, a musician and the sound man, were doing the carol service for the first time, so I wanted to encourage them. Two ladies did a vocal solo, just them and the keyboard, they were incredible and had never done anything like that before. When I spoke to both afterwards, they said they'd been very nervous, one hadn't even sung on a Sunday yet, though will be doing soon.

 

Changing the subject back to gear, I am curious if any of you have a Compressor on your pedalboards. . . I've never used one, but it's something I'm always curious about. I've read examples of people who swear by them, whilst others don't like them, so I thought I'd gauge opinions on them, in the context of worship. I have a space on my Nano board which I feel I'd be best filling with something that will improve the overall sound, rather than something like a modulation effect which I may use once in a blue moon. I have a tuner, overdrive & preamp/DI box, and keep thinking about putting a compressor in the space. I have a very basic understanding of what they do, if I'm wrong I am open to correction, or if I've missed something out here, please add. As far as my limited knowledge goes, a Compressor evens out the sound, prevents volume spikes / rounds off peaks if you dig in too hard / smooths out any heavy-handedness. Does this sound right? I know there is a colossal thread on Talkbass about them, but I don't plan to read all 400+ pages of that anytime soon!

 

Also, for those who use them, are there any you recommend buying or indeed avoiding? These are ones I've seen mentioned a fair bit which I keep being drawn to, but I know others are out there too: Keeley Bassist Limiting Amplifier, Diamond Bass Comp (& Jr version), Xotic SP, MXR M87 & M282 Mini. I'd want something fairly simple, so maybe the Keeley or Diamond Jr which only have 3 knobs. The M87 looks more complicated with 5, then there's the single knob TC Spectracomp too. Whilst footprint is not a major deal, a 1590A size mini one would free up space for another pedal, meaning I could squeeze 5 onto my Nano (my overdrive is a mini too) and thus have the option of 2 different levels of drive. . .

 

I'll be honest, I don't even really understand what the knobs actually do on these things, so will try to educate myself. Looking forward to some thoughts, I'll try and scour the forum outside of this thread too. I just can't get it out of my head that a Compressor would be a good thing to round out my board and improve the overall sound. Thanks all

Edited December 13, 2022 by dmc79

[Kevsy71]

@dmc79 do you DI into the church PA? If so it's possible there's a compressor that can be applied to your channel at the mixing desk - may be worth checking.

 

I've used  Keeley and Markbass compressors before for non-PA situations for the reasons you give above.

[LeftyP]

OK, this is not about playing in church but we have just transformed the inside of our building into an interpretation of a Bethlehem market on the night of Jesus' birth.  We did this the Christmas before lockdown (2019) and it had a great reception.  Over this week several school groups will be taken round and introduced to characters such as; potters, money changers, spice sellers, shepherds etc and told about the birth of Jesus.  We have the bustle of a busy market playing over the P.A. and Roman soldiers patrolling!  After the tour the school kids (junior age) will get some food and activities to reinforce the story.  The general public will be invited on Friday evening and Saturday morning.  I'm the angel who brings "Good tidings of great joy"!  My wife did a walk through video on her 'phone during rehearsal and I'll see if I can upload it.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by LeftyP

[Owen]

I could bore for hours on the topic of the TC Spectracomp. Why is it so good? Presets. Other people who understand how to set them have set them. You can zip through lots of presets by firing your phone at your pickups (I dunno either). Choose your fave, set and forget. I like it so much I have 3. One in church, one on my pedal board and one on my desk. 

 

With regard to lockdown editing. Yep, it was a monster undertaking by lots of people. If that bloke has left, it is not too late to contact and say that you appreciate what he did and make that conection. A pat on the back NEVER hurts. Ever. 

[LeftyP]

Here we go....

 

 

[LukeFRC]

@dmc79 - some compression I love, other stuff I hate. I tried the much loved Cali76 … and for me I hated it. 
same with that xotic one, didn’t care much for the optical one either…

optical compressor I like though and spent far too much on a fancy broughton one that sounds nice - I like the spectracomp too as a multiband one compressor and @Owen is right - I should have saved the money and bought that instead.

source audio atlas is probably worth adding to your list, but spectracomp is good 

[LukeFRC]

But borrow one, or use one I. Your computer to test it out - if you’ve never needed a compressor pedal before, a space on your board doesn’t necceraly mean you need one now 

[Risk101]

@LeftyP love what you did there! Must have been an labour of love (scuse the pun!!)

 

Our “cafe church” event went pretty well. Most challenging for me was “a Christmas Overture” for which the words were adapted to fit our theme. There are some bass “stabs” with quite tricky timing (for me!)  but I got there eventually. The original song is here:

 

 

Sounded great in the room but lousy on livestream!!

[Tokalo]

Re: compressors.

 

I found these sites helpful in explaining what they do, and what would work for me:

 

https://www.studybass.com/gear/bass-effects/bass-compressor-settings/
 

https://www.compressorpedalreviews.com/all-compressor-reviews