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Posted on Jun 07, 2011 at 01:29 PM Hey everyone, just thought I'd let you in on some of the things I have been working on lately.
I've been spending some hours just about every day working on mixing this WatersEdge album. You guys are going to like what you hear! Think of it as a gospel fusion of rock, hip hop, metal (think dissonance and scream vocals), worship, and r&b. The biggest thing people have liked about mixes I've shared with them has been the mixing of these styles, so be prepared! You'll also hear a fair amount of string arrangements, sequencing, extra guitars, and guest vocals courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Sam Day. I've also been gearing up for playing guitar along with WaterEdge at the annual FCC conference at the end of this month. Special guests are going to include Pastor Mark McGaffin and Brian "Head" Welch. I've got a list of 15 songs to learn before then, and so far I've crunched through five. The nice thing is though, that a good chunk of these songs are by WatersEdge, so I'll already have them in my head from working on this album. You also may remember me mentioning recording string parts at Dal Segno media not long ago. It was a super productive session....not quite sure when you'll get to hear the results of that, but when you do it'll be worth it. Also, we've got a sweet Impact concert coming up this friday night at FCF. As always we'll be playing a mix of our favorite covers and several of my originals, which is always cool for me. So! I'm going to get back to this mix I'm working on. Hope to see a lot of you on friday!
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Posted on Apr 16, 2011 at 11:18 PM Today I happened across a couple music videos that have been popular as of late. Of course, in the style of many of today's popular artists, they tended pretty hyper-erotic in a TV “friendly” (and I use the term loosely) sort of way. However, one thing I couldn’t deny was just how stinkin’ well-done it all was. There were reoccurring visual thematic elements, EXCELLENT (I’m talkin’ dollar signs here) special effects, and they really got their points across, whatever they were. Metaphorical images were executed with amazing visual/special effect prowess, many different side stories were presented about different protagonists, some of which were really quite moving, while others were pretty morally skewed. But still –they made their points, and did it in a way that was both super-direct and cleverly subliminal. They preached their sermons in a way that many won’t forget.
This is really what well-done media does, it moves you emotionally and argues its point mentally while dazzling you sonically and visually (that is, until we get smell-o-vision. It's coming, people). As Toby Mac says so well in “Lose My Soul”, “I pray that I’m an artist who rises above the road that is wide and filled with self-love. Everything that I see draws me, though it’s only in You that I can truly see that it’s A FEAST FOR THE EYES, A LOW BLOW TO PURPOSE, and I’m a little kid at three-ring circus.” SO! Why is it that many Christian artists don’t have this kind of money? Is it because they (or even the whole industry) is afraid of prosperity, or just doesn’t know what it really means? Why do we so many times think that we just made an awesome music video just because we shot our band playing in some parking garage with a few blinky lights and shot it in HD? Why is it that so many times the special effects have CLEARLY not been up to par with Hollywood, but we pretend like they are? And why is it that when Christian artists HAVE tried to give their videos a story, many times the writing has been just as half-baked as the acting and cinematography? I’ll tell you though, not everyone is this way. I mentioned him before, one guy who seems to be trying to do this thing right is Toby Mac, and there ARE others. I think he realizes something; it’s not just a show, but it is important, so if we don’t always push and pour into making it as awesome, effective, and spectacular as it can be, we may miss somebody. And quite frankly, our stuff is supposed to be the best anyways, and I for one refuse to forget that. |
AuthorMusician, artist, filmmaker, actor, producer, adventurer, follower of Christ. Archives
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