by Don Chapman
Back in November I wrote about my plans for
our Christmas Eve Service. Read the original newsletter article.
We taped it: see how it turned out! Everything pretty much turned out like I
planned, with the addition of dry ice during
the Trans-Siberian instrumental! The snow
was a huge hit during Michael W. Smith's
"Christmastime" at the end of the
program (you can see flakes falling midway
through the song.)
Using professional string
players added a
"holiday TV special"
kind of vibe
- exactly what I wanted.
Years ago I worked
on the Young Messiah tour
that featured top
Christian vocalists performing
a rocked-up
version of Handel's "Messiah."
Venerable arranger/conductor
Ralph Carmichael
told me his secret: he
only used violins
in live settings to maximize
visual impact
of the simultaneous bows.
We had 4 violins,
1 cellist and a keyboardist
playing a string
reduction to fill out the
sound.
As you watch the video,
notice...
- how great that piano sounds. It's a Roland digital mini grand, a little
smaller than a baby grand. The new model
has an extremely realistic piano touch. I
highly recommend it if you're looking for
a piano.
- how I weave the whole thing together with
piano interludes. I can't stress enough how music is the glue
that will tie your praise set together, and
our Christmas Eve service was basically an
extended praise set. It helps to have a fantastic
worship leader like Steve Smith who can not
only sing great but can verbally lead a congregation
through a time of worship.
- the importance of ebb & flow: the program starts big, comes down with
the kid's singing, revs back up for awhile
and comes down again with Steve's "Peace"
solo before the message. "Silent Night"
and candle lighting adds a touching, quiet
climax to the evening, then we end with the
joyful, upbeat "Christmastime."
- the magic of a click track. Don't even think of trying something like
this without a click track! We never could
have pulled off a complex program like this
even 6 months ago. Our band is only a few
months into playing with a click and I'm
amazed and thrilled at how they've grown
musically. The click is the secret to getting
a pro sound with local musicians. And yes,
we use a click every week!
- how much an extra keyboard adds. Daniel Greene is one of our talented keyboard
players who loves to listen to the songs
we do and tries to pick out all the extra
little parts that give music a produced sound.
He did a fantastic job that night - notice
how he's adding chimes on the Trans-Siberian
opening song, synth leads and effects on
"Peace On the Earth" and the praise
set carols, B3 organ, smooth pads on "Peace"
(Steve Smith's solo right before the message)
and french horn/oboe on "Christmastime."
This is the closest real-life performance
I've heard of how I intend my arrangements
to sound and Daniel was a big part of that.
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