Freedom Week is Almost Over!

I don't think I mentioned, my parents were out of town ALL week, out of the country to be exact. They took a plane and went to Jamaica! DANG! Anyways, Nick (little brother) and I held the fort down. Scary stuff! We did rather well...we ate rather well too! We had steak, burgers, lasagna, and fried chicken. We ate good!

It's been an odd week. A very sad event occured. A member of my church passed away. Very tragic, so please pray for his family. They are very good people, and the church lost a very good guy. I was asked to play at the funeral on Thursday and I did. It was a very different service. Justin Beadles is an amazing speaker. He knows what to say and when to say it. And, most importantly, whatever he says, he can show exactly where the Bible talks about it. I have been looking for that...

I am having some Wesley band problems already. Adam, who seemed reliable, is somewhat backing out on me. He just doesn't seem interested anymore. I think Brad may join us for a little while. What some people don't understand is that each part is important, and when they are fickle about their commitments, they can alter the way the band plays.

I got my mp3 player! A 20GB Dell Jukebox. It rocks! I will store my loops and such on it. I am also looking at digital samplers to run loops live. Reason is picking up, figuring more out. I worked with some pretty cool synth sounds this week that could definately be used.

Until tomorrow...

Trouble Again

...Our desire is to be a church that highly values and practices evangelism, excellence, prayer, missions, creativity, instruction and discipleship. Our vision is to see people being led in authentic worship and being given strong Biblical instruction with relevant applications that spur them on to love and good deeds...

That's what it's all about, right? That's what I think, that's what Grace Bible Church says, and though it's not a "BIBLE CHURCH", shouldn't Wesley view its mission this way? Wesley is in a prime situation. I say this because an overwhelming majority of college kids are consumed with sin. They have no way, lost, straying from Him. BUT, we should encourage and help these people, these brothers and sisters in Christ, to follow and trust in Him.

GBC's got it! What's difficult about doing what the Bible calls us to do? This whole things started this afternoon when I was discussing with some Wesleyans about matter they had question (order of worship, welcome week, etc). I think outreach on this campus is highly important, HOWEVER, right now the Wesley is struggling. I feel the people of the Wesley don't know even how to worship. It seems as though it is a chore to come each week for an hour or so. I've said it before and I'll say it again..."Christ died a painful and truly horrible death and we complain about attending church / a worship service for an hour or two each week?" That's very sad to me.

I don't believe that students of the Wesley know how to worship. But, sadly, it will take more than the students to teach. It HAS to start from the top, Tom Teekell. I can do some, I can lead a Bible Study, I can lead a D-Group (Discipleship Group), I can have the team or myself read scripture in between a song....but it's vital that Tom be constructive to the process.

I think before we orchestrate some big WELCOME TO SFA event, the "inside" of the Wesley needs a bit of "renovating".

Well, I am sure I'll keep you all posted on these matters...I meet with Tom on Wednesday (I am confused about what I should say to him...I do have boundaries)

This week has drained me almost completely...two services in the morning, one at night, usually with two practices in between.....that's alot! Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it wears me out. I have played more drums this week alone, then I have in the last two or three months!

I tracked Todd's drum stuff for "My Savior". I was a big letdown and had complications with "My Lips..." (mainly I was too tired to work, but I also want it to be perfect). Todd can just FIRE me if he is upset (just kidding). Yes folks, that's right, I am holding up the Todd Wright CD Project, ok, get off my back!!!!

This week, thank goodness, is a VERY slow week. I will catch up on rest, clean, work, and program drums and other Reason stuff. Until tomorrow...

First Reason Drum Track Sequenced!

Dang! This stuff is fun! It's really late, and I am sitting up playing on the computer. What else could I be doing at this hour? Not sleeping. So, I finished drums for "My Savior". It's all sequenced out and arranged, just needs to have levels tweaked, possibly some EQing...but other than that done. Now I will work on putting it online for Todd to check out. Next step, taking already completed drum stuff and moving it into the sequencer...YIKES!

Tracing Mason met this evening. It went suprisingly well. For some reason, I have been on this kick where I am not too pumped about TM. Could be the lack of gigging...promises of a demo to be released and yet nothing done...or even the problems of Wesley surrounding the band. Whatever the case, that all seemed non-existant this evening. We listended to the un-mixed, bass-less, version of the demo. Good stuff! I am suprised and shocked. I expected the most embarrasing drum tracks, and it all seemed to fit for the most part. Would I do it over again, yes. I am a perfectionist when it comes to recording, as I should be. Playing to a click would have been preferable. Oh well, it's said and done...it turned out alright.

TM worked on some new songs. "Nashville Tonight", "Fish", and another one I am not sure of the title. I used a percussion setup (djembe, 2 crashes, and a shaker). I am really starting to enjoy that setup because I can ride the crashes with a brush and play the djembe at the same time, almost emulating a drumkit. COOL! We are going to record some acoustic stuff next week to send to A&M....where we have a gig in September. It's a "Welcome Back" Bash for the A&M Wesley.

One note, drums came in. They are assembled, after two long hours. They need to be tuned and then they are ready to go. I am very glad and blessed to have them. Tomorrow is Hearts Afire practice and I am EXTREMELY excited. I have some ideas to make the team more flexible and allow for us to really work together. Until tomorrow...

Drums Are Finally Here

Well, it's about time! Almost four weeks after the order was placed, I finally have a majority of it here. There are 2 pairs of drum sticks and two cymbal stands that are backordered, but they'll be here soon enough.

I have, for the past day or so, been working increasingly harder on mastering new aspects of Reason. It's such a complex program, and really would probably go quicker if I read a manual...but, I feel if I learn how to do things first hand, I will retain the knowledge. I have figured out the rack system (meaning, the routing of sounds to the mixer and to all the processors. Not too tricky, just very time consuming. Now, I am tackling the sequencer. This bad boy is rough. There is so much you can do in Reason, and it all comes down to the sequencer and putting it all in that. I have almost completed 2 entire songs into the sequencer, meaning, they can be put down as drum tracks.

I am meeting with my Hearts Afire musicians this week. A bit nervous...Since last semester I have been thinking about what a huge responsibility the team has standing up there singing. I really think that musically, I know where we need to be. I think my focus needs to be more about educating and showing that we need to be beyond the singing and music, beyond the equipment, beyond the talent, but be only focused on the worship of God. I know, I know, it's said over and over again. But my team, they get caught on details, as I do myself sometimes. We aren't called to play music just for the sake of having instrumentation. We are there to sing praises to God. We as musicians are there to do the same.

So, I am off to begin my long day of drum assembly. I am still trying to determine how they will get to Nac by tomorrow at 3...guess I better figure that one out. Until tomorrow...no really.....tomorrow...