Archives For Multi-Tracks

Surround Sound Worship Loops

Matt McCoy —  June 16, 2013

Hey community!

I’m in Cincinnati with my good friend and very talented worship leader / songwriter, Zak Stegman.

Zak is leading worship this week for the Summer of Service conference at the Vineyard church in Cincinnati (where I used to work).

He is running his loops this week in Surround Sound, which I thought was pretty cool. Basically, he exported two different stereo tracks. Each track
has different instruments panned. Track 1 is set to play through the center array speakers, and Track 2 is playing through a set of speakers set up in the rear of the auditorium.

Check out this video to spark some creativity in your looping and multitracking!

Anyone else out there doing this?

-Matt McCoy (@mattmccoy)

In Ableton Live, Live Sound + Mixing, Loop Programming, Loop Rigs, Multi-Tracks, Triggering Loops, Tutorials, Video Blog
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Transposing Multi-Tracks With Ableton Live

Paul Case —  March 5, 2013

In Ableton Live, Arrangements, Multi-Tracks, Tutorials
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How To Use Multi-Tracks In Ableton Live

Paul Case —  March 5, 2013

In Ableton Live, Arrangements, Multi-Tracks, Tutorials
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Worship Loopers… I mean Leaders.

Matt McCoy —  August 14, 2012

As I’ve been using Loops, MultiTracks and Ableton over the past ten years, it’s been amazing to see more and more churches adapt the use of music technology in their worship services. You don’t typically see just a Boss TU-2 Tuner on the ground in front of the worship leader anymore. Now you see all sorts of gadgets and electronic music wizardry – laptops on stands, bright LEDs, foot controllers, MIDI keyboards, iPads, audio interfaces, wireless transmitters, a pile of XLR cables, etc. Lots of fun stuff… right? #SmilingBig

I was talking with a producer the other day and he said that he believes that the laptop computer will be to this upcoming generation what the acoustic guitar was to past generations. I agree with him 100%. The acoustic guitar will definitely always be around, and there will always still be “that kid” at youth group sitting in the corner playing to the girls. But this is a new day, and what kids can do on computers now is amazingly affordable and accessible. Computers and software are their instruments… and they are electronic music producers.

One of the main reasons I use loops is because I really enjoy “playing” them. I see them as another instrument that I’m able to play while leading worship – which I find really enjoyable. An endless possibility of fresh sounds and creativity at my fingertips (or feet).
Loops and MultiTracks are also a very effective and simple way to tighten up the sound of your worship team – whether your church is big or small. It’s something that ANYONE can do with the right tools and training. That’s one of the reasons I started LoopCommunity.com – to resource the church and provide worship leaders with the tools they need to take their worship services to the next level.

However, I have a nightmare – and this is what it looks like:

Worship leader Joe from Spring Valley Church is up on stage getting ready to lead people in worship. He’s been leading for a long time, however it’s his first time using loops during the weekend services. He proudly has his laptop, new foot controller and audio interface all configured and laid out at his feet. Service begins and Joe starts fumbling around with his feet trying to trigger his Loops – but he keeps hitting the wrong buttons and the loops are misfiring. Whoops – Joe also forgot to wake his computer screen from sleep before they started! So he bends down in the middle of the song and starts fiddling with his computer. All the while, the band slowly starts to fall apart and people are staring at Joe wondering why he is checking his Facebook during service. I think you get the picture… instead of focusing on leading the congregation into God’s presence, Joe is focusing on all of this technical equipment.

The primary role of the “worship leader” is to do just that – lead people in worship. Not be completely distracted by a bunch of electronic music gadgets. Here’s my heart – the last thing that I want is for worship leaders to start buying all the latest technology and implementing it into their worship service on Sunday morning just because it’s the “cool”, “hip” thing to do. It would be a sad day if all of a sudden worship leaders were neglecting their primary responsibility of leading people in worship, because they have transferred their focus to their computers and loop rigs instead of the Glory of God. If that sounds like your story, we have failed you. LC is here to help enhance your worship service. Don’t let technology become a wall between you and the congregation. I feel the same way about music stands, but that’s another post for another day.

Now hear me out – I am NOT saying that people shouldn’t use loops and technology in worship. Not at all. In fact, I believe that we can (and NEED to) raise the bar of excellence in our worship teams and music creativity. Loops and MultiTracks are an easy and highly effective way to do this. We most definitely have to give our all and BEST in our musicianship, continually growing and learning our instruments… never staying stagnant in our musical development. But what I am saying is that before you start using Loops and technology in worship, make sure that you’re comfortable with it before you get up in front of 300 people to lead. That is another reason why LoopCommunity.com exists – to train and resource worship leaders how to use technology in their worship services. It should be something that helps you, not distracts you. We are here to make it EASY for you and are committed to that.

As worship leaders, we must remember that our primary responsibility is to lead the people God has placed in front of us. It is a huge responsibility every Sunday morning and we need to really feel the weight of that. Sunday morning is not the time for our own personal worship time (eyes closed), or our time to play with MIDI controllers and computers. Those 30 minutes are precious – so lets make sure we’re making the most of it and leading people into the presence of God.

Loops and electronic music are a blast, and I believe the future of worship music. Let’s just make sure that we’re still focused on what really matters.

SOME TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:

1. If you’re new at using loops, use the resources and training at Loop Community to prepare before you start using them in your church service. We have an active forum of people who are more than willing to help, as well as Ableton personal training. It’s easy, and once you get the hang of it – you’ll be rocking in no time. Practice makes perfect.

2. Before using new technology in your church service, try it a few times in your band rehearsals. That way, you can iron out all the wrinkles before you stand up to lead on Sunday morning. Just like you would practice singing a new song or guitar chords before you lead, Loops and MultiTracks should be treated the same. Be prepared.

3. Never let technology take charge of the worship service. Remember that its there to enhance and improve your music sound, but should never dictate or take away from your primary leadership responsibility. It’s a tool to help you, not rule you.

 

About the Author:
Matt McCoy is a worship leader and songwriter from Chicago, IL. He is also a founder of LoopCommunity.com

In Ableton Live, Clicks + Vocal Cues, Leading Worship, Loop Rigs, Multi-Tracks, Software, Triggering Loops, Tutorials , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Session View vs. Arrangement View

Matt McCoy —  June 4, 2012

The big debate for using Loops and MultiTracks in worship – Session View or Arrangement View?

I hear this question a lot – in the forums, at conferences, in training sessions, twitter, blogs, grandma’s house, blah blah blah. It’s actually a really good question, and one that really confuses people who are just starting with using loops in worship and are Ableton live newbies. I’ll start off by saying that there are a lot of different opinions on this subject, as well as many pros and cons to using each view for the live worship setting. You can accomplish a lot with either view, which speaks a lot about the power and usefulness that Ableton Live brings to stage and studio performance. Both views are amazing and useful in what they are designed to do, but in this post we’ll look at using them in worship leading. First, let’s look at an overview of what these views are – then I’ll give my 2 cents. :)

OVERVIEW OF BOTH VIEWS

An Ableton Live Set consists of two views (Session and Arrangement View) which hold clips. Clips are the building blocks of Ableton Live. Arrangement View and Session View are connected to each other via Tracks. Here is how Ableton’s user manual describes each view:

ARRANGEMENT VIEW
A layout of clips along a musical timeline. The tracks are laid out horizontally from top to bottom.

SESSION VIEW
A real-time-oriented “launching base” for clips. Tracks are laid our vertically, from left to right. Every Session clip has its own play button that allows launching the clip at any time and in any order. Each clip’s behavior upon launch can be precisely specified through a number of settings.

I created a chart looking at the two views for use in worship leading:

SESSION VIEW

ARRANGEMENT VIEW
PROS
  • Great for improvisation and making music on the fly. Flexible.
  • Easily assign tempo and time signature automation between songs.
  • Create a song database, and just re-assign MIDI to scenes. No need to re-add locators every week.
  • Use scenes to launch different sections of the song on the fly
  • Create scene follow actions and automations
  • Launch individual clips, effects, and sections of the song spontaneously, in time.
  • Re-arrange setlist / scenes with 1 click.
  • Visual representation of timeline
  • Great for editing audio
  • Add Locators to song sections
  • Arrange songs to flow together
  • Video Playback Capabilities
CONS
  • A little trickier to edit audio
  • No video playback (at least yet)
  • Less visual representation of timeline
  • Won’t make a cup of coffee. (yet)
  • Not flexible.
  • Long arrangements in timeline (horizontal tracks for entire worship set)
  • Re-create set and locators every week (redoing work)
  • To keep audio locked to grid, you have to insert tempo automation
  • Time signature and tempo changes must be inserted manually across timeline
  • Not as easy to work with audio and clips on the fly

 

After making this chart, I realize even more so how great each view is and how they each serve a different purpose. Ableton is a great platform for creating music, and they made each view to help in that process. You can do so much in either view… And what’s better is that you can use these views together. For example, if you make loops in session view and come up with something really creative, you can record your song arrangement and flow into Arrangement view by hitting the Global Record button. As you play, everything you do (your performance) in Session View will be logged (recorded) into Arrangement View for further editing. I like to look at Arrangement View as the view where you “commit” to an arrangement of a song, edit the song structure and actually do a lot of audio editing for later playback. I like to look at Session View as the view where you create music live, play music live and record . In other words, use Session view to playback live what you previously committed to in Arrangement view.

WHAT I THINK IS BEST

What do I think is best for running loops in worship? Session View. Hands down.

Here are a few major reasons.

  1. I don’t have to create my set every single week. In Session view, I have one Master Song Set. I load all of my worship loops into this set, 1 song per scene (or 1 song section per scene). Then all I do each weekend is re-assign my foot controller to launch what songs I’m playing that weekend. If I were to use Arrangement view, I would have to drag and drop each song I’m playing that weekend, Add Locators, Assign MIDI to those locators, add tempo and time signature automation… A LOT OF WORK that doesn’t need to be done more than once.
  2. Easily Launch Individual Loops, Beats and Shakers. In Session view, I can load all sorts of beats, percussion, electronic elements and even band cues that I’m able to launch with my foot controller on the fly. Can’t do that in Arrangement view.
  3. Fader and Mixer controls are much easier to adjust. Personal preference…the vertical mixer view in Session View is much easier to adjust mixer parameters.
  4. Easier to see your entire setlist. The horizontal view in Arrangement view makes it harder to see your entire worship set. In Session view, all of the scenes are stacked, which lets you see the different sections of the song and what audio clips are playing in those sections.
  5. Flexible. Flexible. Flexible. When on the go, last minute in rehearsal or live in worship – you’re able to rearrange the setlist, change tempos, change arrangement quickly and easily. More below.
My friend and fellow Ableton Certified Trainer, Scott Dugan described it very well on the Loop Community forums.

“The big advantage of Session view is it’s flexibility. When working in Arrangement view you are locked into a specific… arrangement. You are also pretty much locked into a pre determined set list as well. Let me explain with a few examples.I can create a set list with full backing tracks within session view in about 10 seconds. (Drag and drop from the browser.) If I want to later rearrange my set list it takes another 5 seconds. I can start a song with just click playing and wait for however long the teaching chorus or worship leader wants before launching the tracks. If I want to redo the chorus at the end of a song on the fly its only 1 button or trigger away. Creating tempo changes between songs also only takes 3 seconds instead of drawing in automation.

Both views can work… it’s just a matter of how much time you want to spend creating your sets and how flexible you want to be while playing.”

 

SO HOW DO I USE EACH VIEW?

  • I use Arrangement View when I’m home recording music, building loops and editing audio.
  • I use Session View when I’m on stage leading worship – launching loops, audio clips, and other effects spontaneously during worship.

 

Hope this helps as you’re deciding how to use each view. The Ableton Session products on Loop Community come in both Session View AND Arrangement view – why? Because we love you and know everyone uses Ableton differently – however, we strongly believe that Session View is the way to go. I want to hear your thoughts – comment below!

 

About the Author
Matt McCoy is a worship leader and songwriter from Chicago, IL. He has served on staff at Willow Creek Community Church and Harvest Bible Chapel, and is also a founder of LoopCommunity.com. He is an Ableton Certified Trainer and travels the country leading worship and teaching churches and musicians about using technology in worship. He has been using loops in worship for over 9 years. If you’re interested in training, contact Matt here.

In Ableton Live, Arrangements, Multi-Tracks , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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