Can a Strandberg Boden Standard 6 P&W?

The Strandberg Boden is an amazing guitar. I haven't come across anything else quite like it: carefully thought-out ergonomics, very nicely balanced weight and feel, and the sounds to make the guitar sing.

Check out my video review of it!

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Can an Ernie Ball Music Man JP6 Play P&W?

My wife got me an Ernie Ball Music Man JP6 with the DiMarzio Liquifire and Crunchlab pickups, and I'm in love with it! In this video, I answer the question if a guitar that's so geared towards metal can play praise & worship.

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FREE Line 6 Helix Patches for Praise & Worship!

Even though I've spent the last year with the Line 6 Helix, and more recently the HX Stomp, I've always felt that my ears were bad and my tweaking abilities were mediocre. Recent feedback from fellow Helix musicians have been encouraging, so I'm taking the leap of faith to release patches for your download and usage!

Get my patches for absolutely free!

I'll continually be updating the page with uploads as and when I come up with something that I feel will be absolutely useful.

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Wonder (Hillsong United) - Guitar Playthru and Tutorial

I needed this recording, not in the sense of a monetary make-or-break for my channel, but I was feeling incredibly down this week. It's like there's been a dark cloud hanging over me, and it hasn't lifted. Everything was getting to me, and I didn't know how to change the way I felt about everything. I felt under-appreciated by everyone. And every memory of being taken for granted, of being abandoned, of being cast aside for the better ones--they all came crashing down on me.

I felt stifled, I felt choked. So I did the only thing I could, throwing my self into worship, hoping for anything, just anything from God, one word, one fragment of an encouragement from the one who made me to worship Him. And that search in prayer led me to the latest Hillsong United tune that Alphonsus introduced to me earlier--Wonder.

I did this in record time--listen to the parts, figure out an arrangement for solo guitar, dial in the correct tones, set up the camera, the recording interface, and hit record. I didn't care about the mistakes, I just went with the flow, letting myself get "lost in the wonder" (that's a terrifying thing for a seminary student to say). But alas, I'm tired of seriousness, tired of trying to be perfect. It's time to recapture the wonder.

Enjoy.

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Lion and the Lamb (Bethel) - Guitar Playthru and Tutorial

This isn't another lead guitar cover. Here's a suggested lead and rhythm guitar arrangement for Bethel's "Lion and the Lamb", which I've come up with catering to the following scenarios:

1. Your band doesn't have a keyboardist but you need to recreate the synth pulse.
2. Your band doesn't have the expensive Strymon stuff to pull off the big, spacey-sounding lead tones.

With two electrics, you'll be able to cover enough tonal ground, and with the right arrangement, they'll complement each other to form a big sound.

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Ministry Musings: Adapting Your Tone for a School Hall Environment

I was asked to serve at this year's youth camp, which led to the building of this Pedaltrain Junior board to ensure maximum compatibility with any sound system I was going to plug into. I gladly took it up considering my dosage of vitamin M (for music) has been quite low for the year. I know, what with my worship leading commitments, I should have a healthy dosage of vitamin M since I serve twice a month at Contemporary Service.

It's different. As a musician, I get to focus on my guitar parts, the tone from the effects, and the expression of emotion as I play. My task as a worship leader forces me to push all that musical awareness to the back. I have to worry about how the songs gel with the rest of the service, liturgically and musically. I have to make sure I'm directing the band to play in a certain way, that my vocals aren't distracting (as I'm not much of a singer), and that the scripture I read and prayers I lead point the congregation in a particular direction.

That aside, this post is primarily about adapting to various sound environments. Specifically, let's address the issue of serving in a school hall.

I served with Jeremy and his worship team for their first morning session, and I was immediately greeted with a technical problem: the sound system made everything sound muffled, especially when amplified through a school hall. A school hall, with tall ceilings, sonorous floors and glass doors, will have some crazy long reverberation that will colour your guitar tone. The goal is to make everything crips, clear, and clean, allowing the hall environment to accentuate your tone, rather than muffle it.

I did a few things on the board to try and be as clear and articulate as possible:

1. Cut out all short reverb effects, including long background delays. I usually have a mild reverb coupled with a long delay with a low mix to cushion my tone in the background. In our usual worship space, which is a cinema hall, instruments tend to sound too dry (think of a studio environment).
2. Tweak the EQ on pedals to cut out the low end and boost the mids. I did this on my "pre-drive" pedal, a CMATmods Signa Drive, and the tone controls on the Hotone Komp compressor, which has a sparkle switch and a tone knob.
3. Use digital delays instead of analog-style delays. I have a DD-7 which has a crispy clean digital mode, a much more desirable sound over the rest of my analog delays on the board (a Strymon Brigadier, and an Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master). The natural reverb of the hall will colour the repeats of my digital delay anyway.

In the end, I was only using at most 5 of the 15 pedals on my board, but that is precisely the point--I designed the board to have maximum compatibility with any sound situation I was placed in. If I only had 5 pedals, I'd have to make do with the tone that I have, and won't have any leeway to tweak.

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An Overview of My YouTube Channel

If you're wondering what kind of content I produce on my channel, they're mostly lessons and play-throughs of songs. Feel free to browse my channel after looking through these playlists, and don't forget to like and subscribe!

The Electric Guitar



Covers and Tutorials



Snippets and Musical Escapades

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"What The Heck" and Spontaneity in Worship

I had a moment with the Holy Spirit, which prompted me to segue into a song I hadn't planned in my setlist. I could feel everyone hop onboard that moment, and there we were, singing our hearts out, some praying in tongues, others, like me, singing from the depths of my tiredness, sorrow and pain a new song of praise and worship.

And when the moment passed and it was time for me to hand over the time, I got that look from one of the authoritarian Megalomaniacs in our midst: "What the heck are you doing?" (I've heard him use harsher terms on me before.)

Let me share from my heart (a rarity for me, but something I am embracing if I am to be authentic).

If authentic worship means being open to how the Spirit moves, and being ready to pour my heart out like an offering unto God, I don't see why I am being judged for obeying the Spirit. I hear Jesus calling me out to be raw and real. I hear the Spirit singing alongside my offering of worship. I sense the Father's smile as He looks on His worshipful children.

Sure, it wasn't planned. That's precisely why it's authentic. You won't hear my heart's cry when I'm rehearsed. But you see, that's the way God has wired me. I am made to worship in a certain style, in a certain setting. There is as much validity in spontaneous, raw worship as in traditional, quiet liturgy--all are expressions of worship God longs for us to engage in to meet with Him!

I challenge every worship leader to be conscious of how God has made you to lead. Are you in the traditional stream? Then craft corporate prayers to the glory of He who hears our every cry. Are you in the contemporary stream? Then let your worship flow with the fullness of the Spirit, letting your songs and dance and thoughts bring everyone towards the jubilant expression that God takes delight in.

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A Wake, A Concert, A Dreamer

I conducted a wake service on Sunday evening and helped out at a funeral on the Hari Raya public holiday. It was such a humbling experience and I am truly honored to be granted the opportunity to minister to the bereaved and grieving.

But to be honest, there was much fear and trembling when I was given this responsibility. I had never conducted a wake before (and by that I mean leading the service in worship, preaching, and giving the instructions to pay respects), so of course, some measure of nervousness was to be expected.

Perhaps the moment of greatest anxiety came when I happened upon some Facebook updates of a worship concert that was taking place on Saturday night while I was preparing the sermon, and my friends were serving there. "They have it easy, I wish I was worshipping on the guitar."

God was quick to give His clear instruction, "I've given this to you to do. This is your ministry."

So I prayed continually for strength and courage, and boy, did the Holy Spirit supply in abundance. I felt the familiar sense of empowerment that was not of my own. And as the moments passed, I ended up enjoying the process of preparation. I loved crafting the sermon, digesting the wonderful words of Psalm 23 and listening to the Spirit. I was worshipping with the songs I had chosen for the time of worship. As much as I was to be a minister to people, I was being ministered to.

So the moment came when I had to conduct the service. I still felt nervous, but there was a strength and assurance that was unmistakably from God. Did I do a perfect job? Nope; I slipped up on a few words of my script, my personal ad-lib was far from eloquent, and as always, I sometimes let my mind race too fast for my words to catch up.

But there was a connection I had with God and with the "congregation" of people gathered at the wake. I can't describe it very well, but it felt like my actions and my words were a pair of spectacles to help people see God for who He is, our provider of comfort, strength and hope when it hurts the most. The emotional response as a result of understanding those words choked me to tears; I felt grieved at the loss, but I had a joy that our dear brother in the Lord is secure, and we shall be reunited when Christ comes again.

I may feel inadequate in many things and at many times. But I'm discovering and experiencing first-hand that it is precisely those moments that God chooses to empower me, so that I may not boast. Indeed, in my weakness is His strength complete.

Psalm 23:6

Surely your goodness and love will follow me
          all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
          forever.

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Blog Updates!

I have a blog, a YouTube channel, a Tumblr account, a Twitter account, and it seems like it's in vogue to have an online "blogshop" style website to promote your wares. While I'd like to think I'm not so mainstream as to follow the whims and fancies of the internet, Weebly is a very nice website builder to use!

I have a Weebly website now, at justinchanbp.weebly.com. It's my new site to consolidate my new videos, new tweets, new blog posts, and make it easier for you to contact me!

I've progressively changed all my forum signatures to the Weebly--if you have noticed any dead links, please let me know. :)

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Misunderstood/Misheard Worship Lyrics

(Will be continually updated as time goes on)

Puns 

How do you know that...

...God loves Japanese food?
Ans: "Oh, how He loves me so (miso)"
Song: How He Loves

...God loves aunties?
Ans: "Oh, how He loves us so (ah soh)"
Song: How He Loves

..God is good at soccer?
Ans: "You're the defender of the week, You comfort those in need"
Song: Everlasting God

...Jesus loves carbohydrates?
Ans: Because "Yes, Jesus loves me (mee)"
Song: Jesus Loves Me

Misheard Lyrics

From "Take It All" by Hillsong,
Running to the one who heals the blind
Following the shining light
In Your hands, the power to save the world
My life

India must possess either superheroes or sufficient military power, because...

Misheard:

Running to the one who heals the blind
Following the shining light
India has the power to save the world, my life


"Glady the cross I'd bear" is identically and unavoidably: "Gladly the cross-eyed bear"


Misheard Lyrics with Food References

From "Everlasting God" by Brenton Brown,
Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord

As a visual aid to this song, we can have a wok on stage to cook rice and eggs, because...

Misheard:
Scramble rice as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord

From "Alone in the Garden"
And He walks with me, and He talks to me, and He calls me as His own

No one knows God's first name, but I contend that it must be Andy because...

Misheard:
Andy walks with me, Andy talks to me, Andy calls me as His own

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The Sweet Presence

I recently played for New Heart's concert in Singapore Life Church. Dr. Yenn, Dr. Ephraim, Derrick, Tai-chi, Dickson, Ngee Ping, Joshua, Kim and Judy are such amazing people to play with. I have certainly improved my sight reading by leaps and bounds since the first day I played with them, and I am indebted to Yenn for taking me in even though I was terrible at reading scores!

My personal highlight of the concert was during a song I didn't have parts to play, so I was seated and soaking in the incredible atmosphere of worship. The song was "Chen Zhang" (trans. Maturity), in which the pre-chorus has the lyrics (and I'm trying to translate to the best of my ability),

"Maybe trials are blessings in disguise,

Without which we wouldn't have the chance to mature."

Then it happened. An indescribably huge and invisible presence seemed to permeate through the walls of the concert hall and filled up the space above me. It seemed infinitely large, and what I was compared to this Being was like a drop of water facing the entirety of the ocean.

As large as this Being was, there was no fear, just a warmth swelling up from inside my heart. I knew who this Being was. It was God. It could only be God. He has appeared to me before, in the privacy of my room, in the crowded space of an MRT train, at the communion rails in church, and now, in this concert hall.

I felt God enveloping me. And every question I had inside, questions about what was I to do with life and what was I to accomplish in His name, how was He going to provide for Christine and I, how was I going to deal with the constant opposition to ministry--they drowned in this ocean of warmth and love that wrapped me. I could have hugged God right there. I wanted to burst into song and dance, I wanted to lie prostrate before Him in worship.

God was there. And I, a child, a son, a subject of the King, a servant, could not but worship Him with all of my heart in that concert hall. I felt like I had come home. I felt a sense of completion, like every fibre of my being had finally been rid of the vile proclivities to sin, and my spirit was free to be myself--I didn't have to pretend to be this "strong male leader" type, I didn't have to carry the labels of "ministry staff" or "intern" or "crazy guy who gave up a secular job". I didn't need a thousand reasons to justify every action and decision. I just was.

I couldn't see a physical form, but I felt God's smile. I couldn't hear any audible voice, but my spirit was resonating with a phrase that was planted in my heart, "You're right where I want you to be."

21 July 2013

The day God met me.


And of course, I couldn't help but take a gear photo for the night:

After all these years, I still can rely on Line 6 gear to last the night. This is in stark contrast to what happened in JB at Full Gospel Church, where we played the week after:

Do you notice how my volume pedal is going straight into the amp, bypassing my Timeline? That's because the 9V adapter that came with my Timeline died during rehearsal, and I had to play the concert without a delay pedal. Note to self: bring extra 9V adapter just in case.

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Consumed by Your Hobby

Last week, my M-Audio Fast Track Pro audio interface died on me. It can’t be revived, and the technician I called quoted a repair price that was higher than what I bought it for. I thought I would have flipped out—this device has been a part of my musical life for quite a while. But strangely enough, I only experienced a little sadness, nothing beyond that. There’s a certain level of peace that God gave me, and I was content to trust in God’s timing for a new interface. 

Do you know of people who get distressed when an object of their hobby gets spoilt? I know a few (tennis players and their rackets/audiophiles and their speakers/grease monkeys and their cars). They become possessed! They can’t find rest until their hobby is restored to its original state. They lose sleep over sourcing for parts. They get stressed at having to choose between several vendors offering different quotes. 

While it’s not wrong to feel stressed or annoyed when things get spoilt, I think there is a line beyond which our hobby becomes more than just a pursuit outside our regular occupation. Paul wrote this, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17). He also wrote, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The true barometer for our hobbies should be whether or not they glorify God, whether or not we see them as gifts from God for which we are thankful, and whether or not they draw our attention away from Him. 

Even the most innocent hobbies that consume us are encumbrances that we must lay aside because they slow us down in our race which is the Christian life (Hebrews 12:1). A good test is this. How important is this hobby to me? Is the Lord alone enough? If it were stripped away from me, would I still be content in Him? So, if something gets spoilt, by all means, get it fixed! But don’t let your possession possess you. The Lord is truly and verily enough for you.

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Bump!

In Col 2:7, Paul exhorts the Colossians to be “overflowing with thankfulness”, which to my mind evokes the image of carrying a full cup of water and walking about. If someone were to bump into me, I would be spilling over the water from the cup. I believe this was the imagery that Paul was using, that when a Christian is bumped into, thankfulness is what overflows. Jesus taught in Luke 6:45:

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

What comes out of you when you get bumped into? Is it marked with anger, jealousy, bitterness and strife? Or can you cast that aside and labor to instead be reminded of God’s goodness, His love that has saved you? Thankfulness is not an automatic or reflex response. It is much easier to be spiteful, hateful and thankless, like a stone rolling downhill. But thankfulness needs effort and labor, like rolling a stone uphill. Let us be continually reminded (and to remind our young ones also) of the love God has for us, for in His love, our hearts cannot but respond with gratitude.

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The Responsibility of Followers (1Cor4:6-14)

What do you do when your young ones in the faith have severe disciplinary problems? Look to Christ.

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Going Acoustic in a Church Setting

Being an acoustic guitarist for church can be challenging. I had the privilege of playing for Pastor Anthony for the recent LCEC Planning Retreat, and it was the first time in a long while picking up the acoustic for official duty as a guitarist. Nothing too difficult: 8 songs, all mostly of the same contemporary genre.

However, I realized that some of these songs had huge band arrangements: guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, synthesizers and horns, for the worst case of the lot. I had to somehow play the acoustic in such a way to fill up the whole musical pie chart (in Paul Baloche's words, when you're the only musician, you're the pie).

Now, as an acoustic guitarist, you're never really replacing the other instruments in the band--you're "tricking" the audience into hearing something that reminds them of other instruments, but not actually emitting the sounds of the other instruments. Here's a breakdown of the mental process:

1. The first step I take to making an acoustic arrangement of a big band song is to visualize what the drum kit is playing. The drum groove gives a big clue as to how to construct your strumming pattern. For example, an accented muted-down-stroke could mimic the intensity of a kick and an accented punch with a full chord could mimic the snare.
2. I then try to visualize the bass line for the song. This will help create moving lines between chords, filling up the melodic space in the lower-end. For example, a chord chart may show a repetition of ||F - - - | G - - - | F - - - | G - - - ||, but once you think like a bass player and add a walk-up, i.e. ||F - - - | G - - - | F/A - - - | G/B - - - ||, you add a whole dimension of colour to the progression. A quick cheat method is to look out for the slash chords in a full-band chord sheet, or the piano chord sheet.
3. I'll then try to hear and incorporate the melodic hooks of the song into the "safe" places: intros, end of choruses, first bridge. This breaks the song out of chord-only-monotony. "From the Inside Out" by Hillsong is a good example (see my video tutorial of the intro played fingerstyle below). It has a terrific hook and shouldn't be left out when playing this acoustically.
4. If I have the time, I'll try to figure out if I can play any fill-ins at the turn-arounds of the song. In our modern musical context, this usually happens between verses, or from intro to verse, and sometimes even between a verse. Acoustically, this can be in the form of hammering-on/pulling-off chord tones, or a quick scale run (like Tommy Emmanuel).

I hope this gives you useful ideas on how to incorporate "tougher" songs into smaller settings like cell group meetings.

For viewing:

My "From The Inside Out" acoustic riff video tutorial

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Analog, Digital...Does It Matter?

I've been playing worship sessions at a nice cosy church every last Friday of the month for a couple of months now. Hosted by Shalom Baptist Chapel, JAR @ the Well (acronym for Jam and Refresh) intends to deliberately bring worshippers from out of the hustle and bustle of city life and simply enjoy God through worship and music, and it achieves this aim very well because of its location: it's near Tengah Airbase!

The acoustics are amazing; there's a high, tapered ceiling, and the floor's nicely carpeted, which produce nice reflections with not too much pre-delay (carpets absorb sound). Whenever I step into this church, I feel inclined to be silent, to be meditative, and to be wary of my speech because of how small I feel.

My rig for the night was an experimental one: full pedalboard (the one I have mounted on a PT-3) into a Line 6 Spider III. It's a 30W amp with a 12" speaker, which is my preferred wattage and speaker size. I ran it pristine clean with no EQ and no drive to experiment with the concept of relying purely on the pedalboard for tone.

So the night went on, with powerful worship, amazing moments of pure adoration through the music, and all the while, just genuinely having a good time with the rest of the band.

The worship leader came up to me after and asked how much my amp was, expecting it to belong to the "expensive" category. "I love your amp" were her specific words. I guess she wasn't expecting that I paid $150 for it, and that it was a solid state amp.

So, which component was responsible for good tone? The amp? The pedalboard? The fact that I used analog pedals? The more I contemplate about it, the more I think that from a listener's perspective, it doesn't really matter if I used digital or analog. Both types of gear are thus a means to an end: undistractedness in playing. Perhaps the mark of good gear is not just that it sounds good, but it doesn't distract you while you're using it; it becomes an extension of your creativity, and you don't need to fight it to get good tone out of it.

What mattered lay in the generic rather than the specific: did I keep good time with the band? Did I play wrong chords? Did I use the right scale over the right progression?

If you insist on getting a particular piece of gear, by all means, save up, buy it, use it, and don't be distracted by it. Let the gear do its job by helping you express what you want to play.

Photo credits go to the amazing Chang Ning.

Due thanks to the amazing Yi Xin, whose heart for God and worship inspires the rest of us in the band to give and play our best.

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Possible Band Names?

YFC's Performing Arts ministry band needs a name. I know my brainstorming sessions for band names don't really have a lot of scriptural backing to them (like attaching a verse directly to them), but I do keep them biblically sound. Here are my suggestions:

Return

This name came about after checking work emails for the umpteenth time, and thinking about a name which revolved around the idea of turning.

When you read your emails, the subject header is the most important part of the message. If you don't get any of what was said in the main body of the email, at least remember the subject header. Likewise, Christians have the most important message to share: the Gospel. If nobody understood the music that was played, or if no one remembered any song that the band dished out, may the listeners remember that the Gospel was shared.

The concept of turning needs no detailed explanation. Responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ involved a 180-degree turn (maybe the arrow should be halved instead of a full turn?) from my godless ways.

Afterthought:

This sounds like a Korean boy group. In fact, running a search on Google yielded a hit on an existing band with this name--some Norwegian power ballad rock band. I can't pronounce the band members' names.

This Way Up

I thought about this while contemplating ordering a guitar from the US, and hearing the horror stories of how guitars come chipped and knocked about because the distributor didn't package the guitar properly.

A box containing fragile items needs to be oriented in the right way, otherwise, as it moves through two points, you'll end up damaging its contents. We all try to move through life living our own way apart from God, but the truth is, Jesus really is the truth, the way, and the life. No one gets to the Father except through Jesus.

Afterthought:

There's a four-piece party cover band of the same name on Facebook. Sigh.

Some rejected ideas:

• Driftwood - Named after contemplating that a piece of dead, fallen wood in a river can only be picked up by a lumber, who will use it for nobler purposes like furniture or river dam construction. I thought it was cool, but it sounds like it belongs to a metal band.
• One Step Closer - Whether Christian or not, we're all taking one step closer to our eventual eternal destiny. Rejected due to a Linkin Park song of the same name.

What do you think makes a good Christian band name? Let's hear it!

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