"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 New Resolve - Pedaltrain Nano Mark 1 (AMT/Xotic/TC Mini Pedals)

How small can a pedalboard get? This was the challenge placed on my heart for a while, and I didn't have the chance to get down to actualize a fully functional pedalboard with my favorite tones at a fraction of the size. When I distilled my creative requirements for tone, I realized I essentially needed:

• A wah pedal
• A compressor
• A boost
• An overdrive
• A volume pedal
• A delay

Were there six such pedals in a miniaturized form factor? Yes! Hence, it was a matter of time (in acquiring the necessary funds) before I could put all of the essential components together to form the tiniest pedalboard I have ever assembled:

From right to left, the signal chain is as follows:

AMT Japanese Girl WH-1

Xotic SP Compressor

Xotic EP Booster

Xotic SL Drive

AMT Little Loud Mouth LLM-2

TC Electronic Flashback Mini Delay

And here's a short video on how I set up the overdrive section with the Xotic Trinity:

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Viewing iCloud Calendar Events in Google Calendar

I wrote a short how-to for ministry members to view iCloud calendar events on their Google calendar spaces because some people just don't have iCloud access (being Android phone users). This is a short post, but I hope it helps you out as much as it helped me!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ucwY4RHrkpr6GU1JIS-yxZBDilq1D7-0cssAjGEPey0/edit?usp=sharing

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A Small But Functional Board With Xotic and TC Electronic Pedals

The last house gig and memoirs of playing at Blu Jazz showed me that giant pedalboards are not the way when all you need is a basic overdrive and delay sound. I thus began my search for a combination of micro-sized pedals that would require minimal setup/tear-down and maximum tone.

I initially toyed with the idea of using my improvised plastic case pedalboard, put together by repurposing a piece of foam (that came with a laptop case), cutting it down to size and slapping on some fuzzy-side Velcro. I quickly realized there were too many of the small pedals for practical use--so I have set it aside as a backup nano-board for the acoustic or the bass.

I then realized I really wanted full-sized wah and volume pedals, and I use them pretty frequently in my playing. Hence, I decided to mix-and-match my current pedals, partially upsetting the initial creative vision I had for a fully-nano sized board. Two more revisions led to this board:

This is a Pedaltrain Junior board outfitted with the following signal chain:

Xotic SP Comp

Budda Bud-wah

Xotic EP Booster

Xotic SL Drive

Cmatmods Signa Drive

Ernie Ball VP Jr

TC Electronic Flashback Mini

TC Electronic Polytune Mini (to mute the signal when I change TonePrints with my phone)

Earthquaker Devices Dispatch Master

TC Electronic Ditto Looper

Palmer PDI-09

All pedals are powered by a Diago Powerstation, and I repurposed a Fisherman's Friend tin as a pick/ear buds tin. I'll definitely be bringing this on a field test at the next service, and I'm excited to hear what happens!

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Tech Talk: How to Disable Default Driver Search on Windows Update (Windows 7)

By default, Windows 7 will search for drivers on Windows Update first before searching any pre-configured drivers on your system. This becomes painfully slow at times, and it's especially frustrating if all you're doing is changing which USB port you'd like to plug your mouse in. Fortunately, there is a way to change the order in which Windows 7 attempts to find drivers:

1. Search for "advanced system settings" and select "hardware".

2. In the "hardware" sub-menu, select "device installation settings".



3. Select "no, let me choose what to do" and select "install driver software from Windows Update if it is not found on my computer".

This will ensure that Windows will search Windows Update last, and trust me, it's a lot faster to get things done!

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Gear Review and Tone Tips: Strymon El Capistan

Meet the Strymon El Capistan. I haven't come across a better sounding tape echo machine in a very long time. Its controls are simple and intuitive, it has an impressive sound-on-sound looper, and in my opinion, is completely worth the hefty price tag it commands.

I've had the good fortune of hearing a vintage Echoplex EP-1 (informed readers would know that the EP-1 wasn't actually designated until the later models came out), a really old, beat-up unit from the '60s, and it was tube-driven delay heaven. I remember just being in the room, immersed in this sonically-pleasant wash that had a warm decay, and wishing I could have had grandparents who played guitar too.

Fast-forward a great many years and a friend loaned me an El Capistan. Playing around with it transported me back to that room with the Echoplex!

Settings from the Owner's Manual

User Settings from TGP #1

User Settings from TGP #2

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Rig Rundown (September 2014) - Back to a PT-Pro Board

Build report for PT-Pro rig designation Mark 1:

The weight is definitely an issue for me, but I guess I'll finally have a use for a trolley that came with my printer purchase. I've integrated the TimeLine and a BigSky with the Disaster Area DMC-3XL, having updated the firmware to support two MIDI devices.

Signal chain:

TC Electronic PolyTune Mini
Visual Sound Comp66
Visual Sound TrueTone Clean Boost
Budda Bud-wah

Boss Line Selector LS-2
Loop 2: Empty (so that I can control the volume of the clean signal)
Loop 1:
-Morningstar rehoused Xotic BB Preamp and Paul Cochrane Timmy v1

-JHS Superbolt

-Tech 21 SansAmp GT2 (in case I need distortion)

-Xotic EP booster v2

Out to Ernie Ball Volume Pedal Junior

Morningstar SDD-3000 preamp (as master volume for the rig)

ISP Decimator

Morningstar rehoused Boss DD-7 and PS-6

TC Electronic Nova Modulator

Strymon TimeLine (with Boss BF-3 Flanger in effects loop)

Strymon BigSky

Carl Martin Rockbug amp simulator

The Strymon pedals are controlled by a Disaster Area DMC-3XL

Matthews Effects 3-out tap tempo pedal to control TimeLine and DD-7

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Rant: How To Make a Great Night of Music a Complete Turn-off

I played at Blujaz cafe for an adhoc band put together to support Ivni, a blind drummer (Yes! Blind! He has trumped all other drummers I know) who's a drum student at Ben Lee's drum school.

It was meant to be a great night of music, where students showcase what they've learnt in school. Our band was meant to take stage at 8.45pm--as of writing, there's a band that's been playing since and it's now 9.21pm. I'm not one to complain, but I really felt cheesed off by these young punks. They misunderstood the intention of the gig and made the show about them. Seriously? A night dedicated to music students, giving them the opportunity to experience a live gig, and you pull off this stunt?

"Hi, we're _________ and we're here to play some music for you tonight. Thanks for coming down to support us!"

No. We're not here to support you. If you had any integrity, you would have said something more along the lines of:

"Hi, we're _______ and our drummer ________ is actually learning drums from the school, we're here to support her. Let's encourage ________ !"

I believe the appropriate Singlish term for what I witnessed with this band is buay pai sei. How shameless can a band of young punks get? Let's see:

1. You certainly took your time setting up. Oh yeah, I was counting. You didn't need to bring your three electric guitars, massive pedalboards, your MIDI-controlled keyboard and sound module. Could you not have simplified the setup for this gig, especially since there were many students waiting their turn to perform? Can't you tweak the existing setup that's there?
2. You were all fancy-smancy with working the crowd. I get it that you're a young band. I get it that gigging at legit places is hard to come by. But you didn't have to do the long introductions, regale us with the story of how your band met, and give special thanks to your parents/girlfriends/significant others/cats/dogs/hamsters for inspiring you.
3. And when you finished your jaw-dropping performance (again, I don't normally bash bands or other musicians, but you guys were not as fancy as you made yourselves out to be), you took your time tearing down your equipment. Hurry up!

By the time we took the stage, it was nearly 9.40pm. This band played something like 5 long songs complete with dual-guitar solos and keyboard solos.

Wah lau. Sibei puay sai lei you all! Come back when you're old enough to see that performing isn't all about you all the time.

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Distortion vs. Overdrive: A Renewed Discovery

Fads. They're everywhere. They're a temporary fascination with something until the novelty wears off, only to be replaced by another. And the funny thing about fads is that they come in cycles. In the guitar world, I have seen quite a few fads: the rack-race, where it seemed fashionable to build the largest, bulkiest rack system, the Swiss army knives of multi-effects, where everyone wanted everything in as small a package as possible, and perhaps notably now, the era of trying to get the guitar to sound like a keyboard with the use of delay and reverb (a company starting with "S" should immediately come to mind).

It's also fashionable to own boutique overdrives--the more obscure the name, the better. The wierder the tone, the better too. If you're into the worship scene, the Instagramverse is chock full of worship leaders, worship pastors and electric guitarists owning boards boasting 4 to 5 overdrive pedals, each one not being very heavy, but I suppose the idea is that when stacked, they'll be able to achieve a chunky, beefy tone for distorted tones. But does it adequately substitute for an actual distortion pedal? Will one distortion pedal sound better than four overdrive pedals?

I think there is a time and a place for distortion in a worship song. Consider the following video where I try to let you hear the audible difference between distortion and overdrive pedals: the mid-hump which can be fatiguing to the ear.

This is not to say that the stacked overdrive sound is unusable. I think there is a way to shape the sound of stacked overdrives such that it can be used pleasantly, and there general guidelines to ensure that your listener isn't bombarded with a wall of shrill noise:

1. Lower gain into higher gain
The first pedal takes on the characteristics of an amp on mild breakup, and the second pedal acts like an overdrive into a mildly broken-up amp. The resultant tone is thick and liquid-like, and can be a great way to empower single-coil pickups.

2. Higher gain into lower gain
The second pedal acts as a booster for the first. In this situation, the EQ controls will have a great effect on the overall sound. My experience is that the treble control will determine the overall "seariness" of the tone. Treble boosts will help you obtain a UK-like tone reminiscent of the JCM sound, while treble cuts will obtain a US-like tone, with the top-end roll-off like a Fender Twin.

3. High gain into high gain?
I'd say this is generally something to avoid. The tone becomes buzzy, you lose note definition, you'll end up with lots of noise...unless a noise-scape is something desirable for your type of music. The JHS Synth Drive is an example of a pedal that I'd generally avoid because it's uncontrollably noisy, where you'll never know when it starts to feedback or oscillate!

In short, overdrive and distortion are two different sounds which can be used to great effect depending on the musical context. Let the music and the song determine the tone you take, and not the other way around--you'll find the end result far more satisfying!

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Budget/Expensive Volume Pedals

For the longest time, I was using a small plastic Boss FV-50H as my mainstay volume pedal. It was a no-frills volume pedal, with an even taper and the ability to choose a minimum volume (from 0 to 10, although why would anyone choose a minimum volume of 10 is beyond me, unless the pedal contributes to a desirable change in tone). It served its purpose very well, but I have had issues with it when used for extensive periods of time--every now and then, there would be a scratchy sound emanating from the pedal, which was indicative of a scratchy pot. It was also, well, plastic. There were shows where I'd land my foot pretty hard on the volume pedal because I was busy working the stage, and I forgot that I had to lower my volume for a quiet bridge.

Enter the Ernie Ball Volume Pedal Junior. This guy is built like a tank! You can see this volume pedal on most pedalboards on Instagram, and I think it's a very good investment. I would hear stories of fellow FV-50H users having their pedals break mid-gig, but such stories weren't circulating from EBVPJ users. But alas, like all Singaporeans, I couldn't justify spending so much on a volume pedal. I spent a long time prowling the forums waiting for someone to post a good deal.

The good deal came! In the words of Nigel Hendroff, "I can't tell you how much I got it for, 'cause you will hate me."

I felt the immediate difference when using this volume pedal. The pedal had a weightiness to it that helped make volume swells smoother and more even than with the FV-50H. I tested it out and pounced on it while on the pedalboard: it held up well. My only qualm with this is that it's significantly larger than the FV-50H. Was cutting back on one or two pedals for the sake of having a better volume pedal worth it? After experiencing the two, I'd say yes.

I think there are three primary uses for a volume pedal, which can help you determine your need for one:

1. Volume swells

It appears the trend for worship musicians is to deploy electric guitarists for "keyboard" sounds--most significantly, performing the volume swell to simulate a pad. This is achieved with the following setup:

Amp <-- Heavy Reverb <-- Heavy Delay <-- Volume <-- Light overdrive and comp

Notice the delay and reverb come after the volume pedal. This ensures that everything coming out of the volume pedal is effected by the delay and reverb pedals. By cranking the effect and feedback levels of the delay and reverb, you'll get very long trails of notes that bleed into one another, creating the "wash" of sound that will resemble a keyboard pad.

2. Changing the level of distortion by changing level of input signal

Some guitars don't come equipped with very good volume knob audio tapers, so to achieve a variation between a rhythm crunch tone and a lead tone, one way is to put a volume pedal in front of the distortion pedal, or in front of a distorted amp. This setup is as follows:

Amp <-- Other effects <-- Distortion <-- Volume

Or in the case of a distorted amp,

Amp input <-- Volume <-- Guitar

3. Master volume

For me, this is my personal favorite use of the volume pedal. The EBVPJR may have a bad reputation of having tone suck at lower volume levels, but I think it's inconsequential. I like to set my overdrives at a certain gain structure, and I don't want the amp to color the overdrive with its own distortion character. This may happen if I'm hitting the front of a low-wattage amp, so I'll roll back the volume pedal until the amp doesn't clip. The setup is as follows:

Amp <--(Other effects) <-- Volume <-- Overdrive

What is your favorite use of a volume pedal? Do you think the material of a volume pedal matters? Do you think the size of the volume pedal matters?

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