Monday, November 28, 2016
Videos with multitrack audio
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Church
Find it here.
I loved making this loop. We're using this tune for a weekend where our entire church offering will be for church clothes for some recent Haitian friends through Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. In the Haitian culture, you cannot (repeat, cannot...) attend church unless you have church clothes (for guys, slacks, button-down shirt, nice shoes, etc.). It's a stigma that keeps many from experience the Gospel in Haiti. So in lieu of accepting our regular offering, we're asking all of our people to bring clothes to allow many Haitians to experience church regularly.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
UCC Worship Axioms #2
UCC Worship Axiom #2
It's not about you.
There are two angles on this, but let's deal with the obvious one first.
The focus of worship is simple. It is a time to attribute value ("worth-ship") to God. In this way, it's not about you. More importantly, it's not about me.
The book of Ephesians is typically viewed as an ecclesiastical letter. It's a note from Paul about what the church is and what is God's aim for the church. This speaks to our worship as well. The key verse is 1:10 where we learn that God's aim is to "bring all things in heaven and on earth under one head, even Christ."
Christ's work (and ours) is designed to bring us to God. All of our efforts, all of our toils, all of our lives are to be in the business of bringing ourselves and others to God. Our worship services must reflect that.
Now for the second angle. Because the focus is God, the focus will never be what we want. The services are not for us. They are designed to bring us (as Christians) and others to God. The "others" are important. They are more important than we are.
Our worship services are designed with two foci:
1) Bring Christians closer to God.
2) Illustrate/teach God to others so that we might bring them closer to God.
Monday, September 12, 2011
UCC Worship Axioms #1
UCC Worship Axiom #1:
God deserves our excellence.
With everything that we offer to God, we strive for it to be excellent. This is the core of worship and it is a priority that is as old as recorded history.
In Genesis 4:3-5 we read about an offering that Cain brings before God and an offering that his brother Abel brings before God. In the first instance, Cain brought "some" of the fruit of his labor. Abel on the other hand brought forth the "fat portions" of his labor.
There are many ways to interpret this. A clear difference in these offerings is that Abel offered his best. He gave that which represented his very finest work. Abel delivered to God that which was the most meaningful and bore the greatest value.
We are compelled to bring that which represents the best of our work--that which clearly shows the value of the offering. With everything we offer to God--art, music, poetry, time, effort, energy, money (and many others)--must carry a value that represents the best we have to offer. The sounds (all our offerings unto God) we make must be as sweet of a sound as the grace offered to us in return.
We will continue to toil so that we may offer to God the full excellence that he deserves.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sharyn
What Happened To Sharyn?
Let the long story short begin...
Once upon a time, well, on October 21 to be exact, I woke up with numb feet. I thought nothing of it and went to work. Throughout the day, the numbness progressed up my legs. That evening, Ben took me to the ER where, after a series of tests, I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Basically, my immune system attacked my nervous system. Google it if you want details. I was admitted to the hospital that night. The next morning, I was paralyzed from the neck down and on parts of my face. I stayed in bed like that for two weeks. Then I moved to In-Patient Rehab for over a month. I relearned how to eat, walk, etc. I can walk about 40 feet with my granny walker before needing my wheelchair. I look fairly awkward whenever I do things. But! I will have a full recovery!
Major Breakthrough
So, today marks my first day performing on my horn in public for the first time since Sunday, October 19, 2008. If you're reading this and don't know me very well, let me tell you how meaningful this morning was for me.
I've always been a musical person. When my sister was in sixth grade, she joined beginning band and started to play the French horn. I was in third grade then, and of course, I wanted to be just like my big sister. When we came home from school every day, I would ask her to teach me what she learned in band that day. I was destined to be a horn player. Needless to say, I chose the horn once I joined beginning band in the sixth grade. That's when my love of music really blossomed. Throughout middle school, junior high, and high school, I never realized that I was meant to have a career in music or teaching. I was definitely going to follow my dad's footsteps and join the Air Force. Once I started planning for K-State, I joined Air Force ROTC. That was my chosen career, however, I needed a major. I enjoyed teaching and music, and decided to put those two together for my major. In the beginning, I never truly intended to be a music educator. Throughout my first two years at K-State, music slowly started taking over my life, and music education started to really sound good to me! Obviously, the Air Force thing didn't work out, and I was able to completely immerse myself in music. Whoa, what a ride! When I was happy, I played my horn. When I was sad, I played my horn. When I was pissed off, I played my horn. Music has taken me to amazing places: New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Greece, England, Scotland, and all over the U.S. And more importantly, I've made the closest friends that I will probably ever have (you know who you are!). I love all of you guys. Once I was offered and accepted my first job at Junction City High School, I was excited to FINALLY do what I was trained to do. It was amazing. I have great mentors, made more friends, and was having the time of my life.
Then, on October 21, 2008, I lost almost everything. Now, I'm not going to get emotional and go through everything I experienced during my fifty-five days in two hospitals and one in-patient rehab center. But, man, it was difficult. I clearly remember one night when I made my peace with God and was ready to go to my permanent home. I was almost there. But when I woke up the next morning, I realized a lot of things. God made me wake up that day because I still had things to do on this earth. I still had students to teach, another dog to adopt from the animal shelter (sorry, Ben!), friends to make, and music to play.
Moving on to the events of this morning, I cannot stress enough how much I cherish my performance this morning. If you know me well enough, you know that I have a comment for everything. But, for this, I cannot find the words I need. But I guess that's where music comes in handy! I usually try to be humble with everything I do. But I cannot be humble about this. I am a damn fine horn player. And today was my day. By all means, it wasn't perfect, but Jesus didn't care (and He's all that truly matters!). To everyone that played with me at University Cristian Church this morning, thank you for being a part of this with me. Some of you may not realize what it means, but I assure you, it was a big deal. So, a big thank you to my husband Ben, and the other great musicians on stage with me: Karyn Schafer (had to put my big sister first!), Storm Davis, Michael Sturd, Jessa Myer, Gabe Reed, Alex Bency, Brian Walton, Tanner Bott, Eric Starnes, Brian Williams, Eric Grusenmeyer, and Peter Weinart. And, of course, I cannot leave out our tech guys, Kyle Reynolds, Donald Green, Jerry Hutchinson, and Greg Olney. It was an honor to finally make music with you guys.
And a another big thank you to Guillain-Barre Syndrome. You taught me not to take anything for granted. You took a lot away from me and forced me to fight hard to get them back. But, needless to say, I still hate you. You will lose this battle. I will not apologize for my language here, but I'm going to kick your ass.
Edit: want to hear her? Here's "Our God" from that morning:
Thursday, July 28, 2011
God Is Able
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Loop Community
Here's an update for you. I'm going to begin moving a lot of this content over to Loop Community for several reasons.
1) They are able to manage the legal issues with posting these loops.
2) They are able to deliver these loops in a wider spectrum than I can with just one blog.
3) They can help me to monetize them (which helps me continue to provide high-quality loops for a reasonable fee).
When I create new ones, you'll be able to access them here first, then over on Loop Community a little while later.
Thanks for following, and I hope to see you over at Loop Community sometime soon!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Like a Lion
RNS - Stereo
MP3 - Stereo
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
King of All Days
I have moved this content over to Loop Community. Check out why here.
If you are looking for this content, check out the following link!
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This is one of my favorite loops I've made yet. I really hope you get to enjoy it! It is set up in stereo, and I can't imagine it used any other way. So, here's the stereo MP3 to preview it, and the complete Reason file. The singing of verse 1 starts 8 measures after the beat. Also, the Reason version has more imaging than the MP3 mix-down can deal with, so it sounds more refined in its intended form!
King of All Days - Preview
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
How He Loves
If you're looking for the content, check it out here.
Hey, all...
We used this loop for How He Loves this last weekend... Hope you can use it. Watch our arrangement here:
How He Loves - preview
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Outloud EP - Josh Collesano
Ok, so, a friend of mine (whom I've met via internet, twitter, and a shared occupation) released an album titled Outloud, an EP of four original songs and hymn re-write. I was looking forward to its iTunes release, which happened today. Here's my review of his album:When reviewing Christian albums, especially those of worship leaders, I think theology is probably the most important aspect to review. Likely because I'm constantly thinking "Do the people I'm trying to reach need to hear this?" I can say without a doubt, that Josh's album qualifies in that respect. The people we're trying to reach need to hear his message. Lyrics that capture these thoughts include:
"Jesus, You're the answer to the world."
"We will stand to share Your hope with all the world, yeah, they will know that You are God."
"I was bound by all my sin when Your love came and set me free."
"You died in place of me."
"After all we've done, can we say we lived for You?"
"No name is like Your love."
"Come Arise" foreshadows what Josh and his band plan to do with the rest of the EP. Tasteful guitars with plenty of presence, good delay sounds with full rhythm underneath. A strong, yet tactful vocal with a solid message. I think that the music between chorus one and verse two is just a bit too long, although it's pulled off really well. Another big instrumental section connects the bridge to a dropout chorus. Again, this is a bit on long-ish side. This is followed by THE biggest drum fill I've heard in a worship album leading to the final chorus.
As a person who has grown up in Oklahoma, I appreciate the country roots Josh uses in "Come Thou Fount." Lyrically, he takes the first traditional verse, then expands upon it with an additional chorus section or tag. Familiar lyrics intertwine with new proclamations of Christ's victory.
"Holding On" speaks well. The guitar work is clean, gutty, and quite prominent ( - I'm not a guitarist, more a keys/piano guy). I think the guitar tone works really well underneath Josh's vocals. This is the strongest song on the album. "Can we say we lived for You" hit me really hard today. Great message and thoughts there.
I love the way "Outloud" (the title track) opens with synth elements. Creative guitar riffs and effects in the verses move the motion forward to Lifehouse-like chorus with full chords and a big vocal delivery. I think the vocal effects in the bridge are particularly effective in bringing the thoughts back to the chorus to end the song. It's a great message. I love the melody at the chorus, over the words "I want to scream Your name outloud." It's particularly striking.
The acoustic guitar sounds absolutely amazing in the opening of "A Sinners Choir." I personally, think this song could have been stronger. I felt just slightly unsatisfied at the end, as though there was going to be more. I do like it, though I felt just on the side of uneasy. I will listen to it more, and hopefully come back with a different conclusion.
Overall, this is a good EP. I would have loved to have hear some Steve Fee style harmonies in some key places in some key choruses. Josh's vocals speak well, in almost all places. I believe this to be an excellent work from someone that really understands worship leading and the current genre of worship music. Thanks so much for your work.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Song of Hope
To find this content, click this link.
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So, we did this Robbie Seay Band song yesterday and Saturday, and it worked out really well. Here's the mastered and complete loop. It follows the album version, and ends after the three choruses after the bridge. Hope you can use it!
Preview
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Glory to God Forever
The beginning of the song is different than the way Fee plays it. We replaced the one measure of acoustic guitar with synth, and the click signal is where the whole band comes in. I think it cleaned it up for live use, but it wouldn't take much to change it back. Other than that, the arrangement is exactly like the single (looking forward to the full album by the way!).
Glory to God Forever - RNS
Glory to God Forever - split - MP3
Glory to God Forever - MP3
Friday, May 15, 2009
Jesus Saves
I made this loop for it, and had my friend Jake (@jake_eyler for the tweeters out there) play the guitar track. I looped it in ReCycle, so you need this rex file. When it asks you for it, point it to the right location and you're good to go. However, Kyle Campos (@kcampos) has pointed out on his blog that Reason has developed a cool new product called Record that will make using pre-recorded sound in the live setting way cooler. Look for new developments on that front to come.
Jesus Saves RNS
Jesus Saves Guitar Riff
Jesus Saves MP3
Jesus Saves split MP3
Monday, April 13, 2009
Jesus Paid It All - Remix
Jesus Paid It All - RNS
Jesus Paid It All - split - MP3
Jesus Paid It All - MP3
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
True Love
True Love from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.
True Love - RNS
True Love - MP3
True Love - Split MP3
Monday, February 23, 2009
Using These Loops?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Thoughts Immediately After Service
Every now and then, lyrics finally make sense. The bridge lyrics are deep, meaningful, and extremely well-put. I can't really elaborate on them, so I'll just post them here. It's only too bad that you only sing them once in the song.
"But the harder I try, the more clearly can I
Feel the depth of our fall
And the weight of it all
And so this might could be
The most impossible thing:
Your grandness in me making me clean
"Glory, hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah"
I just hope that whoever makes the musical decisions in heaven, on that glorious day picks this tune. In fact, now thinking about it, I'm sure this is one we'll all sing.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Today Is the Day
Today Is the Day - RNS
Today Is the Day - AAC
Today Is the Day - split - AAC
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lifechurch voicemail
Bobby Gruenwald, the pastor of innovations at lifechurch.tv posted this interesting voice mail they received. Instant classic.



