But First...
If you watch or read the news, I'm sure you've heard about the tens of thousands of people who have lost their lives and the many more injured in the typhoon in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. My heart hurt when I saw some of the images of the devastation of those areas. These are God's people just like us...no matter the geopolitical region where they find themselves. Please pray that God would move to bring comfort, healing, rescue and restoration to the people impacted by these events. Thanks for being a part of bringing God's heart into the brokenness of the world.
Concert
You may remember I sent out a post about a Shane and Shane concert back in February. It was a great time! Here are a few of the photos that I snapped that night:
shane & shane band
Shane & Shane
Shane & Shane band with Bethany Dillon
Bethany Dillon
Shane Barnard. Yep, sometime it seems like he plays that fast...
Every part of the concert (that I was able to stay for) was great...Bethany Dillon (now Bethany Barnard since she married Shane Barnard recently) performed a few songs alone in an acoustic set. After breaking a string, she was joined by Shane B. and the band to finish up the set. David Nasser delivered a heartfelt cry to reach out with compassion in practical, relevant ways (e.g. through World Vision sponsorship opportunities). Then Starfield kicked off the loud time. The Canadian band was great! They had a great sound, but more than that, they were sincere and relatable in their approach to engaging God and the audience. Then Shane and Shane took the stage. Wow. If you haven't heard their music, check it out. If you haven't seen them live, don't miss it the next time they are close! It's an experience. You will not find two people that are more humble or more talented. They are so self-depreciating and yet their songs are so deep and rich with truth. They cut up a lot, but they are the real deal from my perspective. In addition to all that, we guitar players out there can learn a thing or two from Shane.
Loop Software
I've been toying with a few ideas to augment our rhythm section in our worship band. One idea was to buy a loop/phrase sampler and use it to play loop-based rhythmic guitar stuff along with the band. That might work, but I think it would be tough to pull off. After that, I started looking at loop software. I looked through several products (free and commercial) and I ended up buying a copy of FL Studio Fruity Edition. We had a practice a couple of weeks ago where we started working with a loop. It was interesting, to say the least! I'm not doing a good job of explaining what loop software does or why I think we'll benefit from it, but I at least wanted to mention it. FL Studio is a versatile and cost-effective Windows-based loop and recording program. I'll probably write more about it when we get a few kinks worked out and start to really use loops in our sound more. It's a great learning experience thus far!
That's all for now. I wanted to spend only a couple minutes doing this, but it's taken about 30. You're worth it! I hope you are encouraged and informed in your journey to fulfill your musical potential.
Be blessed!
Andy Johnston, the facilitator
musicsharegroup@gmail.com
musicsharegroup.blogspot.com
