Monday, October 29, 2007
hey band. i know officially marcus is kinda out from the band. so i'll change somethings about the template. cos its no use forcing when u dun really want to do it. we understand cuz. dun worry abt it. but u could help us here and there for PA if required. thanks =X especially for this camp thingy, we will need u to help us for Friday night's worship that the band is leading. 9 November.
thinking abt the day itself, really hope the band and the whole worship thingy that i hold for the camp will really minister to the pple that come. i've put so much thinking into it and really hope it goes very well and that u guys will work with me to make the most out of it. our worship with the actions and stuff are mainly cos i want the people to be involved in the whole thing itself, and actions help pple to remember what they are doing too. but of course we cant put actions into all the songs, that'll be quite inappropriate. but hope we can be expressive in our worship.
drummer and guitarist can hum along or even sing if possible, cos we want to be the role models of worship itself when we are leading. whether u close ur eyes while playing or really participate in the prayer and meditation when it happens, especially those that will be looking around to see how we christians act, its gonna be very detailed. pple are looking.
and especially me and michelle, the smiles on the face, the recognition of their presence with our eyes and every word we sing from our hearts, even if it doesnt touch the pple directly, God is looking. so do re-check ourselves b4 the worship starts. or even start now by preparing our hearts for the camp and the worship. making sure that apart from the skills, that we should already know quite well already, we need to be wholeheartedly ministered to God during that period too.
very thankful that minnie could join the band in this whole setup. she still doesnt have access to this website, but i guess it will remain that way. cos its really just for the five of us, to express our feelings about God, music, each other. and everything.
Yuqian, dun lose the beats ya. and really, my advice is "Less is more". keep it simple, only when its ur "drums part" then do the necessary "showin-off" of skills. but dun mess up the worship by doing too much and making us sound too messy. and draw a very clear line between rock and worship. not too much techniques. especially when u haven mastered it yet. do stuff that u r very consistent on and are at ur fingertips.
Pris, guitar-ing is fine. now we just have to add that every member sings or at least hums the songs. and know the meaning of each song and playing the meaning and atmosphere out. during our last session, i want to focus on tightening up the music and creating the right atmosphere. and of course like u said pris, make sure i have enough time to say something and inform the band of when meditation, prayer, saying of simple words or even fanciful stuffs with the vocals. there's still much to be done. but at least we've mastered the music part more or less. so, we can put that off our minds.
i just finished all my thinking and the arrangements for my worship. just need to find out what the other worship leaders will be doing briefly. i've already done up the sequence sheet that u all require. like how many times verse, when does drums come in. which song is played by who. and the song sequences. i'll give it to u guys on the last practice. have yet to book the church for the last practice. will do so soon. last practice 7 november ya. afternoon. if i cant get the church, desperate measures will call for jamming studio outside. either jade or paradiz. i miss jade. even though its so small. but ya, there's no piano there. guess that will be for practice for my sch's prom night. which mich wont be around. three of us in that room, should be totally fine. and i guess our balance has somehow improved already. but ya, talking abt balance, yuqian, tone down. dun cover vocals or guitar. but for buildups, its all urs. but come back down after that.
mich, there's so much to be done, i hope ur sickness gets better asap. i really need u back on the band. get well b4 our last practice. and spare me a day that u can practise the vocals with me. 1-2 hours will do. got alot to discuss with u too. there's one more action song that i've intro-ed to the band already that u haven heard or tried yet. its simple. pris refused to learn it till the last practice, but she's seen it b4, and its not hard to learn. but u have to sing it too. so it will be a little handful for yea.
the blog hasnt been outdated for quite awhile. even the tagboard seems to be inactive most of the time. until like some "outsider" talked and i was like "At last someone tagged. but not one of u guys". unless one of u guys used it to encourage me abit by writing anonymous or something. =P but i guess u guys have had enough of my "self-played" songs. we gotta do some recording soon. get ready for the holidays ya guys? the band will be back on the run again. do lookout for more events we can play at. upcoming of course is Camp, prom night and thanksgiving night. thats all we have on our list. but hope u guys can enter back on the ministry band asap.
whats Godsent without being sent for a reason? and if our reason is Music, its mostly for God i believe. so lets kick some butt. do keep listening to music and influences, get ur music life going and going. dun stop. and of course use it for God too.
pen off.
(Cliff, Frontman)
4:56 PM, & i live by faith and not by sight for you
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Time is running out
hey guys. check this out. yuqian check out the percussion. michelle check out the vocals. pris check out the guit and marcus, check the bass out manz. just check it out, everyone!! =X
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2veb4jcp-mA
(frontman)
7:13 PM, & i live by faith and not by sight for you
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
just got an inspiration
hey guys, got an inspiration from my dreams a few days ago. since our band is like lacking of instruments since i'll just concentrate on my vocals from now on and band organising, we do need someone to help us.
u will see this person on sunday if that someone is willing to help us. was thinking we could use another instrument player. u will see me practising with his particular person even if u all dun come for practice on sunday after service.
as usual, i'll say we're left with abt a month now. i'll work with pple who are sincerely wanting to be involved. no use forcing pple to help if their hearts arent in it. its a natural thing to want to serve God when u love Him. and its a natural thing to come to church and be involved in church stuff, shows ur priorities of things in life and how much u want more of Him in ur life. and its a natural thing for pple to be practising their instruments and devote time to practices when they really want to be part of Serving Him. so i'll just see who comes on sundays after service. if not, as usual, practice still goes on, even if its just me.
and with or without some of u, the worship will still be done. and i have alot of things on my mind, if u think i'm just blindly and stupidly pressurising myself for nth, i can tell u, its because i know i'm not readily prepared yet with what i have in mind. thats why i worry and thats why i keep thinking abt things.
it might seem very unimportant to u guys as something that is just like a performance. but i can tell u, my main purpose is to draw pple to Christ. and my main reason of doing music well is to make the best atmosphere that i can (within my abilities) for the pple that will worship on that day. even if it means just our yf pple. its still for God that we're doing it for.
and if u guys havent started inviting friends, u guys better start. like what meiling chuan dao said when she came back to do a sermon during our yf time last week. "christians dun really believe they are going to heaven and dun believe in heaven and hell, cos if they do, they would be sharing this GOOD NEWS among their friends. even if they had to give up their lives for it". very true. i've given out at least twenty invitation cards that our yf has prepared. and sent at least 30 msgs regarding the camp. its not about how many respond, its about how many have been told. cos its their own hearts and God's will that they will open it and accept the invitations. we just do our best by spreading the word abt it.
until now, only how the songs are roughly gonna be played have been discovered by me,pris and yuqian. marcus and michelle, i'm not sure whether u all are still wanting to be part of this thing. but it will show by whether u turn up for practices and whether u can be accountable for not turning up. so do inform me abt it. i want an "All or nothing" approach. either u give me ur all, or u just give me nothing, its okay.
there's still so much to be done. to actually understand the songs and how we want to broadcast the msg to the pple. prayers in between, msgs in between, to broadcast the msg and reflection upon the song. acapella, drum solos, harmony, guitar intros and now even piano stuff. to make the best music we can give to the ONe who deserves it all.
pris, can u tell me ur schedule and when u have to stop practices for O levels.
mich, i need u here with me to work out the vocal parts. haven touched anything yet other than trying to hit my notes properly.
marcus, we could use with some bass.
yuqian, thanks for being here. pris alike. desperately need support for this. lets work out more drums stuff to liven up the worship.
and its gonna be a mad rush. i need u all to tell me ur schedules on 6th and 7th of November.
7th november is the stayover in the night to prepare our hearts for the camp as a YF. so b4 that, i wish to assemble the band for the last practice. need to book the sanctuary too.
6th november will be my ORD date. will finish at 12th. and michelle, if u didnt break ur promise, u're gonna meet me right? maybe we can work out the vocal parts by ourselves in the afternoon. there's gonna be a BBQ in the night for my ORD and pris' end of O levels. all invited. for the afternoon, do hope those that are available will join me and michelle to discuss about our last arrangement for the worship b4 practising on the 7th.
i believe giving this our best will be the best gift we can give to the pple that will come for the camp. if marcus u still decide on skipping this camp, i guess i have nothing to say. if u say its cos of school, ur not pardoned. cos thursday's a deepavali. can go to sch for fri and come back in the night. but if ur gonna be as inactive as last year for the camp, u can skip it by all means. either "All or nothing" ya?
and for ur information, our worship lead for the camp will be friday(9th nov) night at 7pm. so i expect u all after whatever things u have on friday, to return back to camp by 6. to setup and prepare our hearts.
thats all i have to say for our worship thingy. do continue using this blog. pris and yuqian, work things out, i cant lose u two's cooperation as musicians due to some silly misunderstanding. talk to each other calmly. put down all anger stored up. its been days. we dun bear grudges for so long. especially as christians. take care guys.
pen off.
(frontman, CLiff)
2:03 PM, & i live by faith and not by sight for you
