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Audio MP3 Tracks At HymnCharts > Home
From composer / arranger Don Chapman:
I've just begun the long process of creating
vocal demos and tracks for HymnCharts. Here's
why:
First of all, I can't believe how people today don't know
the hymns! I was looking forward to doing
"Come Ye Thankful People, Come"
for Thanksgiving with my praise team. I whipped
it out at rehearsal and no one knew it! I thought it was a fairly well-known hymn
- I remember, growing up, singing it every
year at Thanksgiving. So I scrapped it -
we didn't have time that week to learn a
new song! I realized then that there was
a definite need to have audio versions of
the arrangements.
Secondly, when I want to use a hymn that the praise
team singers DO know, they usually turn their
noses up... as in "yuck, a boring hymn!"
The week we first did "Savior, Like
a Shepherd Lead Us" I got yawns from
the singers. I pushed it because this is
one of my favorite HymnCharts arrangements
and I knew how cool it could sound with a
full band.
Since I rehearse my band and vocalists separately,
the vocalists didn't hear the full band treatment
until Sunday morning's pre-service rehearsal.
Everything came together, they got in the
groove and we had a blast with it. Another
reason I need a vocal demo - the singers
need to hear the full version before they
can get excited about it! (Plus it gives
the band an idea of where to go with the
song.)
I'll be creating a track and vocal demo for
each new HymnCharts arrangement. The audio
will be in the MP3 format. Here are a few
ideas for implementing them in your ministry:
>Rehearsal: burn a CD of the vocal demo and give it
to each praise team vocalist and band member.
They might not know the hymn and this is
a great way for them to learn it during the
week. Don't feel like you have to follow
my instrumental version exactly - it's just
a guide. Let your band feel free to be creative
- the track will at least give them somewhere
to start.
>Performance: play along with the track during worship.
Some arrangements will have a separate drum
loop that your band can play along with.
In the early days of my church, it was often
me playing keyboard along with tracks - there
simply weren't enough musicians. You might
not even have ANY musicians, just tracks!
Of all instrumentalists, I've found electric
and acoustic guitarists are the most plentiful.
I purposely didn't add electric guitar to
the tracks to give room for your guitarist(s)
to play along.
>Special music: if the hymn is unfamiliar to your congregation,
have a soloist introduce it as special music.
Have an instrumentalist play the melody (improvising
on following verses) for an offertory.
>Prelude/postlude: burn a CD and play the vocal demos for prelude/postlude
music.
The first track, What Wondrous Love Is This,
was posted in February 2005. Download a short MP3 demo clip.
Hear an audio MP3 sample of how a HymnChart
arrangement can sound in your church.
Next: The HymnCharts Secret.
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