This started as some ideas to tweetsplode, but it would be long even for me.
I've always looked at my job as involving both art and craft. I got this analogy from Terry Bozzio: a painter can paint a portrait, or he can paint your house. Kinda like that.
My job these days is almost entirely craft. Playing in worship bands, playing in cover bands, backing up singer/songwriter guys...hell, even most "original" situations boil down to executing someone else's idea of what the drum set ought to do. There's really very little "art" involved in what the bulk of musicians and music consumers want to hear from a drummer.
Even what passes for the drummer being "creative" usually means changing the sound of the kit and playing 60 year old cliches on it. "He's so creative! The toms are muffled!" That kind of thing. Pretty much every pop/rock/worship/whatever musician I know thinks this way.
(Thank God for djent)
I've grown to be pretty okay with the idea that of all the musicians I know, maybe a few are interested in my ideas of what I should play and sound like. I'm really good at playing what I'm asked to play. I can, and do, make it work (meaning, I can make an audience sing, dance, head bang, etc.). I'm simply a blue collar musician who does the job right.
What has me musing about this is that since I enjoy the work, the only thing that I could foresee making me interested in the "original" scene again would have to involve either lots of money or total creative freedom. Otherwise, what would be the point?
I think my transition has been, if you'll excuse me, from blue balls to blue collar. But I still have fits of the former.
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
The Thing with the Hymns
This Holy Week brought with it so many opportunities to sing glorious hymns to the Lord. It's my favorite time of the Church year. Reflecting on the music of the past week had me thinking about a practice that has increasingly been driving me nuts. I could write a pretty lengthy series of posts, but today here's just a brief outline of why I'm opposed to the popular practice of adding choruses to old hymns.
It Doesn't Improve Them
I could leave it at that, really. Have any additions really made the work better? If not, why do it? I can only think of bad reasons, some of which are below.
Hymns Don't Do That
In a hymn, the verses go together to form a complete thought. Like sentences in a paragraph, each verse relates to the one before or after it. In a song, the verses relate to the chorus. Interrupting the train of thought to a hymn, and omitting some key verses, puts the expression of the thought out of joint and interjects a non sequitur.
Pride
In most of these instances we're dealing with works that have been in regular widespread use for at least a century or two. They haven't exactly demonstrated a lack of some sort which needs to be fixed. Yet an industry that for the most part produces works considered passé and out of rotation within ten to fifteen years (when was the last time you sang "Shine, Jesus, Shine?") presumes to evaluate, edit, and improve upon them? What cascade of absurdities has to be accepted to buy into the delusion that one is qualified to do this?
More Pride
What makes us believe that our entertainment mentality ought to be the norm to which any inclusion of older music must conform? Can we not seek to include this art and respect its form and content to the best we can in our individual settings?
I'm Cynical
This is my own personal issue but if I've thought of this, surely at least someone involved has, too. Hymns are pretty much all in the public domain. If I record one and (by some miracle) my arrangement gets airplay and use in Churches, I might sell some records and make some money. But if I add a chorus in between the verses, I've written half the song, and I get publishing royalties every time it's played on the radio and in your Church.
It's Self-Centered
This is the big one for me. Today our worship is very self-oriented. We tend to gather as congregations of individuals and not one people unified across all time and space, which is what the Bible teaches. The felt needs and likes of each individual in the pews are driving what we sing and do. Novelty is king. People may not like these hymns done this way; we must jazz them up. It's not true, but even if it were, it is exactly this mentality out of which people need to be trained. We worship with those who have gone before us, and so it is only right to sing their music. We should do the same if the music of the future ever becomes available! Love and mutual submission ought to make us respect these great works and seek to add our voices to them in deference to the greater Body.
That's the main gist of it. Your thoughts are welcome.
It Doesn't Improve Them
I could leave it at that, really. Have any additions really made the work better? If not, why do it? I can only think of bad reasons, some of which are below.
Hymns Don't Do That
In a hymn, the verses go together to form a complete thought. Like sentences in a paragraph, each verse relates to the one before or after it. In a song, the verses relate to the chorus. Interrupting the train of thought to a hymn, and omitting some key verses, puts the expression of the thought out of joint and interjects a non sequitur.
Pride
In most of these instances we're dealing with works that have been in regular widespread use for at least a century or two. They haven't exactly demonstrated a lack of some sort which needs to be fixed. Yet an industry that for the most part produces works considered passé and out of rotation within ten to fifteen years (when was the last time you sang "Shine, Jesus, Shine?") presumes to evaluate, edit, and improve upon them? What cascade of absurdities has to be accepted to buy into the delusion that one is qualified to do this?
More Pride
What makes us believe that our entertainment mentality ought to be the norm to which any inclusion of older music must conform? Can we not seek to include this art and respect its form and content to the best we can in our individual settings?
I'm Cynical
This is my own personal issue but if I've thought of this, surely at least someone involved has, too. Hymns are pretty much all in the public domain. If I record one and (by some miracle) my arrangement gets airplay and use in Churches, I might sell some records and make some money. But if I add a chorus in between the verses, I've written half the song, and I get publishing royalties every time it's played on the radio and in your Church.
It's Self-Centered
This is the big one for me. Today our worship is very self-oriented. We tend to gather as congregations of individuals and not one people unified across all time and space, which is what the Bible teaches. The felt needs and likes of each individual in the pews are driving what we sing and do. Novelty is king. People may not like these hymns done this way; we must jazz them up. It's not true, but even if it were, it is exactly this mentality out of which people need to be trained. We worship with those who have gone before us, and so it is only right to sing their music. We should do the same if the music of the future ever becomes available! Love and mutual submission ought to make us respect these great works and seek to add our voices to them in deference to the greater Body.
That's the main gist of it. Your thoughts are welcome.
Year Seven Begins Today
Today is my sixth anniversary of being married to Jenni. It may be cliche' to repeat the same thing every year, but these words don't get old:
Jenni, many daughters have done well, but you exceed them all.
Let Heaven and Earth witness that I renew our covenant today, to love, honor and cherish you in all things. I love you. Happy Anniversary.
The Office.
Through God's kind Providence my home studio is mostly complete. I moved in this week and could not be giddier. Working from home is going to be an ever-increasing blessing as the years go on.
Letter to the Corinthians? What Letter to the Corinthians?
Jenni posted some incredibly hot photos of herself from '93, so here's my proof that I had bigger hair than my wife back then. Merry Christmas, rocker boy.
Another Frackin' Five
Okay, I'll do it, because Ross thinks I won't.
What were you doing 5 years ago?
Learning to be a husband, and I had actually just finished tracking demo material for Atomic Opera's still-in-the-works next album.
What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?
Trim the hedges.
Prepare Sunday school class on the fall of Jerusalem.
Print bulletins (power point is for fags).
Go to Spec's for martini olives.
Watch insane amounts of Battlestar Galactica.
What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
Taro chips
Veggies when I'm being healthy.
Good white corn chips/Strobel's salsa.
Pistachios. (props to Ross)
Pistachio ice cream (Sabbath treat)
What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
Tithe
Take as many local families off of public welfare as I could.
Build a survivalist's/musician's dream house in either Idaho or West Texas.
Fly around the world taking lessons from the drummers I admire.
Plant churches in India.
What are 5 of your bad habits?
Procrastination
Cussin'
Wasting time.
Blurting out the first thing that comes into my head (never a good idea).
I pick at my callouses.
What are 5 places you have lived?
League City, TX-parents
LC, TX-Mom
LC,TX-Dad
Houston SW
Houston W
What are 5 jobs you've had?
I haven't had 5. I've been a janitor (at 13!), a grocery store employee ('til 18) then it's been drums all the rest of the time.
What 5 people do you want to tag?
It's over! Now my prayers won't come true!
What were you doing 5 years ago?
Learning to be a husband, and I had actually just finished tracking demo material for Atomic Opera's still-in-the-works next album.
What are 5 things on your to-do list today (not in any particular order)?
Trim the hedges.
Prepare Sunday school class on the fall of Jerusalem.
Print bulletins (power point is for fags).
Go to Spec's for martini olives.
Watch insane amounts of Battlestar Galactica.
What are 5 snacks you enjoy?
Taro chips
Veggies when I'm being healthy.
Good white corn chips/Strobel's salsa.
Pistachios. (props to Ross)
Pistachio ice cream (Sabbath treat)
What 5 things would you do if you were a billionaire?
Tithe
Take as many local families off of public welfare as I could.
Build a survivalist's/musician's dream house in either Idaho or West Texas.
Fly around the world taking lessons from the drummers I admire.
Plant churches in India.
What are 5 of your bad habits?
Procrastination
Cussin'
Wasting time.
Blurting out the first thing that comes into my head (never a good idea).
I pick at my callouses.
What are 5 places you have lived?
League City, TX-parents
LC, TX-Mom
LC,TX-Dad
Houston SW
Houston W
What are 5 jobs you've had?
I haven't had 5. I've been a janitor (at 13!), a grocery store employee ('til 18) then it's been drums all the rest of the time.
What 5 people do you want to tag?
It's over! Now my prayers won't come true!
Five Years of Blessing
He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and obtains favor from the LORD.
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
Blessed are you, Jenni Leanne Simmons. Many daughters have done well, but you exceed them all. Thank you for these past five years.
A Postmillennial Advent
Jenni and I try to keep a proper Advent each year. We put up the tree on the first Sunday and leave it bare until we return home from Church on Christmas Eve, then decorate it and leave it up from Christmas Day until Epiphany.
Advent is traditionally a penitential season in which we remember the time of preparation before our Lord's first Advent, and also think to how we are doing as we labor before His Second Coming.
Well, I think it is theologically sound, given my view of the progressive spread of the Kingdom in history, to make the Advent season a time of growing beauty until the Lord comes on Christmas Day. So, this week, the tree went up. Next, we will light it. Then our purple glass ornaments, followed by the silver ones. Finally on Christmas Eve the Lord will come as the Pantokrator icon I top the tree with will go up, and all the other ornaments will joyfully meet Him as He arrives.
HT: This actually started as a joke by my friend Frank.
Advent is traditionally a penitential season in which we remember the time of preparation before our Lord's first Advent, and also think to how we are doing as we labor before His Second Coming.
Well, I think it is theologically sound, given my view of the progressive spread of the Kingdom in history, to make the Advent season a time of growing beauty until the Lord comes on Christmas Day. So, this week, the tree went up. Next, we will light it. Then our purple glass ornaments, followed by the silver ones. Finally on Christmas Eve the Lord will come as the Pantokrator icon I top the tree with will go up, and all the other ornaments will joyfully meet Him as He arrives.
HT: This actually started as a joke by my friend Frank.
Trick-or-Doodle-Doo
Yes, this is Harley in a rooster hat. Yes, dressing your animals up is highly gay. So, what's the deal, you ask?
Harley has started meowing and rustling the blinds in our bedroom shortly before sunup. Passing this "costume" in Target gave me a wonderful, if ineffective, idea. If the young master wants to act like a rooster, then perhaps he should look the part.
It won't earn me any more sleep, but at least I'll be giggling as the sky starts to lighten.
I Am...The GRILLMASTER!
Tonight's dinner all cooked outside on the grill:
Nightcap: a Rusty Nail (Scotch (Glenrothes) and Drambuie).
God is kind.
Prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast with garlic, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and pepper
Green and red bell peppers
Yellow and zucchini squash
Asparagus
Nightcap: a Rusty Nail (Scotch (Glenrothes) and Drambuie).
God is kind.
Mike Birbiglia Is Skinny And Hilarious
One of my favorite comedians has a new album out, and it's really funny. You should get it. His previous album, "Two Drink Mike," is a hoot as well.
Solo Drums, 1997.
"Back in the day," I used to play club gigs by myself without a band. This is one of my solo pieces, named "Skippy" because of the stuttering foot pattern, played at Instant Karma the year I joined Atomic Opera.
One Year Old
We adopted little Milo at somewhere around two weeks of age. This was him on September 25, '06:
He turns one next week. Here's our little grown-up:
He turns one next week. Here's our little grown-up:
Seven Random Facts
My lovely wife tagged me. That sounds dirty, huh? No, it's:
1. I bench press like a girl. Bad body mechanics and a bum shoulder have me heaving up a whopping 135 for 8-10 reps per set. Inclines, I do better, but the "showiest" lift I totally suck at. I deadlift pretty impressively though.
2. I talk to myself in the car. I will often debate a political or theological point out loud as I drive.
3. I read in the bathroom, but will not read the Bible there.
4. I call my wife "dude."
5. I think Hillsong makes better music than the Passion crowd.
6. I look at friends' myspace pages even though I hate myspace.
7. I loved Earth: Final Conflict.
Tag:
1. Ross
2. Todd
3. Omar
4. Ben
5. Star
6. Fulcrum
7. Gregg
The rules: each player should list seven random facts about themselves on their blog as well as the rules to this little game. At the end of their post, they need to tag seven people. Let those folks know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1. I bench press like a girl. Bad body mechanics and a bum shoulder have me heaving up a whopping 135 for 8-10 reps per set. Inclines, I do better, but the "showiest" lift I totally suck at. I deadlift pretty impressively though.
2. I talk to myself in the car. I will often debate a political or theological point out loud as I drive.
3. I read in the bathroom, but will not read the Bible there.
4. I call my wife "dude."
5. I think Hillsong makes better music than the Passion crowd.
6. I look at friends' myspace pages even though I hate myspace.
7. I loved Earth: Final Conflict.
Tag:
1. Ross
2. Todd
3. Omar
4. Ben
5. Star
6. Fulcrum
7. Gregg
The Inside Game; or, Worship Leading and the Drummer (Namely Me)
One of my heroes, Douglas Wilson, told the story of how the Church he pastors made the move from using grape juice in Communion to using wine. He had become convinced that refusing to use wine was wrong, but for a long time they continued the practice for the sake of the tender consciences in the parish. Each week, as he celebrated, he would pray the Lord's forgiveness that they were doing it again, and over time they moved to the exclusive use of wine. The whole point was to bring about reform in a charitable, pastoral manner, teaching as they did it.
Recently, I remarked on Todd's blog that I likewise will sometimes be asking the Lord to have mercy on us for the things we sing to Him, or for what's going on around them. I'm really convinced that a lot of the stuff that gets sung in the contemporary worship "scene" is inappropriate and sometimes flat-out erroneous. For example, God, Who reveals Himself in detail in His Word, is not "Indescribable." Sorry, Chris, I like your song, but He isn't.
This puts me in a really weird place, because playing this music in Churches is almost all I do anymore.
I want to be really careful here. I do not want those with whom I work to think that I believe they are some kind of heretics. They aren't. I am fortunate to work with some of the finest Christian men and women I've had the pleasure of meeting. This is a Church-cultural problem, not a personal one.
"So," one might say, "Mr. Convictions, if a lot of what is going on is wrong, then you should resign and not take Church gigs anymore." Well, I've thought about that pretty seriously. Prayed about it, even. I don't believe that's the best course of action (and no, I don't need the money that bad).
By God's grace, I have a unique position from which to speak to these issues to the people who choose or write worship music. Sometimes directly, other times by merely being present as someone who sees things another way. I've earned their trust and respect. God gives those things as tools to be used for His purposes. If God has given me influence with them, then maybe I can make an impact.
So, unless He tells me otherwise, I play the inside game. One of two things will happen--I'll be an instrument for reform or I will be reformed because I'm the one who's jacked.
In the meantime, when necessary, I pray. "We don't know any better, Lord, and we earnestly desire to worship You as You command, in reverence and godly fear. Bring that about."
Recently, I remarked on Todd's blog that I likewise will sometimes be asking the Lord to have mercy on us for the things we sing to Him, or for what's going on around them. I'm really convinced that a lot of the stuff that gets sung in the contemporary worship "scene" is inappropriate and sometimes flat-out erroneous. For example, God, Who reveals Himself in detail in His Word, is not "Indescribable." Sorry, Chris, I like your song, but He isn't.
This puts me in a really weird place, because playing this music in Churches is almost all I do anymore.
I want to be really careful here. I do not want those with whom I work to think that I believe they are some kind of heretics. They aren't. I am fortunate to work with some of the finest Christian men and women I've had the pleasure of meeting. This is a Church-cultural problem, not a personal one.
"So," one might say, "Mr. Convictions, if a lot of what is going on is wrong, then you should resign and not take Church gigs anymore." Well, I've thought about that pretty seriously. Prayed about it, even. I don't believe that's the best course of action (and no, I don't need the money that bad).
By God's grace, I have a unique position from which to speak to these issues to the people who choose or write worship music. Sometimes directly, other times by merely being present as someone who sees things another way. I've earned their trust and respect. God gives those things as tools to be used for His purposes. If God has given me influence with them, then maybe I can make an impact.
So, unless He tells me otherwise, I play the inside game. One of two things will happen--I'll be an instrument for reform or I will be reformed because I'm the one who's jacked.
In the meantime, when necessary, I pray. "We don't know any better, Lord, and we earnestly desire to worship You as You command, in reverence and godly fear. Bring that about."
More Homework
I figured out Dev Nagari in Pages, Apple's word processor. Way cool.
Even cooler, my tabla teacher has taken that and run with it, creating a tabla font which easily adds tabla bols to the page with a single stroke.
Six Weird Things
From my wife's blog:
The rules are as follows: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post telling 6 weird things about themself... as well as clearly state the rules. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.
Okay. But I don't pass these things along...
1. The faces. I like the faces.
2. The dancing. I've got moves.
3. The inner monologue. I crack up at completely inopportune times because of some private joke, of which there must be thousands.
4. At bedtime. I open a soda, take a sip or two, and leave it in the fridge all night. I will awake several times a night and enjoy an ice-cold "sip o' sodie" (see #3 above). Don't worry, it's diet.
5. Bathroom humor is incredibly funny to me.
6. I talk to myself and engage in mock debates while driving alone. If someone catches me, I revert to point #1.
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