In just a couple of months, my church will release a live worship album.
I couldn’t be more excited about this project. Being that this is a site for worship leaders and musicians, I imagine you have either recorded a live worship album or have at least thought about recording one in the future.
That’s what this post is all about.
When I was a kid, the thought of recording a live album was nothing more than a distant dream. I never thought it could actually happen. Maybe you’ve thought the same thing.
In this post, I hope you’ll be inspired to take action on the big dreams and large projects in your heart. I’m sure they’re anything but easy. But it’s worth it.
Why A Live Worship Album?
You may be wondering why we recorded a live worship album. I know, it’s a popular thing to do these days.
I believe in the people of God encountering the Presence of God. And ultimately, fulfilling the purpose of God in our generation. Every major experience I’ve had with God has been marked by music – songs that stirred my soul to rise up into my destiny.
When I’m disillusioned by life, I find myself singing.
When I discover a new facet of God, I find myself writing songs.
When I don’t know what to do, I enter the presence of God and sing.
What’s beautiful about a live worship recording is that the people of God can sing together. A local church can make his praises glorious…together.
That local church can then use this record as an evangelist tool – to share with friends, family, and co-workers. While someone may never enter a church building, they’ll pop a CD into their car and listen to some good music.
A Unique Opportunity
I want to share all my thoughts on the production of a live worship album. But that’s not for this post. I’ve created a private Facebook group where this will take place.
Why the separate group?
Well, we are still in process on this record. It’s not quite finished. Not only will this hold me accountable, it will be a community that you can learn from in your own creative projects.
I’ll be there quite often, discussing everything – from the early songwriting stages to working with a team to the gear to the marketing process. And so much more!
If you’ve done a live recording before, I’d love for you to join the group and share your process.
If this is something you’d like to do in the future, this will be an invaluable resource to learn about what it takes.
I simply want to be honest about the process – the struggles, the joys, what we are doing well, and what I would do differently next time.
So head on over here!
In the meantime, I’d love to hear about your experience with songwriting and recording.
Question: Have you recorded a worship album before? If so, let us know about it. If you’ve thought about doing it, what is holding you back? Let us know in the comments!
[ois skin=”Next Level Optin”]
my guess is that we’ll need a whole post about… post.
so much post production goes into ‘live’ worship albums it’s kind of hard to keep up. I’ve actually had congregants ask why our band doesn’t sound as good as the live version on so-and-so’s album 🙂
Yes, people don’t realize how much post production goes into live projects. Oftentimes, hardly anything is really “live”.
When I was on the worship team at my former church, we did a live Christmas worship album called, “A New Noel.” I remember the excitement of having almost five months of preparation finally come to full fruition. The performance was spirit-filled and amazing, and I was left wondering how the finished product would sound. My anticipation would have to wait a half of a year; I didn’t realize how much time was needed for post-production. In July, we finally celebrated our first live-recorded worship event. It was well worth the wait. To this day, some 11 years later, I am still blessed when I listen to CD and remember back to an amazing time and experience in my life.
Michael, that’s awesome. It’s so exciting to see the final result.
Yes, spch recorded a LIVE album last year. What a wonderful experience and blessing to the church.
The event and ensuing album, LIVING DEVOTION took over 100 volunteers to make possible:
http://www.spch.org.au/livingdevotion
It was hard work and some of the volunteers, particularly the in-house Producers invested blood, sweat and tears. But what a unifying project. It has given our songwriters a voice and the church are really embracing it. The love the idea of taking something home that can be listened to anywhere, anytime.
Praise God!
We released a studio album in 2007, because we didn’t think we had an appropriate ‘space’ to adequately pull off a LIVE recording. So we made it more about the worship night. But with the right people involved, and the right equipment, the result was far better than any of us could have imagined. God provides!
There are a plans for another LIVE album recording in 2013, but that is totally dependent on songs. Let’s see 🙂
Fantastic! I love to hear about the army of volunteers. That’s testament to a great culture that has been fostered.
Hey Guys-
I Co-own a live recording company called Movement Recording that strictly records live worship albums. I’d be glad to answer any specific questions you may have. Just shoot me an email!
Thanks,
Brent
brent(at)movementrecording.com
Hey i am glad i ended up here .i am in kenya and we intend to record a live album which will celebrate our 50 years of gospel music inkenya basically getting the old songs and rearrange and perform them i own a home recording studio but the desire of live worship has overwhelmed me .it being our first live recording what should i look up for ie (technically phsycologically etc).i am currently recruiting volunteers