KEYS
OUR KEYS RIG SOUNDS GREAT! NOW WHAT? | David Pfaltzgraff
Every year the cycle repeats itself. Respected during those times is one of the smartest I ended up handing over to my volunteer keys
worship bands like Hillsong, Bethel, and investments you can make. players to use were so sonically busy and
Elevation write, record and release new music
and worship teams around the world do their
logistically convoluted as to be unusable.
SOMETIMES BE DEVIATING
best to learn from, emulate and be inspired by
the creativity and innovation of those bands.
Back then I thought the fault was with green
If you feel that things in your keys rig are dialed volunteers, less than ideal sound reinforcement
in to the point that there’s no challenge or room and overall ‘growing pains’. Now I realize that
As we now find ourselves a third of the way for creativity left then it’s time to flip the script it was simply because I was throwing way too
through 2020 you may be in a position where and invite your most trusted volunteers to lead much at the wall in search of a new sound.
it’s not as hard as it used to be to keep up with the charge in deviating from the norm.
the changing sounds in modern worship music.
These days I find that a substitution-based
I remember when the current trends in modern This might look like swapping out go-to sounds approach often gives better results than an
worship music were just starting to take shape for alternatives, rearranging songs your team additive one. Instead of adding a new synth
over a half decade ago and being very ill- plays all the time, or looking into investing in sound to an existing patch try intentionally
equipped myself to keep up as the worship a new software plugin or two to breathe some removing or at least muting an existing layer
leader of a small team. Since then new options new life into your team’s sound. and then listening to hear what space has been
and ideas for how even the smallest of worship
freed up by doing so. Once you can articulate
teams can modernize the sound of their band The important thing here is to only deviate and what’s been taken away you can more
and specifically their keys rig have become experiment with clear purpose and concrete intentionally seek out a replacement.
easier and easier to come by. outcomes in mind. Rather than telling your
keys player to ‘try something new this week’
NEVER A DULL PRESET
All of this to say: if you find yourself thinking ‘our consider inviting them to ‘try coming up with keys rig sounds pretty darn great as it is right an alternate keys riff for the intro of the first The odds are if you ever find yourself in a
now!’ and wondering ‘what’s next?’, here’s a song’. Identifying clear parameters for your position where you feel as though your live
few ideas. experimentation gives your volunteers cleaner sound has ‘arrived’ it won’t last long and in
targets to hit and will help you avoid those future’s hindsight you’ll realize there was still
tough situations where someone has invested work to do. Nevertheless, it’s a good thing
a lot of time, creativity and energy into a new to have moments of plateau, success and
If you’re the worship leader at your church idea that doesn’t translate well in your band’s completion in the life of your worship team. The
leading a team of volunteers you can take context. next time you think ‘man, we sound good’ take
ALWAYS BE REPLICATING
advantage of times when you feel that the
sound of your band is dialed in to raise up and
the time to enjoy and share the success and
AVOID OVER-COMPLICATING
then ready yourself to do the work of continuing
train new and prospective volunteers. Specific
to strive for excellence, not for the sake of
to your keys rig, when you’re happy with your When I was new to the work of modernizing excellence itself but because we desire to bring
team’s progress take some time to turn your the sound of my band by focusing on the keys our best as a blessing to our Creator and to our
focus to questions like ‘is there anything we can rig, I took a very additive approach. I’d often congregations.
do to make this easier and more approachable take whatever sounds or presets we had been to a new volunteer’ and ‘have we set the using and then add stuff on top to the point of keys rig up in such a way that volunteers feel obvious excess.
empowered or restricted by our best practices’.
The danger with changing or modernizing via
As worship leaders, having time on our hands an additive approach is that it’s really easy to
in any way, shape, or form is a rare occurrence go numb to just how much you’re adding in
and leaning into making it easier for members of when you’re adding one thing at a time. In my
your team to replicate their skills and positions case most of the sounds, ideas, and workflows
April 2020
David Pfaltzgraff
Founder
and
Lead
Sound
Designer
at
SundaySounds.com, a site that resources worship
keys players and guitarists around the world.
David currently resides in Des Moines, IA with his
wife and two boys. He enjoys volunteering in his
church’s worship ministry, old synthesizers, and a
good super-hero movie.
SundaySounds.com
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