MULTITRACKS
CHANGE IS HARD , EXCEPT WHEN IT ’ S NOT ! | Kristian Ponsford
“ Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time ; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better .” -Sydney J . Harris
It started for me on a mountain in Africa . I was visiting Compassion Projects in Uganda and found myself visiting a small but vibrant church in Mbale . Mid worship my phone started to vibrate ; it was my church back in the U . K . ( United Kingdom ) facetiming me . Any vacationing worship leader will know the sinking feeling I instantly felt ! What has gone wrong , and why on earth is my home church calling me when they know I ’ m here in Uganda ?
I left the meeting and answered the call , and one of our volunteer leaders greeted me ; she was embarrassed and flustered . It was an Ableton Live issue , the team had no tracks , automation , lights , or lyrics and were due to start in 20 mins . I helped them troubleshoot the problem and got them set in time , then headed back into that small African church .
For years prior to that trip , I had been an Ableton Live Trainer , I ’ d coached hundreds of worship leaders at conferences , on Skype and in small groups . But here on this Sunday , I found myself again wishing for a simpler solution , something I could place into the hands of my volunteers : Technology that wouldn ’ t stress them out or steal their attention but would instead free them up to lead worship well .
I knew there was another option , an iOS app called Playback . Back then I was a customer of MultiTracks . com , but I was also opposed to replacing Ableton . Afterall , Ableton was my specialist subject , it had connected me to thousands of people and churches and was the secret sauce to my own worship leading . Plus , I considered Playback to be something for the less advanced , the beginners ! Some of you reading this might feel the same way . I ’ d encourage you to look again .
Fast forward a few years , and a hundred Playback updates later , and I can honestly say ( despite my position now at MultiTracks . com ) that there are very few reasons a church would be better off sticking with Ableton .
Last week ( at the time of writing this ) I stood on