KEYS
WORSHIP KEYS : IT ’ S GOT TO ‘ FEEL ’ GOOD | David Pfaltzgraff
A few weeks ago , I had the opportunity to finally make it back to the NAMM show in Anaheim , California . The National Association of Music Merchants trade show is historically the largest music industry gathering in North America . It ’ d been two and a half years since I ’ d last attended and I was excited to reconnect with friends , meet new people , and of course to explore tons of gear .
Each time I ’ ve been to NAMM some of my favorite experiences have been meeting smaller brands who ’ ve built their whole business around solving one or two unique problems . These companies are almost always eager to share their origin stories and peel back the curtain on their process . Seeing the passion and ingenuity behind some of these founders can be truly inspiring .
This year ’ s NAMM show was no different , with a wide range of gear and technology innovations on display . As I walked the show floor , I realized some dots were connecting in my head that hadn ’ t before . The experience brought me clarity in areas of playing live worship keys that I now realize I wasn ’ t paying enough attention to before . I ’ ll explain .
REINVENTING THE STANDARD
One of the big points of discussion over the last few years at NAMM has been the emerging MIDI 2.0 standard . It ’ s been fascinating to see this next generation of MIDI take shape as companies across the industry contribute their ideas , vision , and critique . The way I see it , one of the driving forces behind MIDI 2.0 is making it broad and deep enough to accommodate literally any kind of data or gear configuration imaginable without requiring anything outside the protocol .
An incredibly large and deep sandbox , if you will , that every manufacturer and musician will be able to play in for decades to come .
By necessity then , this MIDI 2.0 protocol must be wide-open and thoroughly documented . I had the chance to meet with several companies who ’ re on the forefront of creating next generation software and hardware ready to handle everything MIDI 2.0 aspires to be .
My big takeaway here ? A standard like MIDI , one that has existed for multiple decades , should only evolve when there ’ s compelling reason to do so and when that task is taken on , it should be with the aim to have just as much longevity . I ’ m going to apply this mindset to the way I approach my worship keys rig too . I want to build out my hardware and prep workflows in such a way that they ’ ll last me through years and years of church services and only innovate when I have a compelling reason to do so , with more longevity in mind .
KEYBOARD FOR SMALL HANDS
Another interesting experience was trying a MIDI keyboard with ‘ narrow keys ’ designed for people with smaller hands . The initial experience was pretty disorienting , as twenty-plus years of muscle memory flew out the window and I found myself consistently overshooting intervals by several notes .
But then after just a minute or two I found my mind was starting to adapt . I had a great conversation with the husband the team behind the product who explained their motivation to make bigger interval stretches possible for anyone whose hand size had previously been a barrier . Check out www . narrowkeys . com
While this problem doesn ’ t apply to everyone , I found their focus and desire to solve it very