enough, I don’t have a ton of pedals on it. It big openers and features for services and
goes: volume pedal > comp > little drive > big events… also songwriting and much of the
drive > modulation > short delay > long delay > musical direction of the church. It also entails
short reverb > long reverb > amp. And I always Ableton management across campuses, song
set the amp as clean as possible. Obviously, arrangements, training with the rest of our
there’s a lot of nuance in that, but it’s generally staff in a developmental program we have at
my method. the church called Accelerate, and then being
involved in people’s lives. Ministry is about
I use only two drives, crank the gain all the way
people, not music.
to ten, and rely on my pickup selection and
dynamics of my hands to control how they’re [WM] I see that Celebration has embraced
presented through the amp. I have a JHS the ‘Dream Team’ model from Church of
Morning Glory for my light-medium overdrives the Highlands. How has that impacted the
and a Bondi Effects Sick As for my “high” worship
(this term is relative) gain overdrive. In much musically speaking?
community
there
culturally
and
of modern music, particularly worship music,
there’s a bent towards a cleaner, clearer sound, I think because I’ve used it for more than [Tyler] It’s a game-changer. From being on
but also a thickness to the mix. I use these a decade now and I’ve learned that sound the road off and on for the past ten years,
quite frequently throughout the set. I usually set intimately. Like I said earlier, I base a huge chunk I’ve seen just about every church and model
the Morning Glory for clear leads and powerful of sound on my pedals and how they respond. I for church you can imagine, across the world.
rhythm for slow worship tunes, or for funky, always shoot for a clean amp. After that I go for The Dream Team model is so great because
gritty stuff… like the verses in Relentless and the the Fender Blues Deville or ‘59 Bassman. it places importance on the ‘why’ rather than
leads in Hallelujah. I set the Sick As for bigger
‘how and what’. Why we get involved in church
gain, like the choruses of Greater, Greater and [WM] One of the things I enjoyed most about is paramount… to engage the local community
Taste and See, and the leads of You Are. your playing was how versatile you are and how of believers in a way that glorifies God, points
natural your feel is. What do you do to keep the people to Jesus and challenges one another to
As far as the rest of the board, I started various elements of your playing fresh and at be the best disciples of Christ that we can be.
implementing
MIDI
into
switching
my
the top of your game? When people focus solely on the ‘what’ side
modulation in my rig… game changer! I use of it… what you do is play guitar at church for
the Strymon Timeline and BigSky, and I have [Tyler] I’m a life-long student of music. I’m example, it diminishes the ‘why’. We play in
an Eventide H9. I use a Boss MS-3 to switch always trying to improve the gifts that God has order to set an atmosphere of worship so that
between scenes on all of them. I can achieve placed in my hands, because that’s my way of people can encounter the presence of God
literally any sound with these pedals. presenting the glory of God through this art we effortlessly and engage dynamically with the
call music. I’m constantly challenging myself to Savior of the world! It has impacted our team
[WM] Do you have a favorite amp and listen to different types of music. I’m currently greatly and brought us closer together than
speaker combination? into Snarky Puppy, EDM, the Belonging Co., ever. It’s like a small town, a family now!
and Trap music… an interesting combination
[Tyler] I have plenty of amps I really enjoy; to say the least! And I’m always finding ways [WM] You’re also a family man, how do
BadCat, Jackson Ampworks, Matchless, Dr. to play with people better than I am. I don’t you manage the balance between life, work,
Z, Morgan, and Suhr… but the winner goes mind being the weak link in the chain if it means and touring?
to the Vox AC30TB6 with Greenbacks. I don’t I’m learning and growing from the musicians know why, but that scenario defines me! It’s like around me.
[Tyler] Well, truthfully, I struggle at this. If it
blending the chimey sound with the Marshall
sound, I just love it!
[WM] If that is somewhat boutique, what
weren’t for my amazing wife, I don’t honestly
[WM] You are on staff as Musical Coordinator think I would hold it together that well. She
at Celebration Church in Georgetown, Texas. encourages me, supports me, tells me the hard
What does that role entail? things, and challenges me as a man of God
do you like to use for backline rental when
you’re touring?
[Tyler] I always shoot for an AC30 or AC15,
16
as well. On a scale of 1-10, my organizational
[Tyler] I love my church with all my heart! and administrative skills are like a 1.5 and my
Being on staff there is like a dream come creative skills are a 10.5. If I’m home and in
true. It’s more of a creative role, creating continued on 52
November 2017
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