the knowledge that he would never see it later, and I found myself as the Worship Pastor [Kristian] I was fortunate to have some
completed. What a fantastic parallel between of a growing church. We were about to move incredible mentors and training in the UK, and
the stone mason and a worship leader. We into our third space, a cinema complex, having it instilled in me both a passion for leading
get to craft, build and influence something that outgrown the previous two. However, our worship and a passion for equipping others. I
continues long after our involvement. production aspirations outstripped our ability, started a little blog to share my findings with
and we just did not have enough musicians. the hope it might inspire others, it did. Readers
If you step inside of Canterbury Cathedral, I was reminded of the old MIDI file playing started asking for skype lessons, and I created
you will notice something majestic about that Yamaha keyboard and wondered if a more templates and tools to help others jump-start
place. The very building draws your attention to modern solution existed. My research led me the process.
something bigger than yourself and hints at the to MultiTracks.com and Ableton Live. I found majesty of God. I wonder if, in today's church, we could purchase the stems to cover the [WM] When mobile phones started showing
technology can play a similar role? Maybe the parts we couldn't play and to cover for our up at church it was hard to tell if people were
creative use of technology can speak to the missing musicians. After a swift implementation texting or making notes about the message.
grandeur of God and draw people's attention and loads of fun experiments, we were able to You’ve got a pretty awesome story about
to something bigger. I'm convinced that deliver the type of experience we were aiming how you incorporated them into a worship
technology is a tool that can be leveraged to for. It’s a cliché, but it really did change the experience. Tell us about it?
create environments in which people can easily game for us.
encounter God. It is one of the powerful tools
[Kristian] The next few years after that first
available to the church, and it has never been [WM] CCLI got its start in the licensing video were an accelerated journey. I was
so affordable or as accessible as it is today. business back when churches were still using invited to lead worship regularly at Spring
overhead projectors to get lyrics on a screen. Harvest, New Wine and Creation Fest, three
[WM] When did you start incorporating What were some of the things you did before of the biggest festivals here in the UK. I was
technology into worship and how has that presentation software like ProPresenter was leading and leveraging technology in front of
evolved over the years? the norm? thousands, and we always wanted to stretch
[Kristian] My father was a church pastor and [Kristian] Back then, no one was automating a trumpet player, so I grew up in the church lyrics that we could find. Being in a cinema At New Wine in 2014, we were leading 2,000
playing brass instruments. One day, when I complex, we had a massive screen to utilize. young people in worship for the whole week.
was around seventeen years old, the family that I asked around the internet, and it seemed far We were aware that mobile phones were
made up the core of our worship team moved beyond the reach of a local church. But refusing becoming a massive part of these teenagers’
away. This left us with a bass player and two to give up, I discovered I could send a MIDI note lives and therefore, rather than telling them to
trumpet players. That's an exciting band line from Ableton over WiFi and convert that note turn them off, we wanted to use in them in
up! into a keystroke that would trigger a video on a worship. I designed a light show built to match
different computer. And with that basic set up, Hillsong Young & Free's Alive and embedded
We tried all sorts to maintain a musical we triggered a series of lyric videos and then the show inside a free App. We asked all the
expression to our worship. And then, probably slides in time with our tracks. Then we started young people to download the App throughout
because they couldn't stand it anymore, to trigger the lights too. the week and then on the last night we used it.
someone in our church bought us a keyboard To document this, I filmed a quick YouTube We asked everyone to open the App and hold
that played MIDI files from a 3.5" floppy disk. tutorial and within months that one video it in the air as I triggered our track. Through
Because I knew how to dial up the internet, it attracted 20,000 views. I followed this up with the speakers we played an inaudible tone
became my job to find, purchase and download a series of other poorly filmed videos, and all that synchronized all the phones and started
these MIDI files ready for use on a Sunday. For of them gained fantastic traction. A little while the light show on their screens. It was an
the next nine or ten months, I learned to lead later, ProPresenter created and released a MIDI incredible moment!
worship from behind this keyboard… the limit Module for their software, and many others of my musicality was pressing play and stop. started automating lyrics from Ableton.
the boundaries and see what was possible.
God really blessed our church through that
time, and we learned loads about worship.
[WM] Fast forward to today, you're a key
member of the MultiTracks.com team. What
[WM] How did the success of those YouTube does that mean to you, and are there any
videos lead you into inspiring others? ‘mountaintop’ experiences that jump out?
Fast forward ten years and a few guitar lessons
September 2019
Subscribe for Free...
145