DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

We will be playing this song Sunday, and I'm not sure what to do with it. It sounds to me like the 16th hh is overdubbed on another rhythm. I like the 16th notes, but I'm afraid that I'd have trouble carrying them at a good steady rhythm thruout the song w/o screwing it up, at the point where I am ability-wise. And it seems to me that the quarters on the kick are the driving force behind the drum part.

So could you give this a listen and make suggestions? Thanks. When you get to the link (http://www.leadworship.com/resources/songbook.html), click on"listen and play" for Hosanna in the "special song downloads" in the box.

robyn

http://www.leadworship.com/resources/songbook.html

You're smart for looking for an easy groove to play. Something that's hard to play is often hard to listen to.

Try this:

Right hand: 8th notes on the hihat, with accents (if you can) on all the "ands"

Left hand: Snare on 2 and 4, and move over to the hihat on the "ah" of 2 and 4 and the "e" of 1 and 3. It's a beat you probably already know how to play if you were keeping your left hand on the snare. But by moving it to the hihat you help imply a 16th note hihat feel, but it should still be a relaxed and easy pattern to play.

Later when the song builds, move the right hand to the ride. If you can, try to cop that off-beat pattern where the drummer plays the bell of the ride on all the "ands."

An alternate way to play the beat I described is to keep your left hand on the hihat all the time, and catch the 2 and 4 on the snare with your right. Try both, and use whichever variation feels the most relaxed.

Hope this helps!

If you have guitars playing, they will be playing the sixteenth-notes in their strumming. I would just simply the groove ... sticking with eighth-notes for your ride pattern (HiHat or Ride cymbal).

In the recording ... the sixteenth-notes you hear are coming from guitars and a LOOP.

Keep it simple, make it groove, play what feels good. Even straight quarter-notes on the HiHat and Ride would work if you needed to.

You can also imply the sixteenth-note feel by adding some every now and then on the HiHat or Snare.

P.S. I've worked with Paul Baloche before. Used to live down the road from him in Lindale, TX ... and attended a small church where he was leading worship. Great guy; great musician.

Bingo!

I agree with the 4-on-the-floor bass drum.  The song needs it.  The 16ths on the hats would help drive it along, but you could get away with 8th notes on the hats, with a strong backbeat on the snare.  Its got that nice little off-beat on the ride cymbal bell thing going in the guitar solo right before the breakdown.  The snare drum starts building back out of the breakdown - that's nice to leave in.

Sounds like a fun song to play - good luck with it.  Curious to see what others will say.

I like all of these suggestions. I would suggest for the intro playing just hi-hats, whether you want to play 8ths or broken 16ths or if you feel comfortable playing straight 16ths without playing anything else. Half-way through verse 1 start playing the bass drum on 2 and 4, like on the song. At that point I would definitely suggest 8ths on the hats. At the end of verse 1 play all the quarters on the bass drum. Then add snare on 2 and 4 through the chorus. The accents that have been mentioned would sound great, but if you aren't comfortable with them then it will sound good without them as well. One very important thing that I always focus on is dynamics. Of course, that will only work when the rest of your team does the same.

I went to Paul Baloche's church for a service once last year. It was interesting. It was a small church in the country. The building wasn't overly nice, but they sure had great sound and video. I wonder how that happened.  ;)

Here's what I came up with just puttering w/ it this am:  quarters on both kick and hihat (foot), 8ths on hihat w/ the stick, 2&4 on snare, lots of 4e&a tom fills in appropriate places. It seemed to carry the 16th pattern pretty well, and was plenty easy for me to play. I can play the 16th hihat at the beginning and towards the end easily enough--just didn't think I could carry it thru the whole song.
 Problem w/ the guitar is that there's only one playing this week, acoustic rhythm guitar. Then a bit of keyboards,sax, and bass, and that's us for the week. :o  It actually sounded pretty good at practice last night w/ me playing 16ths on the hh the whole way thru, so it really needs that pattern.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm going to go back thru and digest them a bit, play around w/ some things and figure out what works the best.

robyn

Hi Robyn,

This is a favorite song at my church!  Since we've done this so many times I've had the opportunity to experiment with different approaches.  Paul Baloche's band has a lot happening on the CD version of this song... but don't worry about trying to get it exactly like that... A simple 1/8 note rock groove works great.  Below are the notes I use for this song.

I like the two suspended cymbol creshendos at the into... but I find it easier to bring it in with the vocal and peak the creshendo at "eyes are turning to You" (1st one) and "hearts are yearning for You".  Then bring in bass on 2 & 4 at "cuz when we see You we find strength..." ... and move to a 4_on_the_floor bass pattern at "all our fears are washed away" ...

by the way, the word "Hosanna" was used in Greek & Hebrew as a cry of addoration to God.  Hope you guys enjoy playing this cool Praise_&_Worship song.

Ditto to Diddle
Trying to get it to sound just like the CD is a waste of time in my experience.  Of course you want the congregation to be able to recognize it but the solid groove from bass and snare are the most important parts.  We like to try and make these songs our own instead of reproducing the CD version...  I can't add anything else to what's been said except that I know you'll enjoy playing this.  I'm not sure what it is but rhythm guitar driven, 4 on the floor songs are not what I have in my CD player and iPOD.  HOWEVER, when I play these songs and the band is clicking and the congregation is really into it, it's a lot of fun. Enjoy...

I've played on a lot of P&W albums over the years, and much of the song repretoire is first run (never recorded before), and in a live event situation. I'm always amazed to hear drummers at other churches spending a great deal of time trying to copy exactly what I played on the record ... because that is what is on the CD. Sometimes it's not them but rather the music minister or worship leader wanting/desiring/insisting that they learn the part as it is on the CD. What they don't seem to realize is that all of my parts, whether drums or percussion, were "in the moment" and off-the-cuff. There's stuff I played that I would have done differently had I been able to go in a fix it.

My point with this is that you should just use the recording as a guide ... and just do your own thing. I'm suggesting that you change the style, although you can certainly do that as long as the worship leader is keen to the idea, but rather make the drum/percussion parts be what YOU want to say in the song. That's what God wants anyway ... what you have to say about Him through your music, voice, instrument.

The studio recorded P&W tunes tend to be over-produced (thank you record labels), but that's the climate right now. Things are starting to change (slowly) and the music recordings are beginning to get back to their roots, sounding more organic and less sterile. Unless you plan to use loops and lots of processing, you'll never be able to make it sound "just like the record".

I played at one of the largest churches in the DFW area, and they always liked it to sound "just like the CD". I had fun working with loops, samplers, sequences, etc., and didn't mind the challenge. But if it every got to be too much work, I would just blow it off and nicely tell them it's not going to happen. It's worship ... not a show. Give your best and do your best. Make the music feel good and help the worshipers to get to a place where they can express themselves to their Maker. If you do that ... you've done your job, and done it well.

Not only is this a salient point, it's a potential obstacle when the acoustic guitar is hot in the mix (like most churches I've played in). If you try to play sixteenths to that, you're almost destined to end up fighting the acoustic guitarist for time.

I'm lucky enough to play in a church with a percussionist. I would instruct him to play a sixteenth-note shaker pattern and stick to quarters/eighths on the hi-hats. That background hat pattern sounds more like a shaker part anyway. If there's someone else on your stage who knows how to play a shaker (backup singer?), that might solve your problem.


Amen to that. Wonder how your buddy Tom feels about the direction of it all that he helped create.

Thank you!! I really needed to hear this again--I've been told it before, but being extremely anal, I want to get everything as close as I can. I'm still working on letting go and letting it happen.

But thanks everyone for the suggestions--good stuff that I can use and incorporate for this song.  :) And it is great fun to play!

robyn

I like this thread. We do a lot of David Crowder songs at my church. The David Crowder Band uses a lot of loops, but we don't. That means the songs won't be exact but we aren't trying to be exact. We are not the David Crowder Band. If we wanted it to be exact, then we should just play their cd. The challenge can be to figure out through the loops and the drums what to play.

The biggest thing I do is to copy the feel of the song. I don't try to copy every single fill or anything like that. I do try to copy dynamics and the overall feel of the song. I wouldn't want to take a song like Hosanna with straight quarter bass drum driving and play a songo instead. Sometimes we take songs and make them completely different. The nice thing is we can do that, because we aren't a cover band. We can do what we want, what will work best for us, and what will work best for our congregation. That is the most important thing.

I started playing drums in church in 1989, nearly all of them Vineyard songs. Rarely did we change the arrangements, and rarely did I change the drum parts.

Then I played a couple of worship festivals and special performances with the original songwriters and they seemed fairly adamant the parts changed on many of their songs. A studio performance almost always got changed, and a live performance ... go for the feel, but definitely bring your own tools to the table.

Hosanna? Wasn't that the song with the shuffle Jeff Porcaro was famous for? :P

No, that was Rosanna. ;)

Amen brother!

Speaking of the David Crowder Band ... they are in Waco, TX this very moment recording their next album ... in a converted barn. True.

A barn just seems to fit them. They are nuts, but I do like them.

It is a converted barn, from what I understand, but yes ... it fits.

LOL!

i was thinking the same thing.

Well here's the latest...after Bart mentioned that the 16th notes are looped, I passed this on to the music director, and that it's possible to program the e-kit to play a loop, altho I don't know how to do it. (He's the one who's the tech-head, not me! ;D)  He thought it was a good idea and so will try to program the 16th note loop in and see how that works. So it's back to woodshedding for me, to see what to play on top. I've never played w/ a loop before, so this ought to be interesting.

robyn

Ah, Waco, Texas...I must comment.<G>   I think David's house is on a historic registry.  My brother-in-law did some cabinets for him and said his wife was real nice (for which we ribbed my BIL quite a bit.)  My daughters have been over to his church a few times...the older one likes him and the younger thinks he's kind of freaky.  I had the pleasure of eating with his drummer and a couple of other band members at Luby's cafeteria...unfortunately my daughter didn't mention who was in the next booth until after we had left.  :'(

To keep this on topic...we also do Hosanna on a semi-regular basis.  Actually not one of my preferred songs, but its OK. :)  We're rather fortunate in that the worship leader expects us to put our stamp on a song rather than do them as covers.  Typically we'll listen to the song a couple of times when first learning it and then whatever we end up doing is our version...key, dynamic and tempo differences from a recorded version are not uncommon. 

As Bart mentioned, the studio production stuff (and even some of the live shenanigans) can prohibit doing them exactly as recorded without electronics and/or more warm bodies.

--David

How good is the rest of the group at playing with a "click" or a loop?  That's pretty much what they'll be doing.

That can be a trick, but I don't think song should pose major problems for the average musician. You just hope whomever's doing the programming has the right tempo in his head. Most importantly, there's no need for a tempo upkick on the chorus. The song is almost hypnotic in the way it's written. On of my biggest criticisms of modern worship music is the lack of distinctive chorus, but very static tempos are the norm these days: Open the Eyes of My Heart, Let My Life Be Like a Love Song, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, etc. In some of those songs the chords don't even change from verse to chorus.

Agreed.  Just wondering about robyn's take on them as musicians.

I agree completely. I am all about dynamics and have distinct sections of songs. One of my favorite things is to hear a band use extremes in dynamics. That is something often overlooked by many musicians these days, in praise and worship and in other genres as well.

Unless you're set up so you can hear the loop really well, and everybody can hear you well enough to follow you, a loop might be more trouble than help.

I agree.

My solution has been to make sure that I can really hear the loop, and that's all that matters. As long as I hear the loop, and people are following me, which they would/should have to do in any other situation ... even without a loop ... everything is okay. It's up to the sound engineer to make sure the mix out front is good. The rest of the band doesn't have to hear the finished product .... and they usually don't in most large churches.

So, as Mister Acrolite said ... it may be trouble waiting to happen. Why? Because you and the band are not used to YOU or anyone else playing to a click or metronome. If they've not experienced that, they may not be listening and following you as much as they should or that you'd like them to. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Playing to a loop is one way to find out ... but I sure would make sure that it works in rehearsal before committing to it.

Robyn,
IMHO Don't even consider using the loop unless you have time with all the rhythm section to work at it for a while and to work out the loop in and out. If the musicians are not used to doing this as a group it could be disastrous.

Yep.  That was the reason for my question about the rest of the players.  The whole thing could go all pear-shaped really quickly.   :-\

Try this groove.

(http://www.keithcronin.com/drumstuff/hosanna.gif)

It will be something to definitely double check in rehearsal. We can always back off to Plan B. I have played to a click before w/ the band, and they are good about following me. I've started playing w/ headphones now, plugged into the console of the e-kit, and fortunately I can hear my bandmates as well as myself w/ these headphones. I can't hear the congregation singing, but I can hear the band and singers. We programmed the loop this pm, tweaked until we got it to the right volume, and figured out how we will stop and start it w/o it sounding too abrupt. I can hear it fine thru my headphones (along w/ what I play), and my plan is to do some practicing w/ the kit over the next couple days to get comfortable w/ it. Now I've found w/ the loop I need to back off and just play quarter notes on my cymbal, or it ends up sounding muddy if I play 8ths. 

All we can do is try it out, see how it works. If everyone hates it, then we'll can it. But if we can pull it off, I think it will really add to the song.

robyn

I'm coming late to this thread, but I like what Bart said here.  I just catch the vibe of the song and do whatever comes to me.  For this song I'd be doing mostly 8th note driven hats, 4 on the floor and embellishments as needed.  On the chorus, I'd be on the ride adding some 16ths similar to what Mr. A provided. 

That's a good thing. I, by design, can't hear the congregation singing either. Most of the time I'm able to drown out the tambourine (Satan's greatest tool).

Well of all things, we're doing Hosanna this Sunday so I got a chance to run through it last night.... 

The only time I try to approximate the loop (with 16ths on the HH) is during the intro as the song gets cranked up.  A strong 4 on kick with 8ths on the HH through much of the song after that, but I try to remember to give an emphasis on the +'s during the verse and the downbeat during the chorus. (Sometimes I remember.)  I'm also kind of remembering a turn where I switch to ride while things are winding down towards the end and then finish up big, but I've slept since rehearsal.

I usually at least listen to the songs several times before Sunday (play along if its something new or just because I want to), make a few notes on the song list to remind me what I intend to do (since I'm getting old and never can remember who's starting a song) and then play whatever seems right for that morning.

I wish I was good enough to do this. ::) I've been sweating about this all week. I have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D... ::)

robyn

In another weird coincidence to this thread, my older daughter just stuck her head in and said Ted Nugent played on one of the songs.  I'm not sure how he got connected up with Crowder, but Nugent has a house here which I drive by every day on the way home from work...maybe those prayers haven't fallen on deaf ears after all.  ;)

I rather suspect you'll do just fine and then wonder what the big deal was. :)  If the congregation has to hear the song as recorded, just play the CD for them.  What they need are worship leaders up front leading them in worship--playing or not playing the song as recorded is fairly unimportant in that context.

Just play what feels right to you.  Nice and easy - stick with what you know.  You'll do fine.

To clarify... :)  I consider myself of average skill on good days...what I was trying to communicate was that I don't agonize over playing it exactly as recorded.  In some cases I work on playing something closer to what is recorded, but its mainly because I like what was played rather than because it has to be done that way.

I'd consider leaving the whole song wide open from your perspective.  As has been mentioned earlier (and especially IF a loop was used at any time present or future) the guitars are going to be hitting that 16th note pattern.  What strikes me from a drummers perspective, more than anything, are the "&"s  being played on the ride cymbal throughout much of the song.  I LOVE playing in this style and if I know I've got other instruments or especially a percussionist (sadly thats usually me and I don't get the priv. of working with one while I'm on kit) hitting those 16th's then there's no reason for me to lock myself into that part of the groove.  I imagine sitting there at your kit, with what I've got in mind as your worship team and playing 1/8 notes on the verses and the "&"s on the choruses with a simple but heavy 2 and 4 on snare.  That would leave me open to play 1/4s on the bass OR flavor the groove with a little bit bass play (slightly- think of it a salt to flavor the song- too much and you kill it with overplay) such as: on the chorus 1 / / / 2 / / / 3 / / / 4 / / /
1 / / / 2 / / / 3 / / a / / & /  for the bass with snare on 2 and 4.  Once again keeping it real basic but with very occasional "fun" offshoots from the basic pattern.  Do you have a lead guitarist hitting the guitar solo in the middle of tha song?  I don't recall the specs on your church, if you can play out or have to reign in the volume but that short section just SCREAMS for me to play an open 1/4 note ride pattern but on a crash cymbal.  You'd have to have a really good sound system not to play over the guitar at that point however.
I just WISH we were playing this kind of stuff at our church, we seem to be several years behind the current new music out these days but were catching up.  This song is such a celebratory piece.   Keep it simple, leave it open but have fun with it.  You are playing drums in a worship setting for the purpose to help others worship but there is absolutely no reason why you should not consider yourself to be PLAYING for an audience of 1 and worshipping WITH your drums while at the same time (no pun intended) keeping everyone else in mind as far as blending musically goes, etc.

Ok Miss Robyn, I want to know how the song went today. Tell me how you ended up playing it, please.

Come on Robyn, you have kept us waiting long enough.  (http://louisrussell.com/clogo.gif)

Yes, tell us what you ended up doing and I'll tell you what I ended up doing (which was somewhat different than usual.)

Robyn.....Robyn.........Beuler 8)

My guess is she tore it up yesterday, got picked up by a band, is already out on the road touring and has already forgotten about us.

Sorry, the guys went off and left me by myself for a few days, so I've been busy...enjoying the peace and quiet. (And for anyone in my area who thinks they might like to snoop around, yes, I'm by myself...except for my doberman and my friends Smith and Wesson. >:()

IT WENT GREAT!!! The loop worked perfectly, and I'm so proud of my band--they are a wonderful, sensitive group of musicians. I'd sent everyone an email prior to Sunday, passing along the warnings given by several DC members about the hazards of playing live to a loop. So everyone was right on top of things, we worked out a few minor details in practice (ie, since the song starts w/ loop and some accents, I waved my stick to keep time for the singer--that worked well).  The only hitch was that the music director, Joe, had a cold and wasn't feeling the best. He was on keys, and started the song in the wrong key. Oops! So we paused for a few seconds and started over. It happens. And he couldn't sing, so there was only one singer, and she doesn't have a strong voice.  So we ended up canning the song for the second service, but Joe is considering it for this next Sunday, when we'll have our electric guitarist to fill in w/ all the great guitar riffs. He's a great kid, very talented, works hard and plays well. So then we'll have 2 guitarists, the strongest of the 3 bass players we have, and hopefully Joe will have his voice back by then!

As far as what I played--I put the majority of my attention to keeping on track w/ the loop. I learned alot, noticing that I'd have the tendency to want to slow down. So I had to keep on top of it. I played a straightforward pattern--quarters on ride and kick, 2&4 snare, short 16th note fills to keep the 16th note emphasis, and most of the accents (cymbal swells, etc, the snare rhythm at the end, some of the crashes on beat 2 instead of 1, etc). However, I'm very weak at accented beats--something I'm going to really start focusing on in lessons--so I didn't do the &'s on the ride, nor in the snare bit. I'm going to work on that this week if we decide to do the song again.

I'm glad I chose to do it this way. I was reminded of a Wayne Gretzky quote:  "You miss 100% of the shots you never take" and that's why I decided to go for trying the loop. I think w/ a fuller band and a bit more practice we can do the song the justice it deserves.

robyn

ps--only in my dreams, amoacristo! ;D

And thanks again to all of you, for all the support. This really is the greatest place on the internet!! ;D

robyn

At least you have good dreams.

It sounds like everything went well with your drumming. I hope you get a chance to do it again with a fuller band and your leader being able to sing.

It sounds like it was a great learning experience for everyone.  Sometimes it is a little fun  to move out of your comfort zone!  I knew you could make it work. 

comfort zone?  you mean were supposed to play IN one? 

I kid but church praise bands aren't exactly like any other kind of band.  Case in point, I've discussed this with my music minister at times.  Personally, I've believed every member of a praise band should be there strickly on a volunteer basis (now I realize that many here probably get paid to at least some degree and biblically I believe there is basis for such payment.....).  Now, this is ME speaking from my limited scope of praise bands that I have worked within and churches which are usually relying upon volunteer work.  If you drum in a mega church or one that is financially to the point of offering all musicians pay, then great.  My point in bringing this up though is that my music minister has had to consider various means or rules by which musicians can be able to play.  For example, on one hand, if he were to PAY all musicians then he could expect a certain amount of private practise, mandatory rehersal time and definite presence of all paid musicians at each request of their being present.  On the other hand, having all volunteers more closely (not definitly) helps to ensure people are there for the right reasons- no money motivation getting in the way, etc.
We have a situation in our church where a couple are paid due to their request at weddings, etc. and the rest are volunteers and boy, I'm just not certain my initial idea was correct.
How many times have I had to sit in at rehersal for the scheduled drummer for that next Sunday, not get to go over what I'm going to be ding that Sunday and having that drummer come in cold not knowing what to expect.  As a result of this and others not showing up we can't spend time honing the endings of songs, etc. because quite a few won't have learned what is being done.  Having a reason to ensure people are present seems pretty good to me right now-  coming under that situation I'm sure there would be other problems crop and thus my point is made... we never are totally, 100% in our comfort zone...
but that can be a good thing- keeps situations fresh and the mind alert, etc.

Robyn- I'm so glad things went well for you and hope you do get a chance to work up the song next week with a fuller compliment of musicians along side.  Should be really great. :)

Robyn, you're an ispiration. I mean that. You go girl!!!!

Thats the truth!  Any girl who plays and packs a gun is OK in my books.   ;D

Mine to. That's awesome!

This is really a whole other thread that I'm going to start right now.

Yeah- sorry for commenting on it in such length.  I really didn't intend but to reply quickly to Louis comment.... then I just kept rambling on :P

Well, Robyn, did you guys end up doing this song again today? If so, how did it go?

No... :(  Too much other new stuff to cram into the morning. But it's always a good experience. Generally I tend to focus too much on my mistakes, and gloss over the songs that went well, b/c "they were easy anyway." ::)  So it's hard for me to not get frustrated w/ my playing on a regular basis. On the bright side, that attitude helps me to strive harder to be a better player b/c, to be quite honest, I'm the weakest member of the band.  So I tend to work harder.

I'm sure we will get back to this song again, tho. And by then I'll be that much better to be able to play it. We did one today, called "Victory in Jesus" which (I think) is a hymn that we have done in a marvelous swing style. The first time we played it, late last year maybe, I really struggled w/ it, getting a neat swing pattern but keeping it at a fast enough tempo. It was much easier today, w/ both the tempo and the swing! I put it on the gospel kit, which has a tambo for the ride cymbal sound--that was a lot of fun, and got everyone clapping along.

robyn

I love "Victory In Jesus" in that style.  My other favorite is "Blessed Assurance" with a blues feel.  It sounds like you are having a blast and learning a lot at the same time.

Robyn, I like you. I like your honesty about your playing, though I have a feeling that you are probably better than you let on. When so many people out there think they are better than they really are, which annoys me more than just about anything, it is nice when someone is not like that. Also, I love your excitement for the drums and for learning new things. Keep up the good work and keep posting on your progress. For some reason, I find myself excited for you when you learn something new.

Don't know exactly why I felt the need to say all of that, but I was thinking it so I figured I might as well say it.

Thank you! The positive feedback really helps! :) Maybe it's because I waited almost 30 years to learn how to play drums, so being able to see my own progress (the rapidity of which I attribute mostly to having a fantastic teacher!) is pretty exciting!

Louis, I like the idea of Blessed Assurance played in a bluesy way. I will have to suggest that.

robyn

That song is on a Michael English CD and sounds wonderful.  Everyone loves the Blessed Assurance Blues at my church. 

We always do that in swing style as well.....along with a lot of other uptempo hymns.  The beauty of being a church drummer is that you get to play all the styles and beats that most drummers only practice.

Very true, and if your church is like my church, you get to learn to flow and use extreme dynamics without it being structured before. Our worship leader tells us all the time to watch him and listen to him because we may not do a song during service just like we do it in practice. That happens all the time. I love it because it really helps you listen to every one else. So many great drummers talk about it being so important to listen to every one else, yet so many drummers don't do that. Playing in church is such a great experience.

Definitely! I think my learning has gone so much faster b/c of having to learn so many different styles--swing, to rock, to country...  You're right about having to adjust--our band leader does this too, changing things up mid-performance. I'm always watching him, and the whole band gets really tuned in to each other--a very cool feeling.
 And now I think I've gotten my head around the idea of letting my own voice be heard on the drums.

Now my latest experience is truly making up my own part, as one of the guitarists has written a few songs and asked me to play the drums on them. Not only does she really like what I came up w/, but now we are going to hit the studio and record demo tracks. :o  A couple mos ago someone here made a comment to me about "if you ever do any studio work" and I thought "yeah right ::)"... who'da thunk?!

robyn

That's great. I'm really happy for you. I have a similar thing going here. My worship leader writes his own songs. I just joined with him to travel with him also. He is recording some demos now that I will probably be playing on. I am really excited because he writes really, really great songs.

Robyn, Amo-
Great to hear about the work you are getting to do, and the previous comments about the various styles in church-play is so true for me as well.  Gotta keep on your toes at all times because things come up and sometimes songs have to be cut or the pastor wants one more played and thats off the cuff, etc.
Getting the chance to do some studio work sounds really good to me- hope the experience goes really well for both of you in your respective efforts :)