by Mr. Josh Gerbrandt
Project Description:
Throughout the Senior Music Course students worked on a variety of praise songs, and the Focus Day at Gateway Church provided an opportunity for students to record and hear what they sound like. The goal was to learn about the technology of recording and live sound in a church, along with the opportunity to hear themselves and see how their musical skill has improved throughout the course. Earlier in the class we did some recordings at the school, so it was great to be able to hear a “before and after” story of their learning and development of performance skill.
Teacher Perspective:
The experience at Gateway Church was illuminating for many students, especially when using different technologies that we are used to, especially the concept of “in-ear” monitoring. We listened to our recordings after they had been made and were able to make immediate connections to the performance skill development. Some students took on the task of live-mixing the auditorium to get a feel for what it is like to blend the sounds they were hearing, applying musical creativity and critical thinking processes all at once. Students engaged wholeheartedly in the process, stepped out of their comfort zone by recording their voice for the first time as well as picking up and recording instruments they hadn’t played before. It was truly a blessing to see students grow in their ability to lead a congregation in worship as well as develop their musical skills to a higher level.