"I don't use Presets"… and other non-sense

Posted by Will in Transitioning your Band to Using Loops

I‘ve got to admit, I’ve uttered those words before. It gives you a sense of satisfaction, a sense of exclusivity. “Oh, you like my pad sound, I made it. You can’t just buy it”. There’s lot’s of validity to the thought. You create sounds that are custom tailored to your needs. They respond to how YOU play. They fill out the space in your band. It’s a great idea.

A few weeks ago I was spending sometime rummaging through the Live Suite Library for a project. I was listening to the included sounds and trying to discover the sounds that work well, and those that don’t. I discovered theres alot of great great sounds in the library. I went through and saved a few presets into my Custom Presets folder to remember for later.

Here’s the point: When it comes down to it, It doesn’t matter if I’m using a preset I created and designed, or one thats part of the Ableton Library. The congregation isn’t going to worship more or less because of my preset. God isn’t going to be honored more because I created my own sounds.

The truth is…It doesn’t matter how or even IF you use loops. I’ve always felt there are good, better, and best, ways to use loops. But if you’re running loops of an iPod, your congregation probably won’t know if you start running loops out of Ableton Live. If you’re using Fruity Loops to create your loops, will your church membership double when you start using Reason?

Here’s the take-away. If you feel called to use loops, if you feel its something God has put on your heart to pursue-then do it. Now. Don’t wait till you can afford Ableton Live. Start using an iPod. Do what you have to do, but start. You and your band will notice as you upgrade to Ableton and become more flexible and less time consuming, but the point is.. start doing it now, with what you have.

What are you waiting for?

Will Doggett is a certified Ableton Live Instructor, musician, worship leader and educator based out of FL. He currently works in the Worship Ministry at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and teaches Ableton Live and Ensemble courses at Ocean's Edge School of Worship . You can reach him by Email and find him on Twitter @willdoggett. He's currently available for consultation and training for churches and musicians interesting in learning to integrate Live into their setups. Want more info? Shoot him an Email!

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