Blog – Page 2 – Motion Worship – Video Loops, Countdowns, & Moving Backgrounds for the Christian Church

Guide Track Tutorial | Ableton in 5 Minutes

Download your free guide cue samples here! This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover how to use vocal ...

How Often Should a Church Change its Set Design?

Lighting and stage design are some of the most visible elements of church service production. When done well, it has the unique ability to elevate the impact of the content you are presenting from the stage, whether it’s a song, a video clip, or a sermon. On the other hand, when done poorly, it has the potential to distract and take away from your overall message. So, how often should you upd...

Advanced Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5-minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover some more advanced methods of customizing click tracks for your...

Building Basic Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, Chris will walk you through the most basic method of setting up click track...

How to Keep Church Media Up to Date and Relevant

Churches change incredibly fast. The type and style of music, the lighting setups of all the major “big” churches who set the pace for mainstream church culture, and the type of media we use on our screens. Any of us who’ve worked behind the scenes in some capacity have all seen the phases of development from a creative standpoint. Old CCM and choral music to modern day worship, nature-ba...

Tips for Making a Fall-Themed Church Stage Design

Fall is around the corner already! Between fall kickoff, youth events, the start of small groups, and all other activities your church may be vamping up, fall can be a really busy season for most ministries. The “back-to-school” mentality gets kids excited, which can also give parents a bit more headspace to get involved in church activities. With all that said, you want your fall church se...

Tips for Getting a Professional Mix at Small Churches

I’m continuously surprised by how many FOH engineers I’ve met at churches that show no interest in improving or caring about the sound on a Sunday morning. They just want to make sure everything is on, pull up their presets, and purely play a game of damage control if necessary. But there’s clearly no drive to really focus on getting their mixes sounding professional and trying to strive for...

Tips for Buying & Tuning Church Drums on a Budget

Drums are incredibly expensive. I know because I’m a drummer. And I have a drum gear hoarding problem... But buying drums on a budget is a bit different than other instruments. With a guitar, bass, or keyboard, you have to buy one at it’s list price and that’s what it costs – you have the instrument. With drums, it’s much easier to mix together snares with different drum kits, cymbals...

Four Tips for Elevating Production Quality Right Now

When it comes to tightening up production quality on Sundays, a few tweaks can go a long way. Often, it’s not about adding more, but about making sure that what you already have is clean, consistent, and ready to go come the weekend. Here are four tips you can apply right now to tighten up your production quality week after week: Slide to the Right For most small to mid-sized churches, ...

Church Decisions: Trading the Projector for an LED Screen

LED screens vs. Projectors: How do they compare? Technology can make or break a weekend experience. If your church is like most, you depend on quality images and visuals that are consistent and engaging. LED screens are pricey, but deliver dividends upon dividends over projectors when it comes to image quality and lifespan. If your church is considering making the leap from projectors to an LED...

Making Livestream Church Services Look Professional

Church service livestreaming has certainly gotten popular since the pandemic hit. While it’s a step in the right direction, it’s been a huge stressor for several churches across the nation. Making livestream church services look professional is tough. There are so many factors that contribute to the look of your services online - lighting, cameras, lenses, number and angle of shots, and the...

Getting Students Involved as Church Video Team Volunteers

Being a part of the church video team on Sunday mornings is pretty intense. There’s a lot going on at every second, and it’s easy to get burned out quickly if you’re not careful. If you’re running a camera, you are committed to a single seat for an entire service, and you never get the chance to let your guard down. You always have to be ready to follow the pastor and change things on the ...

Buying Church Media Assets: How to Convince “The Boss”

Aside from a few larger churches where everyone has a departmental budget, most church media teams need to convince their pastor to purchase any piece of gear or new media assets. If you’ve been left with that role, you know the anxiety that comes before “the pitch.” He’s going to ask why you need it, how much it costs, probably stall for a second, and then ask you why you don’t consi...

5 Tips for Making the Most of Your Church Tech Budget

I’m convinced that nobody - absolutely nobody - would be capable of spending a six or seven-figure budget as fast as a church tech director. While I joke, the truth is that everything in that world is expensive, and there is always a better version of whatever it is you’re buying. Cameras, computers, light boards, lights, sound boards, stage designs, audio systems, music gear, software… U...

Creating an Engaging Christmas Worship Setlist

It’s that time of year again, where we all run around panicking about Christmas services and that our ideas won’t be executed properly. We’re kidding... kind of. Hopefully you’re more organized this year than ever before, and we’re sure that no matter what you choose to do, everything will work out fine. However, for worship pastors, there’s always a lot of stress around building...

Best Places to Find Youth Ministry Countdown Videos

Finding church media can be really difficult – especially when you’re looking for quality stuff on a low budget. It seems like there’s a million different companies offering countdowns, motion backgrounds, and mini-movies, and it’s hard to know which one is right to go with. Some services are hundreds of dollars per year, while you can find free media in other places – but it all varies ...

What Drum Equipment Needs to be Replaced at My Church?

Drums are supposed to be the life, dynamics, and foundation of any worship song. But usually… church drum sets sound BAD. If you’re reading this article, you probably are experiencing it firsthand. Obviously, as with anything sound-related, getting a good drum sound is a multi-facetted topic with endless factors including equipment, room, acoustic treatment, mics, mixing, the drummer who’s a...

Ditch the Drum Shield: A Message to All Churches

Drum shields are a touchy topic. Primarily because everyone seems to be super opinionated about it. Drummers *hate* climbing into an enclosure, and sound guys *hate* dealing with loud drummers. I’ve played drums in countless - differently sized - rooms for various styles of music and I can tell you with full certainty that drum shields are not necessary. Don’t get me wrong - I completely, 1...

Where to Find Great Affordable Church Media

The modern church relies heavily on media for worship music, lyric and sermon slides, sermon videos, livestreams, and social media. The reason is simple - media can aid in communicating a message clearly. Audio and visuals accompany messages to make them “stick” with people. Whether it’s premade and purchased videos and mini-movies, or separate media components for in-house video producti...

3 Crucial Church Snare Drum Mixing and EQ Tips

Mixing drums in live worship music can be really difficult. Not only are you battling the mix of the entire band – the room you’re in has limitations regardless of how small or big of a space it is. On top of that, the mics used, sound equipment installed, and mixing board will all play a role in the final sound of your mix. However, there are a few concrete “principals” that can be applie...