Songs & Updates for Saturday, February 22, 2014

This Saturday is the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Last Saturday was quite eventful, so please bear with me.

We were all surprised to find out that the new sound system had been installed. A guy from the company (Tom) was there throughout mass and rehearsals to get everything configured and balanced properly. I have limited experience with audio systems, so I won't go into the details, but rest assured that we now have a state-of-the-art system at our disposal. Besides individual audio mixers and headsets for each string instrument, we also have new mics, new speakers, and an iPad for a sound board :-)

In addition to all that, our music sheets have been redesigned. They now include more detailed info for visitors (the entire front inside page) as well as listing the Readings. The headers for each song have also been revised and the whole document is in a different font. Ours now more closely resemble the programs used by other churches.

During mass, we sung Joy & Peace in parts on individual mics (one voice part per mic) for the first time. I heard from several people that it sounded quite good, especially considering we only had a chance to run a small segment of the Gloria beforehand. Nice work, all!

Also, cantors: be aware that the new podium mic is very sensitive (there's now no need to 'eat the mic'). You may even want to stand back more than usual (trust me -- I ended up being the first to use it).

After mass, a good three-quarters of practice was spent discussing the operation and technical aspects of the new sound equipment. We then reviewed SS 201 (our Gathering song in two weeks) since Jonathan was unfamiliar with it, and tried out a different singing technique on 'Shout to the Lord'. Ginny and Lisa K. also went over the Psalm for next week, SS 77.

In other news, Jim and I (as well as the other choir and committee leaders) have been asked to attend the Lenten Planning Meeting being held at the Rectory this evening. I'll try to let everyone know of any music-related updates/changes as I become aware of them.

PLANNING MEETING UPDATES:

• I had a chance to look through the latest version of Gather (GC3) in our search for Lenten songs. Apparently, the Church has three or four copies on-hand, but we won't be getting more any time soon (not in the budget).

• As far as the Mass Setting goes, we'll be switching to revised Mass of Remembrance. I know we just perfected Joy & Peace, but we've used this setting in the past, so it should be relatively familiar (check out sampler audio here). The Office is ordering the materials for us; I'll be ordering a booklet for myself to get a jump-start on 're-learning' this setting.

• There won't be a Common Psalm this year, but we will have a Common Gathering Song, GC 743, Come to Us. Joanne originally found this tune in GC3, but we were lucky enough to also find it in 'old' GC. We'll have to take time to learn this since it's new, but it doesn't look too bad.

Karina and I are out this week due to Karina's District Jazz concert out-of-town. There's a slight chance we'll make it back in time, but I wouldn't count on it.

There is practice after mass this week -- any takers on dinner? The Fricke's are covering dinner.

Here are the songs for this week:

Gathering:

GC 528 - Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You

Glory to God:
Mass of Joy & Peace

Response:

SS 77 - The Lord is Kind and Merciful (Psalm 107)

Alleluia:
Mass of Joy & Peace

Preparation:
SS 95 - Holy is His Name

Communion:
SS 165 - We Are One Body

Closing:
SS 113 - Go Make a Difference

(Wow...that was a looong post. Again, sorry about that...)

See you all in two weeks!

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