Music Ministry

"I believe that music is one of the most powerful ways of affecting an emotional moment that can elevate the spiritual experience. For centuries our religious ceremonies have incorporated music for this reason. This experience can be elevated with the use of stage lighting. Color choices, movement, and timing of cueing are all very important to the enhancement of the song. Whether you are creating a rock concert environment for the youth, or have the soloist onstage for a singular simple song, if you are able to include the artistry of light the entire experience will feel fuller and more effective. A few thoughts to consider: 1 - If you are transitioning from a very important verbal message, and you want to create an emotional break from that moment, when the music starts gently fade the lighting from the white light that was on the speaker to a colorful surround that might in-capture the entire space. Then as the lyrics begin, add light to the performer so that they can be concentrated on. The switch from white light to a beautiful color and texture will immediately give your audience a sense of difference and relief. 2 - The manipulation of the level of intensity in the house lights, the lighting above the congregation, is an important choice at this point. Sometimes you will want to add light to the congregation to encourage them to sing-along, to be part of the musical experience. Other times you may choose to decrease the intensity on the congregation because you want them to feel the freedom to concentrate on the stage area and not feel like other people can see their emotional reactions. Sometimes we want to enjoy our spirituality personally. 3 - Many houses of worship have beautiful architecture. We can take advantage of this with light and accentuate the beauty. Often we may not notice how beautiful the ceiling is. Change that. Add lighting texture and highlights on pieces of the architecture or paintings that are on the ceiling that will add majesty to the moment. Do you have beautiful lighting fixtures in your ceiling? Originally those fixtures were to provide light. They probably still do that. But go ahead and light the outside of the fixture so that your congregation can see the detail and a beauty of the actual fixture itself. 4 - For those of us were putting on a full-blown rock concert, who have lighting braids with moving lights, hazers, and LED fixtures, the joy they have to experience along with the performers is just as artistic as the singers themselves. Programming the lighting, or running it on the fly, is an art form. Understanding the similarities of time signatures in music and cueing timing is very important. If the song is in four four time fades in the lighting should be in four or eight counts. If the song is in three fourths time then your fades should either be more of a three, six or nine count. There are no specific goals to how you queue a song. Just as a singer has interpretation and ability so does the lighting designer.Ê All in all, the general idea is for the lighting to go with the music. 5 - A personal favorite of mine are key changes in music that provide a perfect time to have an intensity, a focus, or a color change. When somebody can hear the transition, and see the transition, it will make it stronger. "