I know Ichthus has been over for a few days, but I figured I'd give some final closing thoughts.
I spend my first two posts lamenting the poor audio quality but I do have to admit that the third day of the festival showed major improvement. The main stage was vastly better than the previous days. Not only was the audio tolerable and not painful, but it was actually quite good. I have a few different preferences when it comes to mixing, but all in all it wasn't painfully bad.
The 3rd stage was also much better. The second day of the festival I threw in some ear plugs at this stage because one or two of the frequencies were pretty painful, but they seemed to have worked out all of the problems and it sounded as good as a small stage with that kind of gear can be expected to sound.
The one exception to vast improvement to the audio quality was the 2nd stage. While this stage wasn't too bad the first two days it had some pretty serious feedback issues on the last day of the festival. After they fixed the feedback issues they still had issues with the mix being poor, but luckily most of the final bands were hard rock/punk rock bands and you can get a way with a bad mix if you crank the volume. One very noticeable problem on this stage was the drum kit for the MxPx show. Either the sounds guys weren't good or they just didn't have a lot of time to EQ it, but either way the kit sounded like a Fisher-Price drum set. It was horrible!! That show in particular was mixed pretty poorly, which made me sad, but served as a good catalyst to leave and see the Psalters at the #3 stage.
All in all the best concert from the entire weekend was the final act of the festival - the Psalters. They are amazing. As I said in the last post they are totally hippy-free-thinkers, but their music is both seemingly chaotic and cohesive. There were 7 or 8 of them playing instruments as varying as: the banjo, finger cymbals, various ethnic drums (djembe, congas, etc), bagpipes, an oboe, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, accordion, and much more. It's hard to describe their music other than saying it is eclectic, cultural, and theologically insightful. It was an amazing show full of energy, theology, and beautiful music. You can download some of their songs via their website. I recommend "Hosanna" and hopefully they will put up "Trisagion" soon. Both of these songs are taken from the Divine Liturgy (Hosanna quoting from the Psalms) and are thus full of theology. They may not be verbatim, but the content is close enough that it makes me like the Psalters even more.
To quickly address the other shows to which I was looking forward:
Delorean Grey: See last post
MxPx: The sound was crappy but it was fun for nostalgic purposes.
Code of Ethics: They are not near as cool as I remember them being when I was in 8th grade. Poor stage presence and average music
Family Force 5: Great show! High energy, good music (though occasionally cheesy lyrics) and great stage presence. You can tell they enjoy what they're doing.
Psalters: Best of the festival!
In the future I hope Ichthus improves their artist line-up as it seemed void of some of the biggest names out there and improves their audio quality or else I fear they will slowly see decreased attendance as people opt out for the larger festivals that seem to be run better (Creation, Kingdom Bound, Cornerstone).
Hopefully I'll get some more motivation and read the rest of Canonical Theism soon so I can write a short review. The book is great. I really like the approach though I'm hesitant to jump on a trend like I did the emergent thing in college (which proved to be largely heretical), but this one at its most basic level seems to be an effort to remain protestant while seeking to have a more Orthodox or Catholic (but especially Orthodox) approach to theology.
Blessings,
- Ben
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Dispassion, worship, and an Ichthus update
In case you didn't see the link in the comments my friend Nathaniel posted a response to my questions on dispassion over on his blog. It is worth checking out if I confused you or if you have been thinking about this issue for a while like I (and apparently Kyle) have.
Here is the link to Nathaniel's post.
There is also an interesting discussion about the over emphasis of music in Protestant services over on my friend JD's blog.
You can click here to read the post and comments.
Sadly I wasn't able to attend much of Ichthus yesterday because thunderstorms resulted in most of the evening being canceled. I was able to make it to Sandy Richter's morning devotion, which was good and I thought very accessible to target audience (the youth). I also made it out to see Delorean Grey at the Edge Stage. This is the third or fourth time I've seen them in concert (though every other time I've been doing production) and I really like their music. Their stage presence isn't super-great or anything, but then again they aren't a band that draws thousands so it is sort of hard to get pumped about small crowds.
Concerning the sound at the Edge Stage:
It is about what I would expect from the #3 stage at a festival like Ichthus. It wasn't perfect and could have used some tweaking, but it sounded OK and good enough to pass as average or above average. The reason I'm so hard on the main stage audio is because that should be amazing sound quality for the equipment they should have and the bands they are having on the stage. It was not. Again, I'm looking forward to checking it out again today.
Blessings,
- Ben
Here is the link to Nathaniel's post.
There is also an interesting discussion about the over emphasis of music in Protestant services over on my friend JD's blog.
You can click here to read the post and comments.
Sadly I wasn't able to attend much of Ichthus yesterday because thunderstorms resulted in most of the evening being canceled. I was able to make it to Sandy Richter's morning devotion, which was good and I thought very accessible to target audience (the youth). I also made it out to see Delorean Grey at the Edge Stage. This is the third or fourth time I've seen them in concert (though every other time I've been doing production) and I really like their music. Their stage presence isn't super-great or anything, but then again they aren't a band that draws thousands so it is sort of hard to get pumped about small crowds.
Concerning the sound at the Edge Stage:
It is about what I would expect from the #3 stage at a festival like Ichthus. It wasn't perfect and could have used some tweaking, but it sounded OK and good enough to pass as average or above average. The reason I'm so hard on the main stage audio is because that should be amazing sound quality for the equipment they should have and the bands they are having on the stage. It was not. Again, I'm looking forward to checking it out again today.
Blessings,
- Ben
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Misc. Thoughts from Ichthus: 1
Searching to quench the boredom from being unemployed I volunteered to help Ichthus ministries out today and my reward was a free weekend pass to the festival. For those of you who don't know, Ichthus is the oldest of the Christian music festivals complete with Christian rock bands, speakers, and all the standard fun. Tonight was the first night of the festival and here are some thoughts ranging from audio thoughts to deep theological wrestlings.
1. The rumors were proven true. In my time running sound professionally I've had the opportunity to travel quite a bit and after I tell people where I live there is one thing that I've heard from a few different companies and stage hands from a few different places: "Isn't that where that Christian music festival is?.... I've heard the audio there sucks!" It seems Ichthus has a reputation for having some of the worst audio production around. Since I've never been to Ichthus until this year I could never offer a value judgment....well I'm sad to report that the rumors are true.
I'm willing to admit that I'm an audio snob and that I'm use to working with top of the line gear like VDOSC and the like, but tonight was fairly bad. It could be said that I came into the concert with a predisposition and thus only found what I was looking for, but I really tried to be open and honest with myself.
I did my nerdy sound guy walking around listening to different areas and aspects and there were very few areas that I thought sounded good. In fact, one of the poorest sounding areas was the one place that it is supposed to sound the best: around the sound board. I thought the line array they were using didn't disperse evenly, a few of the frequencies were too hot and made listening uncomfortable in some places, the vocals in some places were buried to the point of unintelligibility, amidst a few other things.
I'm not saying that I'm a magic sound guy and that I could have done better. In my inexperience I probably would have made it sound worse, but I've heard the same type of gear they were using sound a lot better. Granted they weren't using top of the line gear (cough VDOSC.... cough) but they were using OK equipment... either way it should have sounded better. I'm looking forward to the next day or two to see if they are able to work out some of the kinks.
2. Maybe I'm just old, but it didn't seem like Skillet gave as sweet of a concert as I've seen from them in the past. Don't get me wrong, they still rocked and I enjoyed it (sans the audio problems mentioned above), but their stage presence seemed to be lacking. John Cooper, the front man, seemed like he was trying to force his humor and it ended up being flat. I've enjoyed every other Skillet show I've been too, so I'm willing to chalk it up to them having an off night.
3. While the audio production left a bit to be desired I thought the visual production was done very well. Props to Ichthus for going big on the light rigs. It could have used a few more movers, but all in all it was done well.
4. I couldn't find a Houghton College booth. That made me sad, hopefully I just missed it.
5. Warning: This one will probably be long and theological.
I've been thinking a lot lately about sanctification or whatever term you want to give it: I personally like: Partaking of the Divine Essence (2 Peter 1.4). In the Patristic tradition there this a concept/attribute of "dispassion" that accompanies this sanctification. The concept of dispassion is most fully articulated by the Eastern theologians, though it seems to me that it is also found in some of the western theologians as well. I'm not sure that I really understand what it means to be dispassionate (in fact it really confuses me and I need to study more), but I couldn't help but have thoughts surrounding it tonight at Ichthus.
At my basic and elementary understanding (which could be dead wrong) to be dispassionate is to not be moved by the passions (pride, lust, anger, etc) and to have one's soul quiet before the Lord. This doesn't mean, to my understanding, that one is a mopey kill-joy from then on, but that one is not easily moved to ecstatic reactions. We are in essence dead to the world, insofar as we find our entire orientation toward God.
With this in mind I started thinking about rock music, particularly Christian rock. I love rock as much as the next person, but I think if I were to speak honestly, I would have to admit that it does not quiet my soul. In fact anyone in attendance would have a hard time quieting their soul. The question I'm wrestling with is: "If one of the character traits to which we are striving is dispassion (this may be up for debate) then is there room within this striving for such music (or anything) that steers us from that goal?"
This music application can be taken further to encompass the current Protestant tread of contemporary worship music. While I enjoy the theologically deep songs (sadly there are few) I wonder how the genre helps to quiet one's soul and foster dispassion. At the risk of making a fallacious jump, I wonder if this leads to the problem of the current obsession with worship: focusing on the concept of worship so much that we lose focus on the object of worship.
I know there are a lot of ifs in the last point. It's something I'm just thinking through and I obviously welcome thoughts. Like I said, I'm not sure if I understand dispassion by itself or as a soteriological byproduct of theosis/sanctification. I'm also not sure that if I understand dispassion I have appropriated it correctly.
So there are some initial thoughts. The plan is to post some follow up to the first few as I listen to more concerts tomorrow. There are a few I'm excited about, but all in all the lineup seems pretty sparse this year. A few bands on my must-see list:
- Delorean Grey: A local-ish KY band I've met a couple times. They rock.
- MxPx: Old School... can't pass it up.
- Code of Ethics: I can't believe they are still making music!
- Family Force 5: I've heard they give a killer show
- Psalters: A total hippy-free-thinker band, but their latest CD is based on the Catholic and Orthodox liturgies. It sort of freaks me out because there is so much going on, but it's kinda cool.
Blessings,
- Ben
1. The rumors were proven true. In my time running sound professionally I've had the opportunity to travel quite a bit and after I tell people where I live there is one thing that I've heard from a few different companies and stage hands from a few different places: "Isn't that where that Christian music festival is?.... I've heard the audio there sucks!" It seems Ichthus has a reputation for having some of the worst audio production around. Since I've never been to Ichthus until this year I could never offer a value judgment....well I'm sad to report that the rumors are true.
I'm willing to admit that I'm an audio snob and that I'm use to working with top of the line gear like VDOSC and the like, but tonight was fairly bad. It could be said that I came into the concert with a predisposition and thus only found what I was looking for, but I really tried to be open and honest with myself.
I did my nerdy sound guy walking around listening to different areas and aspects and there were very few areas that I thought sounded good. In fact, one of the poorest sounding areas was the one place that it is supposed to sound the best: around the sound board. I thought the line array they were using didn't disperse evenly, a few of the frequencies were too hot and made listening uncomfortable in some places, the vocals in some places were buried to the point of unintelligibility, amidst a few other things.
I'm not saying that I'm a magic sound guy and that I could have done better. In my inexperience I probably would have made it sound worse, but I've heard the same type of gear they were using sound a lot better. Granted they weren't using top of the line gear (cough VDOSC.... cough) but they were using OK equipment... either way it should have sounded better. I'm looking forward to the next day or two to see if they are able to work out some of the kinks.
2. Maybe I'm just old, but it didn't seem like Skillet gave as sweet of a concert as I've seen from them in the past. Don't get me wrong, they still rocked and I enjoyed it (sans the audio problems mentioned above), but their stage presence seemed to be lacking. John Cooper, the front man, seemed like he was trying to force his humor and it ended up being flat. I've enjoyed every other Skillet show I've been too, so I'm willing to chalk it up to them having an off night.
3. While the audio production left a bit to be desired I thought the visual production was done very well. Props to Ichthus for going big on the light rigs. It could have used a few more movers, but all in all it was done well.
4. I couldn't find a Houghton College booth. That made me sad, hopefully I just missed it.
5. Warning: This one will probably be long and theological.
I've been thinking a lot lately about sanctification or whatever term you want to give it: I personally like: Partaking of the Divine Essence (2 Peter 1.4). In the Patristic tradition there this a concept/attribute of "dispassion" that accompanies this sanctification. The concept of dispassion is most fully articulated by the Eastern theologians, though it seems to me that it is also found in some of the western theologians as well. I'm not sure that I really understand what it means to be dispassionate (in fact it really confuses me and I need to study more), but I couldn't help but have thoughts surrounding it tonight at Ichthus.
At my basic and elementary understanding (which could be dead wrong) to be dispassionate is to not be moved by the passions (pride, lust, anger, etc) and to have one's soul quiet before the Lord. This doesn't mean, to my understanding, that one is a mopey kill-joy from then on, but that one is not easily moved to ecstatic reactions. We are in essence dead to the world, insofar as we find our entire orientation toward God.
With this in mind I started thinking about rock music, particularly Christian rock. I love rock as much as the next person, but I think if I were to speak honestly, I would have to admit that it does not quiet my soul. In fact anyone in attendance would have a hard time quieting their soul. The question I'm wrestling with is: "If one of the character traits to which we are striving is dispassion (this may be up for debate) then is there room within this striving for such music (or anything) that steers us from that goal?"
This music application can be taken further to encompass the current Protestant tread of contemporary worship music. While I enjoy the theologically deep songs (sadly there are few) I wonder how the genre helps to quiet one's soul and foster dispassion. At the risk of making a fallacious jump, I wonder if this leads to the problem of the current obsession with worship: focusing on the concept of worship so much that we lose focus on the object of worship.
I know there are a lot of ifs in the last point. It's something I'm just thinking through and I obviously welcome thoughts. Like I said, I'm not sure if I understand dispassion by itself or as a soteriological byproduct of theosis/sanctification. I'm also not sure that if I understand dispassion I have appropriated it correctly.
So there are some initial thoughts. The plan is to post some follow up to the first few as I listen to more concerts tomorrow. There are a few I'm excited about, but all in all the lineup seems pretty sparse this year. A few bands on my must-see list:
- Delorean Grey: A local-ish KY band I've met a couple times. They rock.
- MxPx: Old School... can't pass it up.
- Code of Ethics: I can't believe they are still making music!
- Family Force 5: I've heard they give a killer show
- Psalters: A total hippy-free-thinker band, but their latest CD is based on the Catholic and Orthodox liturgies. It sort of freaks me out because there is so much going on, but it's kinda cool.
Blessings,
- Ben
Friday, June 06, 2008
Ramblings from an unemployed vagabond
One would think that I would post more now that the rush of finals week is done and the semester is finally over, somehow that has not been the case. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll get a few more of my thoughts worked out enough to post some stuff on here. Until then here is a short update on what's going on in my life:
1. I am now a Master of Theological Studies...or at least that's what I like to tell myself now that I've graduated with a degree by that name. I'm still waiting to receive my diploma in the mail, but I'm still calling myself a graduate.
2. I am unemployed. I'm been sending out resumes like it's my job since the middle of the school year and I am still trying to find a job. Hopefully I can find one soon. I fly out to Iowa at the end of the month of an interview and have had a bunch of phone interviews. I find that not having a denomination makes it hard to find Pastoral jobs.
3. I visited the original KFC in Corbin, KY the other day with Kristy. It was awesome.... well as awesome as a fast food joint can be. But it was fun and I was starving after a day of hiking in the woods.
4. Reading: Maybe I'm a dork but here is what I'm starting to read, though I find that I'm reading way too infrequently.
- St. John Chrysostom's homilies on Philippians
- William J. Abraham (ed.) Canonical Theism
So there is a short update. I would appreciate the prayers for a job, as my bank account is dwindling and school loans will be due soon.
I'll try to post more later.
Blessings,
Ben
1. I am now a Master of Theological Studies...or at least that's what I like to tell myself now that I've graduated with a degree by that name. I'm still waiting to receive my diploma in the mail, but I'm still calling myself a graduate.
2. I am unemployed. I'm been sending out resumes like it's my job since the middle of the school year and I am still trying to find a job. Hopefully I can find one soon. I fly out to Iowa at the end of the month of an interview and have had a bunch of phone interviews. I find that not having a denomination makes it hard to find Pastoral jobs.
3. I visited the original KFC in Corbin, KY the other day with Kristy. It was awesome.... well as awesome as a fast food joint can be. But it was fun and I was starving after a day of hiking in the woods.
4. Reading: Maybe I'm a dork but here is what I'm starting to read, though I find that I'm reading way too infrequently.
- St. John Chrysostom's homilies on Philippians
- William J. Abraham (ed.) Canonical Theism
So there is a short update. I would appreciate the prayers for a job, as my bank account is dwindling and school loans will be due soon.
I'll try to post more later.
Blessings,
Ben
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
