tag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:/blogs/on-making-gospel-music?p=5On making Gospel music2024-02-29T12:25:09-05:00Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Tracksfalsetag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/73594182024-02-29T12:25:09-05:002024-03-20T06:44:25-04:00Lots of songs cooking in the oven right now<p>This is turning into quite a busy month. We have lots of special order songs to work on. And really a pretty wide variety of songs. As I keep building the tracks , eventually we get them to the website. Right now we have a several months backlog. But if you know that I have a track made you can still get it from me directly even though its not yet up on the site. On my work list right now I have “What A Friend” by the Detroit Collective, “Nothing Without You” by Dr. Tumi, “Jesus Is Alive” by Sinach, “ At The Cross” by Brooklyn Tabernacle. “Authority” by Lamar Campbell. “Old School Medley” by Faith City Music. “The Presence Of The Lord” by William McDowell. “You Didn’t Have To” by Lee Williams. “Grateful“ by The Gaithers. and “Costly” by Naomi Raine.</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/73446452024-02-02T10:01:25-05:002024-02-02T10:01:26-05:00Songs I am currently working on<p><span>Lots of great songs that I am currently building instrumentals for. "Going Back To Church" by The Canton Spirituals. "Great Is The Lord" by Carman "May The Words Of My Mouth" by The Gaithers. "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've seen" Sam Cooke version</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/73069692023-11-21T10:52:25-05:002023-12-24T18:23:24-05:00Working on the Jeffrey Osborne version of The Christmas Song<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/1764730df217496ea87742c6629852b3aa60b4d1/original/jeffrey-osborne.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/73007362023-11-08T16:09:11-05:002023-11-08T16:09:11-05:00Pedal steel guitar parts<p><span dir="auto">Today I am working on building an instrumental track for the song "If Jesus Comes Tomorrow" by Owen Mac. Lots of steel pedal guitar parts to nail. The only VST that comes close is Pedal Steel by Impact Soundworks . Typically for steel pedal I get 2 or 3 instances of my instrument set up each with a different bend range. (whole step, half step, 4th). That way you can have a note bend while another holds and it allows you to bend from chord to chord as well. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/02779fc688e3406c8b34e7897953a074115d8fc0/original/pedal.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Its the best way I've found to get close the real thing</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72933572023-10-25T14:38:23-04:002023-12-24T18:23:24-05:00Some music that I am currently working on<p>I'm back in my main studio in Tampa and back to work. Keep in mind that I have a several months backlog of instrumental tracks that I have built but have not had time to put on the website. So if there is a title that I have mentioned in a blog post that you are interested in but you don't see it on the website you can always just contact me about it and I will get it to you . I'm working on some good songs this week like <strong>Beauty Of The Lord </strong>by Sheila Walsh, <strong>Push Praise and Worship</strong> by Deborah Lukalu, <strong>Tell God Thank You</strong> by the Chicago Mass Choir,<strong> Blessed Assurance</strong> by Shirley Caesar, <strong>Only Worship At The Feet Of Jesus</strong> by The Gaithers<strong><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/79a15478eb83e4c2a57ea05269af2994c89f4403/original/deborah-lukalu.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></strong></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72858762023-10-10T18:31:56-04:002023-10-16T10:54:01-04:00Some songs I'm working on this week. <p>As I am wrapping up this week, getting ready to make the seasonal move back down to my Tampa studio, here are a few songs I am currently building instrumentals for:</p><p>Glad To Be In The Service - Ricky Dillard</p><p>Tell God Thank You - Chicago Mass Choir</p><p>I Will Sing - Donnie McClurkin</p><p>Psalm 27/One Thing - William McDowell</p><p>Better Than That - Phil Tarver</p><p>Jehovah is your Name - Ntokozo <span>Mbambo</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72690002023-09-05T14:38:09-04:002023-09-05T14:38:42-04:00Some songs I'm working on this week. 1st week of Sept.<p>I'm actually out of the country this week but I still have a music rig thing going on so I can keep moving along. i am still several months behind as far as getting ssongs posted on my site but if you know I have something you can always ask me for it. Some of the songs I have going right now are:</p><p>Doors Of Progress - Canton Spirituals</p><p>The Galilean - John Starnes</p><p>Love Em Where They Are - The Gaithers</p><p>Yahweh - Joe Mettle</p><p>There's No Way - Hezekiah Walker<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/acb1037a59f36b58c0d5d72f6733277ebf1b9200/original/joe-mettle-2.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72513782023-08-03T09:25:38-04:002023-08-26T18:16:40-04:00Some of the songs I'm working on this week.<p>One great perk in what I do for a living is I get exposed to so many great songs that I had not previously heard of before a customer requests it. It really broadens my musical spectrum and I'm grateful. Some of the songs I am working on this week are: Working It Out by Brooklyn Tabernacle, He's Able by Daryll Walls, Theres No Way by Hezekiah Walker, This Little Light Of Mine - by Sam Cooke, All Things by Kirk Franklin<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/f922f4f1f777acc3c0b117601a69de205a66c964/original/brooklyn-tab-sunday.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72409982023-07-12T22:05:48-04:002023-07-25T14:19:14-04:00What I'm working on this week<p><span>I'm working on some great songs this week. "So Much To Be Thankful For" by Lee Williams, "This Is The Place" by the Gaither Vocal Band, "Still Slaying Giants" by Jubilee Worship feat. Anthony Brown, "Do It For Me" by Zacardi Cortez . Look for those instrumentals soon </span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72327092023-06-26T13:44:27-04:002023-09-05T14:38:42-04:00Working on a Wintley Phipps song<p><span dir="auto">I'm working on building a track for the Wintley Phipps version of the classic song "He" . Like any Wintley Phipps song the big challenge is getting the orchestration right. You can't just use a string pad and call it a day. You really have to listen closely and repeatedly to just a couple bars at a time to hear all the movements and to get the right instruments. And each instrument has to be set to its own output so you can crescendo and decrescendo as required. For a lot of my sounds I use the Miroslav Philharmonik2 or Kontakt Komplete</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72197102023-06-02T17:45:43-04:002023-06-02T17:45:43-04:00What I'm working on today<p>Today I am working on the song “I Am God” by Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers. I started on it about 10 days ago and I'm about 60 bars in at this point. Its got a great groove. For most of the song the downbeat is a rest and the accent comes on the 1-and. I really had to listen closely for the chord changes. Nothing here is a regular triad. The bass is accenting with the drums and for the most part, the EP chords on top don't have the same root as what the bass is playing. </p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72146622023-05-24T11:02:37-04:002023-07-25T14:19:14-04:00What I'm working on today<p><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);">Finishing up the instrumental for the song "Holy Spirit" by Brent Jones. Really big song with a rock guitar solo on the way out. It has a really interesting part in the middle section where it gets quiet. Just piano and choir. I was struggling to find out where the beat was and the piano is so soft you can barely hear it. The piano is actually just pedeling straight 4's and the choir is singing a dotted rhythm against it. They start of together and then they aren't together and then they meet up again. </span></p><p><span style="color:rgb(5,5,5);"> I am also working on “God Said He Would Heal The Land” by Rev. Clay Evans. I am just getting into it. So far its a really fun song</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72114402023-05-18T14:22:33-04:002023-05-24T10:44:42-04:00I just paid for more song licenses<p>I just paid for licenses for some more songs that are on my site. I license them as cover songs even though I am building instrumentals. I use <a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.easysong.com">https://www.easysong.com</a> They offer other services as well but I find their licensing service very helpful and its not as expensive as you would think. I tried doing it myself but it can be very time consuming to find out who owns the publishing rights to a song. First you have to figure out who the songwriter is. Then some songs have multiple songwriters and they will each have their own publishers or it could be administered by a 3rd party like Harry Fox. I'd rather just leave it to the pro's and concentrate on the music<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/6041bfc8dadd4888878cef72cb38ca08ce3b706f/original/easysong.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72098772023-05-16T09:50:40-04:002024-03-18T14:47:12-04:00Finishing up a new track<p><span data-offset-key="3nuct-0-0" data-text="true">Finishing up an instrumental track for "One True Gospel" by Bubby Fann. Its such a dynamic song. Some slick chord changes too. (Ab/Gb - Db/F – - Bbm - F/Ab - Eb/Db - Fm) I like how the drums build at the end and then break down. Then back to the original theme with the moving orchestration. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/e7acd5d0847130fddb79139972ec002194e6758e/original/one-true.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Great song!</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72093592023-05-15T14:58:29-04:002023-05-24T10:44:42-04:00New studio speakers<div class="css-1dbjc4n r-1s2bzr4"><div class="css-901oao r-14j79pv r-37j5jr r-a023e6 r-16dba41 r-rjixqe r-bcqeeo r-bnwqim r-qvutc0" dir="auto" data-testid="tweetText" id="notification-tweet-text" lang="en">
<span>I just moved to a new home studio location and realized I needed new monitors. I needed something I could have close and focused on my work area. after a bit of research I decided on the </span><span dir="ltr">@ikmultimedia</span><span> iLoud MicroMonitors. I'm very pleased with them. They're just what I needed. </span>
</div></div>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/72076302023-05-12T11:24:03-04:002023-05-12T11:25:41-04:00New songs I am working on<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/327654/30965bf698a5554f46691e92739f27eeebc90705/original/cece-goodness.png/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Lots of good stuff in the works. "Goodness of God" by CeCe Winans, “Overflow” by Transformation Church Worship, “Let Everything That Hath Breath” by Twinkle Clark, “I Shall Wear A Crown” by Deleon and many more</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/71804652023-03-29T09:44:57-04:002023-04-09T19:22:39-04:00request a track in a different key <p><span jsslot="" jsaction="rcuQ6b:npT2md" jscontroller="iP9a1d" jsname="RHUGJf" data-id="4167300256527228174" data-is-visible="false" data-ved="0CAEQy_oBahcKEwjQpo3VoYH-AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQIA">Any tracks that we have made can be requested in a higher or lower key or in stem format as .wav files. All you have to do is ask. Right now there is no way to automate it. For any requests just email us at alexazjohn@gmail.com</span></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/70194462022-07-21T12:26:50-04:002023-02-14T23:48:01-05:00New songs coming<p>Lots of great gospel songs in the works. "You Can Tell It" by the Clark Sisters, "He Made A Way" by Kenny Lewis, "Answer to Your Name" by H.E. Dixon , "I Am Whole" by Gods Chosen , "Almighty God" by Pastor Kenneth L. Stewart to name a few. I will be posting instrumentals as soon as I get them completed . Join the mailing list at www.ascensiontracks.com to stay updated</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/67918262021-10-30T15:14:19-04:002021-10-30T15:14:19-04:00Working on some cool stuff<p>I currently have alot of great tracks in the works. Including "Welcome Holy Spirit " by First Baptist church of Glenarden, "Found Everything" by the late great Lee Williams, "Make Me Over" by Kevin Lemons and "Jesus And Me" by The Barnes Family. Stay tuned!</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/66849712021-07-11T16:30:05-04:002022-03-10T02:50:48-05:00new song titles in the works<p>I am working on a lot of new tracks at the moment: </p>
<p>Amazing Grace/ No longer Slaves Indian mix by the Unarve Collective</p>
<p>Higha by Synergy Worship</p>
<p>I've Learned To Lean by Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC's</p>
<p>Wrapped Up, Tied Up ,Tangled Up by Minister Thomas Whitfield</p>
<p>Constant Mercies by Phil Thompson</p>
<p>and a few more.</p>
<p>They will get posted as they are completed</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/66849692021-07-11T16:21:57-04:002022-05-10T06:25:51-04:00Locate the tracks you want by artist name<p>Last month we added a new feature that allows you to look up an artists name and see which tracks we have of theirs. Alphabetized by 1st name</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/64320162020-09-12T12:00:24-04:002023-04-09T19:22:39-04:00Stems<p>For anyone who is not familiar with the terms it is basically shorthand for having the multitrack files. Basically having a separate file for each instrument plus a click track. As long as you are working with a DAW (pro tools, logic, cubase , ets...) you can mix it how you want and take out any parts that may be playing live. I have several tracks already posted as stems. I just want people to know that every track I have is available as stems. If it is not posted just email me and ask for it. Typically it can be done the same day<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/ab475d5e534382a1762e8225d18776b38124fa29/original/daw.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/63174422020-05-15T08:10:00-04:002021-10-30T10:50:24-04:00Kanye and Sunday Service Choir<p>Yeah I know the fact that Kanye West is doing gospel music now is still strange to alot of people. To me as well , at first. I have done 5 of the songs off of this new album so far (Ultralight Beam, Father Stretch, Revelations 19:1, Rain, and Follow Me) and I got to tell you that from a musical standpoint I think it's really great. Groundbreaking in a way. I was never a big Kanye fan but I think this is his best work. His use of traditional instruments like piano and organ (and on Rain nylon guitar and trumpet) make it sound at first like a traditional song but you soon realize that its not. The variations and dissonance in the chords he uses are refreshing and the drums are killer! Its the sound of a like kit playing in a large room or hall but playing hip hop rhythms. It sounds almost sloppy but at the same time it is meticulously well organized. And then when you bring in the choir they are working as if another instruments. The counterpoint between what they are doing and what the band is doing at times make it seem like you are changing time signature but you're not. The songs also sound like they get faster or slower at times too but in fact they are right on the metronome. Anyways, I just thought I would share. I've gone in deep on these 5 songs and hope to get the opportunity to do some of the others</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/61876832020-01-27T21:51:08-05:002021-07-13T06:07:36-04:00I have new tracks in the works.<p>I've been super busy during this fine month of January. I am working on several projects that wil l be posted soon. Then include "Jesus" by Eddie James, "Everlasting Arms" by Rev. Timothy Wright. "Ultralight Beam" and "Rain" by Kanye West and the Sunday Service Choir, "We've Come To Praise" by The Wilmington Chester Mass Choir, "The Rest Of My Life" by Marvin Sapp, "Wait On The Lord" and "Will I Be ready by the Advent Messengers and a few more, Stay Tuned!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/49a5fe69ccd13d6b8ec89c6ebcc0e6c8b1882855/original/gospel.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/60497002019-12-28T15:32:59-05:002022-01-13T20:35:18-05:00Some of may favorite software synths<p>When I first started producing tracks in the late 90s I had lots of different sound modules in the rack and keyboards on the shelf trying to access as many sounds as possible. It was a struggle to say the least to recall patches and volumes and have everything show up the way you left it. I'm sure every producer had their own methodology that worked for them. Now the modules are gone and all of my sounds are "in the box". In my main studio I have 2 keyboard controllers, One is 88 keys for playing piano parts and anything similar . The other is 49 keys and has a lighter touch which is great for organ, pads, drums, etc...</p>
<p> And there is virtually and endless landscape of sounds. Every producer has their favorites. Here are some of mine.:</p>
<p>I really like the cutting edge sounds of Keilwerth Avenger. For any song that has a modern vibe I can always find something. For orchestral sounds I use Miroslav Philharmonik. They sound great and they give you a really wide variety. Another plug-in I find very useful is <a contents="Session Guitarist Strummed acoustic" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/guitar/session-guitarist-strummed-acoustic/" target="_blank">Session Guitarist Strummed acoustic</a> for Kontakt Player. My acoustic guitar playing is ok but this sounds great right out of the box. I just wish they had more patterns available. For drums I use Either Battery 4 or NI session drummer. However I've been hearing some great thins about IK Multimedia Modo Drums. I will have to check that out. For electric guitars I really like the Evolution series from Orange Tree Samples<a contents=" @OTSamples" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://twitter.com/OTsamples"> @OTSamples</a> . I use Evolution Strawberry but the others are great as well. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/d1ad7741fbf4e4d1207ac8e5cb2f7daabf9142b0/original/synths.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/59680982019-11-21T09:46:03-05:002019-11-21T09:46:03-05:00Getting ready to license some more songs<p>I just submitted a spreadsheet to www.easysonglicensing.com to obtain mechanical rights for about 50 songs. For each song I have to pay a fee for them and then the royalties which go to the artist. I tried doing this on my own and thus avoid the service fee but I found it very time consuming. Most of the songs I am dealing with have multiple publishers and some of those can be represented by Harry Fox and others not. Just to find out the info is difficult sometimes and then to contact each publisher just made me decide to let the professionals handle it. At least it's a tax write-off. The important thing is that the song writers get paid.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/2537f8bd4afab953226401230ef56754db2e2444/original/easy-song-licensing.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/59264462019-10-14T18:43:13-04:002021-09-16T14:53:08-04:00Experimenting with karaoke tracks (BGV)<p>So "BGV" stands for background vocals and that is what I plan to start experimenting with for certain songs. I can't do it for every song because I actually need to hire a singer to do the parts. Fortunately I know a few talented vocalists who can sing harmony really well. . I plan to add backing vocals to tracks that I think will be popular and sell well. Most likely contemporary songs. Check out my track for I" Am" by James Fortune<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/25c4c73de9b94bd75519f01af7fb7548f29033e5/original/backup-singer.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/58733412019-08-28T18:03:08-04:002019-08-28T18:03:08-04:00Just heard about the new Koryn Hawthorne song!<p>Just heard about the new Koryn Hawthorne song called "Enough" from the new movie "Overcomer" I just started putting a track together for it. I hope to have it done in a week or so. She is one of my favorite contemporary artists and the production on her songs is always really interesting</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/58479462019-08-05T12:47:08-04:002019-08-05T12:47:08-04:00A neat trick<p>So when I am creating an instrumental track I work on it a couple bars at a time, re-creating everything I can hear. I create an audio track and I have the actual song right within Cubase so I don't have to keep referencing youtube. Sometimes its hard to hear the bass part clearly. What i do to overcome that is I create an audio track beneath the track that has the original song and I copy the sang to the new track. And then I pitch shift he new file an octave up (+12). What that does is it makes the bass pop out. . So I reference the pitch shifted track for the bass and the original track for everything else.</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/58451822019-08-02T08:07:33-04:002019-08-02T08:07:33-04:00my best investment<p>The best investment I made this year was getting a set of Master Dynamic MH 40 Headphones. Its like a night and day difference between these and your garden variety $50 headphones. I think its a very worthwhile investment for any serious music producer. You can hear all the subtleties that you may have missed before. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/21ee32a9981d287e415b10d25022d1cccc1f10d8/original/master-dynamic-mh-40.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Plus these things are built well. The earpads and the cable are removable so you can replace them if needed.</p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Trackstag:ascensiontracks.com,2005:Post/58433882019-07-31T18:34:30-04:002023-07-25T14:15:27-04:00newcomer<p>I'm an old hand at creating all types and styles of music but I am new to blogging. My main focus right now is creating instrumental tracks of Gospel and Christian songs. It's alot of time with headphones on, listening to 4 bars at a time and picking out every instrument and playing what they are playing.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/327654/fe1784b08d8a0cab21e41f7d13370a43c222b785/original/new-digs.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Instrumental Hymns | Ascension Tracks