Intro to Sound Advice
Hello, and Welcome to Sound
Advice, the technical forum for worship leaders and technical staff in
today's church. My name is Leon Sievers, and while I have more than twenty
years of professional audio experience, it is out of obedience and my faith
in God which prompted me to create Sound Advice. I have a passion for worship
and a strong commitment to prayer. The goal of this web-site is to inspire
a commitment to technical excellence within the church. It is my prayer....
that you can benefit from my experience, and I from yours.
I want to dedicate this ministry
first to our Lord and Savior, to my wife Laura and daughter Katie, Stephen
Newman for creating EXW, my Pastor John Reed and to my brothers in Christ
and Sound; Larry Aitken, Lance Enos, Mike Austin, Darryl Brice, Shaug Evans,
Erik Yourshaw and the entire worship team(s) at Canyon Hills Church, without
whom I would have never come to know the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
Before we get started, would
you please join me in a prayer for our respective ministries...
Oh Lord, please bless
this ministry that it might glorify your name. May the talent that you
have bestowed upon me be used only to serve you. Let this work be a witness
to your majesty and love, and remind us that you are always watching, and
listening, from your throne above. May your presence and beauty be found
in every note, and may the words that are sung reach the hearts of your
people so they will draw closer to you. May your Spirit guide us through
every measure so that we might be the instruments of your peace, and proclaim
your glory with glad voices.........Amen.
Let me begin by saying that
this is your web-site and I have no pre-conceived notions of what it should
be. I found EXW to be a valuable resource for information, which helped
me grow in my faith and understanding of worship. When the Lord first spoke
to me about creating Sound Advice, I conducted my own research into those
who have gone before me. And I want to tell you.... there are some tremendous
people who share our passion for Christ and have technical insight. And
true to their faith, they have agreed to share in their experience and
knowledge so that we may all benefit. A lot of ground has already been
covered in creating technical materials and articles that apply to the
church. Rather than duplicate their efforts in an attempt to be original,
I will continue to collaborate with the leaders that God has inspired and
aid you in filtering the vast resources of information. I will remain open
to the spirit in featuring the topics that are of most interest to you
and of importance to God. I will translate the technical into real world
terms that the layman and novice can understand and APPLY. I am open and
committed to developing this ministry into whatever God will have it become.
In the coming weeks I look
forward to implementing a message board and posting some helpful "how-to"
articles. Long term, I envision regional sound seminars and working one
on one with as many of you as possible, to improve the entire worship experience.
So please take the time to reflect on your worship services and the challenges
you face. Please feel free to pose these issues to the staff at EXW and
myself at Sound Advice. Until the message board and web-site are fully
functional, please contact me directly at the following email address:
sonciplanet@home.com
Sincerely,
Leon Sievers
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.