I got to thinking more about our venture into 16-channel sound last week when a pastor said he wanted to return his Gloria3 because it did not sound like his Gloria1. Interesting. We added the more complex sounds of 16-channel MIDI to round out the sound of Gloria, but this was such a different experience for him that he wasn't sure he liked it.
Naturally, we could offer his money back, but I wrote him and suggested he drop the orchestral volume down to at least 60% to bring out more melody. He did so and immediately responded that he would keep his Gloria. It made me realize what we are up against as far as music in the church today.
Years ago, when I was growing up, for music, all we had was an organ in our church. In more recent years the contemporary church has moved on to where a piano, guitar, and drums are the musical instruments of choice. Why is this? My thinking, and I have voiced this in other articles, is that we are comfortable with the music we grew up with. As far as I am concerned, worship is a matter of personal preference, as long as it is respectful to God. Various cultures use different kinds of worship instruments. I'll bet you find few organs in Africa, for instance! So here in America we have the camp that believes you are not worshiping correctly if you have drums in your worship music, while in some parts of the world, tha'ts all they have.
The idea we wanted to put forward to our brothers and sisters in Christ in America, was that many in the the modern generation of folks, from about age 50 down to infants, think of organ music as funereal. Those of us who have been around a little longer may feel organ music is soothing to the soul, and drums in worship are a jarring experience. This is a natural evolution (excuse the pun) of tastes in society, and I don't think God judges the music as much as he loves the worship from our hearts.
So we wanted Gloria3 to me as versatile as possible, and in making it so, we forgot that many people can become confused when they have too many choices. Gloria can be used "right out of the box" if you like simple 6-channel sound of organ, piano, and maybe percussion. But 16-channel full orchestration can be a bit daunting unless you understand how to adjust Gloria3. Today, only the Celebration (English) version of Gloria3 has 16-channel music. But most people do not understand that it also has 6-channel simple versions of the music as well. You have a choice. What we are suggesting, is toning down the orchestral background of the hymns and bring out the melody (takes only a few minutes to set Gloria3 up for this) as you ease your congregation into singing with orchestral backup. After a while, you will find that using the full orchestra is an exhilarating experience. It is a matter of getting used to a full music sound once again in the church.
As we move forward, it would be interesting if you had any comments on this to share with us. we're always looking for ways to make your worship experience better.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Sound of a Gloria3 Hymn Player
I received an email the other day from a customer who wondered why Gloria3 sold for half of the next professional hymn player but sounded better. Actually, that's a pretty easy question to answer. Gloria3 costs less because the company that owns it has no payroll or office expenses whatsoever. That's right. With no payroll, no central office, no paid advertising, and volunteer management, the company does not have to charge an arm and a leg for the Gloria Hymn Player.
For almost 15 years, the company has been owned and operated by a group of 7-8 individuals who donate their services. Most design engineering, and music composition, has been outsourced to Americans, and Glorias are shipped from a manufacturing and fulfillment house location in Illinois. The principals of the company provide engineering design guidance, accounting, and management support. In essence, the company is operated like it was a not-for-profit company, but is actually a normal "C" corporation that pays taxes. That's why the low price.
As for sound, the Gloria3 is a new internal design completed in 2011 using modern components. This allows us to create the amazing sound of both a 16-channel orchestral soundtrack that backs up most hymns, as well as simple 6-channel tracks that use only four instruments for each hymn. Listening to a Gloria3 play hymns with trumpet countermelodies behind the basic hymn melody is an experience that can only be described as a blessing. That's why Gloria3 is intended to be used by so many folks who buy it for their own enjoyment, or that of their small group from church.
This 16-channel sound is especially interesting when applied to any contemporary hymns or praise songs which will be released by us in the future. It means a full, rich sound, and a worship experience that is unparalleled for those of us who do or do not play instruments.
For almost 15 years, the company has been owned and operated by a group of 7-8 individuals who donate their services. Most design engineering, and music composition, has been outsourced to Americans, and Glorias are shipped from a manufacturing and fulfillment house location in Illinois. The principals of the company provide engineering design guidance, accounting, and management support. In essence, the company is operated like it was a not-for-profit company, but is actually a normal "C" corporation that pays taxes. That's why the low price.
As for sound, the Gloria3 is a new internal design completed in 2011 using modern components. This allows us to create the amazing sound of both a 16-channel orchestral soundtrack that backs up most hymns, as well as simple 6-channel tracks that use only four instruments for each hymn. Listening to a Gloria3 play hymns with trumpet countermelodies behind the basic hymn melody is an experience that can only be described as a blessing. That's why Gloria3 is intended to be used by so many folks who buy it for their own enjoyment, or that of their small group from church.
This 16-channel sound is especially interesting when applied to any contemporary hymns or praise songs which will be released by us in the future. It means a full, rich sound, and a worship experience that is unparalleled for those of us who do or do not play instruments.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Bliss
We are about to release Gloria3 to North America, and I was wearing my other hat as Chairman of Gloria Music tonight as I listened to about 250 hymns being played by my Gloria3 prototype. Even I do not have a production model yet with the Celebration Hymnal coded into it.
But I do have the most recent prototype, and I was listening to it to see if I could find any glitches in the hymns as they played through Gloria. I did find a couple, but they were minor glitches and should be easily fixed, although it's a pain to have to go back and make corrections at this late stage. Some of those hymns have as many as 16 files playing simultaneously. I'm no programming expert, but it has to be a pain to maybe make a slight timing change to a hymn when all 16 files have to be changed and re-synced and then compiled back into the hymnal file. Ouch! When I find these things, the engineers and programmers on our team tend to use strong words like "darn" and "shucks". I don't blame them, but we've got to make sure we put our best files forward, so to speak.
Which is why I wanted to write this message. We strive to give people the very best experience we can. But with about 1500 hymns to keep track of, we might actually find we are human and made a mistake (heaven forbid!). So if you ever find something that you think is not right about Gloria3 I hope you would help us by telling us about it. The same goes as far as our little hymns2go store. We want your experience with us to be pleasant and fair, so don't hesitate to comment.
Of course, at some point I'll probably answer you, and expose my Lack of knowledge of things that are technical, but maybe I can persuade one of our smart engineers to help you. That's what is so cool about having some authority but being a little dumb. You can have some really bright person take care of things and then sit back and maybe someone will think you're smarter than you are because you pal around with smart people.
But we do want our customers to be well satisfied. So if you come across a problem or just want to comment on something (as long as it's not my tie - my daughter bought it for me) feel free to jump in and do so. I figure this is a great way to make friends, so let's make it happen!
But I do have the most recent prototype, and I was listening to it to see if I could find any glitches in the hymns as they played through Gloria. I did find a couple, but they were minor glitches and should be easily fixed, although it's a pain to have to go back and make corrections at this late stage. Some of those hymns have as many as 16 files playing simultaneously. I'm no programming expert, but it has to be a pain to maybe make a slight timing change to a hymn when all 16 files have to be changed and re-synced and then compiled back into the hymnal file. Ouch! When I find these things, the engineers and programmers on our team tend to use strong words like "darn" and "shucks". I don't blame them, but we've got to make sure we put our best files forward, so to speak.
Which is why I wanted to write this message. We strive to give people the very best experience we can. But with about 1500 hymns to keep track of, we might actually find we are human and made a mistake (heaven forbid!). So if you ever find something that you think is not right about Gloria3 I hope you would help us by telling us about it. The same goes as far as our little hymns2go store. We want your experience with us to be pleasant and fair, so don't hesitate to comment.
Of course, at some point I'll probably answer you, and expose my Lack of knowledge of things that are technical, but maybe I can persuade one of our smart engineers to help you. That's what is so cool about having some authority but being a little dumb. You can have some really bright person take care of things and then sit back and maybe someone will think you're smarter than you are because you pal around with smart people.
But we do want our customers to be well satisfied. So if you come across a problem or just want to comment on something (as long as it's not my tie - my daughter bought it for me) feel free to jump in and do so. I figure this is a great way to make friends, so let's make it happen!
Competition?
We don't carry them at hymns2go, but there are at least two other professional electronic hymnals on the market, and a smattering of very inexpensive ones as well. The two that we consider professional are both very good pieces of equipment. And frankly, if you are looking for great-sounding organ music, they can be a good choice.
The difference between those other hymn players and our Gloria3 is ease of use, portability, sound quality due to the number of channels of sound used, and price.
Gloria3 is highly portable and small in size, so it does not need a remote control. It has only a 5 Watt amplifier, but when jacked into a large sound system the sound is greatly expanded into a magnificent sound. Gloria3 is so easy to use that you simply turn it on, type the hymn number from your hymnal into the device and press the play key. That's it! Sure, you can make it sound different and change all the parameters, then save the hymn just the way you like it, but basically, anyone can operate it 30 seconds after they get it, intuitively.
Since Gloria3 uses far more channels of sound, we are able to emulate a full orchestra instead of a simple quartet of instruments as the competition does. Listening to the devices side-by-side will showcase the difference. We do this on our website http://www.hymns2go.com/ in the audio section, but also on the home page.
Of course, Gloria3 has a price point that is one half the price of our nearest competitor and only 25% of the price of the next competitor. I have to admit that if you want thousands of hymns, those devices have more hymns available than Gloria3 does at the present, but that won't be for long. And Gloria3 is also able to be upgraded over the Internet, so as more hymns become available you willl be able to add them as you wish.
The competition has some great organ sounds available - more than Gloria3. But Gloria3 is meant for the contemporary church - not the church that only wants organ music, although our organs sound pretty good themselves! There may be a feature or two available with those other devices that Gloria does not have, but 99% of our customers would never use those features anyway.
Where Glori3 really shines, though, is in the fantastic orchestral arrangements for most of the hymns using a full 16 channels of recording. This sets our musical sound light years ahead of the competition!
So I guess it's OK to spend $1300 - $2100 for a larger device that contains more hymns, but isn't $600 more sensible? And I bet you will find your favorite hymns 90% of the time in Gloria3. That's why the US military has approved its use in all five armed services. The Army, Navy, Air force, Marines, and US Coast Guard have all expressed interest, and are buying Gloria3's for use on bases, ships, and installations all over the world.
With Gloria being presently used in over 75 countries around the world, you know there is a reason why we think she is your best option for quality sound for your group or church.
The difference between those other hymn players and our Gloria3 is ease of use, portability, sound quality due to the number of channels of sound used, and price.
Gloria3 is highly portable and small in size, so it does not need a remote control. It has only a 5 Watt amplifier, but when jacked into a large sound system the sound is greatly expanded into a magnificent sound. Gloria3 is so easy to use that you simply turn it on, type the hymn number from your hymnal into the device and press the play key. That's it! Sure, you can make it sound different and change all the parameters, then save the hymn just the way you like it, but basically, anyone can operate it 30 seconds after they get it, intuitively.
Since Gloria3 uses far more channels of sound, we are able to emulate a full orchestra instead of a simple quartet of instruments as the competition does. Listening to the devices side-by-side will showcase the difference. We do this on our website http://www.hymns2go.com/ in the audio section, but also on the home page.
Of course, Gloria3 has a price point that is one half the price of our nearest competitor and only 25% of the price of the next competitor. I have to admit that if you want thousands of hymns, those devices have more hymns available than Gloria3 does at the present, but that won't be for long. And Gloria3 is also able to be upgraded over the Internet, so as more hymns become available you willl be able to add them as you wish.
The competition has some great organ sounds available - more than Gloria3. But Gloria3 is meant for the contemporary church - not the church that only wants organ music, although our organs sound pretty good themselves! There may be a feature or two available with those other devices that Gloria does not have, but 99% of our customers would never use those features anyway.
Where Glori3 really shines, though, is in the fantastic orchestral arrangements for most of the hymns using a full 16 channels of recording. This sets our musical sound light years ahead of the competition!
So I guess it's OK to spend $1300 - $2100 for a larger device that contains more hymns, but isn't $600 more sensible? And I bet you will find your favorite hymns 90% of the time in Gloria3. That's why the US military has approved its use in all five armed services. The Army, Navy, Air force, Marines, and US Coast Guard have all expressed interest, and are buying Gloria3's for use on bases, ships, and installations all over the world.
With Gloria being presently used in over 75 countries around the world, you know there is a reason why we think she is your best option for quality sound for your group or church.
Electronic Hymnal
It's going to be interesting explaining all the benefits of owning an electronic hymnal. But once you have one, you'll wonder how you got along without it.
What we are trying to get across is that this device is far different than a CD player or MP3 player, which people first think of when they see it.
A CD or MP3 recording cannot be changed. Once it is recorded, you cannot change the pitch, or the tempo, and you are stuck with the sound of the recording itself - for instance, you cannot make a recording made with a brass section play back sounding like it was recorded using string instruments.
Why is this important?
Today, I believe one of the reasons churches do not use more hymns in their services is that they are more difficult to play using contemporary instruments like piano, guitar, synthesizer, and drums. Hymns, as most people think of them, are an outgrowth of organ music. Yet that is incorrect. Hymns were mostly written for full orchestras. Today, most people only hear organ music at weddings and funerals, so some people, especially younger people do not relate to the sound of hymns. I've even heard some young people refer to hymns as "dirges." That's a shame, and it doesn't have to be that way.
Traditionally, hymns were written for orchestras - not organs. And the variety of sound was huge. Today, by using the modern flexibility of music MIDI files, once a hymn has been digitized, the same file can be used to play it back using a trumpet as well as a violin, or even an organ. The MIDI file captures the notes and the feel of the music. You can then decide how you want it to sound.
So a men's group can sing "How Great Thou Art" at a lower key than the same hymns sung by a women's group if it was recorded in MIDI format.
In fact, MIDI format actually allows you to separate and listen to any of the major melody SATB parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) by itself, and played by any instrument you wish.
So if you like a part played by a trumpet accompanied by violins, and you want to slow down the tempo and sing it in a lower key, you can do that with MIDI files. The next time you might want to pick up the tempo and use a saxophone quartet. With our Electronic Hymnal, it's entirely up to you! You can adjust every hymn just the way you or your congregation or group wants to sing it.
Listening to hymns played with contemporary instruments is a whole new experience for many. And the magnificent words that have comforted and pleased generations for hundreds of years can be interwoven into a "contemporary" service without it causing controversy. Gloria3 can bring hymns back to the contemporary church!
And as far as practice is concerned, the electronic hymnal is unsurpassed in being able to single out your part so you can master it, then you can drop out your part and use the orchestral backup to play it with your own instrument.
There's much more that can be done with this versatile instrument, so stay tuned as we share more ideas with you. Feel free to comment as well. Our goal is to provide excellent worship experiences anywhere in the world accompanied by fine music.
What we are trying to get across is that this device is far different than a CD player or MP3 player, which people first think of when they see it.
A CD or MP3 recording cannot be changed. Once it is recorded, you cannot change the pitch, or the tempo, and you are stuck with the sound of the recording itself - for instance, you cannot make a recording made with a brass section play back sounding like it was recorded using string instruments.
Why is this important?
Today, I believe one of the reasons churches do not use more hymns in their services is that they are more difficult to play using contemporary instruments like piano, guitar, synthesizer, and drums. Hymns, as most people think of them, are an outgrowth of organ music. Yet that is incorrect. Hymns were mostly written for full orchestras. Today, most people only hear organ music at weddings and funerals, so some people, especially younger people do not relate to the sound of hymns. I've even heard some young people refer to hymns as "dirges." That's a shame, and it doesn't have to be that way.
Traditionally, hymns were written for orchestras - not organs. And the variety of sound was huge. Today, by using the modern flexibility of music MIDI files, once a hymn has been digitized, the same file can be used to play it back using a trumpet as well as a violin, or even an organ. The MIDI file captures the notes and the feel of the music. You can then decide how you want it to sound.
So a men's group can sing "How Great Thou Art" at a lower key than the same hymns sung by a women's group if it was recorded in MIDI format.
In fact, MIDI format actually allows you to separate and listen to any of the major melody SATB parts (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) by itself, and played by any instrument you wish.
So if you like a part played by a trumpet accompanied by violins, and you want to slow down the tempo and sing it in a lower key, you can do that with MIDI files. The next time you might want to pick up the tempo and use a saxophone quartet. With our Electronic Hymnal, it's entirely up to you! You can adjust every hymn just the way you or your congregation or group wants to sing it.
Listening to hymns played with contemporary instruments is a whole new experience for many. And the magnificent words that have comforted and pleased generations for hundreds of years can be interwoven into a "contemporary" service without it causing controversy. Gloria3 can bring hymns back to the contemporary church!
And as far as practice is concerned, the electronic hymnal is unsurpassed in being able to single out your part so you can master it, then you can drop out your part and use the orchestral backup to play it with your own instrument.
There's much more that can be done with this versatile instrument, so stay tuned as we share more ideas with you. Feel free to comment as well. Our goal is to provide excellent worship experiences anywhere in the world accompanied by fine music.
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