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!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
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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