Stuck Using Tracks? Heres How You Make Them Feel "Live"

Tracks... you either love 'em or hate 'em.

And these days, it seems like no matter the size of the church you attend, they're used more and more. 

For many churches, tracks supplement the sonic landscape that the band creates. But for many smaller churches, worship leaders and their teams rely on tracks to plug in holes that are left from not having enough members to round out a full band. 

If you're in this group and you feel "stuck" or disappointed because the overall experience seems "fake"...

Just know that you CAN make the experience feel real. 

Here's how. 

Lead the Arrangement

When you lead worship with a track, it's easy to treat it as a "sing-along."

And that's exactly what makes it feel "fake." 

Think about it: If everything is set in stone, it's easy to let the arrangement lead us, rather than us leading the arrangement.

We go on auto-pilot, letting the familiar hooks and rhythms take us through each section of the song as we sing the lyrics right where they're supposed to be. 

To make it feel real, you need to treat the pre-recorded instruments and vocals like another piece of the band, and still give the exhortation cues to the congregation, just as you would with a live band. 

To do this, you need to know the arrangement inside and out. 

When you know what's coming up in the next phrase or section of the song, you can improvise a "preview" lyric line of what's to come. The same can be done to give cues for the band, like body language to indicate dynamic shifts.  

It's really no different from what you would do with a live band. In fact, the only difference between using tracks and playing with a live band is a fixed arrangement (tracks) and a flexible arrangement (directing a band to repeat sections in real-time). 

Regardless if your arrangement is fixed or flexible, you still have ample opportunities to guide the congregation through each song, encouraging and exhorting them with your words. 

Customize the Tracks

If you're using tracks from MultiTracks or Loop Community, you can customize the instrumentation of each song to best fit your scenario. Many of the packages that come with any given arrangement contain multiple parts for each instrument. You can incorporate any number of those parts into your presentation: 

• Only have a drummer and keyboard player? Cut those parts and keep the guitars. 

• Only have an acoustic guitar and few singers, but want to keep things fairly light? Cut everything but one piano part, or maybe a light pad. 

You get the idea.

And this is actually where I would advocate smaller groups to use tracks to supplement what they have, rather than make up for lost ground. Augment and support your team (or maybe just yourself), rather than recreating a bigger experience for the sake of having a big sound just like the larger groups you hear on the radio or in a bigger city. 

The Bigger Picture

In the grand scheme of things, tracks are just a tool—they're not necessarily for worse or better if you (the team and the congregation) collectively understand why you are there to worship in the first place. Sure, completely relying on tracks overshadows the human element that you bring to the table, but using them strategically and tastefully can round out the balance of your presentation. 

So if you're going to use them, take the time to really "live" in your arrangement, take stock of the parts available to you (in-person and with multiple tracks), and then put the pieces together that best fits your needs. 

Be blessed 👊✌️