I finished the first of the surveys I’d like to use to collect information from Sacred Loops visitors. You can find it here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=yAvC0H2vQVihRnweURQoZg_3d_3d

It’s only 10 questions and should be fairly quick to fill out. It will give me a better idea of who’s coming to the site and what you’re using for your own music making.

Thanks in advance for helping me out with this.

Kent

I’m taking a well-deserved day off today, but I did want to write a quick note to say thank you for the public and private comments I’ve received in the last few days. Momentum is building toward January 1st, and I’m excited about where things are headed.

Thanks again!

Kent

Well, we don’t have a survey (yet). It’s in the works and should be posted next week (so that all three of you that read this blog can participate). But I am interested in your opinions.

Funny thing is that everyone always has a lot of opinions after something is launched or introduced, but they rarely offer their opinions (even when given an easy way to do so) when they could be of most value (i.e. before the launch or introduction).

And don’t feel you have to wait for the survey. If you’ve got thoughts or ideas about how to improve Sacred Loops and make it more meaningful for you, send ‘em to me. You can post a comment here, or you can send me an email (kent dot kingery at sacredloops dot org). I don’t have my 1-800-GRIPE-LINE set up yet.

I’ve talked with several folks as I’ve prepared for this change, but I do want to hear from anyone interested in sharing.

Kent

The idea of creating video tutorials has intrigued me for a very long time (probably since college when I did a series of fire safety videos for my home town). In another life, I used to teach software development, and one of the tools we used was video lessons. In fact, my first exposure to non-linear editing was on an Avid system we purchased to create training tapes (yep, VHS in all its glory!) for some of our clients.

I’ve been scouring the web recently for good examples of tutorials and have found quite a few. You can go to YouTube and be overwhelmed by the number of videos on Ableton Live, Apple Logic Studio, Propellerhead Reason, and others. People teach guitar, keyboard, organ, bass, and even the hang drum (one of my new favorite instruments). But most of these teaching videos are fairly abbreviated and usually not done with a significant level of commitment to quality. (There are exceptions, however, such as the very excellent video series on Logic by SFLogicNinja.)

Over the last couple of years, I have been informally documenting and teaching some of the techniques I use in production and performance. And I’ve amassed a fairly sizeable archive of videos that I’ve produced for other folks that I am planning to repurpose for Sacred Loops. While I’m never going to give MacProVideo or the other commercial sites a run for their money, I am interested in doing something along the lines of what ChurchMediaDesign.tvis doing for media work.

With that in mind, about six months ago I started editing and reshooting some of the more interesting video topics and preparing them for use on a sister site that will be launched in January. You can see the logo at SacredLoops.tv, and I’ll have some sample content up around Christmas to whet your appetite.

But I’m not just interested in putting up my own work. I want to open it up to others who have things to say and teach in the areas of music and audio for worship. If that’s you, let me know. If you need or want help in producing your videos, let me know that, too. The first videos I plan to post are basic stuff (audio interfaces, one-man worship leading setups, etc.), all drawn from my own personal experience. I also have tutorials on basic mixing, production techniques, and other related topics that I think people will find interesting and useful.

Let me know what you think!

Confession is good for the soul. I confess that I ate too much turkey over Thanksgiving. I confess that I slept in a little later than I had planned this morning. And I confess that I haven’t been monitoring comments on this site in some time.

The lengths that people go to in order to put spam on your blog is simply amazing. Even more amazing is the type of spam that is submitted. I did a (decidedly unscientific) survey of the 22 pages of comment spam on Sacred Loops today, and I found that the majority of spam is about drugs or supplements. I figure this is merely one more indicator of the state of our society. After all, almost nobody spams a blog with links about Jesus or God or salvation.

I’m working through the various options for slamming spam (filters, captchas, prior comment approvals, etc.), and I’ll have a solution in place by the weekend. My apologies to all of you who submitted comments over the last several months, only to have them disappear into moderation limbo.

As mentioned in a previous post, Sacred Loops has languished a bit since I took it over some time ago. Chalk it up to big plans, no time, competing demands, and all the other things that make up “life”. But I’ve been working steadily over the last few months on some plans to revitalize the site and offer up some changes that I think will be valuable.

So, the countdown to January 1st begins. New Year, new Sacred Loops site, new (or renewed) energy to provide meaningful information on using audio and music technology to glorify Jesus. I’ll be posting each day in December to talk about where I’ve been, where I’m headed, and where the site is headed along with me. I’ll also have some thoughts about technology bits and bobs that I’ve been working with over the last few months.

Get ready. It’s countdown time.

Kent