David Wesley | Thinking Out Loud

November 30, 2018

In Christ Alone: 14 Countries and Hundreds of Hours of Editing

Filed under: Christianity, music, worship — Tags: Canadian recording artists, David Wesley, modern hymns, modern worship, music technology, vitual choir, vocal arrangements, vocal music, worship music, worship songs — paulthinkingoutloud @ 9:27 am

Or…

The Choir Whose Members Never Met Each Other

…Several years ago I introduced readers here and here to the music of David Wesley. We go to the same church, and on Sunday, David led worship, this time around playing electric guitar. Is it ironic that a guy who plays so many different instruments is best known for acapella videos? Also, if you read our Wednesday Connect columns, you’ll also know that I’ve linked many times to his NoPro Worship training videos for modern worship leaders.

This is David’s third time putting together one of these virtual choir videos. This time around there were 48 singers — a handy number if you’re putting them all in a single video frame — representing 14 nations. The Stuart Townend and Keith Getty composition is a favorite of David’s and the arrangement is his. You get to hear his instrumental arranging ability (which we get to hear locally during Easter Week when about eight churches combine for a single service) but you’ll also recognize the trademark rhythmic vocals which characterize his acapella performances. [Check out all his videos at this link.]

Support David on Patreon: http://patreon.com.davidwesley
Facebook: http://facebook.com/davidwesleymusic
Twitter: @singdavidwesley
E-mail List: http://eepurl.com/cbc9o9

Sub-headline disclaimer: Some of the choir members have met each other.

March 4, 2018

Resource for Worship Leaders Who Aren’t Pros

Filed under: Christianity, Church, music, worship — Tags: acapella videos, Canadian Christian artists, choosing worship songs, Christian songwriters, church leadership, church life, David Wesley, modern worship, virtual choir, worship choruses, worship leading, worship resources — paulthinkingoutloud @ 10:36 am

Over the years I’ve shared some of the music of David Wesley with readers here or mentioned new videos in the weekly link lists. David does multi-track recording of Christian songs and posts videos of him singing each part, complete with a costume change for each track. I’m privileged to know him personally and to get to share conversations about worship in the local church. (If you’ve haven’t heard his music, I’ve embedded two videos at the bottom of this article.)

Today, I want to share a couple of the recent videos he’s produced in a new series called NoPro Worship: New principles, strategies, tips and tricks every Friday! It’s for people who aren’t on staff at a local church, or feel they’re no professionals, or no pro for short.

After a couple of getting-to-know-you videos where he introduced the series, he then looked conceptually at the Six Purposes of Worship in the Church. (Click to watch; that one’s not below.)

But then he moved into a really challenging topic: Does it matter where our songs come from? What about the life of the composer? What about the writer’s doctrinal perspective when it’s quite different from your own on key issues? He uses a really challenging example of a song that many worship wrestled with a few years back. Can you comfortably lead a tainted song? Check it out:

Then last Friday, he looked at the size of a worship leader’s (or church’s) repertoire. Is your congregation seeking freshness or familiarity? There’s also some practical advice on choosing songs generally. And how can worship be considered Spirit-led if you have to plan it all out ahead of time? After watching this one, if you give worship leadership at your church, consider subscribing to the series. And if you’d like to support what David is doing with this series, you can learn how to do that at the end.

For the first sample of his music, although he has more complex videos, I thought given the subject matter it was a fitting tie-in here to include this one, O Church Arise.

Finally, I had to include this one because my wife sings on it! This is David’s virtual choir and band — representing many different countries — performing an original arrangement of Nothing But The Blood.

Videos watched on WordPress blogs register on YouTube as views, but send David some “stats love” by clicking through (the YT logo in the bottom right when the video is playing) and watching a few more. And be sure to forward the NoPro Worship videos (or link to this blog post) to the worship leader at your church.

August 11, 2015

David Wesley’s Music Crosses Demographic Lines

Filed under: Christianity, music, worship — Tags: acapella videos, David Wesley, indy Christian music, modern worship, worship songs, YouTube artists — paulthinkingoutloud @ 6:16 am

Basement Praise As of last night, he had 27,629 YouTube subscribers. Four million views. Not too shabby. He performs and records and posts YouTube videos under the name David Wesley and we’ve had numerous contacts since he moved into our neighborhood a couple of years ago. I’ve linked to his videos before, but today I want to fully feature a couple of the more recent ones.

His album is titled Basement Praise and it’s available through the various channels listed below. And yes, he wears a different hoodie for each part and somehow manages to keep track of them! These are new tracks that aren’t on the album, but the quality is consistent to the a cappella sound you’ll hear on Basement Praise.