simple question...does Christian music scare off listeners here?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mixmkr
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Ive witnessed one or two instances where people were scolded for posting a song with "christian" lyrics.....you cant let a few assholes spoil it for everyone.....Ill listen and respond.....
 
No. Plenty of Fearless Reviewers here.
If I'm not afraid to post my music with its often abrupt lyrical content I don't think anyone else has a reason to be concerned with "scaring off" their audience.
 
I like it all.....

I would listen.

The only music I don't like is music that has no lyrics or mumbling.

I can live with bad lyrics. That just means people are learning.

If it doesn't have lyrics it is just a instrumental.

I don't like instrumentals.
 
Not in my case. There's some Christian music that I love and some that I hate, pretty much like everything else. I reviewed a few of your tunes a few months ago if I'm not mistaken. If I remember correctly, I liked them.

Ray J
 
thx all for the quick responses to my yes/no question.

emeric (and others)...I asked because it seems to scare off many listeners as compared to the other genres I have delved in when posting here and other similar places.

Ray J....yes you did review some of my stuff...thx again ;-D
 
It doesn't exactly "scare me off" but its definitely not my cup of tea and if I can at all avoid it, I will. OK, I guess that means it scares me off...but let me tell you why.

I've found that a lot of Christian music strikes me as simple propaganda. Its a way of "dumbing down" religion and putting into a form people usually associate with fun and entertainment. You start listening and it sounds innocent enough, even catchy, but then it hits you with WWJD and that sort of BS.

I went to this camp when I was a teenager on a church trip and they had us sing all of these wack-ass "I love Jesus and everybody else" type songs that tried to sound like pop/rock. They also chanted U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.... at the end of each night, BTW. Man that was a weird-ass place. There also seemed to be a lot of sex on those trips so putting up with the gay music turned out to be worth it for a lot of people, but not for me unfortunately. :(

Anyhoo, I actually have a fairly strong appreciation for several traditional Christian hymns, but it just seems to me that its almost the reverence and piety of that type of music that makes it appropriate for worship. Putting similar words to a catchy beat just seems like a way to "sneak the religion" into something that's palatable to a wider audience. I'm very glad that I find it unpalatable. "Christian rock" as I've heard it called is a failed attempt at reaching the lowest common denominator of Christianity and about the most thinly-veiled propaganda I've ever come across.
 
mixmkr said:
a simple yes or no.....

however.....

http://www.mp3.com/theupperroom

Well, it depends on whether or not it's good or bad Christian Music! Hahaha
I'm a Christian, but I generally don't listen to Christian music, for the simple fact that Most of the "Christian bands" are cut rate versions of the mainstream acts.

I played in a Christian Metal band for awhile, and there are literally a handful of "Christian bands" that I could name that were fairly orginal, the rest were second rate cover bands.

If I want to hear music about The Bible-I'll listen to Manowar, I like Joey deMaio's take on Revelations:


"Burning Embers of the second death shall come in the night,
Priests and Kings, The Alpha and Omega, Poison Bites.
False prophets and deceivers shall swing from the trees,
Now dawns the age of birds, drunk with blood like lepers with disease.


Tim
 
It's got to be mixed, right?

Christian music is produced and mixed just like any other. Heck yeah, I'll listen. Most folks write music about things that are relavant to them. (shrug) What's the difference? I like to hear music from people who have some investment in what they are doing.

Your tune "Trust in the Lord" for example, sounds HUGE. I like it. There are times when the chorus seems to blow me away a bit too much- too much louder than than the rest of the song. I've been mixing all day, though, and my ears are pretty fried.

I would prefer a deeper kick sound, too. It seems a little thin for the size of the song. It might be difficult to fit in with all that low end stuff going on, though.

You know what this reminds me of? The sound track to the movie "Legend." Tangerine Dream did that. Neat stuff.

Take care,
Chris
 
Chris....thx for the listen.


Dolomite....yowza!!! some interesting ideas that have been molded into your cranium. That's why there is chocolate and vanilla, I guess. I'd appreciate a listen, however, to see what you think of my *propaganda*. thx!!
 
>I don't like instrumentals.

JerryD:

I won't argue with you on this point. I don't like Mayo on my sandwiches.

But there's plenty of music sans the human vocal track worth listening to. And you'll usually not have to have your stomach pumped if you pick the wrong track.

And mixmkr: your best defense against offending the non-believers is to write your lyrics from a point of view that shows the deeper meaning regardless of the belief system applied.
 
mixmkr,

I just listened to "Trust in the Lord". Kinda Top Gun Soundtrack meets Davy and Goliath -ish. The music is not bad, good MIDI stuff going on there. But then you start talking about bible stuff and you just lose me. I guess I appreciate that you're not trying to make it sound like current popular music (or are you?). The worst stuff does that. I just don't dig the religious content in something that I consider "entertainment".

Turning entertainment into religion in my mind is akin to what televangelists do to turn religion into entertainment.
 
Only if anti-Christian music doesn't scare you off... ;-)>

Seriously, Christian music is generally not my cup of tea either (must be an Iowa thang, eh Dolemite?). However, good music is good music. I listen to everything from Jars of Clay to Marylin Manson and love it all. To expand on Dole's point, lyrics that are heavy-handed tend to turn a lot of people off and I think that is where the problem often lies...

If you sing "Jesus is king", some people don't want to hear it and you risk isolating them, just as NIN risks isolating people if they sing "God is dead". The key is to try and get your message across in a clever, subtle, artistic way and not beat them over the head with it. Give your audience the benefit of the doubt and assume they are intelligent enough to decipher more abstract lyrics. Often it will be more powerful and interesting and you'll definitely gain a larger audience.

I write all this as a generality -- I haven't yet had the opportunity to listen to your song. I will try to block out any spiritual bias and take a listen. If you're feeling bold, you can do the same... ;-)>

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
:o
I am quite open to any kind of music as long
as it shows some kind of originality or talent.

My biggest problem with religious music of any
kind is that the subject matter never changes.
There never seem to be a challenge of any kind
or even a different point of view.
It all seems to be about loving Jesus, praise Alla
or feel bad on Yom Kippur.
This type of simplicity, in my humble opinion, seems to
trickle down to the chord structure and performance.


On an angry note:

I so sick & tried of Religious freaks telling everybody that we are all
afraid to take on the responsibility of living with God.

DROP DEAD!

I haven't found one member on this web to be afraid of ANYTHING!

On this web-site we argue our point to the death.

Love
Sean
 
Hey Mixer:
Take it from someone who has had considerable success in the field of Christian Music...It's a field of extremes.

The best bands are great, the worst are the worst I have ever heard in any genre of music.
I will listen to your song when I get off of work. I have posted a few of my "Christian" tunes, and was given a ositive respose from all who listened, even those who are at odds with Christianity, so he people at this site are quite fair-minded for the most part.

In short: Most "Christian Music" is awful, some of it is allright, and little of it is great.

Here's a running joke my band uses live, we say this in between each song.
"Thank you..This next song is aout God.." :)

DJ
 
Hopefully, because this is technically a "mixing clinic", people should be pretty open-minded.

Personally I can't relate in any way to your music. However, that doesn't mean that I can't critique the mix or enjoy the creativity.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I just listened to "trust in the lord" and , from a production standpoint, everything sounded pretty tight to me. Has kind of the big 80s production (verb on the snare, vocals, guitar, etc.). Not sure if that's what you're going for, but sounds good in that sense/style...

The song and subject matter are definitely not my cup of tea, but since this is a home recording board, I'll leave my comments at that... ;-)> Nice work, mixmkr. Best of luck.

J
http://www.mp3.com/30SoS/
 
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