In The Muse: Featured Resource – Worship Songs on Rock Band

In Uncategorizedby tfwm

This month we are focusing on something a little different from our normal independent worship feature – but this is something that every independent worship leader will want to take advantage of. I haven’t met a musician yet that hasn’t played Rock Band. In fact, many church youth groups have made Rock Band® competitions and huge part of their youth programs.

But have you ever thought wouldn’t it be amazing if Christian music could be included in the line up?

Well, with the advent of Rock Band® 3, it will be. And not only that, your independent worship songs have a chance of being included as well.

1CN Records released singles from two brand new worship artists through the Rock Band® Network and the results have been amazing.

According to Rob Winter, Founder of 1CN Records, the Rock Band® Network is outsellingiTunes with his new artists. One of the brand new artists – Jonathan Lee – was first introduced to the world through the In The Muse column published through Technologies For Worship Magazine thus fulfilling our goal of introducing up and coming independent worship artists to a growing underground market of “indie” worship fans. Jonathan Lee’s single, “Sound of the Redeemed,” from the album “Let Them Hear,” was one of the first Christian songs to be released through the Rock Band® Network.

I know what you’re all saying… Wow, praise God for brother Jonathan for getting his song on Rock Band. Okay, that’s the Christian thing to say but really what you’re saying deep in your heart is… Hey, how do I get my song on Rock Band?!

1CN Records has developed a partnership with DigiInteractive to convert your independent music tracks into the Rock Band® format.

Digiinteractive is one of the few companies officially trained by Harmonix, the creators of Rock Band, and they specialize in the conversion of Christian Music tracks.

How does it all work? The process of converting the songs begins with the raw audio tracks. You will need to provide the original multitrack recordings in AIFF format or Broadcast Wave files prior to mix down. The unique conversion process requires the song to be remixed from the ground up. Stems from the tracks are then created such as bass, drum, lead guitar and vocals (sound familiar?).

They then take it to the programming stage where they create Expert, Hard, Medium and Easy versions of the single. Camera, lighting and audience special effects are placed into the versions to make it feel like a live perPerformance.

They then send the tracks out for testing and here is the fun part… you will have the opportunity to test out your own song. How cool is that! After everything is approved it is then launched on the Rock Band® platform and Digi-interactive presents it for potential release on a new Rock Band® Worship CD.

The cost is not cheap. It runs over two thousand a track, but it gets you directly into the homes of millions of Rock Band® fanatics. All songs are available on Xbox 360 for the standard price of 160 Microsoft Points. It works out to be $2 per song and yes you will get royalties on sales. The success of Rock Band® as a music distribution machine has proved it to be one of the most promising sales generating platforms for independent Worship Leaders in the world. This is definitely something that is going to revolutionize the way we hear and get new songs.

If you are interested in learning more about getting your songs into Rock Band®, visit www.digiinteractive.com