Tag Archives: YouTube

Collaboration Curve

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Curve road sign. Photo by fabien-bazanegue on unsplashAfter a two-year hiatus while I worked on other projects, my Holy GhostWriter plunked me back into hymn-writing this year, with an exciting new twist!

Thanks to Facebook groups, YouTube, and the Hymn Society in the US & Canada, I’ve connected with several composers to work on new musical settings for texts I originally published with public domain tunes and for some brand new texts. In addition, I’ve written melodies for a couple of my newest hymns, with harmonization help from Diva Daughter, Theresa Olin (aka The Inexorable Juggernaut of Music Theory).

It’s been quite a roller coaster ride, careening up, down, and around the learning curve of collaboration. I mean, it’s one thing to tweak a hundred-year-old tune written by a guy who is, shall we say, in no position to argue with my choices. It’s quite another to communicate and negotiate with a living composer who brings a different vision and style to my lyrics, and who is as new to the art of collaboration as I am. Fortunately, my HGW has blessed me with partners who possess a gracious heart as well as musical skills.

Our newest pieces are not going public yet, in order to preserve eligibility for competitions and publishers which require unpublished work. Stay tuned for those!

Meanwhile, I hope you’ll enjoy the lovely new setting written by talented young composer Jared Bernotski for my text “How Long Is the Longest Night.” Jared himself sings HLITLN, accompanied by Cade Johnson, in this video. (Lyrics below.)

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Look Back with Jeff & Clyde

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One year ago, my son and I put the finishing touches on our joint book project, Puppet Ministry Pizzazz, with an acknowledgments page. The first person Jeff wanted to mention was the late Millie Jones, an elderly member of our church family. As Jeff wrote, Millie was “a light of love and positivity that shone brightly despite her small size.” What a wonderful legacy!

Jeff & Clyde in “Clyde Is Unique”

Jeff & Clyde rehearsing

Jeff & Clyde rehearse for “Clyde Is Unique”

Last night I ran across a letter Millie wrote to twelve-year-old Jeff after he and Clyde performed at a worship service. Their skit, titled “Clyde Is Unique,” featured a song that contrasted Jeff’s talents and interests with those of his sister. For one thing, as you see from his sweatshirt, Jeff was a Dallas Cowboys fan, while Theresa rooted for the 49ers. The takeaway was that each of us is special, a one-of-a-kind creation by God. (An updated version of “Clyde Is Unique” is one of the fourteen sample scripts in Chapter 4 of Puppet Ministry Pizzazz.)

Here’s what Millie’s letter had to say about Jeff and Clyde’s message: Continue reading →

Puppet Ministry on YouTube

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Moochacha Learns about Grumbling title screen

News Flash

Moochacha and I have had so much fun recording our faith messages that we’ve collected our videos into a new Puppet Ministry playlist on YouTube!

Our Facebook post of “Moochacha Learns about Grumbling” reached 700 views in just a few days, so we decided to upload the videos to the YouTube platform for a broader audience.

Whether you’re a puppeteer looking for ideas or a kid (of any age) looking for gently humorous faith lessons, we hope you’ll be inspired by our little performances. Enjoy!

Linda

P. S. While you’re visiting my YouTube channel, please check out the Now Sings My Soul playlist to hear vocal renditions of some of my favorite hymns and faith songs from Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord.

 

The Blizzard Doxology Snowballs

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Praise God from Whom All Blizzards FlowMy new verse “Praise God from Whom All Blizzards Flow” was born on January 18, 2019. Two months later, winter has not yet relinquished its icy grip. We’ve run through the alphabet of storm names all the way to Winter Storm Ulmer. And that light-hearted blizzard doxology has been shared many thousands of times on social media, hopefully brightening the long, snowy season.

Snow in the air, and Linda on the air

Viral postings of the blizzard doxology led to an invitation from WWIB FM in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to join their Wake-Up Show host Caleb Svendsen for a radio interview. (My segment starts at the 2:00 mark, with Caleb’s brother Josh singing his own version of the blizzard doxology.) It was 25 below at their location when I called in, and only a little warmer here in the Susquehanna Valley. Brrr! But we had a fun chat, and we warmed up one lucky giveaway winner with a signed copy of Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord.

Singing the faith in all circumstances

God only knows how many chilly church choirs and congregations have sung the blizzard doxology, but Googling the hymn title produced a few hints.

Here’s a nice rendition by Pastor David Hewitt at King of Glory, Carmel, Indiana.

2019.01.20 | Pastor David Hewitt | Praise God From Whom All Blizzards Flow from KOGCarmel on Vimeo.

And from the little congregation of Holy Cross in Burlington, Ontario Canada:

Edit: Just found a video on Facebook from a very well-rehearsed youth choir at St. Ann Catholic Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina:

 

Here’s the choir of West Lebanon Congregational Church, one of the few churches in New Hampshire that braved the blizzard to hold a Sunday worship service on January 20, 2019:

 

And the Sanctuary Choir of All Saints Lutheran Church, ELCA in Cottage Grove, Minnesota:
All Saints Lutheran Church, ELCA Sanctuary Choir

A different faith song

Meanwhile, areas farther south have sung a different tune. Melting snow, heavy rain, and driving winds and tornados have caused widespread devastation. No laughing matter there. But people of faith continue to call upon the Lord to hold them close through the storm and walk with them as they struggle through the aftermath. Let’s raise prayers for their safety, still praising the God of strength and compassion.

Blessings,
Linda

Words and Music: Which Comes First?

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"Which comes first? Uh..."Which comes first, the words or the music?

Well… yes. Like the chicken and the egg, a hymnwriter can go either way.

Words First

For me, writing a new hymn often begins with an idea for the words (aka text or lyrics). Perhaps some situation in my life or in the world around me suggests a musical parable. Perhaps my Holy GhostWriter prods me to explore a particular Bible passage or theological concept. Perhaps a hymn-writing competition specifies a theme or occasion to write about. Perhaps an intriguing turn of phrase begs to be rhymed and set to music.

Ideally, while I’m writing the words a good tune bubbles to the surface of my memory or imagination. If my verses have a commonly used meter (pattern of syllables per line), I might pick a suitable tune from the metrical index in the dog-eared back pages of my hymnal. Otherwise, a scrounge through the archives of public domain hymn tunes (and maybe a tweak or two to the existing notes) may be necessary to get the right musical setting.

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Faith Songs with Andrew Remillard

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Portrait of Andrew Remillard at the piano

I’m tremendously excited to announce that pianist Andrew Remillard has completed the project of recording the hymns and faith songs in Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord. One hundred sixteen in all!

The recordings are posted as videos in a special playlist on Andrew’s popular YouTube channel. (A playlist is a collection of videos that YouTube will automatically play one after the other if the viewer selects the autoplay option.)

Andrew’s recordings are strictly instrumental, no singing. However, he displays the score (music + lyrics) as the visual on his videos, as you can see in the screenshot of his video for “Now Sings My Soul a New Song.”

YouTube screenshot of Song 1 in the playlist

In this way, my lyrics are being presented along with the music to a worldwide audience they never could have reached otherwise. Andrew’s Now Sings My Soul playlist has attracted more than a thousand views already. What a gift!

3,000 Hymn Milestone

Incredibly, Andrew Remillard recently passed the milestone of 3,000 (yes, three thousand!) hymn recordings, encompassing seven full hymnals:

To celebrate, Andrew and I decided to share a conversation with you all here on Faith Songs.

Chat with Andrew Remillard

Linda: First of all, Andrew, tell us how you got started on the path of recording hymns for YouTube.

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Song Fest Grace Notes

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Now Sings My Soul Song Fest Choir2018 opened on a high note, with a song fest celebrating the launch of my new collection of hymns and faith songs. Harpursville United Methodist Church in Harpursville, New York, hosted the event on January 20.

Featured singers Theresa Olin, Tony Villecco, Greg and Joanna Jenkins, Kristy Garlitz, Tom Blake, Sherry Ticknor, and Lida Bassler presented thirteen solos and duets drawn from Now Sings My Soul: New Songs for the Lord. The multi-church choir sang five hymns, and the audience joined in for seven more, all having new words set to such familiar tunes as “Sweet Hour of Prayer” and “To God Be the Glory.”

The music was wonderful, and so was the fellowship, with singers from ten churches representing at least five different denominations. What a great opportunity to find common ground in making music for the Lord!

An especially exciting moment for me (besides discovering that the new travel mug I’d filled with pineapple juice was not watertight) was Diva Daughter’s performance of “Only Then.” This is one of the dozen or so songs in the book for which I wrote the music as well as the words, with Theresa’s help in developing the accompaniment. I hope you’ll enjoy her expressive rendition as much as I do.

Only Then video

That video plus 20 more clips from our elderly camcorder are posted in a special Now Sings My Soul Song Fest playlist on my YouTube channel. The clips in the Song Fest playlist include introductory remarks and chatter, to give you a taste of the actual event.

Tony Villecco & Theresa Olin

Tony Villecco & Theresa Olin

I plan to edit some of the recordings for music-only listening, with lyrics displayed. Those versions will go on the regular Now Sings My Soul playlist on YouTube. Theresa & Tony’s incredible a cappella duet, “Love the Lord” (recorded at rehearsal), is already posted there.

Love the Lord video

I’m very grateful to the singers, the audience, and everyone who posted flyers, made desserts for the reception following the program, or contributed to the event in other ways. DJ Dave Smith generously loaned a mic stand for the choir. Special thanks to accompanist Lida Bassler, a living, breathing grace note if ever there was one! And of course I give thanks and praise to my Holy GhostWriter for a creative partnership that can’t be beat.

Blessings,
Linda

Song Fest playlist:

Now Sings My Soul playlist

Now Sings My Soul book info

Song Fest photos by Michelle Noyes, used by permission

 

Faith Songs for Eye and Ear on YouTube

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Title page of YouTube video for O Lord Whose Touch Once Made Me Whole by Linda Bonney OlinMy Holy GhostWriter is no slouch when it comes to using technology for music and ministry. I’m a little slower on the uptake. But I did manage to learn the basics of creating and uploading YouTube videos. Now you will be able to sample some of the hymns and faith songs I’ve written since Songs for the Lord came out five years ago.

I’m delighted to feature Theresa Olin, aka Diva Daughter, singing while my lyrics are displayed onscreen. Her voice is a treat. She sings first soprano with the Houston Symphony Chorus, for which she has served as section leader, and with smaller choral groups, including Houston Camerata. (Diva Daughter is the slim brunette in the middle of the back row in Houston Camerata’s group picture.)

We had time to record only a few songs during Theresa’s Christmas visit. But I hope to travel to Texas, with digital voice recorder in hand, when time and my husband’s health allow. (Bill is still recuperating from injuries he suffered in a farm accident last September; that’s why I haven’t had time to post here in the past several months.)

Meanwhile, I have another sacrificial lamb almost ready to throw on the altar. Er … that is to say, I have another highly talented singer who has volunteered to record some vocals for my mini-videos. So more samples of my work will be coming along soon.

If you’d like to be notified when I upload a new video on YouTube, please subscribe to the Linda Bonney Olin channel. Signing up is simple, and it’s free, of course. I don’t “monetize” my videos, so you won’t be plagued by ads when you try to hear my songs.

I appreciate “likes” and comments and shares on YouTube—on Facebook and Twitter, too. Your responses help bring my work to the attention of other listeners. Thank you!

Link to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/lindabonneyolin

Links to the individual songs I’ve uploaded so far:

I hope you enjoy them all. Please leave your two cents’ worth in a comment. I need all the encouragement I can get. ♥

O Lord, Whose Touch Once Made Me Whole is one of three songs I wrote for Mary Magdalene’s monologue, Mary Magdalene, Transformed. Don’t forget to check out Transformed: 5 Resurrection Dramas and my other Bible study and drama books for the Lent/Easter season: Giving It Up for Lent and The Sacrifice Support Group. Ash Wednesday is right around the corner!

Blessings,
Linda