Easy does it.

It's time for the worship bands favorite game, how many instrument can play at the same time.

This seems to be a problem for most worship bands, and it's quite understandable. Every CD you listen to has what seems to be an infinite amount of sounds happening at the same time and it sounds so full. If you ever watch hillsong perform you'll notice they have a good 50 people on that stage and it sounds amazing.

But I assure you, while it sounds full on a cd, it sounds crowded in worship.

Part of the problem is intention. A CD is intended to stand on it's own, while a worship team is there to back up the congregation, the focus must always be on the words (when there are words). Someone in the congregation wondering how you possibly got your keyboard to sound like a 90 piece orchestra is not worship (though it is cool).

It seems counterintuitive to back up on your instrumentation to sound fuller, but is often the case. There is only so much space to use in audio, if your instruments are constantly overlapping and fighting for the same space its going to sound crowded. If each instrument stays nicely in their own corner then the listener will easily hear the whole spectrum of sound....and thats sounding full. The same goes for rhythm. If you have a drummer, praise the lord, because that means that you (Mr. acoustic or Mrs. piano) are no longer responsible for keeping rhythm; that's the drummers job. So when he's doing his thing back there in his silly looking plexiglass cage, back up on the rhythm. When rhythms are not competing with each other the listener can easily find the rhythm and the key...fullness.

So when you find yourself on that valiant quest for musical fullness in your worship, the answer may not be playing more, but playing smart. Back up.