Why Sound Design & Heart Posture is So Important with Max Whiting

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In this episode of the Worship Keys Podcast, host Carson welcomes Max Whiting, a talented and dedicated musician from the Church of 1122 in Jacksonville, Florida. Join them as they delve into Max's personal journey of faith and music, discussing his experiences with worship music, his inspiration from mentors like John Wilds and Leonard Ray Jarman Jr., and the profound impact of his family's faith following the tragic loss of his older sister. Max shares details about his setup, his love for worship through keys, and provides a live demonstration on playing 'Holy Forever.' The episode concludes with insights into local worship gatherings, emphasizing the importance of faithfulness and devotion in worship ministry.

Transcript

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Alright guys, welcome back to the Worship Keys podcast. Today I am with Max Whiting. Max. How you doing, man? Good. How are you bro? Doing great. Thank you for coming on to the podcast. It's gonna be a great episode. Y'all talking all, we got Ableton here. We got, uh, the, the Key Lab, 88 from Arturia. Um, you got your Novation uh, launch control pad over there and you got the word of God. You got the Bible, the word of God. Yeah, bro. Come on. And we are, um, actually at a church of 1122 right now. Yes sir. In the studio space back here. You got some awesome guitar amps behind you. Uh, if you're watching on YouTube, I could see a few, few of that. I got some, some drum snares and Toms behind you here in the studio. Um, just huge thanks to Landon Robertson with Church of 1122, allowing us to come in here, shoot some content. But Max, you've been playing with Church of 1122 here, you know. A little bit. Yeah. About, I've been, it's my home church probably for four years, so, okay. It's your, it's your home church? Yes, sir. Awesome man. Yeah. Awesome. I really appreciate it. How old are you, bro? So I'm 23. I'm getting, I'm getting old. Okay. 'cause you do look young. You do look young. I'm getting old, bro. That's, you're from Jacksonville, Florida. From Jacksonville. So if you know Jacksonville, I'm from the Oakley area, so Very nice. Yeah. So Church of 1122 is a church here in Florida. Jacksonville, Florida. If you, if you're in Jacksonville, Florida, you've probably heard of Church of 1122. And even if you're not in Jacksonville, Florida, you, you might have heard of Church of 1122 Powerful Worship you guys. Um. Great music that comes outta here. Uh, who are the worship leaders here at the main campus? Man, so the main campus, you got Austin and Lindsay atac. Um, you got Michael Olson, um, Mitch Bowman, I mean, just heavy hitters out the gate, you know? Sweet man. Yeah. Sweet. And your hat. I love your hat. Yes. Tell us about your hat, man. So it's counterculture, so if you see. Me ever. I'm probably wearing this hat with a man bun. But um, so we have a conference every year called One Weekend. It's a student conference where all the campuses get together and just go after the presence of God. Um, but so this is their, the hat of the, of 2020 Fives conference. So, awesome dude. Yeah. So good. Well, in this episode, guys, we're gonna be talking about, um, playing keys behind worship leaders. You play, you play keys behind a lot of different worship leaders. Yes, sir. And maybe we can talk about a few of those leaders, those churches, those moments. Um, and you're gonna demonstrate here in a little bit, kind of take us through a, a chorus of holy forever. And, and talk about your sound design. Um, show us some examples and I just wanna talk a little bit before we get into that, I wanna know the heart of who you are, man. Um, more of your story, more of your background, talk about music stuff as well. But guys, hang on in to the end to to see a little preview of, um, of you actually playing Max, which is. Just incredible man, incredible keys player. Thank you for coming on the pod for to share with us the Worship Keys community. Um, a few things about Max. So he, you have some music out there? Yes. And you've released how many, how many tracks this year? Two or two. So there's two. Um, and then a couple more on YouTube. Awesome. But two on streaming. Okay. So yes sir. And before we, we we, before we take it back to a little bit of your childhood and learning music, um, your latest one has some birds chirping in the background. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us about the, how you made that tr I love it. It's very peaceful. It's called Breathe. Breathe. Yep. Okay. Okay. Um, so that one, the background of it is kind of, um, just. Creating a space to where people can just sit and rest in God's presence. Um, quiet time with the Lord, read devotionals, anything. Or just like a lot of my friends right now are having babies, so like for them to sleep to and stuff like that. Yeah. Just peaceful worship music. Um, but so for the key sound, actually use Spit Spitfire labs. Um, soft piano. Yeah. Yeah. And then for the bird sounds, um, Spitfire and then throw some reverb on it. Okay. And just for that nature sound, you know, peaceful. So, absolutely. So you didn't go outside and go tracking some birds? No, I didn't sample any birds up. Okay. Just curious, man. You know, hey, I might've, you know, so. Yeah, yeah. I know a lot of people are into birding. So My dad is, yeah, your dad is, yeah. He's got an app that kind of tells you what the birds are if you hold your phone up. So dude, my father-in-law has that same app. I don't know if there are multiple apps that do that, but that's pretty cool. Yeah. That's pretty cool. He's got, yeah, my father-in-law's gotten, uh, big into birding. He's like, got the bird feeder that has the little camera on it. Does your dad have, have that? No, I know he needs to step it up for the Yeah, you need to get him that for, for, for his, uh, for, for maybe Christmas or something, or, yeah. His birthday or something. Man, come on. Uh, it's pretty cool. It's like you have a subscription and you see when the birds come up to the bird feeder. But anyway, we're not talking, we're not talking about birding today. We're talking about keys, but No, I love that. Um. Beautifully crafted song. Uh, and and it's simple and it's peaceful and it's worshipful. And then talk a little bit about rest is Same sound design. Yeah, same sound design. Um, I use. Obviously Leonard Ray, Jarman, Jr's, um, pad sounds. Yeah. And then have some drones and some strings and other stuff underneath. But, um, those tracks are kind of like just personal worship time. Um, I don't even look, I hit record on Ableton and go to a different tab. Don't even see that it's recording. You know, just worship and uh, just create a space where people can rest. So amazing, bro. Yes, sir. And I know that you are many things. You're a drummer for one. Yeah. I start on drums. Amazing. Yeah. And you play keys, you love the Lord. Um, but on your Instagram bio, it just simply says A worshiper. Worshiper. Yes, sir. And I love that. And guys made us to worship him and glorify him. So let's back it up, man. So when you started your music career, you started off as a drummer, right? Yes. Yes sir. Did you do like the, were you in band in school? Yeah. So it's pretty wild. Um. I, so basically I did percussion in sixth grade. Um, and, but to bring it back even further in fifth grade, so I was nine years old. Um, my family started attending church, fell in love with Jesus. Um, that was in January of 2012. Um, and then November 15th, 2012, I lost my oldest sister. Um, oh wow. And so. But really, you know, my parents, I'm so blessed to have, I always say, you know, there's nothing like a praying mama, and I really am a product of a praying mama. I don't wanna know where I'd be without her prayers. And I have a dad who just reflects the love of. God and just a man of God. And if I can be half of the man he is one day, you know, that would mean a lot. But, um, they kept us going. So I would go to church and everything kind of how the drumming thing started, there's this worship leader, um, who let me just follow him around, uh, change his pack, batteries, just everything. Just a church kid. You know how it is, right? And, uh, then I started doing. Production stuff. So I was shorter than the podium, but bringing the podium out and then doing pro presenter lights and audio and all that. But um, through that started doing percussion. And then I would just go, rehearsals were called Jam sessions back then. Yeah. So I would go there, just sit behind the drummer and just eager to learn, eager to just worship. Um, and. Every week I would just sit behind him and watch and watch and watch and watch. And then one weekend, uh, a drummer had a flat tire and I was doing pro presenter, and then the campus pastor was like, max You're up. And I was wearing cans like these too small, couldn't see over the drums, they're falling off the whole time. Um, but yeah, I just really fell in love with the presence of God. And, um, it's just start on drums. And after that, uh, when I turned 15. So I went to school for percussion outta school in town. Um, so I knew music theory knew obviously worship drums and all that from watching and whatever else. Yeah, man. And uh. Then, so the keys player and MD at the time got promoted to be a pastor. And so the lead pastor told the worship leader Hey, we need a keys and MD guy, and I'm serving on drums, you know? Um, and because I did percussion, the Worship Leader's like, oh, max can do it, which, you know, percussions to mallets keys, you got 10 fingers, and you, you know what I'm saying? Right, right. So, uh, anyways, he's, he's like, max can do it. Um, so that next weekend, bro. I'm playing keys on Sunday morning, running tracks. MDing Didn't know anything about anything. Just learned it on the fly. There you go. Um, but really through that, and especially losing my sister at that young age, there's a lot of things I could have turned to, but I really feel like God kind of gave me, you know, the gift of worship to go to that. Um. Because, you know, losing somebody, you don't experience that peace. So when you have an outlet to, you know, just experience God's presence and everything, I mean, it changes everything. So. Mm-hmm. Wow. It's a little long story short, that's my background of music. No, I love that man. I love that. Um, super. Sorry to hear about. The loss of your sister, man. Uh, that is wild. I had no, have had no clue. I mean, I know you, um, played keys and yelled the Lord and you're worshiper, but you know, once you sit down and talk to someone and get to know their story, I, um, cra do you have other siblings as well or, yeah. So there's eight of us total, right? Eight of y'all Total. Wow, man. Y'all are almost like two, about a dozen over there. Yeah. Okay. Eight of y'all. Total. Total. That's crazy. Um. So you lost your older sister? Oldest? Yes, sir. Where, where are you in the, in the, so I'm third oldest. You're the third oldest. Okay. Third oldest. Yeah. So, okay, man. Funny enough, before my, so the two youngest are boys, so for a while it was me and five girls. Wow. So just grew up just chill, you know? Yeah. Yeah. I always say, if you wanna be humble, just have some sisters, you know, they keep you humble. Right, right, right, right. Uh, for sure. I got two sisters and, and a brother, man. But, um, man, I can't imagine the, uh, just the, the, the grief and everything that comes with that, with you and your siblings, your parents, obviously, um, for them and, um. I mean, wow. I didn't know we were, we were gonna, we were gonna go there today, man. But, uh, sorry bro. No, dude. No, that's, that's I think others experienced that loss and that grief and, um, man, what, how old were you and what got you through that time? I mean, I know it's a music I worship keys podcast, but let's, let's talk about this for a minute, man. Yeah. So I was 10 years old, um, when I lost her. And like I said, kind of like just at the church all the time. Yeah. But really not. Like I love the church and the big C Church. It's a beautiful thing, but I felt really fell in love with Jesus, you know? Yeah. Um, and my parents, you know, they were like, we're not gonna stop. 'cause it's easy when you lose somebody tragically to just be like, you know, let's just stay in bed. Let's just do this. Um, and my parents, you know. Kept, kept us going. You know, I was in church, had a lot of people that I looked up to that really took care of my family during that time and encouraged us. But man, and I know it sounds cliche, but literally like. Because people ask me all the time, like, what's your hobby? You know, whatever. And if I have free time, I just love sitting on the keys, just flowing and worshiping and just, you know, being a son of God. I think that's the greatest thing. We can search for titles and everything else, but I think the greatest title you could ever have is Son or Daughter of God. So come on. I love that, bro. Yeah. And you have the, the Bible open right here on the keyboard, the Bible open, and I love that. Um, what do you have it open, uh, here too? What verses are are in front of you there, man? Yeah, so on that too, kind of getting through trials and everything else. My mom. Like I said, it's a prayer warrior, and this verse I've just kind of held onto and it's used a lot. But this NIV version, Proverbs three, five through six, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways submit to him and he'll make your past straight and uh, and all your ways submit to him. You know, that's the, that's everything you know. So, um, but my mom has a friend, her name's Miss Sharon. She's prayer warrior too, and she sent. My mom, Proverbs three, one through 12, and she said, have Max read that every day. So I love it, man. The word of God's everything. So come on. Yeah. So, so good. I mean, when he walked in today, we were sitting up and he gets the computer out, interface out and all these other things. And you just have your Bible out here, man. And um, oftentimes we don't just have the Bible sitting out here, man. We gotta have the word of God on the forefront. Um, yes sir. Hide it in our hearts. I love that. So let's talk about, so you learned the drums, you learned the keys, you just jumped in there on the keys. Um. At what point did you start to have the opportunities to play with other, um, worship artists such as Meredith Andrews, John Wildes, people like this, that have mentored you? Yeah. Leonard, um, tell, tell us when, when did that progress and how did you, how did God gift you that opportunity? So, um, it's crazy. I went through a lot of stuff and when I was 17, um. John Wilds, really just more so than playing for him or more so than anything else. Um, he just took me under his wing and was kind to me. He didn't ask me to play for him first. He's just like, bro, I care about you. But those who don't know John Wilds, who, who is John Wilds? So John Wilds, he's. An anointed worship leader, you know, um, a mentor of many. His house is always full, um, of people that he mentors and, you know, his house, he wants it to be a place of rest for people. Um, so, but if you've ever been around him or even watch him on YouTube, I mean, you just feel the presence of God enter that room, bro. Yes. Yeah. Um, but his kindness, bro, I, I honestly, and I tell people all the time, I'm like. I don't know where I'd be or if I'd still be doing ministry if it wasn't for him. Kind of. He told me he wanted to help me get a healthy view on ministry again, and, uh, he did exactly that I was telling somebody last week. So, um, but I was about 17 when that happened and, uh, just learned from him, you know, played with him. Um, but more so just being with him and kind of learning. 'cause he's a, like a mature man of God. I've always, um, thought recently, especially it's like. We can be so into the flashy things, but I wanna be into the faithful things. Come on, you know, I'd rather be faithful. And he represents that very well. Um, so when I was 17, he took me under his wing. And then any other worship leaders, um, when I get the privilege to play with them, I'm always playing for God. But Meredith Andrews I is one of the kindest people I've ever met and just super encouraging and anointed and it's always a gift to be able to spend time with them and, um, it's great man. That's awesome. Yeah, man. We need to make shirts that say faithful over flashy. Like, come on man. Did you say, did you write that one liner just for today on the podcast? Podcast? No, I'm not. I'm not about one liner. It's just something I've been thinking in my head, you know. No, I love that man. So, so good. Yeah, and it is so easy to go after the, the flashy. Mm-hmm. The next thing, the gear. You know, whatever it is, um, the artist, the fame, the, the title, the position, um, but you just, you're going after Faithful. Yeah. And to bring the flashy over faithful into a funny thing. So in high school, yeah, my band director. Used to tell us you shouldn't be playing the expensive stuff if you can't make the cheap stuff. Sound good? Hey, come on now, man. Yes sir. So bro, I, when I was learning drums and everything, I'd be practicing on pillows. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. In my room and, uh, to get, you know, better on click and everything I would sleep with. Sure. SC two fifteens in with a metronome going all night, bro. What so permanent? Hearing damage for sure. But wait, you slept? Slept with? To a click, to a click to a metronome to get timing and everything better? Yeah. Bro. What? And it worked, bro. I, I mean, you know, that's for you to judge, but, okay. Pro tip, go to bed with a metronome. Okay. So you didn't just have it in like playing in your room, you had it in your ear? Ears? Yeah. Yeah. Probably not good looking back on it now. Okay. That's crazy. Yeah. Was it like, uh, an app or something on your phone or. Bro. Back then it was that, uh, I think it's BPM or something. Remember that old app? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I just had it on eighth Note subdivision. Oh dude. I still use that, that app all the time, man. From time to time. Yeah. Especially you can tap tempo right there. Tap tempo and find it. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's, that's funny, man. Pro tip. Just if you, if you're struggling with the, the click, just plug it in as you go to sleep. Um, interesting. Do you think people could start that, like if they have a, a one, two, or 3-year-old instead of just like a noise machine? Just like put a click on Yeah. Just, yeah, just have a click going, you know, have different. Keys going and get perfect pitch. Right, right, right. A drone pad and a click going and test them on it. What tempo, what key? All that. Yes. Three, four years old. This is, this is how you raise 'em. Right. Okay. Anyway. Yeah. That is hilarious, man. Um, into the world of, it's more of like the, the pro level, uh, musicians. I feel like when you're playing for more of a cal, like a higher caliber of artists and worship leaders and Church of 1122, obviously they do things really well. Um, talk about the, the worship culture here at Church of 1122. Talk about, um, are y'all more flow, more traditional, more structured, uh. You're obviously you are the MD and Running Tracks. How is that on stage? Tell us about the whole church culture and give some tips for, um, MD and keys players, man. Yeah, so, um, at 1122, the worship culture is super healthy. Um, they have like a central worship pastor and then a team of central guys that kind of do stuff in the studio, resourcing and everything. And then, uh, campus level have, you know, worship staff member and everything. But, um, so. This environment is planned outset, um, and they really pray through the sets, plan 'em out, kind of six months in advance, believe, but believe that that prayer will line up then, you know, going into it. And honestly, it does. Like with the messages and stuff, they're like, we planned this six months ago, but it's perfect. Um, but we, we stay pretty on the plan. We don't go off grid or anything. And just recently, um, we switched over to playback. Um, so, you know. As the church gets bigger and more campuses, um, it's easier to teach someone playback than Ableton. That's, um, why they went that route. Um, but honestly, tips for keys players and MDs. I think whether you're in a church with no set list and you flow the whole time, or if you're in a church where it's exact plan, three songs. I think as an md I think sometimes we can see it that. We're in charge and we're telling the worship leaders what to do. But I think in either environment to kind of as a worship leader submitted to God, and as you're submitted to God, um, even in the plan, just help underscore what they're doing, you know, sonically and everything else. And, um. You know, and I think a big thing is kind of inflection on the mic and everything. And if, if you're sounding stressed, I think that'll feed on to the rest of the team. But if you have unity and you're like, what are you thinking here? What are you feeling here? Um, what's the Lord leading you to here? What's the one thing that helped you learn actually being able to play? Worship keys. Worship keys. Uh, YouTube bro. YouTube. Okay. Okay. Yeah, YouTube. So, um. That story I was telling the only song I knew and like, not even chord, just like the melody was what a beautiful name back then. And YouTube University. That's right, that's right. And uh, there were guys like D Quick and other people that, you know, showed me talk music and more gospel side of things, but um, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, man. So YouTube, so good. Talk about, uh, let's talk about Leonard a little bit, man, and his sound design, Leonard, excuse me here in just a second. You're gonna give us an example of actually the, the, the patches. So we'll be able to hear that here in a second. Guys, whether you're listening on podcasts, you're watching on YouTube, but talk a little bit about Leonard, um, some of the products he has and how you've, you've used that recently. Yeah, so Leonard Ray Jarman Jr. Um, he. Anything you've heard, he's probably on it. He plays for everybody. Um, but same with John. He, Leonard is just a man of God. Um, he is worshiping the entire time no matter who he is with. Um, and he's toured with Tory Kelly and has said that he's felt the presence of God. Come on. So he is churchy bro. Come on. And if you ever get the chance to listen to his podcast or anything that he's on, um, he just drops gems all the time. But, and Tory Kelly has a gospel album. You've heard that album, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So good. So good. Um, but he really is about. Underscoring the Song of the Lord, and I'll talk about that in a second. But, um, so he's been an encouragement to me, but he has, um, products, products out on multi-tracks. So his Omnisphere libraries, um, which I'm using his worship pad there. So Omnisphere Omnisphere three just came out. Let's go. Yeah, there we go. Um, but yeah, man, he is just. And one thing I wanted to talk about too is, you know, I got the chance to spend some time with him at Habit Habitation 2023. Okay. Um, so at William McDowell's Church. Awesome. And they had David Parks up there, Leonard Ray Jaron Jr. Sam Simon, yes. Randall, uh, David Parks. They had all them up there. And, uh. What I remember more than anything, and his sounds and worship blew me away, but was how kind he was to me when he didn't have to be, you know? Um, but the time I gotta spend with him, the encouragement he gave and what I've tried to do, especially even when I was 10 and those guys were, you know, gave this little kid a chance. It's like, I think. As worship keys players or anybody in life, like the younger guys, we don't need to walk past 'em. We don't need to put 'em down. I think give them a chance. Um, we can either push them towards worship and towards God, or if you have, you know, kind of put 'em down or whatever away. So I always want to, you know what people have shown me, I wanna show the same kindness and I don't know much, but whatever I know. And to you guys too, listening, like, whatever, I know what I have is yours so amazing, bro. Any way I can help. I love that. I love that. Uh, talk about the vocoder. So he, he plays a lot of the Vocoder stuff. The Vocoder, yes. So he, uh, he is just, that thing will take you straight to the throne room. You'll hear him kind of like fade in and out with it. And then, I mean, the whole room is just still, and he'll flow into the classic worship songs where, you know, the old worship songs just have different oil on it. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So you have that and Leonard going, it's just. Insane. But he, uh, he's been, he's just like paved the way. Um, I used one too, but same with the pad. It's inspired by him. So amazing. Yeah. He needs to do a collab with Mr. Talkbox, Byron Chambers. Oh, I'm, I'm sure they have. If they have it, they need to. That would be amazing for sure. We wanna see that guys. Yeah, we wanna see that collab, the Vocoder, some pads, piano and the Mr. Talk box. Did you see Mr. Talk Box's, uh, cover of goodness of God? No, I need to look for it. Ooh, it's so good. It is. So, in fact, I gotta pull it up right now. Um, and let y'all hear this thing. Uh, I'm on, bro. It's, it's so good. Y'all need to look this up, Mr. Talk box. Goodness of God. I guess. I don't know if he put it on official Apple and Spotify, but he did. Um. And also he was featured on PP uh, piano, uh, recently. But here I'm gonna play it and then skip forward. It's not gonna be a good quality. I'm gonna play it on the mic right here. I'll, I'll skip forward towards the end. Let's see. Hallelujah. Oh, oh, man. Yeah. That's life changing. I know. I love Mr. Talk Fox. Obviously, it kind of sounds like, um, if you've never heard of it, it's, it's like. Almost like a autotune type thing, but it's this, you know, vocoder talk box thing. Um, anyway, maybe that's for another whole, a whole other episode, but I love that when people use either like the key guitar or Vocoder or even the talk box and, um, in Worship Man and obviously just like, uh, contemporary music with the drums and bass and guitars was once thought of as. Secular, very secular. Only in in bars or clubs or something. And decades ago now it's kind of standard in modern worship. You know, like they look at other instruments too, like the Vocoder and talk box and think, what's this doing in the house of worship? You know what I mean? Yeah. Um, and it can, when it's distracting, obviously it can come across as performative. And not as communal or congregational. Um, but I love it, man. I think it's expressive, it's creative, and it glorifies the Lord. Well guys, I hope y'all have enjoyed this episode so far. I think we just jump right into you playing right now and kind of demonstrating a little bit of holy for one thing, who is the vocalist and why, why choose holy forever? So the vocalist is Cameron Merritt. Um, she's a worst leader here in Jacksonville and she's anointed, um. Holy forever. I chose that. 'cause you know, anybody can play it, you know, simple chords, everything. Um, but yeah. I'm just so thankful you had me on, bro. Thank, thank you for your time. Yeah, man. Absolutely. Well, let's get into it. So I got Ableton 12 standard loaded up, and for the piano I've keys scape, C seven softness loaded through Omnisphere. So, and then all I tweak on this is, uh, the noises. So I turn this down, pedal noise dynamics, turn all that down, and then I run it through a piano bus. So I add a little reverb right here, about 30%, um, verb two, delay at nine, um, no chorus for this. And then filter all the way up. And then I adjust that on the Novation launch control. Right here for the tone. Uh, for the piano level, I have it assigned here. Um, and then for the pad, I have it for two. The drone pad I have here and the vocal I have here. And then we're running through the Arturia Key Lab 88. Um, the key bed on, it's great. It feels weighted. Uh, the velocity kind of jumps around a little bit, but it feels great. Um. And so what I wanted to hit on was, uh, kind of following the vocal, like we talked about more complimenting what the worship leader's doing than trying to take a leader role when you're on keys. So I was gonna hit probably three different takes. I had one of my friends, Cameron Merritt, who's an anointed worship leader, just send me a chorus of Holy Forever and I'll show kind of. Three different approaches to it. And now the first one I'm gonna use Leonard's pad, um, Leonard Ray Jarman. Obviously I can't show his settings. You'll have to go buy his secret sauce, but he's amazing. And I'll never forget how kind he was to me when he didn't have to be. Um, and he's inspired a lot of. My playing and sounds and letting the patches do the work and, uh, underscoring the song of the Lord. Um, so yeah, I'll hit on, let's, we'll do the first pass simple. We're in the key of f. Um, I have a drone pad loaded, and that's just that negative 20 dv just sitting under it. Um, but here we go. So this, this take will be simple, just pad following the vocal, no click or anything. So here we go. you'll be. you be. Yeah, so that's his pad. I use it on almost anything I get the privilege of working on or being a part of. Um, but there I was just, you know, doing the changes. 4, 6, 5, 1 over three. Um, just super simple, voicings everything. And then on the tags that walk down I was doing is one five over seven, six. And obviously she tags it a few more times than it does in the original. So to compliment it, um, doing that walk down just. Uh, adds a little more, you know. Um, so the second take, I'll add the keys scape piano that we talked about, C seven softness. Um, I'll add that in, but I'm gonna play, I'm gonna block it, play it. Super simple. Um, same progression, same walk down. So here we go. You'll be you. Yeah, so that was just the piano, same chords, nothing flashy, nothing special. Um, you know, and so for the third take, I'll add a little more color. I'll play piano and pad a little more color, but still not overplaying, just complimenting the worst leader. 'cause that's what we do want to do. We don't wanna overplay or, um, get in the way of what God wants to do in the moment. So here's that. e you. Yeah. So those are three different ways you can follow a worship leader. Um, first, like we talked about just pad, um, second. Block chords fall in the vocal, there's no click, but complimenting what they're doing. And third, adding a little more color without getting in in the way. So hope that's helpful. Yeah. So growing up, I actually didn't use any of this. Um, I didn't use a laptop midi controller. Um, obviously used Ableton for tracks, ran that and everything. But, um, when I was younger, I actually grew up playing, uh, a stack. So I would play the motif. And then sounds on the board, build 'em out, you know? And then I actually had the stage three on the top and I would stack it. So I wouldn't use the piano sounds from the Nord, which I know sounds crazy. I just loved how the motif felt, the piano sounded, and the different layers you could add. Um, over time as I met JW and, um, John Wilds, when he took me under his wing, um, that's when they kind of said, Hey, like, you know. This is what JW uses. JW showed me what he used and got me into running a, a computer rig and everything. Because the thing is, no matter where you go, you'll always sound the same as long as you can use USB midi. So whether you get to anywhere you go and there's a Casio, which is what I have at the house, um, or it's a Nord stage four, you know what I mean? You'll, you'll have consistent sounds, um, and different people you play with or your church that you serve at. Um. You'll be able to serve the moments well and everything. 'cause you, you know, you know your rigs, so you spend time with it, you sound design with it. And, uh, really switching to Leonard's pad. Um, really what it was, was, um, all the different layers he has built in and craziness, which, like I said, you can get, but um, it adds more like if you hear up here, it's got this little. Like little textures like that that just add so much more than just like some pad that sits still or whatever, which is needed. 'cause the drone pad, I mean it's just sitting on the one in five and adds to everything. Um, but what. What I've learned too, I don't have it with me with this keyboard, but um, for strings I'll use Leonard Strings and then use an expression pedal because when you're playing different notes or whatever, if you're playing, you know, chords and all that, and then you're just hitting strings up here, it's gonna get a little piercing. So routing that through an expression pedal, you can, uh, choose the parameters and everything and, uh, kind of be more. Dynamic and everything with it. But, um, yeah, so that's, that's how I got into the whole nerd world of Ableton and Omnisphere Keys scape. And then obviously the launch Control xl, um, which obviously I got on marketplace is, you know, has, it's broken and everything, like I talked about earlier. You don't need the best gear or anything, just make what you have work, you know, so. But yeah, I'm thankful for all the people over the years that helped me develop more of a setup than just showing up and not knowing what you're walking into with the keyboard. So. Alright guys, hope y'all enjoyed that demonstration. Max, thanks for playing through a little bit. Um, one thing we haven't really talked about yet is, um, you said tonight we're filming on a Monday, but you said tonight you're headed to a worship gathering of some sort. Um. You did, you did. Tell me what it was. I forget the name of it, but can you tell us what these worship gatherings that you're playing for, uh, Landon mentioned it to you. Landon Robertson here? Yeah. On staff at church 1122. Um, apparently kinda like a worship in the round type thing. And it's here in Jacksonville. Is it open to the public? Can people come? Yeah, it's open to the public. Tell us about this man. So, Austin, Lindsay, Adam at, who I mentioned earlier, um, years ago, they started worship nights in their house with no agenda other than just to worship the Lord. Um, pray for people, and, uh, just a place. You know, where people can come. But so that, then they started meeting in the Harley Davidson and they met there for years, outgrew it. So now we're at a place Fino Jacksonville, um, the wedding venue, the glass factory. So we'll be there tonight. Um, but you know, there's, there's this set list, but we just, you know, follow the spirit of God and, um, you know, wherever the worst bleeders want to go, and they all flow. So it's not like just two of the worst bleeders flow. Um, they'll throw signs and numbers and, uh. Gang gang signs. Yeah, yeah. No, I'm just kidding. So we just, uh, we just go. But um, yeah, it's, it's really special times of worship. Um, and you're playing keys for that tonight. Playing Keys md and, and we just run click no guide, no tracks, but you can do that in your sleep, so, no. Oh, man. That's what you go to bed. That's, that's, that's your nighttime. Playlist is just a click track. Right. No, that's, that's awesome. Do y'all still have like somewhat of a set list though? Like Yes, we have kind of a song pool, I'd say. Okay. Like a starting point and then just let God do what he does. So good. For those of us who don't understand how, um, how to flow or how that works, how do you even position yourself to be able to flow in those moments? How do you practice and prepare for that? How to maybe one day be able to do that like yourself? Oh man, two kind. So really honestly, it's um, prayer and practice. So obviously you need to know chords and voicings and everything. Um, but one thing I would say people learning to flow or anything, if they're following a Worship Leader and they don't know the chords, hold the I and the V. There you go. Until you figure it out, hold the I and the V, you know, that's good. Um, but yeah, really in those moments it kind of shows. What you do in your practice time and quiet time with the Lord. Um, but yeah, so honestly, some worship leaders know music and they'll throw a number up or a sign up. But for those that don't, you've really just gotta have eyes locked in, you know, kind of be praying and sensing what. The spirit's doing in the room, so that's good, man. Yeah, I love that. A few more quick questions before we end the episode. Um, what do you think is like a big red flag or mistake that you see? And I know you're, you said you're only 23 years old, so you know, and you're humbly, um, and you're very humble in what you. What you say and how you're living so far and give a lot of credit to John Wildes and other who, who have mentored you, man. But what, what do you see as far as red flags or maybe mistakes that, um, some other younger musicians are making when it comes to playing in the church, playing on stage worship keys? Or do you see any, like what, what, what are you seeing right now? Man, honestly, I try to see the best, you know? Um, and, but if I, if I see something, I think it's like we talked about earlier, kind of like. Riding the hype or trying to get on the hype wave. Um, but really honestly, be yourself. Obviously, if it's distracting or something like that, um, I just, I just wouldn't strive. I would just try to be faithful, be submitted to God, obviously, how he lives important. Our whole life should reflect God. Um, one thing I would say. A red flag is, is if you don't sit in service. Um, I think it's an important thing to sit under the word of God and the teaching of God. So if you're a younger guy and you don't already, um, I would start doing that. Man. Dude, I think that's huge actually. So many people who don't actually sit in the teaching, like, I'm not trying to be legalistic. Come on. You know what I mean? No, no. I totally understand. I totally understand. No, but I love that man. I think that, um, we should in, in the world of so many. There's just so many, like, uh, there's such a hierarchy and a separation and, um. So many great green rooms that just kind of separate the, the worst, the, the star, the, the all star worship leaders and all star musicians versus the people in the congregation. And sometimes that has to be for when you're on tour and stuff. It's, it's one thing. But yeah, for churches, you know, like you should, you should be out, you know, out there listening or on, on side stage or wherever you are. Obviously keys players, we gotta be ready on side stage to go up or, or whatever, or stay even, you know, stay up the whole time. The whole, you know, um. But yeah, no, that's a, that's a huge thing to be under the word of God. How can we, when we're talking about playing behind a worship leader? Yeah. If we're not under the word of God, how do we know what we're doing? How do we know what's going on? Yeah. So, no, I think that's a huge thing you just said, so, but my favorite thing you've said, this whole episode has been faithful over the flashy, and I was like, let's go man. Um, but no. Max whining, ladies and gentlemen on the Worship Keys Podcast. Thanks for jumping on. Thanks for sharing, um, your advice to the Worship Keys community. Thanks for demonstrating. Um, you guys need to go get Leonard's. Sound packs? I don't know. You said it's on Multitracks? Multitracks? Yeah. Probably on his web. Does he have a website? I'm sure he has website. He should have a link tree in his bio too. Oh, okay. We gotta, we gotta get all the links, put 'em on in the description, in the show notes here on podcasts. But um, guys, if you've resonated with this episode with Max here, let us know in the comments on YouTube. Um, feel free to email me Carson at the worship@keys.com at any time. Um. If this was a total waste of time, you can also let me know in the comments as well. 'cause people also will tell me if this was a total waste of time, this was a total waste of time to be a part of it. No, but, um, I hope it was beneficial to you. I, I enjoyed hearing you play. Um, but more than anything I, I, I loved getting to know your heart. Today, just a little bit of it. Um, we, we didn't, didn't have that long. Didn't know about the passing of obviously your sister man, when you're only 10 years old. That's, I can't imagine that, man. Um, but my, my goodness, like where would we be without the Lord? Nowhere. Where would we be without the goodness of the Lord? Yeah. Um, but I just wanna encourage you to keep on going, man with your, with your keys, playing Love Church of 1122 and love what they're doing. Um, love the content from Joby and, and his, his messages, his podcast, uh, all, all two or three that he has going. Yeah. Um, it's, it's a blessing, but. Thank you guys. If, if you're listening from the Jacksonville, Florida area, um, show up at some of these worship nights. I mean, can people follow, uh, what's going on with the worship nights? Yeah, so, um, the gatherings are called House of Faith, but the Instagram page and the music that's out, it's called Sound of the House. Sound of the House. Okay, man. Yeah. And make sure to go follow Max Whiting on Instagram. Is your, is your handle Max Whiting? Max Whiting, yes, sir. W-H-I-I-T-I-N-G. There you go. Okay. Max Whiting, um, in his bio just simply says, worshiper, you can go check out his, um, peaceful instrumentals of rest, breathe. Um, you have one in, you have another one in the making? Maybe, bro.