Music To Pray By

Version 3 of the LED bar is finished, and it looks really good. I’m already printing version 4, this time in transparent filament, to see if the light looks any better coming through it.

I’ve also started on a completely new design. The current bar uses LED strips, so each key gets a few tiny LEDs and the light travels through a short channel on its way to the key. Version 5 gives every key its own high-power LED, a Samsung LH351D on a 10 mm board, with a small lens in front of it that focuses the light down onto the key instead of letting it spread out.

On paper that’s roughly three to six times more light per key than I get now. It uses the same bar and mounts as the current one, so only the part that holds the lights changes. I’m also going to try a cooler white on the black keys. I did that with the current strip and it helped them blend in with the white keys a little.

The first test is only five keys, C4 through E4, and the parts are on the way. If it works, the whole keyboard needs 88 of these. Hand wiring that many isn’t realistic, so the idea is to have custom circuit boards made that sit inside the bar and chain together the way the strip does now.

The work trip last week used up the time I had set aside to get ahead on podcasts and shorts, so I didn’t gain any ground there. I’m hoping to catch up this week so I can finally start on the album.

Another work trip just landed on the first week of November, and the week after that I’ll be in Nashville for XPERTS. So it looks like I probably won’t be streaming the first two weeks of November. I’ll keep you posted as it gets closer.

It felt right to close Podcast 97 with Psalm 97. This Pray the Bible Short is A Prayer of Joy That the LORD Is King, from Psalm 97:1 and 10-12. If you have a couple of minutes, pray it along with me.

Watch the Psalm 97 prayer on YouTube.

Thanks for listening, and for praying with me.

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I took this past week off from live streaming, mostly because of travel for work, which I mentioned back in the Podcast 93 post. I plan to keep taking one week off after every seven weeks of streaming, and any week I’m traveling for work. The next one is the week of November 9th. I’ll be at XPERTS in Nashville, TN, so there won’t be a live stream that week.

I’m still working toward having at least two weeks of content scheduled for posting. Right now I’m running about one week ahead, so as I write this on September 26th I haven’t started on the album yet. I’m hoping to use the time I would normally spend streaming to work on it.

Work on version 3 of the LED bar is still going, and if everything goes according to plan it should be finished in time for Podcast 97. I’ll try to post some pictures.

I’m thankful for everyone who has been listening and praying along. If you know anybody who could use some inspiration during their prayer time, please share this with them.

Since I’m feeling thankful, I’ll close with a recent Pray the Bible Short from Psalm 100, A Prayer to Enter with Thanksgiving. Take a couple of minutes and pray along.

Watch the Psalm 100 prayer on YouTube.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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This is the first podcast recorded with version 2 of the LED bar, and I’m not thrilled with how much light is reflecting off the keys. On the live streams it does light up my fingers better, because the light is more focused, but it really shines over the keys rather than down on them. I’ve continued work on version 3, which angles the bar at 45 degrees so the light lands on the keys instead of just passing over them.

I’m also trying to get through as much editing as I can so that I have at least two weeks of direct focus on the album. Still aiming for next month, but we’ll see how it goes.

Sometimes it’s a little discouraging not to see much growth at all across social media or in the podcast, but I’m trying to keep my focus on who this is for. Yes, it’s supposed to encourage people to spend more time in prayer, but this whole ministry is first and foremost service to the King. It is an act of worship. My mind drifts from that purpose when I get busy with the mundane stuff like video editing, so please keep me in your prayers.

That’s why I’m closing this week with Psalm 123, A Prayer with Eyes Lifted to You. “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master.” Take a couple of minutes and pray along.

Watch the Psalm 123 prayer on YouTube.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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I finished Podcast 94 right at the beginning of the week. I’m trying to get a little ahead so I can shift my full focus to the Hallowed Be Your Name album. It feels good to have this week’s podcast ready and waiting instead of still working on it at the last minute.

I’m hoping to have the final version of the LED bar ready for Podcast 95. The plan is to try it on a few live streams before then, so I can see how it behaves on camera and make any last adjustments.

These are some pictures from the test fits and troubleshooting. There’s been a lot of checking the fit, measuring clearances, and seeing where the light actually goes. The pictures below are the work in progress, not the finished installation.

I first mentioned the continuous streams in the Podcast 77 post, but they’re worth another mention. Music To Pray By runs 24/7 on Twitch and Rumble, replaying the live worship piano sessions.

I’ve been glad to see those channels grow. If you want some inspiration for prayer, you can just turn the music on. You don’t have to search through the live streams or pick a particular podcast first. Leave it playing while you pray, or come back to it whenever you have a little time.

I’ll leave you with a recent Pray the Bible Short, A Prayer of the Poor and Needy, from Psalm 70. It’s a prayer for God’s help when we know we need Him.

Watch the Psalm 70 prayer on YouTube.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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Tuesday evening I had a business dinner, which is why I didn’t stream Wednesday morning.

I also have a business trip to Denver on the 29th and Dallas on the 1st, so I will not be live streaming the week of the 28th. That week is a good time to announce a change in the streaming schedule.

The plan is to stream seven weeks, then take a week off. The week of the 28th happens to land right there, because it will have been seven straight weeks. I also took Monday off for Labor Day, and that will stay. I will not stream on major holidays.

I think this will help with burnout, and it should let the podcasts catch up a little with the live streams. Podcast 93 is made from live streams I did in June, specifically the June 19 and June 22 mornings. Even with the week off, I’ll probably still have a backlog, which should be fine. It also gives me time to focus on the albums.

I’ll close with Psalm 43 and A Prayer for Your Light and Truth, with music from Podcast 92. Take a couple of minutes to pray along.

If the video doesn’t load, watch the Short on YouTube.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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The biggest change for Podcast 92 is one you’ll be able to see: the podcast videos are now in 4K. That’s four times the pixels of the old 1080p videos. I’m hoping they look four times better too, especially if you’re watching on a bigger screen!

I’ve spent quite a few weeks working on what you see while the piano plays. Podcast 86 was the first finished episode with Piano VFX layered over the real piano footage. By Podcast 88, I was adjusting the effects song by song in Final Cut Pro to keep them lined up with the keys. Then came the LED strip, which adds actual light to the piano as it plays.

I’ve also started using an OBSBOT video conferencing camera in the setup, along with a new lens on the Canon so I can shoot in 4K. Getting the framing and lighting right has taken some experimenting.

Four Selahs from the June 16–18 live streams. These timestamps match the video version.

If you joined the August 27 live stream and couldn’t hear anything, that one was on me. I forgot to open Logic, so there was no audio going out. I went ahead and played the Disklavier’s MIDI recording back completely raw, without the usual editing, so there would at least be something to listen to.

I believe I also ran into Internet trouble toward the end. The good news is that the MIDI was captured. The original pieces from that morning will likely turn up in a future podcast, even though the live itself didn’t go as planned.

I’m still tweaking the lighting around the current LED strip while construction of its replacement moves along. Today I finished what should be the final print for the new setup. After all the test pieces and small adjustments, I’m hoping to start putting it together this coming week. I won’t call it finished until it’s built and working, but I’m ready to get there.

I now have enough songs to move ahead with Hallowed Be Your Name. Before I start on the album, I want to get two or three more podcasts produced so I can give it some time without falling behind here.

I expect the album will take a good two or three weeks of work. My hope is to have it finished by mid-October. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m looking forward to finally working on it.

The Connection Church just celebrated its 22nd anniversary. It’s crazy to think I’ve been there playing keys since the beginning. I’m truly grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to be part of it all these years.

Here’s to 22 more!

I’ll close with Psalm 146 and A Prayer to the God Who Keeps Forever, with music from Podcast 91. After thinking back over twenty-two years at church, a prayer about God’s faithfulness feels like a good place to end. Take a couple of minutes to pray along.

If the video doesn’t load, watch the Short on YouTube.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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Podcast 91 is here with six new Selahs.

School officially started this week. The kids are back, and we are trying to settle into the rhythm of another school year. The morning streams have helped keep at least one part of the week steady.

As this post goes up, Carlen Charleston and I are spending the day together making music. I mentioned last week that he was coming over. Our last Jesus MOB album was produced more than twenty years ago, so it is good just to have an old friend back in the room.

We are experimenting with AI as part of the collaboration and seeing whether it gives us a starting point for something new. I do not know whether we will finish with a hot mix or spend most of the day catching up, but I am glad we made the time. Hopefully something good comes from it.

After a lot of measuring, test prints, and revisions, I now have printed mounts and bar sections that work. That gets the temporary metal ends out of the picture and gives me a real foundation to build on.

Now I am working on cartridge spacing. Each section has to aim its LEDs at the correct piano keys, and a few millimeters is enough to make the alignment look wrong from the overhead camera. The first section is working well enough to keep, so I am moving through the keyboard a section at a time.

This week’s Pray the Bible Short comes from last week’s podcast music. It is built around Revelation 7: a multitude before the throne, and the Lamb who shepherds them.

If the embed is not loading, the direct link is youtube.com/shorts/qMtvT1TpJvw.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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Twenty weeks in. Podcast 90 is here.

This week was mostly the light bar.

I got a 3D printer this week so I can keep improving the LED bar. The next step is printed mounts that sit in the piano’s existing fallboard supports, instead of the angle iron pieces I had been using. Those metal ends worked, but I was never comfortable leaving that kind of hardware that close to the piano, even though I had felt tape on the ends.

I also added a second LED strip. Fitting that, plus printing and reprinting the mounts, took longer than I expected. The bar was out of commission for the first two live streams this week. I am still iterating. The goal is the same as last week: a removable rail that shows more of the movement in the music, without attaching anything to the finish or the keys. When it is on, it adds a really cool dynamic while I play.

Carlen Charleston with Jesus MOB is coming over next weekend to record. I have a lot to get ready so Podcast 91 and the shorts stay on schedule.

I have also started using AI to help me keep a journal for my boys. I talk it out. It writes it down. I keep the original recording and only clean up the obvious speech-to-text mistakes. That has made it easier to actually do it, instead of waiting until I have a free hour to sit and type.

This week’s Pray the Bible Short comes from last podcast. It is Psalm 13: an honest lament that turns back to trust. It went up yesterday from the Podcast 89 music.

If the embed is not loading, the direct link is youtube.com/shorts/vr6JFXVHMVw.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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Nineteen weeks in. Podcast 89 is here.

Six new Selahs this week, along with the first finished look at a project I have been wanting to build for a while.

Our family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia, was awesome. It was good to get away, spend that time together, and come home with plenty of memories. I could easily turn the trip into a much longer post, but for now I will just say that I am grateful we were able to go.

The biggest visual change this week is the new LED rail across the piano. It is a removable aluminum bar that uses the piano’s existing fallboard supports, so nothing is glued to the finish or keys. A Raspberry Pi listens to the MIDI performance and drives individually addressable lights across the keyboard. The goal is not just to add color, but to let the overhead camera show more of the movement and shape inside the music.

This is the first working version, not the last one. I already have ideas for matte-black 3D-printed clips and baffles that will hide the emitters and focus more of the light onto the keys. I am also leaving room for a second strip once I rebuild the power path for it properly. The current result is exciting, but there is still plenty of room to make it cleaner and better.

Getting back into the rhythm of the morning live streams after vacation has been harder than I expected. If a few extra flubbed notes have slipped through this week, I apologize. I am settling back in, and next week should be better.

This week’s Pray the Bible Short comes from Psalm 25. It has been one of the more-watched prayers in the series, and it is a fitting one for any season when the next step is not completely clear.

If the embed is not loading, the direct link is youtube.com/shorts/JLsfFKj5Tzk.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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Eighteen weeks in. Podcast 88 is here.

Four Selahs this week, drawn from three morning streams. By the time this posts, we should be home from our family trip, unpacking slowly and recovering from a very full couple of weeks.

Four spontaneous pieces from June 1 through June 3. The timestamps will match the YouTube chapters, and each link goes back to the full morning the piece came from:

If everything went according to plan, we made it home yesterday. After living out of suitcases and covering a lot of miles, this weekend is mostly about resting, unpacking, and settling back into normal life. This is the extra episode I worked to finish before we left so the weekly rhythm could continue while we were away.

I expect the trip will show up here again once I have had time to sort through it. There are stories to tell and probably a few pictures worth sharing. I will include some of those details in a podcast a couple of weeks from now.

I tried quite a few things while producing this episode to improve Piano VFX. One known MIDI timing problem has been addressed, but a longer render still develops enough drift that the falling notes do not stay locked to the real keys all the way through the performance.

For now, the reliable answer is manual. I split the VFX layer by song in Final Cut Pro and use its Retime controls to bring each section back into alignment. It works, but it adds another two or three hours to production. I am still deciding whether that weekly cost is worth it. I do like the finished look, especially now that the camera is directly over the keyboard.

I also used my agent to help create a new set of effects for this episode. They feel more natural around the notes and piano than the flame effects used in the previous two podcasts. That part was fun, and it is one reason I keep working on the visual side even when the timing problem makes me wonder whether I should stop.

There was another improvement this week that will be less obvious on screen. After listening tests on the Disklavier, I refined the MIDI workflow so it changes release velocity only for tight repeated notes while the sustain pedal is down. The rest of the performance stays untouched. It is a small adjustment, but the repeated notes respond more cleanly and the original playing still sounds like me.

To close, here is At The Altar Pt4 from the June 7 TCC Sunday service. Take a minute and let the worship draw you back toward His presence.

If the embed isn’t loading for you, the direct link is youtube.com/shorts/cPmdTpngo14.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for praying.

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