The Worship Keys Podcast

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Let's welcome Taylor, an Alabama-based multi-instrumentalist and music director at Love City Church in the Birmingham area, who shares how he started on drums, was pushed to learn organ in church, developed strong ear skills, and later expanded through formal training at UAB in music technology, classical, and jazz. The episode then shifts into a hands-on arrangement session where J demonstrates building a live arrangement for “Jehovah” by Elevation Worship in Logic Pro, covering workflow tips like custom metronome clicks, key command layouts, low-latency mode, BPM alignment, markers, dummy keys, pads/drones, Omnisphere and Roland Cloud sounds, layering leads and bells, and arranging choices to support dynamics and direction. The session ends due to time, setting up Part 2.
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Thanks for listening! Subscribe here to the podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions for who you want as a featured guest in the future or a topic you want to hear, email [email protected]. New episodes release every Wednesday!

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In this episode, we welcome Matt Gilder to the Worship Keys podcast, with sponsorship from Aerospace Audio, to discuss Matt’s journey from growing up in Southeast Texas playing church piano to touring and producing, including nearly 20 years as keyboardist for Chris Tomlin since a 2006 session at Blackbird. Matt shares how ear training and the Nashville Number System shaped his musicianship, his early band Among Thorns, and how learning tracks and software opened doors. He breaks down his live rig evolution (Roland V-Piano, controller, MainStage, Ableton, redundancy, and iConnect solutions), offers advice on choosing inspiring gear, and emphasizes simplicity, listening, and playing for the room. They discuss handling big-stage energy, building trust and longevity with an artist, prioritizing creating and finishing music, and maintaining faith amid public ministry failures by focusing on integrity and healthy community.
Matt Gilder
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Support the show
Thanks for listening! Subscribe here to the podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions for who you want as a featured guest in the future or a topic you want to hear, email [email protected]. New episodes release every Wednesday!

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For this episode, we have a returning guest, Marcus Wiles to discuss the Nord Stage 4, including whether it’s worth upgrading from the Stage 3, keybed improvements like triple-sensor action, new faders and workflow, and faster preset building across piano/organ/synth sections. Marcus highlights major value in Stage 4’s dedicated per-layer effects, including new Cathedral reverb (with modulated “choral” variation) and a sidechain-style pump effect, plus extensive MIDI CC automation with Ableton for live touring. He shares go-to Nord piano choices (White Grand, Pearl Upright), explains why some think Nords don’t cut through a mix, and demonstrates tools like dynamic compression, EQ, and noise layering for realism. The episode also covers organ, Rhodes, synth/sample-based sound design, touring stories, and advice on practicing, learning gear, and staying versatile.

Marcus Wiles
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Thanks for listening! Subscribe here to the podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions for who you want as a featured guest in the future or a topic you want to hear, email [email protected]. New episodes release every Wednesday!

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This episode focuses on synthesizers with a deep dive on Marcus Wiles’ Sequential Prophet-6, while also thanking sponsor Aerospace Audio and highlighting their Arrow Pads app and Atmosphere Pads pedal features, sound packs, pricing, and routing ideas with Ableton. Marcus explains why he chose the Prophet-6, how its simplicity and poly mod section shaped his synth programming, and why hardware can feel more like an instrument. He demonstrates practical sound-design concepts that translate to any synth or Omni sphere, including using unison and stereo spread versus chorus, preparing patches for mono or stereo systems, shaping sounds with envelopes to turn a basic patch into bass, plucks, brass, and an 808-style sound, adding texture with audio-rate modulation and effects (including distortion after reverb), and using the Prophet-6 sequencer for writing inspiration. The episode ends with a call for viewers to submit their own key rigs and a teaser for the next episode on the Nord Stage 4.

Marcus Wiles

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Thanks for listening! Subscribe here to the podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions for who you want as a featured guest in the future or a topic you want to hear, email [email protected]. New episodes release every Wednesday!

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Michael shares his first Winter Jam experience playing keys and organ for Kayden Nicole, discusses the demands of navigating shared keyboard setups, and recounts how he joined The Choir Room shortly after moving to Nashville in 2022. They talk through worship-leading pressures versus being a keys player, the importance of reading the room, leaving space in services, and avoiding over-manufactured transitions. Michael reflects on church staff life, volunteer leadership challenges, rehearsals, burnout, and using tools like Planning Center, emphasizing the need for ear training, the Nashville Number System, and continual growth and creativity. They close with Easter song ideas and thoughts on “flashy” versus musical playing. 
Michael Walter
Support the show
Thanks for listening! Subscribe here to the podcast, as well as on YouTube and other social media platforms. If you have any questions or suggestions for who you want as a featured guest in the future or a topic you want to hear, email [email protected]. New episodes release every Wednesday!