October 30, 2024 • 35 mins
This episode delves into the creative process of Christian Paul, revealing how he utilizes collaboration, technology, and perseverance to craft music that inspires and uplifts.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Adventist Waves.
(00:13):
Welcome to Adventist Waves.
I'm your host, Khan Elmas.
On today's episode, we explore an artist's composition journey.
Let's go back in time.
When I look at the Bible, I see that throughout history, God has had a timeline.
If God is a musical God, Sefeniah says that God will rejoice over us with singing.
(00:38):
And that makes me think God likes to sing.
And he's the author of music.
And his second coming is musical.
And he will sound the trumpet and harpers harping with the harps and heaven has music.
And then you see one of the main writers of the Old Testament, Moses, God instructs him,
put the words of the law into music and poet and musician.
(01:00):
And he wrote a big portion of the Old Testament.
Later you see David, composer, another writer, a big part writer of a whole book that is
songs, Psalms.
And you see later the schools of the prophets.
You see a reference of the prophets coming to meet Saul and Samuel saying, you'll meet
(01:22):
the prophets.
And with what are they coming?
They're coming with harps and I think a flute and musical instruments.
And the spirit of the Lord takes over and they start prophesying.
So is there a link between prophecy and music?
That's a study for another time.
But anyway, then you have Elisha.
When two kings come to consult him and he calls a minstrel.
(01:43):
And when the minstrel starts playing music, the spirit of the Lord comes upon Elisha.
And Psalm says, God inhabits the praises of his children.
When the musicians in the Solomon's temple were in one in unison, the cloud comes and
fills the temple.
Come with me.
(02:04):
Let's continue in the timeline.
Jesus, in the Bible, you see, he sings before the sacrifice, the great sacrifice in Gethsemane,
a Psalm.
And he wrote Psalms, basically he's quoting the hymn book all throughout his suffering
of the time.
Then you see the apostles saying redeeming the time because the days are evil with Psalms,
later averses and hymns and spiritual songs making a melody in your heart.
(02:27):
You see the reformers coming more in the timeline, Luther, when they're going to present a protest
that that would, you know, start this protestant movement and he writes, a mighty fortresses
are God and great controversy says, well, he's going in the chariot.
He's discouraged, I don't know, governors or emperors or dukes and he starts singing
a mighty fortresses are God.
(02:58):
Music was part of what God used for the Reformation.
You see others like Wesley writing and you see the great Advent revival and hymn writers
and Khan, we come to 2024.
And where do you see all over musicians, Adventist musicians popping up and sharing the gospel
(03:19):
in music?
Christian grew up in a musical family.
His grandfather encouraged him to play the violin and taught him when he was a young
boy.
He had a love for Jesus, but yet he faced a crisis in his music career.
There came a point where he had to give up his dreams to become a performer because he
(03:39):
didn't see how he could make a living from it.
Later on, he realized that he could use his talent as a violinist to minister to people
and this led him to start Give Glory to him and produce content to share on YouTube.
You can check out their website and visit the YouTube page to listen to their music.
(03:59):
You are listening to the Adventist Waves podcast.
My name is Khan.
Thanks for listening to today's episode.
Buckle up, let's roll.
When I was eight years old, it was the first time we had one of those cassettes for younger
generation cassettes.
(04:20):
It's a little box that had tape and had songs recorded in it.
We don't have it.
It was the what you call it analog era.
So I had a little cassette recorder.
That was the first time I composed a song with original lyrics in Spanish and one with
scripture songs from Psalm.
(04:41):
And I think I recorded also, yeah, sermon, a little sermon, my first sermon, that song
I think I used it for the appeal and my sister helped me edit and include record from a keyboard.
I think Jesus drove of men desires from Bach or the field or something.
(05:05):
Anyway, that was the first song.
But mind me, I had maybe two limiting beliefs.
I don't play an accompanying instrument.
I don't know how to rhyme.
I don't do poetry.
But here I had the songs and I shared it with my family and they seemed like neutral.
It wasn't much of a reaction.
So I was like, see, there's no sense in composing if I don't play keyboard guitar.
(05:30):
My mom had tried to teach me keyboard and I thought I was dumb and couldn't learn piano
because I just got overwhelmed with the notes and the theory and whatever.
So it was like, why should I compose to sing a capella melodies that people don't get?
And when I was composing this song, I could even hear other voices in the refrain.
(05:53):
And I sang it.
It wasn't Spanish.
So I sang the different parts, you know, but I realized other people couldn't catch
the vision of the song that a capella naked melody didn't seem enough.
So I kind of just left it there.
So yeah, even in those early moments, God was preparing for the future of ministry.
(06:13):
In most cases, our family influences our musical tastes.
Christian was exposed to traditional and contemporary artists from a young age, which would influence
the compositions that he was composing on his two track recorder.
Those melodies that I composed for the first time, I don't know, maybe influenced by the
(06:34):
music we listened at home and I would say hymns.
I mean, my parents heard King Harold, so men's quartet, more traditional.
Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring.
Jesus is coming again.
Cheer up until rings be joyful and sing.
(06:58):
Jesus is coming again.
Some of Steve Green songs for kids of memorizing scripture classical.
My parents listen classical.
So I would say it was more the element of a hymn structure that that song and the scripture
song that original song and scripture song that I composed.
(07:24):
Maybe you could give one example of an early song that you remember hearing when you're
growing up.
I remember especially Steve Green.
Hide them in your heart.
I think it was the series and it was scripture songs for kids, but not dumbed down.
Some were fun, but others were just beautiful melodies.
(07:44):
I remember, you know, when I am afraid I will trust in you.
Beautiful melody this girl singing and then Steve Green coming in.
When I am afraid I will trust in you.
I will trust in you.
I will trust in you.
When I am afraid I will trust in you.
(08:07):
In God who's word I pray.
And they were strong melodies and that's I think the key of a good song.
Sure, jumping a few years afterwards that first two songs that I composed.
I don't know if there was a third one, but I can remember those two.
We come down and I'm in Argentina and I get a guitar.
(08:31):
I don't remember if it was borrowed or gifted, but I learned probably four, five, six chords,
a few chords, a good bunch of chords.
And my dad for family worship says, hey, I have a challenge or I have an idea.
Let's bring each one a Bible promise that we'll memorize.
So each family member brings a Bible promise and his Bible promise.
(08:55):
He composed a melody and I thought I'm going to compose for my Bible promise a melody.
And this time I was equipped with whatever handful of chords.
So I composed a song that I also remember the melody also have not released it.
I should probably work on those original songs and share them.
That song I remember was from a song and I can paraphrase it was in Spanish.
(09:20):
Even if I'm afflicted and needy, the Lord will think on me.
Lord delay not to help me.
And just a promise that I composed.
And this time I played some chords.
I think D, A, C on the guitar.
I think that's what I can remember.
And I shared it with my family and I saw that it had a different impact this time, a better
(09:44):
impact with accompaniment.
So there I saw the acapella song doesn't seem to have much traction.
But now when I share a little more of the harmony, people seem to react.
And that's the beauty about music, even if you don't understand theory, people can be
impacted when there's a good arrangement blessed by God.
At age 11, I didn't do much more that I can remember.
(10:10):
Then in something that I would like to say here, when you have sometimes limiting beliefs,
you know, I do not play an accompaniment instrument or I cannot rhyme well.
So what's the use?
I cannot compose.
You might be sitting on a minefield of something that God would love to develop.
But because your thoughts, your low self-worth, just saying I'm not good enough, you're limiting
(10:35):
yourself from just, you know, venturing into using the talents.
And that's scary.
But I would encourage people, something that I've said, I'd rather be embarrassed before
men trying to use my talents than be called to account before God one day for hiding them.
I just have one rather than 10 and comparing myself with others.
(11:06):
Yeah moving on later, I was studying violin, going to a private teacher.
I shared this in the other podcasts.
It was like 10 hours in total bus and I would listen to classical music, Brahms and different.
Just if I was in playing, it was listening and on the way to taking lessons and back.
And I was imagining myself composing.
(11:27):
I just admired this Beethoven Bach and I would analyze with my non-formally trained
brain.
I wouldn't analyze the orchestration and how they would take the melody with some instruments
and then other instruments would pick on and how a song would change in color and character
and intensity.
And I would go through the streets imagining, you know, that I'm conducting and orchestrating
(11:50):
something incredible.
And it was such an admiration for people that had this ability of writing and I heard that
Mozart could compose vertically.
I mean, if you have a score, you have all the layers of instruments.
And from what I understand, Mozart could just go and one note for the violin, one note for
the cell, one note for the flute and just vertically compose.
(12:11):
And I hear that he basically had no corrections and I just, it was a lot of admiration, but
not thinking I'm going to be composing.
To hear more about Christian's journey from this point up until he went to college, you
can check out that first episode that we recorded together on Adventist Waves.
(12:33):
One thing led to another and Christian went to college to study health ministry.
You know, I also went to the same college as Christian and I was really inspired by
his positive attitude and musical talent.
During his time at Heartland College, he continued playing the violin and got into
songwriting and recording.
It wasn't until he went to Europe that his composition began to bloom.
(12:59):
I traveled to Europe to do my internship after college and a friend of mine tells me, hey,
you know, I am working on some song that they asked me to arrange or compose and I used
GarageBand.
I was like, huh, didn't know you could use GarageBand for that.
Now here I think I'm mistaken that got allowed it to happen.
(13:22):
I didn't know she was referring to the computer software where you probably would need a keyboard
and MIDI controller and know more things to create some music on the computer.
So I got the app version of GarageBand and I found out that on an iPod, I don't think
they make those anymore.
An iPod?
(13:42):
It was a circle one.
It was a little, it was, I think the precursor, no, because 2012 iPhone came out.
It was a tiny iPhone precursor but it was made, I think, for music mainly and some apps.
Yeah, and the cool thing about that for non-musicians is that you could put a metronome, record
(14:05):
your voice and later it had preset chords for the piano motifs like, you know, just
chords, broken chords like arpeggiated going up and down the piano.
Then you had strings and it had the different chords and you could slide your finger up
and down and that would make the crescendo so increase in volume the strings and go
down and you could choose different things.
(14:25):
I went mad with that.
I was just like, wow, this is so cool.
Now we see that Christian was laying the foundation of his abilities to use the iPod.
This would further develop but there was one problem that he faced.
I wasn't active into composition like I shared before.
I had this limiting belief so I didn't see myself as a composer.
(14:47):
How would this impact his composition?
That's coming up.
I'm, I think, tinkering with this in Europe.
I attend a conference in Bogenhofen and there's a youth event.
About 500 young people attend that event, just packed place and the speaker, Jeremy
(15:09):
Svika, he brings a song his mom composed and he teaches at this song as theme song for
the event and all the young people are singing their hearts out and I'm looking around and
being, and it's just thought struck me.
(15:29):
This young people might forget the messages, the one hour messages, whatever, but this
theme song with the melody they can take home and I kind of had this wild idea if I'm ever
invited to be the speaker in this event.
I would like to leave that gift with the young people, a theme original song to leave with
(15:51):
the young people.
So during this time I'm playing with the iPod, not giving much thought.
Go to this event, get inspired by Jeremy.
Here I started getting inspired with this melody, a book by Ivor Myers, Prayer90x, I
believe that's where I started coming across this verse as Issa 558 and 9 or he, I think,
(16:13):
brought it to the surface of my mind for my thoughts are not your thoughts and I had that
in my mind and I was thinking how that promise applies across the board to every aspect of
your life.
If you think your devotional life, God says my thoughts are so much higher than your thoughts,
how much closer I want to be if you think your relational life and everything and your
(16:34):
ministry life.
So I started composing this melody, later put it on the iPod, recorded there and start
orchestrating and then I shared that, I think, with some of the students in the school I
was working and now I get a different reaction.
It's like even more impact I see with some orchestration, just with the iPod.
(16:55):
And interestingly enough, I am asked to be the speaker for the following year, I believe
it was April 2014 and it was called Fit for Mission, weekend on medical missionary work.
I'm tinkering with the thought of sharing this song as theme song and the date is coming
closer but I'm like what am I going to do?
(17:16):
Am I going to plug the iPod?
It doesn't even have an intro.
Am I going to go like sing with me and just, no, that doesn't make sense.
So I'm still shy.
I'm like still wondering is this song even good enough?
And I'm waiting before the event starts and they tell me we're going to put this theme
song, I'm not even talking.
And then one of the students in the school, she works with another student to arrange
(17:41):
a song that this female student had composed and that's when I realized, hey, you can bring
a melody to somebody that plays piano and you can team compose.
And this female student says, hey, I can help you and let's bring this song to the event.
It's Thursday before Friday the event is starting and she says, are we going to do it?
(18:04):
And I'm like, okay, let's try it.
She goes and she arranges almost the same piano arrangement that you hear in the song
when you go later.
We added a key change so it changes in key to song and we taught it to the students,
I think Friday morning or Thursday.
I don't remember the students in the school where I was working and they were going to
be my helpers to teach it to the whatever 500 young people in the event.
(18:28):
So we go to the event and I'm still doubting, is it good enough?
And we went there, taught it, there was a group of musicians, they learned it by ear
and at the end of the weekend there was a group of 500 young people singing this song,
the scripture song.
(18:57):
And after this event, just young people or somebody writing to me and like, where's
the song from or can we have sheet music?
And I saw the impact it has.
Christian will continue to write inspiring music.
However, he was there for six months and he began to feel lonely.
I had grown up between South and North America so I thought I had enough cultural exposure
(19:21):
but all of a sudden Germans and Austrians experience feelings more internally.
So you don't know what sometimes people are feeling, they can be very in the outside,
very hard to read especially in religious circles in the church, they're afraid to
be, you know, to like, Pentecostals.
So they feel more internally, Latinos more expressive and more, you know, if they're
(19:44):
sad or angry.
So I was feeling very homesick, like very like isolated culturally.
Find out how this impacted the next song he composed, Homesick.
That's next on Adventist Waves.
Yeah, it's something fascinating to team compose and there's different ways that I've
(20:09):
had it in Europe.
Simone was the student there that also had studied piano and I would basically compose
and record in my iPod, I guess, a melody, bring it to her.
She would listen to it several times and start developing an introduction and some connections
(20:30):
in the piano.
And once she had a rough idea, she would bring it and we would polish it together.
So it was really fun.
That was the initial and we had some songs like the song Homesick.
(21:07):
That if you go, it's also on our channel, that one, we also composed but in a different
way.
That one, I think it was more piece by piece, improvising and trying on the moment.
The one I gave her the melody and then she worked and sometimes it's a creative part
like, oh, let's put some violin here and then come back here.
(21:30):
And it's very, very creative process.
So here's Christian in the middle of a foreign country.
He's on his internship, being away from his family and his college for some time.
I asked him, when did you write Homesick?
The answer was obvious.
Actually the beginning of this song actually might have been before when I was around six
(21:56):
months I think in Europe and I was feeling quite homesick and my grandma one time says
to me, did you see the avatar I put on Skype?
And I look and it was my dog, Shadow from South America that I had left when I went
to college and later my parents moved.
It just brought like a sense of homesick, like flashing memories of the different pets
(22:17):
and friends I had left behind and wondering some of them I will never see again and I
just started weeping.
It was like an accumulation of feeling homesick and just weeping and saying, oh Lord, how
long until you come and take me home with you?
And I'm kind of weeping and I think I might have started recording, just recording this
kind of prayer, questioning God and song and that's the first kind of sketch or draft
(22:45):
and later, and it's like God starts answering, Christian, how about my side of the story?
You know, I long to be with my children more than I hear the cry of orphaned kids of broken
shattered souls, you know, my wish has been to have you home much sooner than you wish,
but just as Israel of old, your heart turned back from entering in.
(23:07):
How much more till you let go of sin?
So the next two stances, you know, of God saying the table is set, mansions are done,
the only thing missing is you and I am hurting more than you missing having you home.
And that song, the sketch got started then, but I think it was until 2000, probably 16,
(23:30):
when I returned to Austria.
And I think that's when we finished the accompaniment and the piano.
Coming back after Europe, I found myself in Oregon without people I knew, musicians,
(23:54):
and I had developed this pattern of building a team, so to say, of musicians and leaning
on them.
And all of a sudden, I'm alone.
And my mom had tried to teach me piano as a little kid, but I refused, I fought against
it, and now I am till now like mom, why didn't you force me?
I started teaching myself piano with a red Thompson, I think there are books and going
(24:19):
and trying to teach myself.
And I think it was like five or six months after I started teaching myself that I started
like seeing how I could improvise and build chords.
And that's when my mom's birthday was coming.
And I had already, I think in Europe started with a praying mom, this song.
Never would imagine they influenced on me, she'd have.
(24:48):
It was a praying mom that brought me before God's throne.
It was a praying mom that wrestled with God for my soul.
(25:10):
And I know I would be down some lost road and dark path, wearing out for God's grace
and a praying mom under a home.
(25:34):
I was in Europe in a concert and it was, I think in German, this song and somebody was
translating to me about this song in the minor about a mother under a roof and the full moon
is out there and she's, and you see through the window, I think it was the words and she's
kneeling down and weeping and interceding for her kids.
(25:54):
And it just brought the memories of my mother, you know, and her prayers, especially in my
time when I was about to throw the towel on my faith.
And that's where a praying mom came from.
And I'm here recording the song and saying, I'm going to do the piano.
So it took hours.
My creative process for that one was first the melody and then getting into garage band
(26:19):
and with a keyboard recording and making a bunch of mistakes, cutting little pieces,
gluing them together.
You know, if you know a little bit about meaty recording and editing, you have all these
notes and then you can cut them.
But I didn't know I think how to sustain the pedals.
If I would cut the pedals incorrectly and I think I found about that later.
So it was a whole Sudoku or great puzzle because of all the errors I would make.
(26:42):
So hours of, of, you know, gluing all this track together.
I got the track and the intro and recorded my violin.
And during this time, I had heard about virtual instruments and orchestrations.
I started to play around with that.
And sometimes when you're not formally trained, I think you're not, you know, limited too
(27:04):
much by what you should do or not do.
So I was just trying things.
And that was kind of the creative process for a praying mom melody than doing the piano
myself and orchestrating and even adding some backup vocals.
(27:33):
And then things started to change.
In 2019, it was a global pandemic.
After that in the pandemic, it was when I started doing remotely, there needs to be
a certain chemistry.
I would say I tried some on Fiverr.
I tried some musicians and there needs to be somebody that you have a good work relationship
(27:54):
when you work remotely and some take a lot of energy and misunderstanding.
And it's not worth it.
Sometimes that amount of energy.
Without how Christian overcame remote recording challenges next on Adventist Waves.
(28:18):
And the challenge was the tempo.
Some pianists can follow free style tempo.
So you just record on your phone and whatever you sing, then they play, they memorize your
melody and they develop an accompaniment also freestyle.
But other musicians like to work with metronome.
(28:39):
So those were some challenges tempo wise, then musically wise, lowering the expectation
that everything will come the same result as when I'm with the musician in person and
I can give more feedback.
But I think it has brought variety and some of the songs that you can see are the Roman
songs we've released some already on our YouTube channel.
(29:05):
We have been united in his death.
We also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.
Even so, we also should work in newness of life.
(29:29):
Now we believe if we die with Christ that we shall also live with him.
And those, I believe, all of them were done remotely where I would send the voice for
(30:09):
if we have been united.
And then the pianist would work on the accompaniment and I would say there's many levels of challenges
that you need to overcome in that sense.
And some is expressing besides your melody expressing what else do I envision.
(30:30):
So writing down in words what's the creative thought and then for them to understand.
But yeah, it's been a different challenge but an opportunity as well because I send
the melody, get back from the pianist, the accompaniment, record my voice and then already
in the composition stage sometimes I'm like is this a big piece musically with orchestra
(30:51):
or is it a more intimate, simple song.
Sometimes the process informs.
I get the piano and I'm like this could use an acoustic guitar.
I talk with this guy that I found on Fiverr, incredible arranger.
The pandemic certainly slowed things down for Christian but he found an innovative way
to get around the problem.
(31:12):
It was Fiverr.
And Fiverr is a freelancing platform which gives you access to thousands of gigs from
digital creators who can pitch their services to you.
I'm like can you do a layer of guitar and then I can give him some ideas.
And you put in the spots you can spot wherever you want or you can just fill it in and maybe
(31:33):
I cut out later.
Then he sends me that and I'm like could use a cello here.
Cello acoustic guitar.
So let me contact this cellist also guy from Fiverr phenomenal and then expressing.
Sometimes I'm like go for it.
Just follow the character of the song whatever you're inspired by many times the majority
of the times this is what I hear.
(31:53):
Maybe some cello coming in this section and maybe a climax and things building up in this
section and maybe something minimalist or long notes.
So I try to when I have something specific to pour it out and sometimes I'm just like
for this one because I don't have time or not something specific.
Just let's see what you come up with.
(32:17):
That brings us to an end of this episode of Have Endless Ways.
Considering to try out music ministry.
Now is the time.
Use your song writing talents for God.
He will bless you.
I asked Christian what would you say to somebody who's looking to get into composition.
I would tell them I understand all the fears and doubts that they could be going because
(32:42):
I went through them but don't go for a masterpiece.
It's better as something simple released than a masterpiece never released.
You learn in the process and you learn so much by doing and finishing something.
So I would tell them if they have a device a phone.
That's where I record the first draft.
(33:05):
Then I know for some countries it might be too expensive but on Fiverr I found a gentleman
from Brazil that charges $30 a song to make a beautiful accompaniment and you can go and
listen to a song he arranged for my sister's wedding and it's called the best love story
on our channel you can go and check it out.
So you can start with an idea recorded on a phone and send it to somebody on Fiverr.
(33:28):
Just step into the water.
That's the hardest thing to do.
Just step into the water and that itself will encourage you as you start seeing what can
be done.
And that wraps up another episode.
A huge thank you to Christian for sharing his story.
To hear more about Christian's music visit his website at giveglorytohim.com or check
(33:52):
out his YouTube channel and be sure to tune in next time for more inspiring stories from
the audio world of Adventism.
This is Adventist Waves.
Thank you for tuning in to Adventist Waves.
This podcast wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the support of Blue Vineyard Audio.
(34:13):
Need support with producing your podcast?
Blue Vineyard provides help from start to finish.
Visit the website today at bluevineyard.com forward slash audio.
If you enjoyed today's episode please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback helps us bring you more inspiring content.
This podcast was produced by Khan Elmas special thanks to our guest Christian for coming on
(34:36):
to the show.
We've been listening to Adventist Waves.
Welcome to Adventist Waves.
(00:13):
Welcome to Adventist Waves.
I'm your host, Khan Elmas.
On today's episode, we explore an artist's composition journey.
Let's go back in time.
When I look at the Bible, I see that throughout history, God has had a timeline.
If God is a musical God, Sefeniah says that God will rejoice over us with singing.
(00:38):
And that makes me think God likes to sing.
And he's the author of music.
And his second coming is musical.
And he will sound the trumpet and harpers harping with the harps and heaven has music.
And then you see one of the main writers of the Old Testament, Moses, God instructs him,
put the words of the law into music and poet and musician.
(01:00):
And he wrote a big portion of the Old Testament.
Later you see David, composer, another writer, a big part writer of a whole book that is
songs, Psalms.
And you see later the schools of the prophets.
You see a reference of the prophets coming to meet Saul and Samuel saying, you'll meet
(01:22):
the prophets.
And with what are they coming?
They're coming with harps and I think a flute and musical instruments.
And the spirit of the Lord takes over and they start prophesying.
So is there a link between prophecy and music?
That's a study for another time.
But anyway, then you have Elisha.
When two kings come to consult him and he calls a minstrel.
(01:43):
And when the minstrel starts playing music, the spirit of the Lord comes upon Elisha.
And Psalm says, God inhabits the praises of his children.
When the musicians in the Solomon's temple were in one in unison, the cloud comes and
fills the temple.
Come with me.
(02:04):
Let's continue in the timeline.
Jesus, in the Bible, you see, he sings before the sacrifice, the great sacrifice in Gethsemane,
a Psalm.
And he wrote Psalms, basically he's quoting the hymn book all throughout his suffering
of the time.
Then you see the apostles saying redeeming the time because the days are evil with Psalms,
later averses and hymns and spiritual songs making a melody in your heart.
(02:27):
You see the reformers coming more in the timeline, Luther, when they're going to present a protest
that that would, you know, start this protestant movement and he writes, a mighty fortresses
are God and great controversy says, well, he's going in the chariot.
He's discouraged, I don't know, governors or emperors or dukes and he starts singing
a mighty fortresses are God.
(02:58):
Music was part of what God used for the Reformation.
You see others like Wesley writing and you see the great Advent revival and hymn writers
and Khan, we come to 2024.
And where do you see all over musicians, Adventist musicians popping up and sharing the gospel
(03:19):
in music?
Christian grew up in a musical family.
His grandfather encouraged him to play the violin and taught him when he was a young
boy.
He had a love for Jesus, but yet he faced a crisis in his music career.
There came a point where he had to give up his dreams to become a performer because he
(03:39):
didn't see how he could make a living from it.
Later on, he realized that he could use his talent as a violinist to minister to people
and this led him to start Give Glory to him and produce content to share on YouTube.
You can check out their website and visit the YouTube page to listen to their music.
(03:59):
You are listening to the Adventist Waves podcast.
My name is Khan.
Thanks for listening to today's episode.
Buckle up, let's roll.
When I was eight years old, it was the first time we had one of those cassettes for younger
generation cassettes.
(04:20):
It's a little box that had tape and had songs recorded in it.
We don't have it.
It was the what you call it analog era.
So I had a little cassette recorder.
That was the first time I composed a song with original lyrics in Spanish and one with
scripture songs from Psalm.
(04:41):
And I think I recorded also, yeah, sermon, a little sermon, my first sermon, that song
I think I used it for the appeal and my sister helped me edit and include record from a keyboard.
I think Jesus drove of men desires from Bach or the field or something.
(05:05):
Anyway, that was the first song.
But mind me, I had maybe two limiting beliefs.
I don't play an accompanying instrument.
I don't know how to rhyme.
I don't do poetry.
But here I had the songs and I shared it with my family and they seemed like neutral.
It wasn't much of a reaction.
So I was like, see, there's no sense in composing if I don't play keyboard guitar.
(05:30):
My mom had tried to teach me keyboard and I thought I was dumb and couldn't learn piano
because I just got overwhelmed with the notes and the theory and whatever.
So it was like, why should I compose to sing a capella melodies that people don't get?
And when I was composing this song, I could even hear other voices in the refrain.
(05:53):
And I sang it.
It wasn't Spanish.
So I sang the different parts, you know, but I realized other people couldn't catch
the vision of the song that a capella naked melody didn't seem enough.
So I kind of just left it there.
So yeah, even in those early moments, God was preparing for the future of ministry.
(06:13):
In most cases, our family influences our musical tastes.
Christian was exposed to traditional and contemporary artists from a young age, which would influence
the compositions that he was composing on his two track recorder.
Those melodies that I composed for the first time, I don't know, maybe influenced by the
(06:34):
music we listened at home and I would say hymns.
I mean, my parents heard King Harold, so men's quartet, more traditional.
Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring.
Jesus is coming again.
Cheer up until rings be joyful and sing.
(06:58):
Jesus is coming again.
Some of Steve Green songs for kids of memorizing scripture classical.
My parents listen classical.
So I would say it was more the element of a hymn structure that that song and the scripture
song that original song and scripture song that I composed.
(07:24):
Maybe you could give one example of an early song that you remember hearing when you're
growing up.
I remember especially Steve Green.
Hide them in your heart.
I think it was the series and it was scripture songs for kids, but not dumbed down.
Some were fun, but others were just beautiful melodies.
(07:44):
I remember, you know, when I am afraid I will trust in you.
Beautiful melody this girl singing and then Steve Green coming in.
When I am afraid I will trust in you.
I will trust in you.
I will trust in you.
When I am afraid I will trust in you.
(08:07):
In God who's word I pray.
And they were strong melodies and that's I think the key of a good song.
Sure, jumping a few years afterwards that first two songs that I composed.
I don't know if there was a third one, but I can remember those two.
We come down and I'm in Argentina and I get a guitar.
(08:31):
I don't remember if it was borrowed or gifted, but I learned probably four, five, six chords,
a few chords, a good bunch of chords.
And my dad for family worship says, hey, I have a challenge or I have an idea.
Let's bring each one a Bible promise that we'll memorize.
So each family member brings a Bible promise and his Bible promise.
(08:55):
He composed a melody and I thought I'm going to compose for my Bible promise a melody.
And this time I was equipped with whatever handful of chords.
So I composed a song that I also remember the melody also have not released it.
I should probably work on those original songs and share them.
That song I remember was from a song and I can paraphrase it was in Spanish.
(09:20):
Even if I'm afflicted and needy, the Lord will think on me.
Lord delay not to help me.
And just a promise that I composed.
And this time I played some chords.
I think D, A, C on the guitar.
I think that's what I can remember.
And I shared it with my family and I saw that it had a different impact this time, a better
(09:44):
impact with accompaniment.
So there I saw the acapella song doesn't seem to have much traction.
But now when I share a little more of the harmony, people seem to react.
And that's the beauty about music, even if you don't understand theory, people can be
impacted when there's a good arrangement blessed by God.
At age 11, I didn't do much more that I can remember.
(10:10):
Then in something that I would like to say here, when you have sometimes limiting beliefs,
you know, I do not play an accompaniment instrument or I cannot rhyme well.
So what's the use?
I cannot compose.
You might be sitting on a minefield of something that God would love to develop.
But because your thoughts, your low self-worth, just saying I'm not good enough, you're limiting
(10:35):
yourself from just, you know, venturing into using the talents.
And that's scary.
But I would encourage people, something that I've said, I'd rather be embarrassed before
men trying to use my talents than be called to account before God one day for hiding them.
I just have one rather than 10 and comparing myself with others.
(11:06):
Yeah moving on later, I was studying violin, going to a private teacher.
I shared this in the other podcasts.
It was like 10 hours in total bus and I would listen to classical music, Brahms and different.
Just if I was in playing, it was listening and on the way to taking lessons and back.
And I was imagining myself composing.
(11:27):
I just admired this Beethoven Bach and I would analyze with my non-formally trained
brain.
I wouldn't analyze the orchestration and how they would take the melody with some instruments
and then other instruments would pick on and how a song would change in color and character
and intensity.
And I would go through the streets imagining, you know, that I'm conducting and orchestrating
(11:50):
something incredible.
And it was such an admiration for people that had this ability of writing and I heard that
Mozart could compose vertically.
I mean, if you have a score, you have all the layers of instruments.
And from what I understand, Mozart could just go and one note for the violin, one note for
the cell, one note for the flute and just vertically compose.
(12:11):
And I hear that he basically had no corrections and I just, it was a lot of admiration, but
not thinking I'm going to be composing.
To hear more about Christian's journey from this point up until he went to college, you
can check out that first episode that we recorded together on Adventist Waves.
(12:33):
One thing led to another and Christian went to college to study health ministry.
You know, I also went to the same college as Christian and I was really inspired by
his positive attitude and musical talent.
During his time at Heartland College, he continued playing the violin and got into
songwriting and recording.
It wasn't until he went to Europe that his composition began to bloom.
(12:59):
I traveled to Europe to do my internship after college and a friend of mine tells me, hey,
you know, I am working on some song that they asked me to arrange or compose and I used
GarageBand.
I was like, huh, didn't know you could use GarageBand for that.
Now here I think I'm mistaken that got allowed it to happen.
(13:22):
I didn't know she was referring to the computer software where you probably would need a keyboard
and MIDI controller and know more things to create some music on the computer.
So I got the app version of GarageBand and I found out that on an iPod, I don't think
they make those anymore.
An iPod?
(13:42):
It was a circle one.
It was a little, it was, I think the precursor, no, because 2012 iPhone came out.
It was a tiny iPhone precursor but it was made, I think, for music mainly and some apps.
Yeah, and the cool thing about that for non-musicians is that you could put a metronome, record
(14:05):
your voice and later it had preset chords for the piano motifs like, you know, just
chords, broken chords like arpeggiated going up and down the piano.
Then you had strings and it had the different chords and you could slide your finger up
and down and that would make the crescendo so increase in volume the strings and go
down and you could choose different things.
(14:25):
I went mad with that.
I was just like, wow, this is so cool.
Now we see that Christian was laying the foundation of his abilities to use the iPod.
This would further develop but there was one problem that he faced.
I wasn't active into composition like I shared before.
I had this limiting belief so I didn't see myself as a composer.
(14:47):
How would this impact his composition?
That's coming up.
I'm, I think, tinkering with this in Europe.
I attend a conference in Bogenhofen and there's a youth event.
About 500 young people attend that event, just packed place and the speaker, Jeremy
(15:09):
Svika, he brings a song his mom composed and he teaches at this song as theme song for
the event and all the young people are singing their hearts out and I'm looking around and
being, and it's just thought struck me.
(15:29):
This young people might forget the messages, the one hour messages, whatever, but this
theme song with the melody they can take home and I kind of had this wild idea if I'm ever
invited to be the speaker in this event.
I would like to leave that gift with the young people, a theme original song to leave with
(15:51):
the young people.
So during this time I'm playing with the iPod, not giving much thought.
Go to this event, get inspired by Jeremy.
Here I started getting inspired with this melody, a book by Ivor Myers, Prayer90x, I
believe that's where I started coming across this verse as Issa 558 and 9 or he, I think,
(16:13):
brought it to the surface of my mind for my thoughts are not your thoughts and I had that
in my mind and I was thinking how that promise applies across the board to every aspect of
your life.
If you think your devotional life, God says my thoughts are so much higher than your thoughts,
how much closer I want to be if you think your relational life and everything and your
(16:34):
ministry life.
So I started composing this melody, later put it on the iPod, recorded there and start
orchestrating and then I shared that, I think, with some of the students in the school I
was working and now I get a different reaction.
It's like even more impact I see with some orchestration, just with the iPod.
(16:55):
And interestingly enough, I am asked to be the speaker for the following year, I believe
it was April 2014 and it was called Fit for Mission, weekend on medical missionary work.
I'm tinkering with the thought of sharing this song as theme song and the date is coming
closer but I'm like what am I going to do?
(17:16):
Am I going to plug the iPod?
It doesn't even have an intro.
Am I going to go like sing with me and just, no, that doesn't make sense.
So I'm still shy.
I'm like still wondering is this song even good enough?
And I'm waiting before the event starts and they tell me we're going to put this theme
song, I'm not even talking.
And then one of the students in the school, she works with another student to arrange
(17:41):
a song that this female student had composed and that's when I realized, hey, you can bring
a melody to somebody that plays piano and you can team compose.
And this female student says, hey, I can help you and let's bring this song to the event.
It's Thursday before Friday the event is starting and she says, are we going to do it?
(18:04):
And I'm like, okay, let's try it.
She goes and she arranges almost the same piano arrangement that you hear in the song
when you go later.
We added a key change so it changes in key to song and we taught it to the students,
I think Friday morning or Thursday.
I don't remember the students in the school where I was working and they were going to
be my helpers to teach it to the whatever 500 young people in the event.
(18:28):
So we go to the event and I'm still doubting, is it good enough?
And we went there, taught it, there was a group of musicians, they learned it by ear
and at the end of the weekend there was a group of 500 young people singing this song,
the scripture song.
(18:57):
And after this event, just young people or somebody writing to me and like, where's
the song from or can we have sheet music?
And I saw the impact it has.
Christian will continue to write inspiring music.
However, he was there for six months and he began to feel lonely.
I had grown up between South and North America so I thought I had enough cultural exposure
(19:21):
but all of a sudden Germans and Austrians experience feelings more internally.
So you don't know what sometimes people are feeling, they can be very in the outside,
very hard to read especially in religious circles in the church, they're afraid to
be, you know, to like, Pentecostals.
So they feel more internally, Latinos more expressive and more, you know, if they're
(19:44):
sad or angry.
So I was feeling very homesick, like very like isolated culturally.
Find out how this impacted the next song he composed, Homesick.
That's next on Adventist Waves.
Yeah, it's something fascinating to team compose and there's different ways that I've
(20:09):
had it in Europe.
Simone was the student there that also had studied piano and I would basically compose
and record in my iPod, I guess, a melody, bring it to her.
She would listen to it several times and start developing an introduction and some connections
(20:30):
in the piano.
And once she had a rough idea, she would bring it and we would polish it together.
So it was really fun.
That was the initial and we had some songs like the song Homesick.
(21:07):
That if you go, it's also on our channel, that one, we also composed but in a different
way.
That one, I think it was more piece by piece, improvising and trying on the moment.
The one I gave her the melody and then she worked and sometimes it's a creative part
like, oh, let's put some violin here and then come back here.
(21:30):
And it's very, very creative process.
So here's Christian in the middle of a foreign country.
He's on his internship, being away from his family and his college for some time.
I asked him, when did you write Homesick?
The answer was obvious.
Actually the beginning of this song actually might have been before when I was around six
(21:56):
months I think in Europe and I was feeling quite homesick and my grandma one time says
to me, did you see the avatar I put on Skype?
And I look and it was my dog, Shadow from South America that I had left when I went
to college and later my parents moved.
It just brought like a sense of homesick, like flashing memories of the different pets
(22:17):
and friends I had left behind and wondering some of them I will never see again and I
just started weeping.
It was like an accumulation of feeling homesick and just weeping and saying, oh Lord, how
long until you come and take me home with you?
And I'm kind of weeping and I think I might have started recording, just recording this
kind of prayer, questioning God and song and that's the first kind of sketch or draft
(22:45):
and later, and it's like God starts answering, Christian, how about my side of the story?
You know, I long to be with my children more than I hear the cry of orphaned kids of broken
shattered souls, you know, my wish has been to have you home much sooner than you wish,
but just as Israel of old, your heart turned back from entering in.
(23:07):
How much more till you let go of sin?
So the next two stances, you know, of God saying the table is set, mansions are done,
the only thing missing is you and I am hurting more than you missing having you home.
And that song, the sketch got started then, but I think it was until 2000, probably 16,
(23:30):
when I returned to Austria.
And I think that's when we finished the accompaniment and the piano.
Coming back after Europe, I found myself in Oregon without people I knew, musicians,
(23:54):
and I had developed this pattern of building a team, so to say, of musicians and leaning
on them.
And all of a sudden, I'm alone.
And my mom had tried to teach me piano as a little kid, but I refused, I fought against
it, and now I am till now like mom, why didn't you force me?
I started teaching myself piano with a red Thompson, I think there are books and going
(24:19):
and trying to teach myself.
And I think it was like five or six months after I started teaching myself that I started
like seeing how I could improvise and build chords.
And that's when my mom's birthday was coming.
And I had already, I think in Europe started with a praying mom, this song.
Never would imagine they influenced on me, she'd have.
(24:48):
It was a praying mom that brought me before God's throne.
It was a praying mom that wrestled with God for my soul.
(25:10):
And I know I would be down some lost road and dark path, wearing out for God's grace
and a praying mom under a home.
(25:34):
I was in Europe in a concert and it was, I think in German, this song and somebody was
translating to me about this song in the minor about a mother under a roof and the full moon
is out there and she's, and you see through the window, I think it was the words and she's
kneeling down and weeping and interceding for her kids.
(25:54):
And it just brought the memories of my mother, you know, and her prayers, especially in my
time when I was about to throw the towel on my faith.
And that's where a praying mom came from.
And I'm here recording the song and saying, I'm going to do the piano.
So it took hours.
My creative process for that one was first the melody and then getting into garage band
(26:19):
and with a keyboard recording and making a bunch of mistakes, cutting little pieces,
gluing them together.
You know, if you know a little bit about meaty recording and editing, you have all these
notes and then you can cut them.
But I didn't know I think how to sustain the pedals.
If I would cut the pedals incorrectly and I think I found about that later.
So it was a whole Sudoku or great puzzle because of all the errors I would make.
(26:42):
So hours of, of, you know, gluing all this track together.
I got the track and the intro and recorded my violin.
And during this time, I had heard about virtual instruments and orchestrations.
I started to play around with that.
And sometimes when you're not formally trained, I think you're not, you know, limited too
(27:04):
much by what you should do or not do.
So I was just trying things.
And that was kind of the creative process for a praying mom melody than doing the piano
myself and orchestrating and even adding some backup vocals.
(27:33):
And then things started to change.
In 2019, it was a global pandemic.
After that in the pandemic, it was when I started doing remotely, there needs to be
a certain chemistry.
I would say I tried some on Fiverr.
I tried some musicians and there needs to be somebody that you have a good work relationship
(27:54):
when you work remotely and some take a lot of energy and misunderstanding.
And it's not worth it.
Sometimes that amount of energy.
Without how Christian overcame remote recording challenges next on Adventist Waves.
(28:18):
And the challenge was the tempo.
Some pianists can follow free style tempo.
So you just record on your phone and whatever you sing, then they play, they memorize your
melody and they develop an accompaniment also freestyle.
But other musicians like to work with metronome.
(28:39):
So those were some challenges tempo wise, then musically wise, lowering the expectation
that everything will come the same result as when I'm with the musician in person and
I can give more feedback.
But I think it has brought variety and some of the songs that you can see are the Roman
songs we've released some already on our YouTube channel.
(29:05):
We have been united in his death.
We also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection.
Even so, we also should work in newness of life.
(29:29):
Now we believe if we die with Christ that we shall also live with him.
And those, I believe, all of them were done remotely where I would send the voice for
(30:09):
if we have been united.
And then the pianist would work on the accompaniment and I would say there's many levels of challenges
that you need to overcome in that sense.
And some is expressing besides your melody expressing what else do I envision.
(30:30):
So writing down in words what's the creative thought and then for them to understand.
But yeah, it's been a different challenge but an opportunity as well because I send
the melody, get back from the pianist, the accompaniment, record my voice and then already
in the composition stage sometimes I'm like is this a big piece musically with orchestra
(30:51):
or is it a more intimate, simple song.
Sometimes the process informs.
I get the piano and I'm like this could use an acoustic guitar.
I talk with this guy that I found on Fiverr, incredible arranger.
The pandemic certainly slowed things down for Christian but he found an innovative way
to get around the problem.
(31:12):
It was Fiverr.
And Fiverr is a freelancing platform which gives you access to thousands of gigs from
digital creators who can pitch their services to you.
I'm like can you do a layer of guitar and then I can give him some ideas.
And you put in the spots you can spot wherever you want or you can just fill it in and maybe
(31:33):
I cut out later.
Then he sends me that and I'm like could use a cello here.
Cello acoustic guitar.
So let me contact this cellist also guy from Fiverr phenomenal and then expressing.
Sometimes I'm like go for it.
Just follow the character of the song whatever you're inspired by many times the majority
of the times this is what I hear.
(31:53):
Maybe some cello coming in this section and maybe a climax and things building up in this
section and maybe something minimalist or long notes.
So I try to when I have something specific to pour it out and sometimes I'm just like
for this one because I don't have time or not something specific.
Just let's see what you come up with.
(32:17):
That brings us to an end of this episode of Have Endless Ways.
Considering to try out music ministry.
Now is the time.
Use your song writing talents for God.
He will bless you.
I asked Christian what would you say to somebody who's looking to get into composition.
I would tell them I understand all the fears and doubts that they could be going because
(32:42):
I went through them but don't go for a masterpiece.
It's better as something simple released than a masterpiece never released.
You learn in the process and you learn so much by doing and finishing something.
So I would tell them if they have a device a phone.
That's where I record the first draft.
(33:05):
Then I know for some countries it might be too expensive but on Fiverr I found a gentleman
from Brazil that charges $30 a song to make a beautiful accompaniment and you can go and
listen to a song he arranged for my sister's wedding and it's called the best love story
on our channel you can go and check it out.
So you can start with an idea recorded on a phone and send it to somebody on Fiverr.
(33:28):
Just step into the water.
That's the hardest thing to do.
Just step into the water and that itself will encourage you as you start seeing what can
be done.
And that wraps up another episode.
A huge thank you to Christian for sharing his story.
To hear more about Christian's music visit his website at giveglorytohim.com or check
(33:52):
out his YouTube channel and be sure to tune in next time for more inspiring stories from
the audio world of Adventism.
This is Adventist Waves.
Thank you for tuning in to Adventist Waves.
This podcast wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the support of Blue Vineyard Audio.
(34:13):
Need support with producing your podcast?
Blue Vineyard provides help from start to finish.
Visit the website today at bluevineyard.com forward slash audio.
If you enjoyed today's episode please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback helps us bring you more inspiring content.
This podcast was produced by Khan Elmas special thanks to our guest Christian for coming on
(34:36):
to the show.
We've been listening to Adventist Waves.
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