For the latest batch of MultiTrack backing tracks we’ve chosen 10 recent big songs and given you guys a good mix of Chris Tomlin, Hillsong, Newsboys, Paul Baloche, Lincoln Brewster and Jared Anderson. Interestingly we’ve chosen to alter the key on nearly all of them as most are too high in the original key for the average congregation. A description on what we’ve down with each song is below to give you guys some background about the parts. Hope you enjoy!
Click through to listen to audio samples and to buy.
All Because of Jesus – Casting Crowns / Steve Fee
Came to My Rescue – Marty Sampson, Joel Davies and Dylan Thomas
Cornerstone (Hillsong) – Reuben Morgan, Jonas Myrin, Eric Liljero.
Crown Him – Matt Maher, Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash.
God is Able (Hillsong) – Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding
Great I Am – Jared Anderson
I am Free (Newsboys) – Jon Egan
Offering – Paul Baloche
Today is the Day – Lincoln Brewster
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) – Scott Cash, Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash
Buy all 10 and get an additional discount applied at the checkout.
Here is the lowdown to each of the tracks
All Because of Jesus
This was a track that is fairly unsingable in the most well known version. So we took it down two full tones to C but then took a lot of care to keep the brightness in the voicing so it keeps its sense of energy.
Came to My Rescue
In terms of instrumentation this sounds quite similar to Hillsong’s original version but we changed some of the parts, particularly in the last big choruses to add an even greater sense of tension and release with the song getting bigger and smaller. We also slightly changed some of the song structure to make it a bit more concise and shorter as a version for the average church. Even so to get the full sense of ebb and flow its still a full 5 minutes long, and of course you can repeat any verse/chorus/bridge section you want to within the player.
Cornerstone
This song is going to be around a long time and we wanted to do it justice. So we’ve got male and female vocals with some fabulous harmonies and lots of layered guitar parts to give it that authentic big Hillsong sound. We did bring the key down to Bb to make it more congregationally accessible and again shortened it slightly for usability’s sake (still 6.20!) But the main thing we did we give you two optional endings! So if you want to use the instrumental refrain you can, but if you don’t there’s a bar of dead sonic space after the first ending which easily gives you enough time to jump to the next song in the playlist without it sound awkward.
Crown Him (Majesty)
In this backing track we took the song down a tone to B as again its just too high for most congregations. But we also stuck fairly close to the feel of the instrumentation with lots and lots of guitar/keys/strings layering to get that MASSIVE sound in the bridge. However we decided not to go for the key change at the end mainly because again unless you’re in a large gathering, most folks can’t hit the notes in the original C# key let alone D#! However with the Worship Backing Band player you can of course manually change the key yourself! Remember – use the S and X hotkeys to go up or down.
God is Able
This is another song we’ve put down a key to A to make more congregationally singable but still keep the original feel in the instrumentation and the parts. So everything in there including the riffs lead lines and solo.
Great I Am
For this one we took the key down a tone to C but added lots of extra guitar part layering that’s not in the original version to add to the sense of dynamic build as the song progresses.
Offering
Paul Baloche tends to write most of his songs in congregational keys so we kept this track in the original in F and stuck mostly to the arrangement with all the motifs and parts you’d expect. Again there is some extra layering to add to the dynamic but we did change the ending slightly to take out the unusual chords in the album version, just to make it as accessible as possible to the average worship band players.
Today is the Day
Accessibility was the key for this backing track, so we’ve brought it down to C but spent a lot of time on the guitar voicings to give it that Lincoln Brewster feel, with plenty of widdle-tastic riffs and licks to keep you busy especially towards the end of the track. There might also be a bit of Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Black Eyed Peas influence in there too… We did however take out the solo as it leaves most congregations idle with nothing to sing (not anything to do with us not being able to play it of course… Nope , No Siree!) but if you want to solo just repeat one of our chorus or band sections within the player.
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)
We took this down to Bb again to make it more congregationally singable but crucially we took time to get that same album feel using guitars and keyboards where we assumed most churches won’t have banjo and Dobro players! So that means if you want to replicate those parts live you easily can by soloing a part to pick out exactly what’s going on. Not often easy on Tomlin’s stuff…
I am Free
This was another track that’s way too high for most congregations to sing in the original key so we’ve brought down to C but added a few more layers to make the arrangement even more dynamic. We’ve also added multiple BV voices to the audience repeat in the chorus but put it all into one stem so if you don’t use that part then simply mute it!
We hope you really like the song choice and what we’ve done with the arrangements. Please do comment below to give us any feedback.
