WorshipFi
WorshipFi
Blending Worship and Lofi sounds for peaceful prayer & study.
WorshipFi, Worship_Fi, & WorshipLofi are sole trademarks belonging to: Kristie Hammarstrom.
It hit me one day as I was streaming Lofi music on YouTube while I was working. There was something about this Lofi format that intrigued me. How could I love something that sounded so imperfect? Was it the vintage sound? The somewhat “sloppy” playing? The crackling of an old record , white noise, or sound of rain running through the track? As it turns out, many people enjoy listening for these reasons. That sense of “imperfect” is actually appealing. The high hat might be a little delayed, a piano melody might not be quantized perfectly, or perhaps the guitar line is sloppy,
I thought, “Hmmmm, I can create something similar, but with musical nods to hymns of the past and familiar tunes that ushered in past revivals.“ As I talked to my husband about my ideas of blending worship with Lofi, he blurted out, “it’s WorshipFi !” I laughed saying, “Ya, I guess it is!” SO, I’ve trademarked the names. See above. Sorry, I’m the original! It’s Lofi music AND worship.
I loved the idea of creating something “imperfect”. As a musician, the tendency has always been to lean into perfectionism. We’re all trying to be the best musician we can be. That perfectionism we all long for can really get in the way when we’re talking about worshipping the Lord. He doesn’t need “perfect”, He just needs US, with our imperfections and our HEART. In this endeavor, it would be difficult for me to create something less than “perfect”. The tendency to want to correct everything would pose an interesting challenge.
I set myself to the task…to create a WorshipFi track. I researched why Lofi music is so appealing and what makes this genre so incredibly popular. I found an expert skilled in the software I use, Studio One. Through his online tutorials, I learned how to reconfigure recording parameters to obtain the Lofi sound I desired. Lofi means Low Fidelity. In other words, not great quality….something a little less perfect for the listening ear.
One instructional video at a time, I followed his recommendations. By applying his techniques to my own chord progression choices & melodies, I soon created my first Lofi track complete with acoustic piano, drums, acoustic guitar, bass, a poly synth and that “fuzzy” sound so prevalent in this genre. Some tracks needed to be quantized, while other imperfect. The poly synth needed a lot of work with the mod wheel and pitch bend..that was harder than I thought. Believe me, there was a lot to learn. I still don’t master my own tracks for social media platforms. It is too difficult with my limited mixing/mastering knowledge to get a track that won’t distort on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. I’ve left some of the mixing and all of the mastering to someone else.
As for the music itself, I blend key Lofi elements with modern worship keyboard stylings and jazz voicings. I always incorporate a recognizable hymn or revival song of the past into each track I create. If you listen closely, you’ll recognize the melody woven lightly throughout, or sometimes just a “hint” that would make the listener inquisitive and they might ask themselves ”what is that melody I recognize?” Sometimes the melody is in the piano or electric piano track, or other times in the guitar or even a poly synth. All of this blended with chill jazz voicings. For instance, my track entitled “Holy” encorporates the chorus melody of “Holy, Holy, Holy,” a hymn written in the early 1800’s and sung throughout church history. I subtly wove the melody in and out through the 3 minute track.
However, I wanted to go q step further with my tracks. I was curious how I could bring the piano patches from A440 down to A432, a scientifically calmer frequency. If you study frequencies in music, you will find out that the A440 standard we tune to today was not always the way it was years ago. It has been changed over time to A440, a higher listening frequency. One that creates more stimulation, more chaos, etc.
With study, & research, I figured out how to fine-tune the main piano track down to A432. Most listeners would not be able to hear the difference. However, I feel it brings the tracks into a more harmonious and cohesive union making it calmer to the listener. I had to make sure that my other tracks weren’t de-tuned. For instance, I discovered that the electric piano sound I was using had been de-tuned a bit already. I had to bring that back to zero. Otherwise, there would be too much of a discrepancy between the electric piano and acoustic piano track.
