For my next creation of my 3-part post series “30 seconds of…”, check out a mix of Christian AND rock music!

To read about how I decided on this assignment and the mashups I’d do, as well as how I made the mashups, check out Part 1: Christian contemporary music.

However, I’ll include the instructions below.

“This is some sort of variation on Katy Chase’s The Contest That Nobody Could Win assignment, but instead of clips from a TV show or movie, do clips from your favorite songs and see if anyone can guess what they are. Or at least the artist. Do two or three second clips using 4 or 5 songs. Make them all different. Use SoundCloud to post!”

“10 second song mashup”, 3.5 stars

My modifications:

• Make the mashup about 30 seconds long
• Do it by topic or genre
• Don’t use SoundCloud
• Not enforcing the “can anyone guess” thing

Without further ado, here’s my Christian rock mix:

Now, you may be asking, “Why did you choose to make two separate Christian song mashups?”

Well, it all lies in the contemporary vs rock differentiation. They’re distinctly different sounds to me. I grew up listening almost exclusively to Christian contemporary, music, so by my teen years, I wanted something with more energy that would still be Christian. I started listening to secular rock music shortly before I discovered that Christian rock existed, and once I found that Christian rock was indeed an actual genre, I began listening to bands like Skillet and Relient K. Because of that, many of the songs I’ve included are “firsts” in different ways.

Invisible was the first Disciple song I heard, and I discovered it through a friend’s Instagram story. The lyrics “You’re not stranded on your own, you’re not invisible” call out to the listener, and the song reminds me that God is on my side and that He cares for and truly loves me. He sees me in my struggles and is there for me when I feel completely alone, which is immensely comforting.

Be My Escape was one of the first Christian rock songs I heard that I played on drums. I was in a band at the time, and this was one of the songs we played together. It’s a song where the artist talks about both his struggles with doubt and his insecurities and his plea and trust that God will get him out of the rut he’s in—hence the lyrics “And I’m begging you, I’m begging you, I’m begging you to be my escape”. The tone of humility and the need for God comes through strongly, and it’s very relatable.

Feel Invincible was one of the first Christian rock songs I heard, period. I knew that Skillet was a Christian band, but I hadn’t realized that they were a Christian rock band. And they really are—all of their songs pack a powerful punch. It’s absolutely rock music, and it’s rock music that’s Christian, which I think is awesome. Several of Skillet’s songs focus on their identity as Christians, and these lyrics are one aspect of that: “You make me feel invincible, earthquake powerful / just like a tidal wave, you make me brave”. Without Him, I’m nothing; with His support, I can be the best version of myself.

Hanging On By A Thread was a song that came up in my Spotify recommendations, and the first couple times I didn’t really pay attention to it. However, last spring, I relistened to it and realized how much I liked it. The song is about dependence on God: “So I’m holding on to You, no I won’t let go…I’m hanging on by a thread”. When nothing else in the world is stable, He is. He is there through all of the changes I experience, both internal and external, and I need Him more than anything else.

If you haven’t heard my other two mashups in this series, check out 30 seconds of… (Part 1): Christian contemporary music and 30 seconds of… (Part 3): Rock music.

This is the first in a series of 3 posts with the same assignment, but the assignment is done differently each time.

As per the title, first up is a set of Christian contemporary music.

When I saw the assignment “10 second song mashup” in the ds106 assignment bank, I thought, “Huh. That sounds like it could be cool.” Here are the instructions:

“This is some sort of variation on Katy Chase’s The Contest That Nobody Could Win assignment, but instead of clips from a TV show or movie, do clips from your favorite songs and see if anyone can guess what they are. Or at least the artist. Do two or three second clips using 4 or 5 songs. Make them all different. Use SoundCloud to post!”

3.5 stars

My modifications:

• Make the mashup about 30 seconds long
• Do it by topic or genre
• Don’t use SoundCloud
• Not enforcing the “can anyone guess” thing

When I was first considering what to do for this assignment, I thought of all different songs and genres. I didn’t want to only do favorite songs. So, I decided to do three different versions of this assignment: Christian contemporary music, Christian rock music, and rock music.

Here’s the first mix.

I used Audacity to make the mashup. I first had to convert the songs to a .wav format because Audacity was not a fan of my iTunes files and insisted on another format. So, once I had them in Audacity, I quickly clipped the parts I wanted and stuck them together. I realized that including all of the clips would be more than 10 seconds, so I decided to make it 30 seconds (or 28, if you’re being picky). I followed the same format for all of hte

Before I get into explaining why I picked each song, I want to note that I created a mashup of Christian songs because my faith is a key part of my life. I did not create it to shove my beliefs down anyone’s throat; I made it because both music and my faith as a Christian are important to me, and I wanted to invite people into those parts of my life. If I chose to only create a mashup of rock music, I’d be holding back out of fear of disapproval. I want to share things I make without that fear. (I talk about this a little more here.)

“Write Your Story” is a song by Francesca Battistelli—an artist I’ve seen in concert and whose music made up a lot of what I listened to in my preteen and early teen years. I love many of her songs, but this is one of my favorites. The lines “They say You’re the king of everything / the One who taught the wind to sing” are beautiful and so poetic.

“Joy” is a song I first heard on the radio and instantly fell in love with. I remember replaying it over and over again for weeks after I first heard it. I still absolutely love it. Newsboys infuse their music with a earnest sense of, well, joy, and that very evidently comes through in this song. The lyrics “If life’s a battle, the invasion is complete / if it’s a rhythm, I have found the perfect beat” refer to the freedom, peace, and happiness found in Christ. Not only do I think those lyrics are amazing, but the music at that point feels very catchy.

“Shout to the Lord” is a song that I grew up hearing in church. There are several others like this that stir up feelings of nostalgia and a desire to truly worship God in song. I don’t really know how to describe it. The lyrics and the people singing them are so worshipful and passionate, and even just listening without singing along makes me feel so much love for the Lord. The words “I sing for joy at the work of Your hands / forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand” ring with steadfast trust in Him, and this is a song that reminds me that He is king of all and that He is all-powerful and loving.

Check out my other two mashups 30 seconds of… (Part 2): Christian rock music and 30 seconds of… (Part 3): Rock music.