Sing Praises to the Lord

Where to Find Uplifting Music for Free

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:13:38 -0400

In just a few days, I will be leaving to the Missionary Training Center and then I will be off to the Arizona Tempe Mission, Spanish-speaking! This means that I will be setting this blog aside for two years as I serve the Lord as an LDS missionary.

Therefore, I will not be able to provide readers with “free music alerts” from sources such as Positive Music and Downloads. Here are the sources that I check, if you would like to keep up-to-date!

Positive Music and Downloads has a new free song every Friday for the first 100 downloaders daily for a week. After the week is past, the song won’t be free. There is a link to the left of the site (“Free Download”) that will take you directly to the current free song. Or, you can sign up for the site’s newsletter; the free download link will be at the top right of the newsletter on Fridays.
LDSTunesNow features a new free song about once a month; usually within the first week of each month. There is a link to the free song’s album page, directly from the home page. They also advertise a newsletter, but I haven’t received one yet; so the newsletter is not a reliable source for free song info.
Sally DeFord is an arranger of hymns and other music, mainly for choirs or performances in a church setting. To be notified when there are updates, you can sign up for a Yahoo! Groups mailing list through her web site.
LDS.org/CM is a good source for hymns and children’s songs, even in different languages. The Seminary video soundtracks are also available. Updates aren’t frequent, but they are occasional. The Church has been expanding their internet presence tremendously in recent years, so I expect there to be major updates (especially for other languages) in the next couple of years.
General Conference archives for recent sessions include music from the various choirs that sing during Conference. A link for music is near the top of each General Conference page since October 2008.
LDSMusicWorld hasn’t changed for a while, but it’s worth mentioning as a top source for free, legal, uplifting music. A few links are broken, but they can be accessed with a tool like Archive.org’s Wayback Machine.
Liahona.net is also a good source for free inspirational music, though the content is not updated frequently. Most of the music is hymns, and there is some overlap with LDS.org/CM.*
MormonMusic.org is a new web site by the More Good Foundation that also provides free music. Liahona.net is one of their sources for music (though not all Liahona.net songs are included).* Apart from Liahona.net, MormonMusic.org offers foreign-language inspirational music and a few selections of more-contemporary music such as Sam Payne (LDS) and Voice Male music.

Note, I will be gone for two years. Any of these sites may change without notice. If you’re following me via RSS or other means, expect an update within 25 months!

*Information about the LDS.org/CM, Liahona.net, and MormonMusic.net overlap:

LDS.org/CM contains the official recordings of hymns, children’s songs, selected YW songs, YW camp songs, music from Church magazines, and seminary music; vocal and instrumental, English and other languages.

Liahona.net contains some of the English content from LDS.org/CM. The overlaps are the following sections: “Hymns” (vocal and instrumental), ”Children’s Music” (vocal and instrumental), ”YW Select Music” (vocal and instrumental), and “Choir Music” (vocal only, with 2 exceptions). Everything else on the site originates from Liahona.net. The “Seasonal” songs are duplicates of some of the songs in other sections.

MormonMusic.org contains an incomplete (seemingly random) selection from Liahona.net, divided into similarly-named sections as those at Liahona.net. The other (currently 6) sections originate from MormonMusic.org, as well as some foreign-language songs. The organization of MormonMusic.org is hard to follow, but I really enjoy some of the music, such as the Sam Payne music. Also, MormonMusic.org is a good source for “album artwork” for the sections at Liahona.net.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 7/3/09

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:48:50 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 7/3/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Solitude,” performed by Sherrie Shepherd, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Solitude”
Artist: Shepherd, Sherrie
Album Artist: Shepherd, Sherrie
Album: Solitude (2009)
Track: 1 of 12, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Shepherd, Sherrie

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/26/09

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:23:55 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/26/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Tidings of Joy,” performed by Douglas Bush and David Brown, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Tidings of Joy”
Artist: Bush, Douglas; Brown, David
Album Artist: Bush, Douglas; Brown, David
Album: Majestic Airs (2006)
Track: 8 of 19, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Bach, Johann Sebastian

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

"[M]usic is much more than mere entertainment. Music has the ability to bring joy to a saddened soul;..."

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:16:50 -0400

“[M]usic is much more than mere entertainment. Music has the ability to bring joy to a saddened soul; make someone laugh out loud; or bring peace into a stressful life. A well written song can get a person thinking about more than themselves, as well as inspire deep soul searching. Songs are a means of sharing philosophical and even religious thoughts. Imagine trying to feel patriotism without a national anthem. Imagine trying to remember your wedding dance without a wedding song. Imagine a worship service without hymns. Imagine Christmas without carols. Music is the God-given tool that enables us to experience this life more deeply. Anything that can increase a person’s happiness, or inspire a change of heart, I see as a worthy endeavor; and that is how I see music.”

- Solomon Keal

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/19/09

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:51:36 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/19/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “The Dayley Dash,” performed by Q’d Up (Ray Smith, Steve Lindeman, Lars Yorgason, Ron Brough, and Jay Lawrence), for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“The Dayley Dash”
Artist: Smith, Ray; Lindeman, Steve; Yorgason, Lars; Brough, Ron; Lawrence, Jay; Q’d Up
Album Artist: Q’d Up
Album: Q’d Up 3 (2006)
Track: 1 of 13, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Lawrence, Jay

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/12/09

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:46:00 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/12/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Daddy’s Little Girl,” sung by Simple Grace (Burgundy Flammer, Audrey Hayward, and Mallory Seamons), for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Daddy’s Little Girl”
Artist: Flammer, Burgundy; Hayward, Audrey; Seamons, Mallory; Simple Grace
Album Artist: Simple Grace
Album: Now Is the Time (2008)
Track: 7 of 11, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Simple Grace

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics could not be found online.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

"We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer."

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:49:26 -0400

“We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps through any other thing except prayer.”

- J. Reuben Clark, Jr.

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, June 2009

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:05:01 -0400

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, June 2009:

Each month, LDSTunesNow offers a free song download. This month they are offering “The Handcart Song,” an instrumental track performed by Michael Dowdle.

“The Handcart Song”
Artist: Dowdle, Michael
Album Artist: Friends of Martin’s Cove
Album: Bring Them In: Celebrating the Spirit of Trek (2003)
Track: 3 of 8, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: McAllister, John Daniel (words); Reading, Lucile Cardon (words); McAllister, John Daniel (music); Dowdle, Michael (arr.)

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

LDSTunesNow is an online LDS mp3 music store. Their sister site, LDSMusicNow, sells sheet music (they also offer one free song each month, as sheet music).

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/5/09

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:39:00 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 6/5/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “I Am Blessed,” sung by Rachelle Call, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“I Am Blessed”
Artist: Call, Rachelle
Album Artist: Call, Rachelle
Album: Something Wonderful (2007)
Track: 2 of 13, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Call, Rachelle

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics could not be found online.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/29/09

Sat, 30 May 2009 13:04:00 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/29/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Home,” sung by Jessie Clark Funk, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Home” (from the Broadway musical “Beauty and the Beast”)
Artist: Funk, Jessie Clark
Album Artist: Funk, Jessie Clark
Album: Broadway (2009)
Track: 6 of 10, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Ashman, Howard (words); Rice, Tim (words); Menken, Alan (music)

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics can be found here.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/22/09

Fri, 22 May 2009 14:22:00 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/22/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Rush Hour on the Escalante,” performed by Jon Schmidt, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Rush Hour on the Escalante”
Artist: Schmidt, Jon
Album Artist: Schmidt, Jon
Album: To the Summit (2000)
Track: 2 of 10, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Schmidt, Jon

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, May 2009

Sun, 10 May 2009 00:33:00 -0400

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, May 2009:

Each month, LDSTunesNow offers a free song download. This month they are offering “Handcart Blues,” an instrumental track performed by Marvin Goldstein.

“Handcart Blues”
Artist: Goldstein, Marvin
Album Artist: Goldstein, Marvin
Album: Popcorn Popping (2008)
Track: 4 of 24, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: McAllister, John Daniel (words); Reading, Lucile Cardon (words); McAllister, John Daniel (music); Goldstein, Marvin (arr.)

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

LDSTunesNow is an online LDS mp3 music store. Their sister site, LDSMusicNow, sells sheet music (they also offer one free song each month, as sheet music).

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/8/09

Fri, 08 May 2009 10:53:53 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/8/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “I’ve Been Taught by My Mother (Reprise),” sung by “Sisters,” for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“I’ve Been Taught by My Mother (Reprise)”
Artist: Sisters
Album Artist: Sisters
Album: I’ve Been Taught by My Mother (2008)
Track: 7 of 10, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Dent, Kallie Reynolds

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics can be found here.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/1/09

Fri, 01 May 2009 15:36:11 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 5/1/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Standin’,” sung by Wayne Hotchkiss, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Standin’”
Artist: Hotchkiss, Wayne
Album Artist: Hotchkiss, Wayne
Album: Standing on Him (2008)
Track: 2 of 11, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Hotchkiss, Wayne

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
~~Lyrics can be found here.~~

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/17/09

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:13:17 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/17/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “Teachings of the Trek,” sung by Algie Powers, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“Teachings of the Trek”
Artist: Powers, Algie
Album Artist: Powers, Algie
Album: The Collection So Far (2005)
Track: 11 of 15, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Powers, Algie

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics can be found here.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Music from General Conference

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:50:00 -0400

Music from General Conference:

Music from the most recent LDS General Conference (April 4-5, 2009) has been posted at the Church web site (at the above link). Music is also online from the October 2008 conference.

Saturday Morning Session (Mormon Tabernacle Choir): The Morning Breaks; Press Forward, Saints; Israel, Israel, God Is Calling; Now Let Us Rejoice (congregational); Consider the Lilies; My Redeemer Lives.

Saturday Afternoon Session (Combined Choirs, Salt Lake Area Institutes of Religion): Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise; Come, O Thou King of Kings; Let Us All Press On (congregational); Sing We Now at Parting.

Priesthood Session (Men’s Choir from BYU-Idaho): Sing Praise to Him; Father in Heaven; High on the Mountain Top (congregational); I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.

Sunday Morning Session (Mormon Tabernacle Choir): Praise to the Lord; Sweet Hour of Prayer; You Can Make the Pathway Bright; Redeemer of Israel (congregational); This Is My Beloved Son; We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.

Sunday Afternoon Session (Mormon Tabernacle Choir): Now We’ll Sing with One Accord; O My Father; Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah; God Be with You Till We Meet Again.

General Young Women Meeting (Young Women Choir from East Millcreek, Cottonwood, and Olympus Stakes): As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days; He Sent His Son; More Holiness Give Me; True to the Faith.

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/10/09

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:30:33 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/10/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “A Woman’s Heart,” sung by Felicia (Sorenson) Wolfe, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“A Woman’s Heart”
Artist: Wolfe, Felicia Sorenson
Album Artist: Especially for Youth
Album: EFY 2008: Steady and Sure (2008)
Track: 4 of 17, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Peters, Staci; Castleton, Tyler

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics can be found here.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.

Review: MormonMusic.org

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:14:00 -0400

MormonMusic.org was released on Monday, April 6, 2009. It was actually available online a few days before that (though not officially). I haven’t been able to write about it until now due to time-consuming homework, General Conference summaries on my other blog, etc. Anyway, here are my thoughts.

Related Post: Coming Soon: MormonMusic.org (26 March 2009).

It’s clear that a lot of work has gone into the design of MormonMusic.org. On the home page is found LDS news and LDS music news. As of now, it mainly consists of LDS musician biographies – but hopefully the news will become more diversified and current as relavant stories arise.

To the left of the home page is an HTML hyperlink list of recently-added music and a list of randomly-selected music. I think an embedded sequential playlist would fit nicely here instead; there are tons of free embeddable music players online. Then people would be able to actually listen to the music as they are browsing.

On the right side of every page is a list of top-rated songs, top-rated videos, and users online. Again, a playlist would be easy to implement, even without extensive web coding knowledge, and would be much more inviting.

There are eight navigation tabs along the top of the page. The first tab is the home page. The second tab shows recent audio. The third tab lists all the available audio, divided into albums. The fourth tab is an index to some LDS music videos on YouTube (YouTube is blocked at BYU, so I can’t review the page very well). The fifth tab has links to some LDS artists’ biographies. The sixth tab is for your user profile (brief information, favorites, and playlists), and the seventh tab is a list of all the users. (The eighth tab is a contact form.)

The part that I was most excited about was the free music and playlists that were advertised in the announcement – the actual music. Unfortunately, the music pages and playlists are hard to use. For playlists, you can generate an embeddable playlist from selected songs, but there is no playlist directly on the page. The music pages are just really long lists with an individual (and buggy) music player next to each one. There is a download link and an “Add to playlist” link as well. Clicking on the song’s title gives you more information, but not much.

Most songs don’t even have an artist listed. In fact, a large part of the songs are just the ones you can get from the Church’s web site. I think, for those songs, a link to the downloads page at LDS.org would be easier. Additionally, all the songs have been taken out of their original context (for example, LDS.org songs), and sorted into generic and overlapping albums (with the exception of three albums by Michael Dowdle). In short, the page is hard to use and the categorization and information available about each song is disappointing.

Practically all of the songs are hymns, and similar kinds of music. Many of the songs are beautiful, and some are powerful, but it doesn’t appeal to a large LDS audience. I like stuff like Seminary songs, or EFY songs! What about songs by the artists whose biographies are listed? I realize, of course, that any music provided at all is wonderful: so much free music is amazing and to the artists who allowed their songs to be listed at no cost I express appreciation. But what about the Seminary songs, at least; those are free…

I realize that this review has been more critical than positive. I do want to emphasize that it’s a great idea with a lot of work put into it. However, I think that a little visual work and usability improvements could really make the site more drawing and more appealing to a wider audience.

UPDATE (5/30/09): 1. The original selection of songs at MormonMusic.org is from the collection at Liahona.net, which is a non-profit organization that cooperates with generous artists to provide free uplifting music. The limited information available* for each song and the selection of songs offered was a limitation based on the source of the music, Liahona.net, and is not MormonMusic.org’s fault. This was a misunderstanding on my part. 2. From the about page at Liahona.net, it seems that they cooperate directly with artists – implying, to some extent, that the range of musical styles included is only according to the range of artists who offer their music. So, it is no one’s fault, really, that there is no contemporary LDS rock music like I petitioned for in the previous paragraph. 3. MormonMusic.org has since added more free music to their original collection, expanding the range of music styles. :) My opinion of MormonMusic.org is much more positive than it was before. Compliments to the MormonMusic.org team!

*About the limited song information: Liahona.net provides more information about the songs in the “details” column than it provides with the mp3 track itself: specifically, the artist(s). So, when you import the tracks into iTunes or an mp3 player, some songs don’t have a specified artist. This information can be found at Liahona.net and typed into iTunes manually. The information typed into the iTunes field is attached to the mp3 file itself, so moving or copying the file will retain the updated information.

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, April 2009

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:40:57 -0400

LDSTunesNow: Free Song, April 2009:

Each month, LDSTunesNow offers a free song download. This month they are offering “I Stand All Amazed,” an instrumental track performed by Michael Dowdle.

“I Stand All Amazed”
Artist: Dowdle, Michael
Album Artist: Dowdle, Michael
Album: 25 Beloved Hymns of Christ (2003)
Track: 2 of 25, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Gabriel, Charles H.; Dowdle, Michael (arr.)

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
(instrumental track; no lyrics)

LDSTunesNow is an online LDS mp3 music store. Their sister site, LDSMusicNow, sells sheet music (they also offer one free song each month, as sheet music).

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/3/09

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:27:00 -0400

Positive Music and Downloads: Free Song, 4/3/09:

Each Friday, Positive Music and Downloads offers a new free song download. This week they are offering “I Will Anchor My Soul in Christ,” sung by Michele Baer, for free to the first 100 downloaders each day.

“I Will Anchor My Soul in Christ”
Artist: Baer, Michele
Album Artist: Baer, Michele
Album: Never Give Up: Songs of Faith and Family (2004)
Track: 2 of 12, Disc: 1 of 1
Composer: Hoffman, Melanie (words); Hoffman, Roger (music)

The album artwork (CD Cover) can be found here.
Lyrics can be found here.

You can subscribe to the Positive Music and Downloads newsletter from this page.