What is Worship Team Director?

Worship Team Director is a set of training DVDs designed for instrumentalists and vocalists to learn how to play and sing songs effectively in worship by watching video training footage of professionals singing and playing worship songs. This training is then reinforced by using Media DVDs to guide your band during rehearsals while utilizing powerful audio and video presentation tools to direct the team and project lyrics on screens in your worship service.

How do we use what the vocalists and musicians learn at home within a worship service?

Once your vocalists and musicians have practiced the songs at home, presentation tools or guide tracks direct them through the parts of the song with matching chord charts that include song arrangement maps reminding them of what part is coming next. The presentation guide tracks used in a service match the tracks used by your vocalists and musicians to learn songs at home.

How do I use the Director DVDs?

Put the discs in a standard DVD player, and use the menus on the screen to make your selections. To access music charts and/or special media files including audio and video guide tracks, place the discs in a computer.

What is included in the Director Band Pack?

The Director Band Pack includes five Band DVDs, two Vocal DVDs and one Media DVD. These DVDs contain training videos for drums, percussion, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm and lead electric guitars, piano, keyboards and vocal parts as well as media presentation files.

Can I also purchase Director DVDs individually?

Yes. You can purchase the following DVDs separately:

Drums/Percussion
Bass/Acoustic Guitar
Electric Guitars (Rhythm & Lead)
Piano/Keyboards
Vocal Parts (SATB)
Media Files (MPEG Videos & MP3 Tracks)

What’s on the Band DVD?

The Director Band DVD features detailed video footage of professional musicians playing the songs as they would in a worship service as well as chord charts that appear on screen in sync with the song as it is being played. Every song includes a Director guide track (click track and vocal cues) that directs you through the song, letting you know what part is coming next and helping you maintain an accurate tempo. Printable chord charts with song arrangement maps are also included.

What are Director guide tracks?

An audio guide track is a split track with the left audio channel containing a metronome (click) as well as a voice that cues you with the name of the song and what part of the song is coming up next (verse, chorus, etc.). The right audio channel gives you the option to add instruments to enhance your mix such as keyboard pads, rhythm electric guitar, strings and drum loops (if available for that particular song).

What are song arrangement maps?

Using abbreviations such as “I” for intro, “V” for verse and “C” for chorus, song arrangement maps list the parts of the song (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.) in an order that matches the Director recordings used by the members of your team to rehearse. They also help the band and vocalists pay attention to the song dynamics through the use of upper case letters to convey greater intensity and lower case letters for less intensity. Song arrangement maps also display the tempo and key of a song and lets you know how a song should start and end (e.g., full band on the intro, end on B, ritard the ending).

What’s on the Vocal DVD?

The Director Vocal DVD includes audio tracks of professional vocalists singing the songs as they would in a normal worship service with a video of song lyrics appearing on screen in sync with the song. You can choose between lead, tenor, alto and soprano parts or blend all four to hear the complete harmonized sound. Each vocal part is recorded individually with a guide track (click and vocal cues) that directs you through the song to tell you which part is next and helps you maintain the accurate tempo. Printable vocal number charts with song arrangement maps are also included.

How do I use the Vocal DVDs with a choir?

For choirs, simply put a Director Vocal Disc into a DVD player during your next rehearsal. Then flip through the audio tracks to let each section hear and learn their individual vocal part. Once each section has learned its part, you can combine all the parts together with the band and vocalists to achieve a great, powerful sound.

What do we hear when we listen to the Band and Vocal DVDs?

Each Band and Vocal Disc lets you choose your instrument or vocal part and choose your song. The audio options on each DVD then allow you to choose between:

A split track with a guide/click track
Your part by itself
The entire mix minus your part
A full-performance CD track

What is the best way to use the split tracks on the Band and Vocal DVDs?

The split track mix sounds great without any adjustment needed. You can either hear your part clearly or you can adjust the balance on your TV or stereo to the left to play along without hearing your instrument or voice. If you want to hear only your instrument or voice, adjust your balance to the right. If you’re using headphones, just use the left side to hear the band and the right side to hear your instrument/vocals. Use both to listen to an optimal combined mix.

What’s on the Media Disc?

The Director Media Disc includes an audio guide track that has a voice guide to let your worship team members know which part of the song is next and that offers optional instrumental mix enhancements. It also includes a video guide track that allows you to project lyrics on a screen that change perfectly in sync with a song during your service. Printable chord charts in multiple keys as well as printable number and vocal charts with song arrangement maps are also included.

What is a video guide track?

It is an audio guide track synced with a video file that displays the lyrics to a song with colorful moving backgrounds appropriate for a worship setting. It is designed to be used with in-ear monitors or headphones during a service or for playback through a sound system during rehearsals.

What format are the video guide tracks
available in?

They come in three formats: MOV (for QuickTime on a Mac or PC), WMV (for Windows Media Player) and MPEG4 (for iPod use). Each file has a high enough quality to use for playback on the types of large projection screens commonly used in churches. For best results use a VGA cable from your computer or use a component video cable from your iPod for output into your projector or video system.

How do I play back the audio or video guide tracks during rehearsals or the worship service?

We recommend loading the files into iTunes to play from your computer or iPod. For audio or video tracks, simply make a playlist of the songs you want to lead in worship (in the order you want to lead them in) and press play. For increased control and flexibility, we recommend using Ableton Live or other presentation programs such as Media Shout.

How do I use audio or video guide tracks with in-ear monitors or headphones?

The left audio channel should be sent only to in-ear monitors or headphones so that the congregation cannot hear them, while the right audio channel can be sent to musicians and the congregation to enhance the overall mix. If you are doing the song in a different key, simply mute the right channel. The video output goes into your projector or video system for standard output.

What if I want to use the audio or video guide tracks in a key other than what was recorded?
You can either mute or don’t plug in the right side of the audio channel in order to only hear the metronome (click) and voice cues. (Audio and video guide tracks in multiple keys and configurations are available from InteractiveWorshipLive.com)

What if I don’t have in-ear monitors at my church; how can I use the audio or video guide tracks?

You can play the guide tracks during rehearsals through the sound system to cue the band. This will reinforce the song arrangement order and tempos they rehearsed at home. Once your team is confident with the arrangement, turn off the rehearsal track and play the song as normal.

How does Director help me adhere to copyright laws for distributing music to my team?

Most people do not know that you cannot legally reproduce copyrighted material such as CDs, cassettes, charts, etc.; team members are required to buy individual copies. By purchasing the Director Band and Vocal DVDs, you not only give your musicians a legal copy of the songs, but you also show them how to play or sing their part with isolated audio so they can hear their part clearly.

How does Director help me adhere to copyright laws for distributing music charts to my team?

Each DVD in the Director set includes PDF charts that give you license to print a copy of the chart from your computer.

How does Director help me adhere to copyright laws for projecting song lyrics?

If you have a CCLI license, you can use the video guide tracks included on the Media Disc. All the copyright information that is required to be displayed by law is included on every slide as well as the correct lyrics. (NOTE: By law, all religious organizations that project song lyrics on screen are required to buy a CCLI license.)