COMMON LANGUAGE


As you spend time serving with the Victory Worship Team - there are a number of words and phrases that we use often within our team but might be foreign to you! Some of these are general stage terms used in production environments across the world, whilst some of them are more “In-house” and unique to Victory’s team. Our hope is this page helps fast-track you to all the lingo you might hear at your campus!

POSITIONS

  • Background Vocals / BGVS

    Background vocals or BGVs are vocalists who are not in a song lead role on any particular song

  • Frontline

    The frontline refers to any vocalist serving for that setDescription goes here

  • Music Director

    This is a position listed in PCO for every worship set Victory does. The scheduled music director for the set is responsible for all instrumentation both live and in the tracks. They work with the Worship Lead and Song Leads to support worship moments as a band and run rehearsal for every set they are scheduled on.

    They lead from a talkback microphone that is heard by our production team, service producers, and everyone on the platform. The minister for that service typically communicates any live or last minute changes to the music director so they can relay to the team what is happening next.

  • Service Producer

    This is a position listed in PCO for every service Victory has. The scheduled service producer is responsible for keeping everyone on track and communicating any changes to that service. They work directly with the minister, worship lead, & production lead to create a cohesive service experience.Description goes here

  • Song Lead

    Every song we play is assigned a song lead in PCO. This person is responsible for vocally leading the worship song they are assigned including any flow and likely any tranisistions in or out of that song. They are the loudest vocal in the mix for that song and are assigned the “lead” part in the song.Description goes here

  • Talkback

    This refers to any microphone used to communicate exclusively to production or in the in-ears of the worship team. It never goes to the house mix. The music director communications all direction through the talkback mic. Often times we’ll have additional talkback mics on the platform for use by drummers, the front of house engineer or backstage. goes here

  • Worship Lead

    This is a position listed in PCO for every worship set Victory does. The scheduled worship lead for the set is responsible for stewarding the worship experience at large and the team for that set! The buck stops with them and they coordinate with the service producer and production team to ensure a great worship experience!

    They are the point person for any flow moments in service and coordinate with the music director during those times.Description goes here

  • Vocal Director

    This is a position listed in PCO for every worship set Victory does. The scheduled vocal director for the set is responsible for all vocalists serving on that set. They work with the vocals to ensure consistent blending & phrasing as well as help clarify when their vocal parts are to be sung

  • Band

    The band refers to any musician or instrumentalist serving for that set.Description goes here

SERVICES

  • RUN THROUGH

    Run through is when the service producer & all personnel involved in service run every single part of the service. This comes after the walk through. It should simulate a live service and all elements of service are practiced in totality. There is no stopping & starting in a run through just as we wouldn’t stop & start during a live service.

  • REHEARSAL

    Rehearsal is when all worship and production team members take what they’ve practice and play through all songs and transitions as a team. We make any needed music or vocal adjustments and there is a good amount of stopping and starting. This happens before any run throughs.

  • TALK THROUGH

    Talk through is when the service producer talks through the entire order of service with everyone involved in that service (Worship, production, hosts, etc). They will run through the whole planning center plan from top to bottom - stopping to talk about each item and any tranisistions or staging aspects associated with it.

  • WALK THROUGH

    Walk through is when the service producer & all personnel involved in service step through each part of the planning center plan. This comes after the talk through & all personnel physically walk on and off the platform through all transistions. We will typically do “tops and bottoms” during the walk through where we hit the top 10 seconds and last 10 seconds of each song simply to practice staging transitions.

  • WELCOME BEAT / HOST SEGMENT

    This is the part of the service where the band plays an instrumental progression behind the host who is typically giving announcements and leading our congregation in tithes & offerings.

  • PRACTICE

    Practice is your personal practice time at home and not at the campus. This is your time to learn the music and come prepared for your part to combine with everyone else’s at rehearsal. To honor everyone’s time - we ask that all “learning” of your parts is done during practice and not during rehearsal.

STAGING

  • DOWN STAGE

    Downstage is the front most part of the platform - closest to the congregation.

  • FRONT OF HOUSE / FOH

    Front of house refers to the production booth & team that is at the “back” of the auditorium. You might hear the team FoH Engineer which is the person mixing the sound at the sound console.

  • HOUSE / HOUSE MIX

    House or House Mix refers to the sound coming out of the PA system that is heard by the congregation

  • PLATFORM

    This refers to the staging area the team stands on during a live worship set. We use the term “platform” instead of “stage” intentionally! A stage indicate performance whereas a platform indicates influence. Our heart is to lead people in worship and point them back to our heavenly Father; not to ourselves.

  • STAGE LEFT

    Stage left is the left side of the platform as you are standing on it facing the congregation

  • STAGE RIGHT

    Stage right is the right side of the platform as you are standing on it facing the congregation

  • SIDE STAGE

    Side Stage is typically a non-visible part of the platform on either the left or right side. It is also often where campuses store worship & production equipment

  • UPSTAGE

    Upstage is the “furthest back” part of the platform - furthest from the congregation and closest to backstage

  • BACK OF HOUSE / BACKSTAGE / BOH

    Back of house refers to the area behind the platform that is visible to the congregation.

Resources & Systems

  • BAND & VOCAL NOTES

    Band & Vocal notes are an essential part of our worship service each week. These notes will help you prepare for that specific week along with giving you everything you need to come equipped to do your part. We ask that team members read over these notes for every set they’re on so we’re all on the same page heading into rehearsals. You can learn more about band & vocal notes here!

  • CLICK / GUIDE

    Click is the metronome style sound you hear for the entirety of each song. The “Guide” is the voice that calls song cues to let the team know what section is coming next!

  • DETAIL SHEETS

    Detail sheets are documents made in house that assign vocalists their parts for each song. They differentiate whether a section of the song is being lead by just the song leader, or includes multiple/all BGV parts.

  • IEMs / In-Ears / Ears

    This refers to the devices you put in your ears to hear click, guide, and all vocalists and instrumentation happening in the room.

  • KLANG

    Klang is the in-ear system we use to handle the mixes in our ears. You can learn more about Klang here!

  • PLANNING CENTER ONLINE / MUSIC STAND

    Planning Center Online encompasses all software we use from the Planning Center Company. It’s often refered to as “PCO”

    Services is the software we use to schedule all team members, plan all parts of service and distribute any resources needed for those services.

    Music stand is the software we use to access chord charts, detail sheets, and resources. It allows you to make annotations or notes on every resource we provide. These notes are linked to your personal planning center account so you can review them at any time.

  • SET / SETLIST

    This refers to any and all songs we are playing in any given service.

  • STAGE LAYOUT

    The stage layout is a document created for each set that indicates where each team member should stand on the platform

  • ABLETON / PRIME

    Ableton or Prime refers to the software we use to run clicks, guides, timecode, & tracks. It is setup and run by the music director each week.