First - I need to get some good ones.


Also - anyone have any tips on using backing tracks live ? My guess is you're often stuck playing to a specific, unalterable tempo, which I'm afraid might give the covers a slightly mechanical feel. Especially if for example drum or bass embellishments are used as a 'question-answer' think with particular lyrics (is there a name for this type of thing ?)

I'm also curious - suppose I want to use some of these backing tracks for an 'original'. I know melodies are copyrighted - but what about all the other instruments to accompany a song ? I would imagine with slight changes (and there's the judgement part) one could reuse the ideas without building them from scratch. Or I suppose even better - just use a comparable PG backing track or accompaniment - that's what they're made for.

And lastly - comparing backing tracks true to the original artists vs. those from PG - are they comparable, or could one see buying the backing tracks from the original as getting a more true-to-the-original cover as far as listeners (serious music aficianado listeners) are concerned ?

I've been asked this so many times for my duo http://www.s-cats.com, that I made a web page explaining how I make the tracks and how I use them on stage:
http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html



Sometimes I record the same sequence in different tempos, to use for different situations.

Also, since I make the backing tracks myself, sometimes I might rush the B section a bit, or slowly, almost imperceptibly, increase the tempo towards the end.



Copyright questions are best asked to a copyright lawyer. Think of the "Stairway To Heaven" mess from a chord progression that first appeared in the Baroque era or "Blurred Lines" that used a general feel.



When I make my own backing tracks, there are times when I strive to cover the hit version, times when I base my backing track on the hit version but change it either a little or a lot for my own personal tastes, and times when I completely change the feel, style, or whatever, for example; taking a swing song and making a Salsa or Reggae song out of it.

It's a judgement call when I create the track. More often than not I think I make good decisions, based on experience of what worked before, and other times I make a bad call and have to do it over again. That's one of the nice things about MIDI tracks, they are so very, very editable.

Insights and incites by Notes

Thanks Notes - what an informative, detailed page !!!

Joe, I think you are making this too complicated for your first time out as a performer. Take your guitar or just use the house piano at your first open mic and do a few songs. Set that as a goal first. See if that is enjoyable first. Then add complexity.

Another thing about backing tracks.

I like MIDI better than Real.

For a few reasons.

#1 We played a yacht & tennis club a few years ago. The band before us used purchased Karaoke tracks with real instruments, backing vocals etc.

When we got there, one of the people on the entertainment committee asked, "You're not doing karaoke, are you?" I replied, "No". We're still playing there.

#2 I can change the length, because between 3 minutes for a fast song and 5 minutes for a slow song is just about right for my particular audience

#3 I can leave parts out for Leilani and Myself to play live. Not only comp parts, but solos. Why do I want a ghost playing the instrumental solo when I am a solo hog by nature?

#4 I can cut out those intros that nobody can dance to, and even put the hook part right up front so people recognize the song sooner and don't leave the dance floor.

#5 I can adjust the mix for live performances. If you notice a live band, especially as you approach the club, you hear the crack of the snare drum and the bass. With a MIDI drum kit I can boost the snare and bass without affecting the rest of the mix. Most prerecorded tracks have the snare and bass mixed at recorded music levels, which sound bad on your iPod or CD player, but don't sound as good live.

#6 Real endings ('nuff said)

#7 I can change the key with zero artifacts. I want the key to be perfect for our vocals. If we can do it in 'record key' we try, but sometimes you can't.

#8 I can manipulate the tempo with no artifacts. Speed the song up a little (like vinyl DJs used to do), rush the B part, slowly accelerate the tempo to add more energy (so slowly the audience doesn't notice)

#9 Add background vocal "response" lines on synth patches so it doesn't sound like karaoke, but instead like we are playing the parts.

Like so many have recommended, I did start simple, but I also started improving my sequencing chops right away.

I played in real bands for years and I wanted my backing tracks to sound as real as possible. And as hard as it is to believe, pre-recorded audio tracks are not the way to do that.

The first thing I missed, was the crack of the snare drum. So I copied just the snare, pasted it on another track, changed it to a high timbale, reduced the volume, and delayed it a couple of clock tics. 100% improvement for live performance. The snare track had the snare drum sound, and the high timbale track had the sound of the rim and ring of the snare body.

That got me started. Then I pursued other ways to edit the tracks to make them sound more like a live band.

People respond to expression, not tone. I know we musicians love tone, and we should, but we are playing for the audience. Expression is more important to them. If expression wasn't more important, singers like Dr. John, Stevie Nicks, John Lennon, and so many others wouldn't have made it.

And editing MIDI can do so many things to enhance the expression of your tracks, without sounding like a karaoke jockey.

Start simple, and don't be afraid to experiment and learn. You want both your backing tracks and your live performance to be better than your competition.

Insights and incites by Notes

Thanks again Notes.

Rockstar - thanks for that tip. But don't worry - I consider my music tech hobby an entirley different but related endeavor than my "perform out" hobby. Happy to say thanks to all your advice I'm slowly approaching a live performance.

Pat Marr nailed my personality perfectly - I'm an information music junky (though he didn't put it quite that way) that loves to learn and figure out how things are done - but drops the ball when it comes time to master and do them. I don't really look forward to the idea nor enjoy practicing to perform - but if you want to call yourself a musician and teach students - I don't want to be one of those "yeah I know how to do it but I can't or don't". I've finally accepted that about my personality : ) and am slowly learning to do a little more than I have in the past.

I'm a lot like you Joe! I'm a student of many musical things, but not a master of any.

Hi Joe

Just one important but simple piece of advice - mistake I made
Always play your backing track through the equipment your going to use on stage and adjust to that set-up and then save - even the best desk top speakers and the like will show a big difference to your live set-up
Jazzman

Wow, Norton, what an amazing resource! Great article. Thanks for sharing.

All I will add to the wonderful advice already shared is to stop over cooking it and just jump in man. If we all waited until we had something perfected before we did it live would pass us by.

Break A Leg!

"Can anyone offer tips for using backing tracks live ?"



Get the money when it's over.


Regards,

Bob

BB and RB can give you "good ones".

You guessed wrong. Practically every song has a specific, unalterable tempo. Dancers do NOT like it when you change tempo or style in the middle of a song. It's not the mechanical aspect that gets you, it's the repetition and boredom, avoid BORING parts and the problem is solved.

If you are playing live, you don't need to worry about copyrights. The venue is responsible for that aspect of the business. You might be asked to provide a set list... but most likely not. Either way, it's not your problem.

Lastly.... are you doing a tribute band thing? If so, you do want to be faithful to the original artist's version.... but chances are good that you're not doing a tribute band show, so feel free to do your own version and take on the songs. Chances are good the audience will like your interpretation of the song better anyway. That was often the case for our shows.


Don't be so locked into the thought pattern that you think the only way to do a show is with backing tracks to emulate a full band. Many folks will look at that as a variety of karaoke. And that's boring.

I played a solo act show for quite some time after my band broke up. It was just me on stage with a mic and an acoustic guitar with a piezo pickup, plugged in to the PA. I was told by the club system general manager that no one had ever been able to do a successful solo act in his clubs. He was the booking agent for multiple military enlisted clubs under his authority and we had played all of them. And all of them were patronized by young men, 18 to 22 years of age. No women and no dancing as a result. Talk about a ruthlessly brutal audience. If they didn't like you, you knew it immediately and the rest of the night was hell. I asked for one gig, one chance, to prove myself, and if it didn't work, he could fire me and take back the other bookings. I played that gig with just my acoustic guitar, in a room full of drunk and rowdy young Marines. I was a bit unsure myself but I went in, had fun, talked with the audience, joked with them, and played the songs I knew that they were requesting. Long story short..... I continued to play and book more jobs and had a blast doing it for many many months. Who would have thought that these hard charging, crazy guys would be asking for John Denver, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine and so many other acoustic style artist's songs? They loved it.

I'm going to repeat this again with emphasis:

WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE A KAROAKE JOCKEY!!

Whatever you do, keep the backing tracks basic. Bass and drums only and if you play guitar then SOME keys and if you play keys then SOME guitar. That's it. Forget horn lines unless you're Notes and can play your sax live on top of them. It takes a good live player to make prerecorded horn lines work. Horns are so obvious if there isn't one horn player on stage. People hear horns and they think the whole thing is karaoke. Same for a killer guitar solo and you're just sitting there strumming.

People want to see and hear YOU perform, not some guy playing along to a record.

Here's a quick story from years ago. A good friend who's since passed was a really good pianist and singer. He had a great collection of midi files he used for his act. About a week before New Years Eve he went into the hospital and asked me to cover for him. I already had copies of his midi files he had given me to mess around with. I brought a sax player and neither of us sing.

I cued up some of his midi's and hated trying to play along with them so much plus I just didn't like the vibe, I turned myself into a DJ and started talking some of the key lyrics and making jokes and comments to the crowd while the music was playing. I still solo'd over some of those tracks and so did the sax player. He is a very good MC and schmoozed the crowd very well when I was playing. Most there knew Eddie and knew we were covering for him so that helped too. I was a bit of a nervous wild man faking it and the saxman is a pretty smooth talker. For ballads he and I just played live, no tracks and that went over well too. Slow dancing doesn't need drums with the two of us playing.

Between that and me doing things like calling out someone's hot wife when I did the midi to Brick House and stuff like that, we pulled it off. I guarantee you though if all we did was play those tracks with no personality happening it would of bombed.

You need some ham in you and be able to step up and entertain. Then your backing tracks will work.

Bob

Joe, are you reading this thread still? Do you see a theme?

Interesting. I think I put too much music into my backing tracks and not enough me. Maybe that's why I enjoy a live band so much.

Yep, you have to put yourself into it. That's what the good DJ's do. I've seen some very good ones and those guys can put on a show too.

Some time after my NYE story, I picked up a used arranger keyboard, a Korg Pa1XPro. I love that thing for a one man band situation because I have to actually play it and it still sounds great even though it's about 12 years old now. It has buttons, switches and sliders all over the place that allows me to change styles, variations, drum fills etc and it's all live in real time. I'm working like the proverbial one armed paper hanger and the audience can see that. No tracks and certainly no karaoke. Are the styles exact covers? Heck no, just like Biab styles arn't either but nobody cares. I put the feeling out there, the vocalist has the lyrics and that's good enough.

Like you I would much rather work with a live band and I still do a lot of that, but a gig's a gig and I do get a certain satisfaction from pulling off a one man band show with just me and a girl singer.

Bob

Backing tracks should be backing tracks. And backing is the word.

I find synth horn sections work better than real, so I choose a patch that sounds a little synthy.

Since I make my tracks myself, I'm very careful to leave all lead parts out. Leilani or I play the lead parts live. People hear the "up front" parts, some want to see someone playing those parts, and to them the background is just background.

Besides, why let the 'machine' play the fun parts?

One more thing. Mixing for live performance is different from mixing for a recording. When you approach a club with a live band, what do you hear first? Snare drum and a couple of other instruments. With MIDI you can pump up only the snare and a few other instruments that would sound bad on a recording but sound better live.

I've seen other acts who buy karaoke tracks to play along with. Lead guitars, backing vocals, up-front counter melodies, etc., just puts the 'band' into the Karaoke Jock category.

I'm sure some people don't mind hiring a KJ, but others do.

Insights and incites by Notes

Maybe I am just feeling grumpy today but to me there is too much "you can't do this and you can't do that" on this thread. I like doing all of it! Sometimes I play with biab backing tracks, sometimes I play acoustic, sometimes I play along to a pro purchased backing track sometime I play to a midi one and sometimes I just sing a-Capella. Do what feels right to you and what you are good at. Then, when you start getting positive feedback, do more of that. Just my 2 cents.

Do whatever works for you.

I share my experience for the benefit of others, and you can take what you want and leave the rest. If I ever sound like I'm telling others what to do, please forgive me. I'm passionate about music.

Insights and incites by Notes

I wouldn't worry about today's audience.

Not at all Notes, you always share your knowledge and it is much appreciated. I am in a better mood today.

Everyone has different strengths and something that works well for one person may not be the ideal for someone else. I have seen wonderful corporate entertainers just standing there delivering outstanding vocal performances to prerecorded professionally produced backing tracks. To me that is better than that same person struggling away trying to perform with a badly played, out of tune acoustic guitar.

My problem is when a musician looks down his or her nose at another musician and say that he/she is not a "proper musician" because he/she is "playing with backing tracks" or whatever (I know we've had this discussion 100 times before)

Who's looking down their noses? All we're talking about is putting on a successful gig. If someone gets hired for a gig and they do all the stuff Notes and I say won't work but they love that persons act and they get more gigs, great.

A vocalist standing and singing to full pro quality backing tracks is exactly what most of the lounge acts are doing in Vegas now. I've seen acts where the performers are all singers, none play a lick of anything but they use guitars, basses and even drums in one case as props. Nobody is playing anything. This is Vegas, those shows are still very high level pro quality and tightly produced. A vocalist at a corporate function singing to tracks is pure karaoke and everybody knows that up front. So what? That's not what we're discussing here.

The vision I have of the OP's question is of someone sitting on a stool strumming a guitar. That's fine, lots of folks do that but to do that in front of those same high level pro backing tracks you saw at that function just looks lame in a small little coffee house or quiet lounge. Apples and oranges.

My sister is a very good karaoke singer, she even competed in the southwest US regional competition some years ago. The room had at least 500 people in it, full stage, full PA, lights, props, backup singers and even dancers. She made it to the final 10. It was a good show and I was impressed.

Are you going to try doing all of that at some of the places you play? I doubt it which is why a high level function like that is not the point of this thread.

Bob

Hi Bob. The singer I was referring to was not at a huge Vegas type function. He was providing background music at a very small art exhibition, which traditionally might be the perfect place for a single musician.

Typically, I use several of those in every gig. I also mix original and covers. On Tuesday I played at the lady captain's dinner at the local golf club and I used all of those except sing acappella.

I am just trying to advise Joe to do what is required, there are no rules. Every person and every gig is different. Don't do something blindly because someone told you that this or that is the only way to go. Base it on the sound. "If it sounds good then it is good" has been said many times on this forum.

Joe - Find your own sound. Use your ears. You are never going to sound like someone else so why try. Use your style, go with conviction and the chances are that your conviction will rub off on your audience.

"Live" music is played with live performers. No tracks. As soon as you add tracks, it is no longer “live” music. It is a “Track Act”. Nothing wrong with that, but let's call it what it is. Bob (Jazzmammal) used to book pro acts. He knows the difference.


If you play with tracks- either Karaoke, MIDI, BIAB, whatever – you are a “Track Act” in the lexicon of the business. Another term for it is “Karaoke Jockey”. Snobbery among track acts is really quite amusing.



Regards,

Bob