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So I play out for a living just a guitar drum machine a few joks, banter some songs etcetera.
I'm about to complete my third solo CD and have been thinking about doing some lower paying gigs at original venues.
You know, some of these original acoustic places and wineries that are too cheap to pay ASCAP...
So I can re mix my stuff and drop the vocal track out and use those tracks when I would play these joints.
I'm guessing that some of you guys play out and use backing tracks, correct?
I've seen guys using various methods.
IPod, iPad, laptop even somebody who had box is full of 1 song cassettes.
Anybody out there have a particular favorite, preferably seamless, method of doing this?
Thanks in advance fellows.
And, ladies.
WSS
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I switched from CDs to an MP3 player a few years ago. Another forum member, Mike Wever, commented in a post that he used about four MP3 players during his shows. Why didn't I think of that?
My song list is now on three MP3 players, only covers; no originals.
If playing requests and interchanging players becomes tedious, I give ‘em the old, “I’ll try to get to it next set.”
Percy
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I have written an entire web page about this, explaining how I make my backing tracks and how I use them on stage. I've been using backing tracks in my duo since 1985 and have gone from cassettes, to floppy disks to the method I'm using now, which works absolutely best for me. Full details are here http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html -- you can take what you want and leave the rest. Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Hi Percy, yeah that would be a lot more complicated having the entire show on the mp3 player and dealing with requests.
If I only had 20 or 30 originals on it I could probably manage with a single mp3 player.
I didn't want to go that route for my commercial show since so much of it is screwing around with the audience.
Thank you sir!
WSS
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Steve,
I do it nearly 100 times per year BIAB to laptop, to small mixer to powered speakers.
Later,
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Quote:
Hi Percy, yeah that would be a lot more complicated having the entire show on the mp3 player and dealing with requests.
If I only had 20 or 30 originals on it I could probably manage with a single mp3 player.
I didn't want to go that route for my commercial show since so much of it is screwing around with the audience.
Thank you sir!
WSS
Steve,
I'd like to hear more about how you interact with the audience. (You too Danny)
I think audience interaction is important; but I'm a fairly introverted guy. When I start playing publicly again, audience interaction won't come naturally for me.. I'll need a model to imitate.
So any advice you can serve up on this topic will be appreciated.
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...
I deleted my post as I got to thinking it might have hijacked the thread. With this said Pat I sent you a PM with the info regarding audience interaction you asked for in the post above.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Later,
Last edited by Danny C.; 03/03/13 10:51 AM.
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The performers I have seen have a varied mix of transport and it's funny that it's almost totally relative to the amount of income they have available to invest. I saw Eliot Lewis a few months back and he used an iPad. Of course he does pretty well as a member of Daryl Hall's band as well as having AWB on his resume. On the local level I have seen more generic types of devices, but they all do the same job, so "whatever you have" seems like a workable answer. I have gone round and round about the "quality" of playback devices, but whichever you choose, it boils down to some executable program is playing back some data file, and it doesn't know if you are at The Carnegie Lounge or Carnegie Hall. Myself I would go iPad, but that's just because I already have it. If I didn't, I'd go laptop, since I have 2 of them. And if you went laptop, you are just playing back wav files so you don't need a rocket sauce super computer. If you picked up a used laptop and loaded some music player (I like VLC - everybody has a favorite) it would be fine. I would make sure it has an SD slot so you can use memory cards that you can move from studio computer to laptop as you move files. Again, some use USB devices, but I like as few "moving parts" as possible, An external hard drive can fall, a thumb drive can get snapped off, etc.....
Plus Steve, you know a good computer guy to help you make a used one run like new....
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Expert
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Nice Gigging with Mile's "Kinda Blue"...but then again, I can waste away with anchovy-stuffed martinis till I can wake up and finish with the musicians in my BIAB Computer Box.
And to think I started out with a tiny IPOD in my shirt pocket...and a stuffed Miles sittin'next to me...of course always next to me...always
Yamaha...Motif ES-8, Motif Rack, CS6X
Korg...Karma,Triton Classic, PA-80, M-1+
AkaiSampler-S5000, Roland.. X5080 Rack/G-1000 Arranger
Various Guitars/Basses Amps Pedals Rec.Equip.
Plus, BIAB 2015 and Sonar Platinum 2015 Upgrade from Cakewalk's Sonar X-3
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Quote:
Steve, I'd like to hear more about how you interact with the audience. I think audience interaction is important, but I'm a fairly introverted guy.
I can tell you from first hand knowledge that Steve and introverted have never collided in the same sentence. He also plays to a steady following so the banter is fairly natural, and people always leave his shows laughing. I did the crowd patter in a Motown band I was in, and basically I was just being a smart ass, fortunately something that comes naturally to me. Make some jokes about the ugly shirt someone is wearing, comment as someone goes into the bathroom that they are running out on you, tell the story about why this next song was written.... I used to do a bit after the first song were I would find something to get a laugh out of. Two examples. Once playing in a room we visited often, one particular girl always sat in the same seat. Every time we played, she was in "that" seat. One night she got there late and her seat was taken so she sat somewhere else. When we finished that first song, I stopped and looked over the room like I was thinking or drinking in the room. Then I said "Something is just wrong here tonight...... Oh yeah. I see it now." Then I took the wireless mic and walked out and went to that girl and said "This girl is in the wrong seat. That's what it is. And I escorted her to "her" seat and told the guy "I'm sorry sir but you are going to have to move. This girl sits here." And the guy laughed like crazy and found another seat. (I ended up dating that girl for almost a year...) The other example is that some girls came in and one of them was like 5'10" and all legs and she had this TINY skirt on. She sat at the bar across from the stage and crossed those long legs. And a few songs in I stopped the show and went to her with a towel I had on stage and draped it across her knees, saying "You look great and all I but I am trying to work here and I can't play and stare at these long legs at the same time." She loved it, the room laughed.... she followed us gig to gig after that night.
Another thing we did was go in early and tape a band business card to the underside of a chair and at some point we'd tell them to check and whoever had the card got a free beer on the band.
One night, just for no reason, I said "Okay, and tonight's winning number is "Five..... Seven.... Nine. Who has 579?" (which of course meant nothing because there was no contest or anything, but it made for a lot of buzz.)
Mainly, just have fun with them like you'd circulate at a party. Sense of humor is HUGE, and sadly missing from this "do it now, microwaved corporate go-go-go country we live in." 7 people doing the work of 10, people working 8 hours at work and then logging in from home to work 4 more..... Life goes past too quickly to work yourself to death and miss out on having fun.
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DannyC
That's the way I used to do my whole show until one day my laptop failed. It just wouldn't bring up anything. I was about to abandon the gig and apologize profusely when a fellow in the audience came up onstage and asked if I would like some help. I, of course being desperate, agreed to let him take a look at my laptop. He said he was employed by Hewlett Packard so I said "Have at it". He picked my laptop up and whacked it a good whack on the bottom and said, "we have to do that sometimes." It worked! Brought the screen up and did the program without a hitch. Oh, the wonders of the technitions touch!
Val
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Val, it's knowing WHERE to hit!!
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Yes Eddie I do know a computer guy!
And yeah I have a pad, not an iPad but a Samsung, and I also have a droid phone and an iPod.
I can play MP3s from anyway of them, I even have an HP laptop.
I can easily enough mix down my songs in Sonar and leave out the vocal track.
I've seen some guys with the pad on a music stand, a laptop beside his mixing board and 1 who had his iPod affixed to his microphone stand.
It would be nice if I could trigger it with a foot switch.
As far as interaction, it depends on the club.
For instance Saturday at the Eastland and I was telling jokes about a quarter of the time.
Check YouTube.com Westside Steve Simmons.
I think there's 1 called guinness time.
And Val I'm so sorry, I've just been insanely busy getting my new CD ready for spring.
I do have the tracks and lyrics!
WSS
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An iPod should work, but for me it won't. Why? Because I don't do set lists. I'm not clairvoyant enough to know exactly what will be best for the audience more than 2 songs in advance.
I use a laptop because I can decide what song to play next in the last 10 seconds of the song I'm currently playing, hit two or 3 letters on the keyboard to call it up, and have it start immediately after the song I'm currently playing. That way the dancers won't leave the floor.
So I look at the crowd, are they getting tired? Are they really getting into it? And then I decide what to play next.
The iPod just doesn't work for me as it takes too much time to get to the next song. I suppose an iPad would work the same way, but I like having the laptop keyboard up all the time. I can usually find time enough near the end of the song to type a couple of letters so the next song is queued up.
But I do bring a spare laptop. Using a laptop as an mp3 or wav player, does not require much. If you're tight on money, a refurbished one should work as a spare. Just make sure to boot it up regularly.
I have the spare booted up and ready to go on each job. It's a ThinkPad that I bought in 2002 and it has had only one failure since then. The CMOS battery died - a $5.00 replacement from Radio Shack. The CMOS battery runs the clock and the computer won't boot without it.
I use the "spare" to display words and/or music charts. I don't really need the cheat sheets for most songs, but it's nice to have them for the new not-yet memorized songs, and for those times when a major distraction occurs in the song (like someone coming up to the stage wanting to talk to you while you are singing/playing).
I also keep all my backing tracks on a USB flash drive. I've never needed that, but it's nice knowing it's there.
One thing that I think is very important. When using a laptop, don't rely on the headphone jack. Use a USB-AUDIO interface. They are inexpensive, have better bandwidth than the headphone jack (higher fidelity), and don't make that crackling noise when accidentally touched.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Yes, notes, I'd probably only use it for my original set. My eye sight kind of sucks so it would be a problem searching 4 songs on an iPod!
WSS
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Quote:
DannyC
That's the way I used to do my whole show until one day my laptop failed. It just wouldn't bring up anything. I was about to abandon the gig and apologize profusely when a fellow in the audience came up onstage and asked if I would like some help. I, of course being desperate, agreed to let him take a look at my laptop. He said he was employed by Hewlett Packard so I said "Have at it". He picked my laptop up and whacked it a good whack on the bottom and said, "we have to do that sometimes." It worked! Brought the screen up and did the program without a hitch. Oh, the wonders of the technitions touch!
Val
I do carry a spare. But I have benn very lucky thus far, never anything serious going wrong.
Later,
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I do one-nighters for a living, which are very hard on all the gear. It is my primary means of making a living, so I perform a lot.
Since I started bringing laptops for my backing tracks, I went to the spare twice.
The first time, the hard drive started to make a mechanical noise so between songs I moved the USB cable to the other computer. I replaced the HD the next day. There was no failure or interruption of our gig.
The second time, the CMOS battery died and the main computer wouldn't boot. I went to the spare and replaced the $5 battery the next day.
I only use ThinkPads because I believe they are the most reliable and rugged consumer PC on the market. I keep the software on my stage computers to a minimum (no Office, no added games, no Internet, no non-essential software at all) and in the 10+ years those were the only two problems - no other glitches at all.
Although thousands of times I didn't need the spare, for the two times I did need the spare they were worth their weight in gold.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Notes,
You are the guy who put me on Lenovo years ago and I have never looked back.
Thanks again,
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Quote:
Notes,
You are the guy who put me on Lenovo years ago and I have never looked back.
Thanks again,
Me too! Lenovo running Power Tracks.
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