Originally Posted By: roseramms

this seems an astonishingly dumb question but I really can't find much on the net. I'd like to up my chops by working with backing tracks in genres I don't play (which is most of them). On Google and YouTube, anything to do with backing tracks is either to buy them, make them, opinions of live use or recording. All I want to do is explore ideas over a steady beat and tunes. No one that I've found has said whether it's preferable to use amps and speakers for each side, combine them, use headphones, etc. And absolutely no one has mentioned how to stop, back-up, repeat or pause playback. Foot pedals would make a lot of sense for that. I have lots of gear which probably includes whatever I need -- or most of it. I just don't want to have a guitar in two hands, keyboard, mouse and computer screens in front and have to keep fiddling with incoming content. I'll be playing softly with no neighbors but have good cans if needed. Thanks for reading and I'd like to hear how you deal with this. Thanks,


Sounds like you are looking for an option for using BiaB backing tracks, at home, for practicing or exploring ideas without fiddling with a PC of incoming content while playing. Strictly at home, private, non-performance stuff.

Basically, use iTunes. Works for me.

- set up the tracks as songs in Biab and render to a WAV file
- import the WAV files to iTunes
- set up a Playlist and copy what you want to use today into that Playlist
- arrange the Playlist tunes in the order you want playback
- play the iTunes playlist thru you PC's speakers (you'll want decent PC speakers of course) at whatever volume you want
- iTunes has controls for start, stop, back up and pause but I don't know how they could be used without using a mouse on the iTunes screen.

Basically, the only time you have to leave the guitar is to start the playlist. Your amp only handles your guitar, not the BiaB file so you are free to add whatever guitar effects you want to use at the guitar amp.

Some tips to make things easier:
- Have a specific folder to hold the new WAV files; you can import all of them at once
- Set up the BiaB track as a full song... intro, number of choruses and ending
- When you render the BiaB file to WAV, include a few seconds delay at the start and end so the tune doesn't start immediately. (Delay is on the Render panel not in the SGU file)
- When you name the output WAV file, include the key in the name (so if its "I Can't Get Started" and its in the key of C, then "I Can't Get Started_C") That way you don't have to recall what key its in, just look at the PC screen.
- Use the iTunes "comments" to note whatever info you feel is important to remember when using the tune and display the comments in the Playlist.

You probably already have iTunes, and I'll assume you know how to manipulate the iTunes files and settings. I'm also assuming you know how to set up BiaB songs and render to a WAV file.

If you want more info or have some specific question, just ask.