Originally Posted By: Joe V
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All that said - I'm here to ask if there are others that use backing tracks extensively, which company do you buy them from, and does Karaoke-version offer the best ?<...>


I am a full-time working musician, I play in a duo, and we have over 600 backing tracks. https://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html

I don't buy them, I make them myself.

Years ago I bought a few, thinking it would save time, but I spent more time customizing (“fixing”) them than I would have spent creating them.

I either make them from scratch, with Band-in-a-Box, or a combination of both. Here is how I make and use them: https://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html

Some of our competitors use Karaoke tracks. I don't.

  • Karaoke tracks are in 'record key' and can't be transposed very far without getting weird sounding artifacts. Making my tracks with MIDI, I can put them in the best key for the person who is going to sing the song.
  • Karaoke tracks have background vocals, a sure way to tell the audience you are using them. I can create the backing vocal parts using synth patches
  • Karaoke tracks are mixed like the recording. When you hear the band who recorded that song live, the mix is different. The groove may be exaggerated, the snare backbeat pumped up, bass edgier and hundreds of different things. Making the tracks myself allows me to make us sound more like a live band, and that means better than our competition.
  • With Karaoke tracks, you sound just like every other single/duo/trio/band using the same tracks.


Making them myself is definitely more time-consuming, and with practice I'm much better at it than I was when I started. That makes me an all-around better musician than I was.

Plus, the music is our product, so it has to be as good as it can be. If I'm lucky, I'll get to play the songs I make tracks for hundreds of times. Knowing they are the best I could do is important.

I've also remade some of the tracks I did decades ago, using what I've learned since then to make it better.

If you are gigging, you are in competition with all the other similar acts in your area. A big part of staying booked is to be better than they are. Any extra effort that makes you sound better is worth it.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
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