Playing live with backing tracks

riotorgun · #1 07-03-2011, 02:51 AM

im writing songs and recording stuff by myself more for fun than anything really,but i love playing live.I was wondering if anyone here has ever used just backing tracks and performed solo? or is it too awkward to manage?

cheers

Jimbob Jones · #2 07-03-2011, 03:11 AM

It's very possible; it's easier if you're a singer.

I've never done it personally, but I've worked as a sound engineer with plenty of artists who sing/play with a backing track.

riotorgun · #3 07-03-2011, 03:19 AM

just gotta get some good tracks recoded and get used to being onstage without a bass i guess.

Never_grew_up · #4 07-03-2011, 06:07 AM

Or you could leave the bass off the track & play it live. I've seen a lot of solo acts do something like that but they usually play the guitar or keyboard part live. Solo bass might seem a bit odd.

jaywa · #5 07-05-2011, 11:33 AM

As an audience member, watching somebody sing/play as a solo act to pre-recorded tracks doesn't do it for me at all. If they're not with a band I'm probably staying home.

But that's just me. People do it all the time, so go for it if that's what you want.

MrLenny1 · #6 07-05-2011, 11:48 AM

I have 2 freinds who use backing tracks. They are a guitar duo & recorded
bass & drums & even use a harmony machine for background vocals.
It's easier to sell a duo vs. a band and they work a lot.
Check out Seth Horan. He is a very good singer/songwriter and plays a 5 string bass
using a rythim pedal and looper.

ga_edwards · #7 07-05-2011, 12:05 PM

I used to be in a band that had two live guitars, bass and four vocalists, and also a duo of guitar, bass and 2 vocals. Everything else on backing tracks created mainly from downloaded midi files that I altered and treated with real instrument samples/VSTs.

The best advice I can give that was the key thing I took from the experience is aim for consistency and make it sound 'live'. Choose one drumkit and stick with it, same with piano, brass, strings, organs etc. You will thank yourself later for it. If you change samples and tones for every song it will play havoc with your mixes and your whole set will sound disjointed.

On the subject of mixing, try to base the volume around the drums if possible. i.e. try to keep the volume of the drums consistent across each track. Then mix the other instruments around them. If it helps (and it did me) lay down a guide bass that can be muted later. This will ensure that you leave room for your live bass to sit in the mix.

Lastly, some basic mastering. Mix all your tracks down to a mono or stereo* wave/aiff file (whatever uncompressed format suits you best) and load each one into a separate track of you DAW of choice. Then load a parametric eq and brickwall limter into each one (some prefer a multi-band compressor, but do what ever is best for you). This will allow you to get the best performance and maximum loudness out of the PA. Set the eq to roll of between 40hz-70hz. And then use the brickwall limiter to maximise loudness (without over compressing) and make each track an equal loudness.

In the bigger band this last step wasn't so much of an issue as we had a fair size PA and soundman to ride the mix. But in the duo with just a 250w fender passport PA system it made the world of difference. Previously, I could only turn up the backing tracks a certain amount before it started farting out, but after rolling the very low virtually in-audible frequencies off and maximising loudness at source, we could get far more out of our lowly PA. Not only that, but the volumes between each track was even and we didn't need to touch the PA after the first song.

*I'd also think carefully whether you really need stereo. Unless you have some real Jean Michel Jarre special effects going on, you really want to get all parts of the mix to all parts of the venue. Running a stereo track through a PA in stereo is also less efficient than running a mono track through both channels. The power is the same, but will appear louder as exactly the same thing is coming out of both channels. Also, if you're on a budget, mono PAs are cheaper than stereo ones!

riotorgun · #8 07-05-2011, 01:21 PM

well after reading everyones input i think with the style of music im gonna be playing (early sodom style thrash) ill just work on songs until i can find bandmembers.a one man thrash show might be abit lame lol

stingraysvt · #9 07-05-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riotorgun

well after reading everyones input i think with the style of music im gonna be playing (early sodom style thrash) ill just work on songs until i can find bandmembers.a one man thrash show might be abit lame lol

Oh wow yeah I would steer clear of a solo performance. I thought you meant you'd be playing brown eyed girl, or Margaritaville, I think thrash is better with a full group. Probably would be near impossible to capture the same emotion without a full band.

jay tay · #10 07-05-2011, 03:06 PM

I played 3 gigs with a drum track, when my drummer tried to punch through a car window and broke his hand... its a bit weird, and you have to make sure you cue the track up correctly else it all goes down hill quick.

ga_edwards · #11 07-06-2011, 02:45 AM

Our drummer broke his elbow so did a 'Rick Allen' and just played with one hand. Worked surprisingly well. Stopped him from doing massive 'Queen' style endings too, which was a bonus.

laCherry · #12 07-06-2011, 10:43 AM

Been doing this is one of my bands for three years. Drum and bass I write at home to a backing track, sometimes I put a few keys in there ... then we have two guitarists and three singers live. Bass is about to become live as I get better as a player (I've only been playing for a short while.) Unfortunately we don't have a soundman to ride the mix so I have to do it, which means I half myself as I also sing (the three of us take turns for lead), but there you go. But the material is classic rock covers and some happy pop (one of our singers is a lady of a certain age who goes for that) - not sure thrash would be the same without a full band.

Rickett Customs · #13 07-06-2011, 11:05 AM

The key to using backing track will usually be the necessity of a stereo track, first. one side (mono) for FOH, other side audio and click track (in ear)... that's the really good way, although other ways will work.

brothernewt · #14 07-06-2011, 12:04 PM

YouTube - ‪THRONES "The Anguish Of Bears" (Live)‬&rlm;

a little off genre... but here's a guy doing it.