But when PF does "Brick"......I wonder if there's a backing track here, or if the chorus of children, telephones, and helicopters are actually backstage:
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Backing/click track cover band support group needed
- Thread starter Marley's Ghost
- Start date
But when PF does "Brick"......I wonder if there's a backing track here, or if the chorus of children, telephones, and helicopters are actually backstage:
i currently play jazz in one band, and the other band 'puts on a show'. the jazz band may have some extensive soloing, the show band plays arrangements with 'locked in' sections. jazz band = no backing tracks. show band = either way, who cares?...it's a show!
having sequenced lots of midi triggered 'backing tracks' over the years: dead air can be reduced/eliminated if done thoughtfully with the right equipment/technology, IME.
having sequenced lots of midi triggered 'backing tracks' over the years: dead air can be reduced/eliminated if done thoughtfully with the right equipment/technology, IME.
One of the things I did with click tracks at church was I used pads that auto triggered at the end of one song and modulated to the next key for the next song and I would trigger the next click track. Killed dead air--the congregation could feel the tension building and the next song was about to begin. Very effective. It gave the musicians a sense of urgency to get ready for the next song--they new the train was leaving the station with or without them. lol
Definitely unsympathetic to musicians with poor rhythm/timing. Or someone that is incapable of following an established structure.
The downside of using backing tracks is their 'rigidity'. There is no extended length 'noodling in the middle' if the mood strikes. The upside is a whole string/horn section costs absolutely nothing.
Time to bring whichever band member is 'Mr/Ms Personality' front and center. Let him/her talk to/interact with the audience during those dead spots. Plus patter is good... it injects some humanity into the 'artificiality' inherent with using backing tracks.
That said, not sure what you are using to manage your backing tracks but even 10 sec to cue up the next song (much less 45 sec) seems way too long. I've formatted my backing tracks to 24 bit/96 kHz stereo MP3's and use plain ol WinAmp running on a laptop to 'serve' them to the PA. I order the songs into a generalized setlist so that any song I might want to play within the next half hour is visible on the laptop screen. I just select/highlight the song, double click and off I go.
That's hard work. This is America, we only like quick and easy.
- Oct 7, 2000
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Wanted to start a new post in gig humor, but figured it's better to bury this one here 
.
First, regarding the OP, this one is on whoever is triggering the tracks. If you're going to use tracks you have to have play lists, or you're going to have pauses. You can still do requests, but work them in. We use tracks for pretty much all our songs, and there is absolutely no space between anything. Every song goes right into the next, with 2 to 4 counts only to lead us in. Takes practice for the trigger person. For us it's the drummer, and he's got it down.
That being said, last night was the first night since I've been playing with this band that things got ugly. Been playing 10-12 gigs a month since January. Last night we had 2 subs, female singer and lead guitar... (we were a 5 piece last night). This is a good place for this:
Yes.
We went into last night's gig with 2 very experienced and talented musicians, but no rehearsal. We had one planned but someone got sick.
Ya know what, I just started typing out details, but it's too painful. Lets just say that things can get REALLY ugly, and it's a definitely challenge like no other on stage. Especially at a high end show, which this was. Keeping a smile and getting to the other end of a track as if all is well can feel very much like this.
LOL... I was looking for a great surfing wipe-out video, but found this which is better. My wife would smile too, so no harm done. At least I think she would. Don't tell:
. First, regarding the OP, this one is on whoever is triggering the tracks. If you're going to use tracks you have to have play lists, or you're going to have pauses. You can still do requests, but work them in. We use tracks for pretty much all our songs, and there is absolutely no space between anything. Every song goes right into the next, with 2 to 4 counts only to lead us in. Takes practice for the trigger person. For us it's the drummer, and he's got it down.
That being said, last night was the first night since I've been playing with this band that things got ugly. Been playing 10-12 gigs a month since January. Last night we had 2 subs, female singer and lead guitar... (we were a 5 piece last night). This is a good place for this:
Yes.
We went into last night's gig with 2 very experienced and talented musicians, but no rehearsal. We had one planned but someone got sick.
Ya know what, I just started typing out details, but it's too painful. Lets just say that things can get REALLY ugly, and it's a definitely challenge like no other on stage. Especially at a high end show, which this was. Keeping a smile and getting to the other end of a track as if all is well can feel very much like this.
LOL... I was looking for a great surfing wipe-out video, but found this which is better
. My wife would smile too, so no harm done. At least I think she would. Don't tell:
Oh yeah, I'm hearing you Jo!! Can get real painful really quick.
The most foolproof backing track I've used had Music Director voice prompts added, calling out:
- song name then count in for the intro,
- calling verse/chorus/etc sections with count in with the first few words for vocalists,
- as prev but calling the first few chords for instrumental sections.
- calling repeats/tags
- calling ending and counting out the song ending "1 2 3 4 end"
Never once had a train wreck with this style of track at church, no matter how bad the singers/musos were. Complete game changer.
IME it's definitely worth having these instructions up your sleeve for nights with deps. Either make a second batch of backing tracks adding them, or add an extra channel to your current tracks with a mute/volume option.
Been there once... singer only sang half the verse and went to the hook. We survived, then ended up doing the song "acoustically" (that is to say, with keys, electric guitar and a drum kit, ha) as an encore.
There are ways to prepare for cases like that. One is to use something like Ableton Live or live performance mode in FL Studio where you can basically arrange the track in blocks and have to pick which block gets played over the next 16 bars or whatever. Another is to set cue points or a second copy of the track loaded on a backup deck in any DJing software so you can go "OK, verse now!" or at least loop a percussion part that won't get in the way of pitched instruments in an emergency. But then you need a DJ in the band who isn't going to be able to do much else live.
But in my case I also have guitar effects running in the DAW with synced parameter changes programmed in the DAW, so can't use something like Virtual DJ or Traktor. And FL Studio is not good at loading all the material for an entire set at once with different tempos for different tracks, no dead air etc. Reaper can load different projects in different tabs, which is a good solution for dead air (though not as good as seamless mixing), but isn't good for changing track structures on the fly. I guess Ableton Live is probably the best tool for this kind of job currently?
My old band used to use a lot of sequenced keyboard parts along with the keyboard player. He used one of the first Lynn sequencers that loaded with a mini floppy.
Sometimes it would lock up and play crazy stuff.
And that's my story, the end...
Sometimes it would lock up and play crazy stuff.
And that's my story, the end...
what about working without a backing track and actually playing the song? problem solved. no gaps. You feel the music. You can quickly add in requests. *shrugs*
The smartass response would be to point out that seamless transitions between songs instead of gaps, plus the ability to work in requests, are big advantages that DJing has over live bands.
In reality, trying to have the best of both worlds makes for some technical and logistical challenges on stage, but I think it's worth it, even though just DJing or just playing a song as a live band are more convenient than doing both at once. A lot of music these days is full of organic sounds, even if they're organic but unnatural hybrids, and a lot of people whose studio tracks are basically electronic perform with live musicians on stage. Jidenna used to perform "Long Live The Chief" with just a DJ, then went to DJ plus live drums, and now he's got guitar, bass and keys in there also.
I'm okay with backing tracks, as long as it's not to cover for the band's laziness (for example, if the bass player is too lazy to sing harmonies, I've actually seen that one).
I personally hate playing with tracks, though. We're only a trio and we all sing, but if a song has a sax solo, for example, it's just replaced with a guitar solo and I try to fill the rhythm a bit more.
Of course, some arrangements just won't work within our format. We couldn't do "Bohemian Rhapsody", for sure. But guess what? Even Queen used backing tracks for that one!
I personally hate playing with tracks, though. We're only a trio and we all sing, but if a song has a sax solo, for example, it's just replaced with a guitar solo and I try to fill the rhythm a bit more.
Of course, some arrangements just won't work within our format. We couldn't do "Bohemian Rhapsody", for sure. But guess what? Even Queen used backing tracks for that one!
