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'Live' bands with backing tracks
- Thread starter Buzzgroove
- Start date
Our world is lurching more and more towards illusion and fakery. And we seem to be accepting it. Or rather settling for it. Oh heck, we enjoy it.
Max Headroom anyone? *
On the one hand, I don't care for it. It ain't "real". Well it is...but it's a different kind of real. A quasi-real. It's got a slice of real between illusion.
On the other hand, I liked Iron Man 1, 2, and 3. Good CGI rocks! (OK off topic a bit!)
Nowadays it seems people, as has been said, could care less about the delivery system. The thinking is "If it gets me to happy, I'm good".
Times have changed again.
Hey did you hear about the International Space Station astronaut commander singing "Ground Control to Major Tom ." Illusion sandwiched between reality!
* 1984 TV show -- the world's first computer-generated TV host
Max Headroom anyone? *
On the one hand, I don't care for it. It ain't "real". Well it is...but it's a different kind of real. A quasi-real. It's got a slice of real between illusion.
On the other hand, I liked Iron Man 1, 2, and 3. Good CGI rocks! (OK off topic a bit!)
Nowadays it seems people, as has been said, could care less about the delivery system. The thinking is "If it gets me to happy, I'm good".
Times have changed again.
Hey did you hear about the International Space Station astronaut commander singing "Ground Control to Major Tom ." Illusion sandwiched between reality!
* 1984 TV show -- the world's first computer-generated TV host
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
'Live' bands with backing tracks
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Rush and the Who have been using tracks for since the 70s.
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Rush and the Who have been using tracks for since the 70s.
His point is valid though. I don't know one touring drummer who can't play to a click and triggers. Any pro drummer can do this.
Also you are romanticizing it a little. While I like the sound of a raw band myself, the facts are that bands are competing with the sound of DJs - perfectly mastered and recorded music being played through the PA.
I prefer the old school way of doing a bigger show - bring on a killer organ, piano, synth player..etc, but in the industry now - all the headlining radio rock bands play to triggers because of his second point. I don't dig it, but that's how it goes now.
...IMO, glorified karaeoke, with some extra props. Either it's live, or it isn't. Backing tracks: isn't.
My band uses them but its just for keys or special effects and its only for a handful of songs. We dont want to have another band member to play keys so I dont see any problem with it.
Amen. I think we can use the term "karaoke band" for bands that rely on backing tracks. You are either in a real live band or a karaoke band. There is no middle ground.
I think it depends on what the band plays. One of my favorite bands to see live is just a duo of keyboards and drums. Their records include many synth tracks and such, when they play live they use backing tracks for the synths that the singer can't play (also I imagine that It's really hard to rap while playing Keys), but they play as much as they can live. Another band I saw open at another show was a trio (drums, signer, guitar), but they used backing tracks for bass parts. This I thought was really lame, if they had a live bassist it would have made their live show much better.
There is always middle ground.
Either it's live or it isn't?
Except for when it is and it isn't.
Except for THEN.
- Jan 27, 2010
- 4,141
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- Endorsing Artist: Genz Benz Amplification
I've seen tracks used in a subtle way and it was good. I've seen bands overly reliant on them and it was cheesy. If half your songs have a signature part or guitar solo being played on the backing track maybe you need to rethink things a bit.
I think loopers are definitely more respectable than bringing pre-recorded stuff. After all, everything you hear IS being performed right in front of you. The big difference is, if you screw up recording the loop, you better know how to compensate for it when the repeat comes around to make it sound good.
I think every new technology raises the bar for creative use of it. It's when you use technology as a crutch to cover up your inabilities that gets other musicians hackles up.
Its like the difference between Cher using auto-tune vs. Rebecca Black.
I don't want to see bands who use sequencers or backing tracks, and I would never even think about being in one. If I hear horns and strings, I want to see horns and strings.
My country band uses a track of cricket noises when we cover Colt Ford's "Cricket On A Line". It just doesn't sound right without it. Other than that, we never use backing tracks.
I didn't say "most of our songs", I said "most" of our dance tracks. If we play a cocktail set of jazz standards then there are no sequencers. Very few of our ballads incorporate sequences. But if it's dance stuff then we are in direct competition with DJs on relatively large sound systems. We're not selling art, we're selling a show to people who largely have no real interest in music as art. If you want to compete with other top-level corporate bands (at least around here) you're going to be using sequences.
Keep in mind that there's generally a big difference between a corporate events band and a bar band or originals band. In many cases it would kind of be like comparing Las Vegas to New York City...
You're correct. There is middle ground. There's no need for AC/DC to lug around a giant bell on tour for the intro to "Hells Bells".
In my post, I was trying to make a distinction between bands that USE backing tracks and bands that RELY on them. Bands that rely on them (use them almost every song for the entire song) are karaoke bands.
Queen used them very sparingly for a song or two. Rush uses them a bit much for my taste. They should become a four piece so they can pull their songs off live instead of using backing tracks. I like Rush, but I think it's lame they use backing tracks so much.
I love KISS but a lot of the time, it's not even them playing on their own albums.
Duos and One man bands....OK, the backing is part of the gig!
Live bands with the odd strings / synth part ... OK
BUT don't call rehearsed karaoke "live music"!!
Live bands with the odd strings / synth part ... OK
BUT don't call rehearsed karaoke "live music"!!
Rush does not, and never has, used backing tracks. Any sound they don't play live is triggered by one of them. They also don't play to any kind of click. Neil Peart states this explicitly in Taking the Center Stage.
