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'Live' bands with backing tracks

#61
Are we making a distincition between using backing tracks and using prerecorded music that is triggered by the band using footpedals or a keyboard? I consider it the same thing.

Rush uses a lot of prerecorded music in their live set. I clearly remember seeing them on the Grace Under Pressure tour and hearing both bass and keyboards together yet Geddy was only playing bass.
 
#63
Saetia said:
After working at a club for 3 years I've seen many "big" acts use backing tracks or clip tracks and just synch on their instuments. It's was a great disapointment for me, I would say that 50% of the larger national and international acts didn't even play. (I know this because I had to help hook all their gear up and provide a place for the laptop to be hidden).

I won't mention any names, but just think big radio metal bands.

Peace

-Benny
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Did someone say Disturbed?
 
#65
Problem is that the average punter who knows nothing about playing an instrument or how music is done is only there to be entertained.
As long as he or she is entertained they couldn't give a stuff if the whole thing is backing tracks.
The punter pays the bill....
 
#66
The guitarist in my band has a loop pedal that we occasionally put a movie quote on to start a song but that's as far as i'm willing to venture into backing track territory. AFI, my favourite band use backing tracks with extra parts like strings, synths and extra guitar parts and then play over them and I was greatly disappointed when I found that out watching them live. I'd prefer it if they didn't sound precisely how they did on the album and didn't use prerecorded layers. As for amateur bands using backing tracks, they don't get paid to mime, they have practically no one to disappoint so why the hell would they use a backing track.
 
#67
I'm not opposed to backing tracks at all, if they bring more to the song and show. B. tracks, loops and triggered samples are just fine in my books. However, I don't like a complete playback gig (which the OP's situation seemed to be), unless we're talking about dance music performers such as Britney etc.

I play original industrial rock in a 4pc group. 99% of our songs have a backing track (multitrack, actually) coming from a Zoom R16 which is controlled by our drummer. On releases, we're mostly electronic (NIN-esque, I guess), but live we add guitars, drums, bass, live synths & sample pads etc., which brings in the "rock". If we didn't use backing tracks, we'd need 2-3 people more on synths to play the alternate harmony basslines, sfx, pads etc. Took a while to get used to it, but it works for us. Can we play the songs without the backing track (say, the Zoom crashes)? Yes, of course, and we'll still be good. Will it be a better show/experience for the customer with backing tracks? Probably.

Here's what our people do live:
BL: Vocals, guitar, 2x synth on some songs
2: Lead synth & pad, add. guitar
Me: Main basslines
4: Drummer, controls backing tracks/Zoom R16

From the backing tracks:
- click for drummer (pro guy with good time)
- multiple pads
- alt. bassline from synths
- backing vocals (on one song)
- sfx and other funky sounds
- interlude loops between short breaks

Can't really relate to the whole "omg karaoke" -ragething a lot of people seem to have going on here towards the use of backing tracks in general. As long as having the tracks benefit the song, fit the style and don't cause disruptions/unnecessary breaks between songs, all is good.
 
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#68
AaronVonRock said:
Rush uses a lot of prerecorded music in their live set. I clearly remember seeing them on the Grace Under Pressure tour and hearing both bass and keyboards together yet Geddy was only playing bass.
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Yes. Samples triggered by the band members. Not a backing track. Also, Geddy has been known to play simpler keyboard parts with his feet.
 
#70
I'm in a 4-piece band at the moment – the singer occasionally plays rhythm guitar. Keyboardists have been hard to maintain in the band, as they can usually make more money solo or in larger event bands in this area. We play most songs without a sequence, but there is always a demand for dance tunes so we sequence the keys / horns where needed on those songs.

I have to admit - I was dead set against it when we started, but I've now become accustomed to using the backing track on 3-4 songs per set. It's allowed us to become more diverse in our set list while fitting into smaller venues.

On the other hand, the OP's example sounds like a complete clown show to me. I'd never fake my own instrument.
 
#72
mellowinman said:
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.
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Simple question here: is the sound the audience hears: what comes from the speakers...made by guitars, bass, drums, keys, horns...etc...played by the people on the stage, at the time they are hearing it? (String-synth, played at the time of the performance, gets a pass, because it's keys played on a musical instrument).

...If it is, then it's live. Anything else is fronting pre-recorded tracks...which is the very definition of kareoke. Kareoke is a hybrid of part live/part prerecorded.

...if your hand has "help" from pre-recorded tracks, then you are in a kareoke band. Plain. Simple. Absolute. Your audience may care...or not...but it is what it is.
 
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#73
bassplayer8953 said:
Simple question here: is the sound the audience hears: what comes from the speakers...made by guitars, bass, drums, keys, horns...etc...played by the people on the stage, at the time they are hearing it? (String-synth, played at the time of the performance, gets a pass, because it's keys played on a musical instrument).

...If it is, then it's live. Anything else is fronting pre-recorded tracks...which is the very definition of kareoke. Kareoke is a hybrid of part live/part prerecorded.

...if your hand has "help" from pre-recorded tracks, then you are in a kareoke band. Plain. Simple. Absolute. Your audience may care...or not...but it is what it is.
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Does that include echo/delay, reverb, and all other "artificial" effects, (on vocals or otherwise)? Or keyboard modulation-type sequencing (like for example the intro to Baba O'Riley by The Who) since those are "artificially generated"?

If so, I am in the lamest kareoke band ever!
 
#76
bassplayer8953 said:
Simple question here: is the sound the audience hears: what comes from the speakers...made by guitars, bass, drums, keys, horns...etc...played by the people on the stage, at the time they are hearing it? (String-synth, played at the time of the performance, gets a pass, because it's keys played on a musical instrument).

...If it is, then it's live. Anything else is fronting pre-recorded tracks...which is the very definition of kareoke. Kareoke is a hybrid of part live/part prerecorded.

...if your hand has "help" from pre-recorded tracks, then you are in a kareoke band. Plain. Simple. Absolute. Your audience may care...or not...but it is what it is.
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Nah. It's not the same thing and you know it. There may be a point at which you deserve to be put in the Hall of Shame, but even Milli Vanilli wasn't karaoke.

What is live band karaoke?
 
#77
I play in a band that unashamedly uses backing tracks for about half of our 4 and 5 hour sets. The pre-recorded parts cover anything from tiny bits of percussion or piano accents (Rock the Casbah, for instance) that we don't have hands to cover to full horn sections and gang vocals (Come on Eileen) that we don't have the money to hire musicians for.

Where possible, we play whatever we can live and travel with three synths (drum pad with samples, Ensoniq ESQ for the singer, and a MicroKorg converted to keytar for bass synth parts), because there IS a difference in the energy a band puts out when it plays live. The audience picks up on a fundamental level whether we're faking it and relying on tracks, or whether it's a live band supported by tracks. We've dropped some tunes from our set because we couldn't accurately reproduce them live well enough to get people on the dance floor and out of their seats.

There's also a difference between "Hey, here's our stripped-down interpretation of your favorite Howard Jones tune" and just plain sounding lame and empty.


The purpose of using backing tracks (for us, at least) has nothing to do with musicianship and everything to do with putting on a show. We have other avenues to showcase musicianship. The working band isn't one of them.

For some it may be a crutch, but for many others it's part of providing entertainment and earning enough money at it to justify the time spent away from family at shows and rehearsals. Plus, It's a lot of fun to play in a band where you KNOW people are going to be packing the dance floor halfway through your first set, and will be staying there all night.
 
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#78
SnowCal said:
What is live band karaoke?
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Oh man, derailing this thread into one more Originals vs. Covers -thread would be like shooting fish in a barrel :D Let's not go there :)

Seriously though, this topic seems to have a lot in common with the following:
- Tube vs. SS
- Pick vs. fingers
- Originals vs. covers
- Effects vs. clean
- Tomato vs. tomato

My guess is that this topic will end up with most of us noticing that there are and always will be people who think that
1. backing tracks etc. have their use
2. backing tracks "kill" the music and the live experience
3. as long as it sounds good, who cares


AaronVonRock said:
Borderline karaoke.
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I like apples :) [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#79
SnowCal said:
Nah. It's not the same thing and you know it.
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I never said they were the same thing. I said they were different: one or the other.


may be a point at which you deserve to be put in the Hall of Shame, but even Milli Vanilli wasn't karaoke.
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No they weren't karaoke, they were lip-synching, which is a total lie, as relates to a live performance. Even more smoke 'n mirrors, when presented as performers performing.

What is live band karaoke?
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An oxymoron, like a "LIVE DJ!"...playing prerecorded music.
 
#80
WalterBush said:
For some it may be a crutch, but for many others it's part of providing entertainment and earning enough money at it to justify the time spent away from family at shows and rehearsals. Plus, It's a lot of fun to play in a band where you KNOW people are going to be packing the dance floor halfway through your first set, and will be staying there all night.
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Yes.
 

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