Tracks.. at what point do you draw the line.

[pepj]

Saw a band the other week and they lined up as a standard 4 piece. However, the genre called for a LOT of augmentation.
Keys, horns, Sax and backgrounds and a fair few gtr solo's too.

The tracks themselves weren't that great but they made a big difference to the overall band sound.

I couldn't really tell if the audience went for it either.

 

[Passinwind]

A friend of mine just uses top shelf tracks from Nashville session players (he lives there and does studio work himself so this is easy) and sings and plays guitar with no other players on stage. The tracks are very good though, and done specifically for his arrangements. I wasn't overly impressed but the room was packed and he got paid triple scale, so who cares what I think?

 

[Plectrum72]

Not really a fan of full on tracks if the song can be arranged to accommodate the instrumentation (in almost every case it can), but have used various triggered musical/sound effects at key points in a song (engine revving, static noise, bag pipe intro, etc.).

 

[sean_on_bass]

in short, i attend performances to see someone performing music, not play a track. personally i would feel a bit cheated as an audience member. exceptions to that might be in musical genres where it is expected, like electronic music. but a rock band using tracks is meh. if your band can't play all the parts, either rearrange the song or don't play it at all.

 

[lomo]

As a listener, a complete buzzkill for me, always. I'd rather hear pretty much anything rearranged for what's being played in real time, even if that means transmogrifying it to the nth degree, oversimplifying it, whatever. That said, many (perhaps most?) people couldn't care less and will be perfectly well entertained, regardless of the details of how the music is being produced, as long as it's music that reaches them.

 

[mambo4]

The Who did it, But they were the Who...

If it's just a cover where "we don't have a horn section but the original recording does"
I'm more impressed if a band can arrange the tune to suit their own voices.

But recently ( as in 4 decades ago ) many bands "feature" tracks ( and loopers and samples and DJs and such ).
Just as with 'normal' instruments , It can be done artfully and engagingly, or poorly and lazily.

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

Triggering sounds and adding a few things here or there is okay, but I am expecting to see the band play live if I am going to a live show. If they are trying to make it sound like exactly like the studio recording, I might as well just sit at home and stream it on Spotify or Apple Music.

 

[rolfplamperton]

I have sub’d on gigs where my bass part magically appears from the void. I’m usually just annoyed that I’ve made a detailed chart. But if someone wants to run them and pay me money, it’s whatever. But yes, they are generally an abomination.

 

[DanAdams]

If the band feels a need to get a specific sound that members cant somehow perform live, it better be creative, theatrical, or amusing.
Otherwise they're getting an F from me.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I have no problem with tracks per se, depends on the result. Unfortunately I've heard some local bands who overuse tracks and don't sound live. A guitarist I know was in one of those bands, but only because it was a good paying gig and he needed the money. He said it was not fun: he was essentially playing air guitar all night long except for a few solos.

OTOH, there are bands I know who only use tracks occasionally: the sitar in "Come and Get Your Love", assorted synth/keys/strings hooks. Even though they're playing to a click they still sound live; the tracks are just a bit of embellishment. I have no problem with that, especially at bar gigs where the pay doesn't spread very far.

That said, I'm glad that none of my bands uses tracks. I've witnessed that technology misbehave on occasion.

 

[MIJ Fender Guy]

I absolutely hate when I can tell a good portion of it was pre-recorded. Most people are too stupid to notice or care, though. A few here and there if they can't accommodate a specific instrument due to manpower is fine.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I much prefer none at all, but I can accept a few background strings, keys or similar. But certainly no vocals or lead instruments.

 

[pfschim]

In a full band situation, I am generally less enthused about using tracks to fill up the sonic space. OTOH, I am in a duo project with just guitar and bass, and a few tunes with me playing keys, and both of us singing. We use a drum machine on some material and I have built tracks for some others to give us more depth/options depending on the gig, and I feel that we use the tracks judiciously, without over doing it.

So, I have kind of a mixed view of tracks. I think they can have their place. Players gotta do what they can to get gigs. I would also agree that audiences don't seem to care. In the duo, the main draw is the singer, who has an outstanding voice and delivery. That's what people come out to hear, and they don't seem to care how we back up her voice.

 

[pepj]

For me there is embellishment against the backing track being pretty much their song.

When duo's do the same...they don't get anymore than half the money.
Solo's might achieve double scale per head but I was a bit taken aback at how much of this bands output was on a backing track. The gtr was hardly playing at all.

They are not regarded in the top tier of bands despite their tracks.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Is the crowd there to see the band? If that's the case, I'd say minimal and preferably no tracks. If you're background noise for dinner or brunch, as long as the vocals are live it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

 

[JazznFunk]

I'm of the opinion that no matter what you do in the studio, you have to be able to cut it live even without whatever is added in the 'studio as an instrument' phase of exploration. In short, the bones of the song/arrangement/instrumentation must be solid enough to sound good WITHOUT additional backing tracks. I'd rather hear a solid 4-piece do songs tightly, stripped down, versus a duo triggering or relying on all kinds of added backing tracks. To me, it just starts to feel more like karaoke than a performance with too much added stuff, no matter how many people are on stage. YMMV.

 

[klattman]

I’ve seen a few groups play and it can be ok to have a few things recorded. However when everyone is syncd to a track and they are just following along, it gets boring real quick.

 

[Ostie]

A relative of mine uses tracks while he sings and plays lead guitar. I would never do it, but he gets a lot of gigs, he keeps all the money, and he doesn’t have to coordinate schedules. To me it’s enhanced karaoke. Every gig sounds exactly the same. I myself thrive on playing with others, even with the mistakes. I’ll take the spontaneity any day.

 

[InhumanResource]

Saw a band the other week and they lined up as a standard 4 piece. However, the genre called for a LOT of augmentation.
Keys, horns, Sax and backgrounds and a fair few gtr solo's too.

The tracks themselves weren't that great but they made a big difference to the overall band sound.

I couldn't really tell if the audience went for it either.

Sometimes a necessity, especially for party bands where the sound has to be dead on accurate to what people know.

Where’s the line? Maybe vocals, but that’s for party/covers IMO. For creative projects I’d say the sky is the limit and the audience can decide.

 

[klyph]

A friend of mine just uses top shelf tracks from Nashville session players (he lives there and does studio work himself so this is easy) and sings and plays guitar with no other players on stage. The tracks are very good though, and done specifically for his arrangements. I wasn't overly impressed but the room was packed and he got paid triple scale, so who cares what I think?

One of the best (and definitely best paid) musicians I know does this with a tenor pan, a battery powered pa, iPad, mic&stand. Rolls in, washes magical music over everyone, rocks the house, leaves. It helps that his tracks are very hip, and he can also play hundreds of jazz standards unaccompanied, too.
I saw Steppenwolf without a live bass player over thirty years ago- this has been a fact of life in live music for so long it’s routine.