Solo Gigs with Backing Tracks...what format are you guys using?

[loveofjazz]

This last year has found me joining the ranks of solo performers using backing tracks (pre-programmed or pre-recorded).

 

I have done a handful of instrumental gigs playing jazz and pop instrumentals. I'm preparing material that I can sing with, and intend to start booking with that in mind.

 

 

 

I've enjoyed some success using the Boss DR880 live. I've also been using mp3s, both those that I recorded and those that I have purchased.

 

 

 

Is anyone else doing gigs like this? If so, what are using?

[pogo97]

I have my cousin Fred record them to cassette and just "jam with tapes."

 

[video=youtube;_12bMOWg1nI]

[steve mac]

MP3 , onto iPad played back through Onsong and triggered with Airturn pedal

[Shaster]

I use tracks. Jazz, Blues, Pop and so on. I've stated many times before that I like tracks because I get to solo, and I don't have to constantly fill every second with guitar playing. Mainly they're just bass and drums, some with a little keys. I sequence or resequence them all myself in midi (using Anvil Studio).

 

I started way back using a Roland MC50 sequencer, two Roland JV880's, an Alesis DR4, a sampler and so on. Then I eventually downsized to one JV880, then to a Boss drum machine (with bass) then to a laptop using internal sounds with WinAmp as the player.

 

I wanted to start using Android tablets but Midi can do odd things in Android so just in the last couple of months I started converting my midis to MP3's and started using an eight inch tablet. So far I've got about 90 of the three hundred plus midis converted.

 

I'm using an Android program called Music Folder Player by Zorillasoft. It's one of the few players that allows font changes, and of the thirty or so players I've downloaded, it's the only one that allows single play (See Behavior, then Musician Mode). That means you can set it up so there is no repeat, no advancing to the next song.... For me this is crucial, as I don't want to have my songs play one after the other, and I don't want to dive to cut the song off. I also don't want to manually play from a folder as this is time consuming and clunky.

 

There's a free version, but I spent the two bucks or so and got the paid one - following is a link to the free. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.zorillasoft.musicfolderplayer&hl=en

[Notes_Norton]

It's a duo, but the same. And on rare occasions I can do a single with the same gear.

 

I make my own tracks. MIDI to WAV and finally to 192kbps MP3 files. Why?

 

1. Buying tracks seems like cheating to me (YMMV)
   
2. Bought tracks are seldom in my vocal key
   
3. Bought tracks usually have their own solo, or no room for me to play a solo (I'm a solo hog)
   
4. Most bought tracks are recorded at listening balance, live balance is very different
   
5. Often they are too short, by making them myself, I can get them to that 4 to 5 sweet spot length for my audience.
   
6. Since I do them in MIDI there are no backing vocals on it and it doesn't reek of Karaoke. I put the backing vocal lines on whatever patch seems appropriate for the song.
   

 

How do I do it? I've been asked so many times, I put a page up on my website: http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html

 

Making my own tracks taught me a lot about music. Sure I learned stuff in school, but doing it after learning the basics is the real education. Figuring out how different instruments get their expression so I can reproduce those nuances opened my ears to a lot of instrument-specific nuances and in turn has improved my listening experience. And as an offshoot to that, I ended up writing aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box and make enough money at that part-time job to be able to stay in Florida during the slow summer season.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[miden]

I use MP3's Midis and sometimes simply left hand bass/right hand comping and a kick drum stomp box. It all depends on the crowd, the song and the mood

[loveofjazz]

Glad to see folks weigh in on what you do and how you do it.

 

The more I got involved in playing with backing tracks, the more I realized that it could be done many different ways.

 

 

 

For now, I'm really enjoying working with -some- purchased tracks as well as tracks I've recorded for instrumental work. However, I've been a singer as much as a guitarist and the demand to sing has brought me around to develop the material. On one hand, it feels cheesy...but it's work, and more & more people respect work done with tracks nowadays.

 

 

 

The Boss DR880 has become work tool # 1. Programming drums is easy, and running a keyboard in via MIDI to program & record bass is simple. The Individual Outputs make for proper sound separation, so I can use the 880 for drums and bass, for bass with a click (for a drummer), or for drums and no bass. The sounds work well live, and they sound convincing.

 

 

 

In addition, I can record the output if needed, as well as run EZDrummer's drums via MIDI for recording purposes. This allows me to record programmed music without having to program drums all over again. As I type this, I'm preparing to program an incredible number of tunes. Each programmed tune will eventually become an MP3.

 

 

 

I am thrilled to have gotten this opportunity. I'm looking forward to gigging like this once a week, at least.

[Bob Dey]

DAW = digital performer

synth = Kurzweil K2vx

Mixed down to mp3s.

 

Sometimes I start from scratch, sometimes I'll edit the hell out of a MIDI found on the net. I've been wanting to do more audio tracks (bass & guitar), but then again sometimes I think I should just work on playing acoustic without backing tracks. It seems that I could spend more time working on playing and singing instead of recording and editing. But after putting a lot of time into creating a really good BT, it can be used over and over for the rest of one's career in music.

[Notes_Norton]

Some of my tracks are from the 1980s. They don't die.

 

Back then I used cassette tapes because floppy drives weren't that dependable after bouncing around in the van.

 

Floppies got dependable and I used a Sound Brush hardware MIDI player with a rack full of modules. Then one day, a sample player went flaky and it had bass and snare on it. If I touched it, it rebooted which took about a minute to access the floppy. Didn't touch it for the rest of the night and finished the gig with no problem.

 

I was using a 10 space rack full of sound modules and a sub mixer, and that got me thinking about bringing redundancy to the gig. After all, the show must go on. But that's a lot to pack.

 

That was when I decided to go mp3. I could bring two computers so if one failed, the show goes on.

 

I use nothing but ThinkPad computers because they are built like tanks. Since 2002 I've had 2 failures and a warning. (1) CMOS battery died - $5 replacement (2) screen failure (3) hard drive making noise.

 

I went to the second computer by moving the USB cable in each case, and saved the gig.

 

Both ThinkPads are up and running all night, they bounce around in the van and on a keyboard stand, go from cold to hot to cold to hot and are generally abused. I've since replaced one of the 2002 computers - (screen failure and too expensive to fix) and the other 2002 ThinkPad is still humming along like it was new.

 

Whatever you use, carry a spare.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[loveofjazz]

I have to apologize for the huge gap in response. The wife and I own our own business (coffee shop), have family to look out for (her pop had open heart surgery yesterday). The list goes on and on.

 

 

 

I have been looking in to purchasing Reason 8. The synths and drums seem useful. I can ReWire it to Reaper. I think there's even a way to run EZ Drummer in it now.

 

 

 

Notes_Norton, your insight was rather helpful. I work with and sometimes for a fella that does the same with two iPads ("one is his band, and one is his backup band", he says). I have been hesitant to commit until here lately. Carrying too much gear just gets old quick.

 

 

 

My ultimate goal is to have more work as a soloist than with a band. I have worked with bands for years, and I seldom find like-minded individuals that will learn the music and come to the job prepared to entertain the client.

 

 

 

I'm happy to have a place where I can discuss these kinds of gigs. I only have a few folk around here that get it, and most of them are doing these kinds of gigs.

 

 

 

Thanks, y'all.

[Shaster]

I'll second the notion of carrying a back-up. I'm currently using Android on an eight inch tablet. My back-up is my phone with the same program (Music Folder Player) loaded on it.

 

In a pinch I can also ditch the instrumentals and tracks and just do a guitar/vocal night. That works as well, sometimes even better, but for me, tracks free things up - of course they also restrict you, but I'm fine with the trade-off.

[loveofjazz]

I've done the solo thing off and on for some time. I have a love/hate (kinda) relationship with it.

 

I'm not in love with how I sound, but when I do book occasional gigs playing acoustic guitar and singing, I start to get a lot of those types of bookings pretty quick. Next thing you know, my schedule is full of the kind of gigs that I'm not a fan of. I prefer working in a duo or trio, something with more noise than just the noise I'm making.

 

 

 

I downloaded the trial version of Reason 8 last night. I'm going to install it tonight while cleaning up my ragged recording area. I have used Reaper for years, but Reason has recording capability, has onboard synth stuff for keys & bass (getting a decent recorded bass sound direct has been an issue unless I use a keyboard), and I believe I can run my EZ Drummer VSTi in it now. I'm trying to create a simple workflow (both physically and in the box) so I can focus more on the arrangements and quality of tracks I want to create.

 

 

 

Just got to keep pushing forward. The holidays are coming fast, and I haven't got one single holiday-ish backing track recorded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[loveofjazz]

Update: Between family, the Thanksgiving holiday, and existing work/gigs....I have got nothing done with this.

 

Sometimes, carving out a block of time for myself can be damn near impossible.

 

I imagine it could be worse.

 

Maybe I can make some time happen today...

[Notes_Norton]

I used to bring a pre-iPod Archos Jukebox as a backup band. But as my 'book' got to 300 or so songs (it's almost twice that now) I envisioned a hard drive crash and then having to push the buttons on the Archos a gazillion times between songs, and decided to get a second computer.

 

I like computers better than my iPad because the keyboard is always visible, and if I have a free hand during a song, a couple of taps cue up the next song. When they are on the dance floor, I like to go from song to song with no delay in between, and with a computer, I can do it.

 

I use Windows File Explorer in alphabetical order. So if I want a song, typing the first letter or a few will highlight it, hitting Enter gets it playing in Windows Media Player, Alt+Tab switches the computer's focus back to Windows File Explorer again so a couple of taps can cue up the next song.

 

I call the songs on the fly. I'm not clairvoyant enough to do set lists. I look at the audience, and use cues from them and my experience to guess which song is best to play next. More often than not whatever I choose works and I can lead the audience without overtiring them, hopefully to give them a great time.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[gourock47@gmail.com]

For the past couple of years, I have been using an Android app called "Lyric Writer Pro".

 

It's an easy to use application that let's you import your lyrics/chords via a text file into a folder on the tablet. MP3 files are copied into the Music folder of the tablet. The app lets you create/edit songs with the MP3 backing track attached. In playback mode, the songs are selected from a playlist and they scroll up the screen at a speed dependent on the track length. For lyrics without a backing track, you can easily record a few minutes of silence to set the timing for the scrolling. The scrolling speed can also be adjusted by adding blank lines to the beginning, middle or end of songs.

 

I've tried many apps on both Android and IOS platforms and I've found that this one is by far the best and easiest to use. Some others have features like transposing, however while performing with backing tracks, this feature is redundant to my needs. If I feel that I'll have a need for different keys, I can make the pitch changes on the tracks ahead of time and have two or three versions of the same song in different keys...I've done this for just a few songs.

 

While creating/editing songs on this application, I've found it useful to load "The Hacker's Keyboard"...this let's me do CTRL C and CRTL V for cutting and pasting of text.

 

The playlist feature is really good, I can organize all of my songs in advance and everything is controlled on the tablet, no fiddling or fussing. I just connect the headphone output of the tablet to my mixer and even the volume of the backing track can be controlled from the tablet.

 

Check it out, It's an amazing app.

 

Another useful PC application I use is MP3 Gain...it let's me "normalize" all of my tracks so there is less tweaking the volume from song to song.

 

Ian

[steve mac]

MP3 Gain looks very handy thanks

[Weird Uncle Tim]

Cheers Steve,

 

I use OnSong with MP3 backing tracks also.

 

I get my tracks mainly from http://www.karaoke-version.com I like these the best because once you buy the "Custom" track, you can remix it to your hearts contents.

 

What I like most about using OnSong with backing tracks is the "Timeline" feature. http://www.onsongapp.com/docs/features/timeline

 

I use Lifx light bulbs that respond to the "Scene Changes" http://www.onsongapp.com/docs/interface/menubar/utilities-menu/editors/scenes

 

And I also send MIDI messages to my TC Helicon Voice Live GTX through an OnSong feature called MIDI Integration http://onsongapp.com/docs/features/midi

 

I am kinda on the bleeding edge with the program and have relied heavily on Jason Kichline the creator of the App when I get stuck.

 

How do you use OnSong?

[Gigmeister-8YMGf]

I've been using tracks since the early 90's. I started with an Alesis HR-16 with a trio of guitar, bass and keys which worked decent. I then began using Tracks from Passport and started combining GM with audio about 13 years ago. Now I use Pro Tools to combine both and tweak them incessantly until I am satisfied with the mix and performance. I use the GM files for drums, keys, strings and horns and do my own digital audio bass, guitars, pedal steel, mandolin and voice tracks. I either play acoustic or electric guitar on the gig and sing my lead vocals live. BTW, I have been writing a column called "he Solo Gigger" for the past two years at http://www.l2pnet.com. Check it out- you might find some of the information helpful.