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Since we are running the Backing Tracks debate into the ground....................


fingerpicker

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Yea sometimes TMI can be a problem, but it isn't always done on purpose. Last night I was working with a singer at a local casino. We have a mutual friend who among other things discovered The Jackson five (no it wasn't Diana Ross). Anyway the singer I'm working with starts going on about this guy and the Jackson Five.... and he suddenly realizes that none of the 25 year old kids in the audience care - they barely know who the Jackson five are, if at all.

 

So he has to back out of the conversation and we get back to the music. Anyway, sometimes what seems relevant to you can be irritating to others, that's life. I'm just happy to see people working, tracks or no.

 

BTW here's the link to the fellow the kids didn't want to hear about. He's still a great singer, and once came and sat in when I was doing a single. I took a break after he sang, because I wasn't going to follow him!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Taylor_%26_the_Vancouvers

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I'm old school and would prefer to keep doing things without backing tracks. But I can see people wanting to share their music and feel it necessary to have backing tracks. Sometimes people just dont have the chops necessary to play the songs well enough and the backing is a good security blanket?

 

Just an opinion

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I'm old school and would prefer to keep doing things without backing tracks. But I can see people wanting to share their music and feel it necessary to have backing tracks. Sometimes people just dont have the chops necessary to play the songs well enough and the backing is a good security blanket?


Just an opinion

 

 

 

It`s not about having the chops... What kind of chops do you have to have to play drums, bass, keys as well as guitar/vocals... at the same time!!

 

In my set I can get away with about 40% guitar and vocal only, but there are a bunch of songs that the audience recieve 10x better with the backing music. Doesn`t mean I`m a {censored} player, if anything it means I`ve read the audiences well enough over the years to give them what they want. At the end of the day, if you do this for a living, thats about all that matters!

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<...>
Sometimes people just dont have the chops necessary to play the songs well enough and the backing is a good security blanket?


Just an opinion

 

 

In the words of Ira Gershwin, "It Ain't Necessarily So".

 

I play saxophone, flute, wind synthesizer, keyboard synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums and vocals. I was first sax in the all-state band every year I was in school, by biography is listed in Who' Who in Entertainment, I am a professional musician and have played on ABC, CBS, NBC, MTV and the BBC all over the USA and in a few other countries including The People's Republic of China. I've warmed up in concert for major headliners and almost had a contract with Motown (until our lawyers messed up the negotiations) PLUS I write aftermarket styes for the software apps, Band-in-a-Box and Microsoft SongSmith - and have sold them to over 100 different countries.

 

In other words, I have decent chops.

 

I play with backing tracks because:

 

 

I make my own backing tracks because it takes less time to make one than it does to fix one that I've bought or downloaded (tried both methods, with frustrating results). But I see nothing wrong with buying them if you can't do your own.

 

There is more than one right way to make music. If the music is good, and if it pleases the audience, it's a right way to do it.

 

So please excuse me if I get a little defensive about the lacking chops statement.

 

BTW, I've seen some single people playing without tracks that don't have chops but still draw a crowd.

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I play with backing tracks because:


  • I like the way they make us sound


  • It's fun





There is more than one right way to make music. If the music is good, and if it pleases the audience, it's a right way to do it.


 

 

isn't this really the most important part of the whole deal?

while i don't care for backing tracks personally, i bet NN puts on a hell of a professional show we could all be proud of

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In other words, I have decent chops.

 

 

You're good at reciting an unverifiable resume, at least. Nice inclusion of how you 'almost' made it big.

 

The question is, did you do any of those things while using backing tracks?

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I cringe when the musician onstage has to tell the audience that his tracks are legit because he makes them himself. Really? Who cares.


It sounds like you are embarassed to use them and are trying to justify it. Just do your act!

If a guitar player tells the audience that he made his own guitar is he trying to justify his playing? :lol: I don't really much difference ... or any harm in somebody crowing a bit.

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You're good at reciting an unverifiable resume, at least. Nice inclusion of how you 'almost' made it big.


The question is, did you do any of those things while using backing tracks?

 

 

Yes: Cruise ships (3 years on a 3 week contract), appearances on MTV, ABC, CBS, NBC and The BBC, 5 star hotels (Breakers in Palm Beach included), People's Republic of China.

 

When MTV came on the ship, we were the only entertainment they filmed other than the headliner (Cyndi Lauper). Out of the 7 musical acts on the ship, we were the only ones using backing tracks (with the exception of the orchestra when they did the main show to a click track).

 

And I'm not going to answer to the "Fox style" attack on my resume (and I'm not going to produce my US birth certificate ). If you don't believe me, it's OK with me. Your opinion of me matters not, the audience's opinion of me matters most.

 

I'm sure there are other people on this board with better chops and others with worse. That's a constant in life.

 

I'm 65 years old, for the majority of my life I have made my living doing music and nothing but music (full disclosure: I did have two day gigs while testing the real world and being a weekend musician, but neither worked out). I've been working in the same duo since 1985 doing backing tracks from the start.

 

I'm making a living doing what I would do for free. In other words, I don't go to work, I go to play.

 

Life is fun!

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