Members 88Fingerz Posted August 29, 2005 Members Posted August 29, 2005 Hi Ya'll, I'm one half of a steadily gigging duo here in NYC. I play a stack of 2 keyboards and sing lead whilst my female partner sings lead and plays percusssion. For years I've been using a pair of Sony MDS-10 minidisc player/recorders to play backing tracks I myself have recorded/engineered myself. I'd have about 14 discs ready to go (we're talking over 140 songs of various genres) and would have to insert them on the fly while we're performing (among other live sound duties, all while still playing/singing). Though it was a royal PITA, it worked and I got used to it. This week ALL our gear was stolen (10,000.00 worth of live gear) from our truck. I've begun replacing most of the components. I'm now looking for a solution to playing backing tracks and wonder if a better option is available. I'm aware of the new Sony Hi-MD, but those little fragile players scare me as far as holding up under constant button pushes and toggles. Can anyone reccomend a replacement for the minidisc or know of a workhorse Minidisc player with 2 wells or even an integrated Hardrive? I'd love to have ALL the music already stored and ready to go! I see Denon has a "recorder"....one rack space but uses Flash cards? I'm open to any advice so thanks very much in advance.
Members Meatball Fulton Posted August 30, 2005 Members Posted August 30, 2005 Sorry to hear about the theft. No dual well MD players exist. Hard drive players? Well, a $500 laptop could be the way to go. Strip off all the Microsoft crap that you don't need, get a decent USB audio interface ($100 or less) if the headphone out is too noisy then add your favorite (free) player software.
Members 88Fingerz Posted August 30, 2005 Author Members Posted August 30, 2005 Thanks Mr. Meat. Hey...do you think a show could flow using a laptop? For instance with 2 minidisc players I was able to cue up the next song, ready to go once the previous song ended...thus keeping demanding bridal parties on the dance floor, never missing a beat (or wondering why they just didn't hire a DJ). Thanks for the tips!
Members ned911 Posted August 30, 2005 Members Posted August 30, 2005 Have you thought about midi? with Cakewalk/Sonar they have features that automatically que up the next song. You can even set a delay time before the next song kicks off.
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