Making a backing track for live performance

[coasterbass]

Hi,

We're thinking about playing a fairly ambitious song (for us anyway) and think we're going to need a backing track for some drum parts and bass/ambient parts.

We've got a couple of midi keyboards, and I've got a laptop. I'm guessing that these might be useful but I have no idea where to go from here.... please help.

Would the track be recorded onto the laptop? I guess that means software... but what? My computer has no midi connections and doesn't have a special soundcard - are these necessary? Any recommendations?

Many thanks

Nick

[Eight]

If this is a one-off, then it might be easier to do it in a studio, where someone can mix it and maybe have it mastered.
Edit: Ok, possibly not valid if you're not talking real world instruments. I made a boob here.

If you look at the other threads here on computer audio / audio interface / home recording etc. you'll see it can take a bit of starting and usually requires some outlay.

To quickly answer your questions though:

If you can get away with midi programming everything (and using vsts / sample libraries etc. for the sounds) then all you'll need is a sequencer (e.g. Sonar, Cubase, Ableton Live, Reaper etc.) and some virtual instruments. Otherwise expect to have to buy a proper audio interface (NOT a soundcard) and possibly/probably some studio monitors.

Edit: Guessing your laptop doesn't have a midi port - so you'll at least need to fork out on a midi interface, but most audio interfaces have one built in btw.

Then you'll need to try and learn what you're doing, including the horrible bit at the end when you've done your backing track but it needs mastering for that professional finish. White man's magic. Easier to pay someone who knows what they're doing there.

Edited April 7, 2009 by Eight

[BigRedX]

Before you even start thinking about how to record the extra parts just consider is it really worth the hassle - especially for just one song?

There are two inter-related issues here; how to record the backing and then how to play it back. You're asking about the recording when in fact the back back element is probably more critical and will probably dictate how you produce the backing track.

So the first thing to consider is how you are going to play along in sync with your backing.

Is there a strong rhythmic element all the way through? If so you might simply get away with having the backing in your monitors and playing along to it. However unless the rhythm is particularly strong and has a tonality that is distinct from the live instruments it will tend to get lost in the monitor mix especially so when you're actually in time with it.

The more conventional way is to have a separate click track that only the drummer can hear and for the rest of the band to play to the live drums. So has your drummer ever played to a click track before? If not now is the time to find out. Also what sort of click does the drummer play best with? A simple one click per beat with an accent on the 1st beat of the bar or something with a bit more of a groove? Also unless your drummer currently uses in-ear monitoring then getting the click to them will introduce all sorts of extra equipment. I've done this a lot in the bands that I've been in and every drummer is different. Some want to use a rhythmic pattern in the drum monitors, others want anything from just the click in the headphones to a full individually controllable band mix!

Remember the aim here is to keep your drummer happy. If they aren't comfortable playing to the backing, the song is never going to feel right. Also if only the drummer can hear the guide rhythm you'll probably have to remind them to click the rest of the band through any rhythm free segments of the song otherwise no matter how good your time keeping is you'll get out of sync with the backing.

Having sorted out how your going to play along with the backing, you can now think about how you're going to play the backing. Personally I would not recommend using a computer when it's only for one song. It's fine if you use it for a good proportion of the set and you have a band member who knows what they are doing and how to cope with any potential problems. From the wording of your original post that does not seem to be the case. Also I couldn't recommend a Windows PC unless [b]YOU DON'T USE IT FOR ANYTHING ELSE AT ALL EVER[/b]. The last thing you want is for the backing to be unreliable because you've picked up some nasty from other activities on the computer.

I'd go for something pre-recorded on and played back either from CD on an MP3 player of some description. Because you'll probably need one channel for the drummer's guide that means you'll only have one channel for a mixed version of the backing the audience will hear. In any case unless you have your own FoH sound engineer being able to change the mix of the backing track isn't a priority. You need to keep it as simple as possible.

What you need to weigh up is how much better your set is going to be with this song included in all it's backing glory against all the extra equipment and sorting out it is going to take to achieve that. A simple mono mix for FoH with a guide track for the drummer played back from some reliable source (and have a back up source too) is the best. Least amount to go wrong and if for some reason you can't do the song you have brought and set up loads of gear with no end result. I've been in bands that have used real-time controllable/changeable backing and the end result was fantastic. But we needed our own FoH engineer, we took an extra two band member's worth of equipment on stage (without the extra 2 member to set it up). It took much longer to set up than a standard band, added about £7000 to the equipment budget, and while we never had any live equipment failures there were a couple of dodgy moments! Think carefully before embarking on that route.

As for recording, unless you already have the equipment, get someone else to do it for you. MIDI isn't an issue unless your going to use it for play back and hopefully you'll have seen from the last paragraph why that's probably not a good idea for you. Unless you think you may end up doing more songs like this, IMO for one song I don't think the investment in equipment and the time you'll need to learn it is worth the effort.