Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Hey everyone, long time no see. Hope all you board regulars are doing fine!


I am doing a show soon with my fiancée. It's probably going to be a duo if we can't enlist the services of a couple of people she knows to fill out a full band. She mentioned using playbacks (various types, but the ones I've heard have drums, bass and background vocals) and I am wondering where is the best place to find them? I haven't had a chance to check iTunes yet but so far I haven't seen much available except for one European site that wanted to charge 10 Euros per song! (my fiancée says they get them for 1 Euro per song over in Germany)

I heard my fiancée do a duo show in Germany using playbacks; it's a common practice over there, but I hardly ever seen anyone in the US use them so I have no idea where to start in finding them for download.

If anyone has any tips, please let me know!

You could try these guys:

http://www.hittrax.com.au/


You'll have to decide whether you like their versions, though. Some are good, some are quite cheezy.

Or, you could make your own. You would have to learn how to compose in MIDI though (or DL MIDIs and tweak them), and then use a sampling program to replace the cheap MIDI sounds with real samples. It's not cheap, and it takes a lot of time.

Best of luck. A duo with your wife is the best band to have.

My hubs does restaurants gigs to backing tracks. He records his own, but I've gotten some from Rhapsody. Just type in the song you want and karaoke in the search. They have some decent versions.

Chaeya

Nary a clue.

But it's good to hear from you Colors.

Best to ya and your lady.

90 dB wrote:You could try these guys:

http://www.hittrax.com.au/


You'll have to decide whether you like their versions, though. Some are good, some are quite cheezy.

Or, you could make your own. You would have to learn how to compose in MIDI though (or DL MIDIs and tweak them), and then use a sampling program to replace the cheap MIDI sounds with real samples. It's not cheap, and it takes a lot of time.

Best of luck. A duo with your wife is the best band to have.

Thanks 90 db. I checked that site out; meh. But it did get me to revise my search and use the term "backing track" instead. I found a few sites off there.

My fiancée knows dozens of musicians in Europe that she played with over the years and they have many of the playbacks so hopefully I can snag them from those folks, that way she gets the playbacks she's used to hearing.

I see you're in Greeneville; I've spend several weekends recently in Hendersonville. Getting used to being over here in this neck of the woods

sanshouheil wrote:Nary a clue.

But it's good to hear from you Colors.

Best to ya and your lady.

Thanks Sans.

Been really busy. Cross-country move, new house, new job, getting used to living with my new family; enjoying life...

I'll have to see if I can get some pictures or audio from this upcoming show put up.

Of course... then the cat's out of the bag...

Just make sure he didn't leave anything in your weed.



But seriously ... God bless man !

Colors did you say FIANCEE!

Congratulations!

jw123 wrote:Colors did you say FIANCEE!

Congratulations!

Yeah JW, I did


And thanks man... I mean, I've been on Cloud 9 since it happened. Obviously...

Bit of a romantic story - I went to Germany to meet her in person after a long distance relationship with her. We went to Venice from there; I proposed in Venice, she said yes... Rest is kind of history. She had already planned on moving back to US, so I moved too. Been together for a while now, very happy. Happiest I've ever been in my entire life really.

Been keeping things under wraps though because she's a bit of a celebrity in Germany and values her privacy. She is a pro singer and has sang professionally for years.

She's the love of my life. Can't describe the relationship to other people very well. We're a perfect match; that's the basics. Never met two people so much alike as we are.

Im happy for ya.

I remember your trip a while back to meet her and all that.

Glad things are going good, I guess the way to stay in music is too get hooked up with a gal that plays or sings LOL. Mine stayed pissed all the time at all the gurls that showed up to rub my bald head. Kinda funny, Ive taken a break and grown a little hair back and now she rubs my head all the time. She never did when it was shaved go figure! Guess she didnt want to be one of the gurls.

Good Luck and Keep On Rockin

I am doing a show soon with my fiancée. It's probably going to be a duo if we can't enlist the services of a couple of people she knows to fill out a full band. She mentioned using playbacks (various types, but the ones I've heard have drums, bass and background vocals) and I am wondering where is the best place to find them? I haven't had a chance to check iTunes yet but so far I haven't seen much available except for one European site that wanted to charge 10 Euros per song! (my fiancée says they get them for 1 Euro per song over in Germany)

I thought that was called "KARAOKE"??

Just kidding for the most part.......

Stranger wrote:I thought that was called "KARAOKE"??

Just kidding for the most part.......

LOL, not quite.

In Europe, playbacks are used often, and they're high quality playbacks, and they leave out the lead vocals and the guitars. The playbacks provide provide the foundation (drums, bass, keys) but the core is the live singing and guitars. It's an interesting dynamic; the Europeans dig it, but then again they have a much better appreciation for live performances and live music.

ColorsFade wrote:

Stranger wrote:I thought that was called "KARAOKE"??

Just kidding for the most part.......

LOL, not quite.

In Europe, playbacks are used often, and they're high quality playbacks, and they leave out the lead vocals and the guitars. The playbacks provide provide the foundation (drums, bass, keys) but the core is the live singing and guitars. It's an interesting dynamic; the Europeans dig it, but then again they have a much better appreciation for live performances and live music.

I wouldn't say it's a "better" appreciation...just different.

When using these recorded backgrounds, the musician & singer become "locked in" to a tempo, an arrangement, to the point that there is little if any room for spontaneous onstage work. This removes a LOT of the energy from the live performance, imho. Europeans may appreciate it, but I do not, because this looks more like practice than performance, to me.

I've used backing tracks that I made. myself. I don't recommend it. Just look at all those Holiday Inn cheesemeisters who used the sequencers & drum machines in the 80's & 90's. It was awful to watch them working around their musical cues at any volume. Awkward hardly describes it.

I'd much rather hear a stripped-down version of a song, than to hear anyone try to become a robotic performer working with prerecorded material...but I'll admit that it's just personal taste. (As in I HAVE taste...& some others don't.)

philbymon wrote:I wouldn't say it's a "better" appreciation...just different.

I'd say "better" Phil because they PAY their performers over there You can make an actual living at it. And you can't pay them if the crowd isn't there...

I saw my fiancée play three shows when I was over there: one duo with backing tracks and two live full-band performances (6-piece bands each time). The crowd reaction that her and her bands got absolutely blew away anything I've witnessed in America for similar type shows.

On top of that, I know what they got paid... Which was a lot more than American bands get for similar work.

It's a far, far better environment for musicians over there. The economy has hurt it a bit (more DJ's getting hired instead of live bands) but overall, it's about 1000x better than it is here in America. The people over there value live entertainment and will pay for it.

Is it "different"? Yep. And better. Way better...

In that respect, I quite agree that foreign audiences are far, far better than American ones. Ian Anderson has often said that American audiences are the very worst in the world - rude, not listening, throwing things at the performers, demanding "Aqualung" over & over like it was the only song he'd ever recorded, etc.

However, they also accept many many things that I consider less than adequate, & pay for it. "Performance art," for example, posing as "musical performance."

Yes, they DO have a much better appreciation for many things which we do not, & I've often been the 1st to say that America is a tough, assholish market for any entertaining field of endeavor.

Still, I won't pretend to accept this version of musical performance, which, imho, should be restricted to the practice room, & never used on a stage.