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Author Topic: Creating Backing Tracks for Live Shows  (Read 2258 times)
warnakey
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« on: February 14, 2010, 11:05:09 PM »

I'm going to be performing a couple shows in March and I've been pretty obsessed with trying to make sure these shows go way better than the shows I've had in the past.

I used to record all of my tracks with real instruments and mix them and then take my completed instrumental tracks (that had been mixed for CD) and put them on an Ipod and then play guitar or keyboard over those and sing at my shows. But I realized that I wasn't getting the best sound that I could performing like this. For example, the sound coming from the Ipod through the speakers would seem very "compressed". This "compressed" sound didn't have anything to do with the loss of quality when mixing down to mp3, but instead, I found out I was making a mistake mixing by relying on compressors and limiters too much, which was brickwalling my songs so much that even when I tried turning up the volume it didn't seem to get louder, just more distored (especially when played over nice speakers). So I did some research and bought a couple things to help me out.

1. I bought a USB mixer that I can plug into a laptop so I can mix my guitars, keyboards, vocals and the backing track coming from the laptop, all at the same time. It seems simple, but I always just preferred digital mixers or trusting the sound guy at whatever venue (huge mistake).

2. I got a wireless in-ear monitor system, so we can hear the tempo and melody that we are supposed to be singing in our ears. I realized that not hearing our backing tracks was another big problem that I had.


This is like the first major purchase I have made on musical equipment in quite a while, so I'm a little bit anxious, but I think I deserve it.

I also want to share one of the songs I'm going to be singing during these shows. I've been really loving orchestral music lately, so I want to finish some really good orchestral/pop songs, but its just impossible to make that kind of music without software, so I've been making my backing tracks using the Miroslav Philharmonic VST plug-in and Adobe Audition to mix it. I am going to be playing piano live over this track, so if it feels a bit empty when you listen to it, its because the primary instrument, the piano, is purposefully left out of this live mix. I also tried hard to get great dynamics in this song and a lot of emotion. I hope you'll listen to it.


http://www.thelexingtons.net/isn't it nice to be loved (click track).wma This is lossless .WMA format. I intend to play this through a Zune or through a laptop.


PLEASE READ THIS: This is a click track! In the left channel is what I would hear in my ear (the tempo, the fake violin telling me the melody to sing, the other strings for chord reference, etc.). And in the right ear is a mono mix of what the audience will hear. If you want to hear the song without the click track just isolate the right channel! You just send the left channel to the wireless in-ear monitors and the right channels goes to the speakers in the Venue you will be performing. It's as easy as that!

Also, all of this information about backing tracks and click tracks was completely new to me just a couple days ago, so if anyone has any experience with backing tracks or who can listen to this file on a some good monitors, could you post a reply and let me know what you think about this topic?

- Eric

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