Question for those who are not offended by live backing tracks

wedgewedge · 19th June 2007

i want my drummer to play with a few backing tracks... drum machiney parts, strings, maybe the occasional sound effect...

we did this and he gets off time a bit. he would prefer if we have a click going to him and the backing tracks out to the p.a.

thats where i get confused. i dont know how to do this. i recorded all of the songs on PT, but i transfered all of the files i want onto garage band on my laptop. i know bands do this sort of thing, i just dont know how.

anybody have some advice for an electronic music beginner? thanks!

**Remoteness** · 19th June 2007

Split the tracks into a few channels.
Send the click track to the drummer's ears.
Send the rest of the tracks to the PA and/or monitors.
If you only have two tracks to deal with, mix the click to one (track) side and the pre-recorded instruments to the other (side) track.
Pretty simple stuff. Give it a shot.
I hope this helps.

wedgewedge · 19th June 2007

i have the tracks playing back in garageband. i have about 5-12 tracks per song. they are coming out of a G4 laptop to a mackie 1202 vlz mixer. i dont understand how i can get seperate tracks to seperate places when im only using one output (the headphone output of the G4).

should i pick up a usb/firewire audio/midi interface? sorry, its very confusing for me.

zilver · 19th June 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by wedgewedge

i have the tracks playing back in garageband. i have about 5-12 tracks per song. they are coming out of a G4 laptop to a mackie 1202 vlz mixer. i dont understand how i can get seperate tracks to seperate places when im only using one output (the headphone output of the G4).

should i pick up a usb/firewire audio/midi interface? sorry, its very confusing for me.

Like Remoteness said, in your case (only stereo out) you can mix the click to one side and the rest to the other.

Good luck, Hans

wedgewedge · 19th June 2007

okay, thanks... i will give that a try.

Jim vanBergen · 20th June 2007

In addition to the stereo buss outs, you also have two aux sends you could send individual tracks to. Worth thinking about!

Steve Smith · 20th June 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by wedgewedge

should i pick up a usb/firewire audio/midi interface? sorry, its very confusing for me.

Yes.

M-audio makes some very affordable ones.. if you had 4 outputs, you could do a stereo mix to FOH and then run a click to the drummer. If you dont use inears, rather than puttign the click in the drummers floor wedge, get a cheap headphone amp and have him wear "ear buds" ( like the headphones that come with a walkman or ipod) he will be able to hear the cleick and since there is really no isoation with those he will still hear the floor monitor as well.

wedgewedge · 20th June 2007

i just sold an alesis io|2 on ebay. "im not gonna need this thing... ill just run it direct!" oops... i used to have a trascam us-122 that i liked as well. i need to stop selling gear when i think i wont need it anymore.

but yes, i do want to run a stereo mix to the house. i have only an occasional stereo track here and there for a bit of lush ambience, and my tracks are mono for the most part, but i dont want that stereoness gone on those few selected tracks. i do have some shure E2's for the drummer to wear.

thanks, and im sure with your guys help i will conquer this thing!... uh, i hope.

foldback · 20th June 2007

I have done this many times and many ways, everything from Garageband playing live to using Protools LE 002R for playback to using an iPod.

In the end, just using an iPod for playback worked as well as anything. I mixed my material on my PA speakers so I had it sounding right. I put the click on the left and everthing else on the right and use the PA in mono.

KISS is the principle here. Get your mix as worked out as possible. I ran the mix track thru a 1/3 octave eq so it could be tweaked for the room.

Finding a click track that works for your drummer is one of the biggest hurdles and many people don't give it enough attention. My studio drummer in LA likes a closed hi hat chip sound. The drummer in my local band needs a deafening snap kind of click. The kind of headphones the drummer wears can also impact his ability to play in time. My live drummer likes isolated closed cans. This helps him here the click better and that is sooooooo important. At times, he has gotton one click off, then we're all out of sync and the whole thing sux bad, in this case, we say the drummer is "one beat off"

If you have a full time sound engineer who is there for every gig and knows the drill, then multi-track can be an enhancement. Otherwise, I would urge you to get your mix really squared away and go mono. I have a 1GHZ 12" G4 powerbook and have done this using the earphone output jack, pan the click left and music right. This setup sounds good and works good. I run the right output to a transformer DI box and send to the pa as balanced mic level.

My band is 3-piece, guitar, bass and drums. It is an awesome effect to suddenly have a huge string section or brass section join us for a couple of songs. I have also done solo gigs with a recorded backing track. The principle is the same as syncing a live drummer, keep it stupid simple (kiss).

Dont forget, you can make a custom click track too so you dont have to use the Garageband metronome for the drummer. I have several sounds that I have made into Appleloops for custom clicks. Much easier on the drummers ears.

Good Luck

Mark King

nathanvacha · 20th June 2007

i'd suggest same thing as mark. put it on an ipod with the click in one ear, the music in the other. use the stereo out as a 2 track out, two mono tracks.

drummechanic · 11th August 2011

Hey, guys. I've tried to use an iPod with the tracks panned left (or center) and the click panned right, but I get bleed over. It's probably the most frustrating thing ever. We ended up using Logic, an interface and then to a mixer and it was just super stressful.
A friend of mine was telling me this was how he did his:
Back tracks right (or center), then click left, both are sent to a mixer, left in channel one, right in channel two, main out right (click) sent to headphones, main out left (back tracks) sent to a DI box, then DI box to PA.
Would this work?
Can anyone see why it wouldn't?
Does a DI box separate the signal?
I just can't get it to work for me, but everyone talks like it's as simple as walking. Haha. Any help would be great.

**Remoteness** · 12th August 2011

With regard to using an iPod, the idea is to do a dry run...

Test different click gain levels to make sure it doesn't bleed into the other channel.

Record the tracks hot and the click as softly as possible.

19th June 2007	#1
wedgewedge Gear nut Joined: Feb 2007 Location: athens usa Posts: 78 Thread Starter	Question for those who are not offended by live backing tracks i want my drummer to play with a few backing tracks... drum machiney parts, strings, maybe the occasional sound effect... we did this and he gets off time a bit. he would prefer if we have a click going to him and the backing tracks out to the p.a. thats where i get confused. i dont know how to do this. i recorded all of the songs on PT, but i transfered all of the files i want onto garage band on my laptop. i know bands do this sort of thing, i just dont know how. anybody have some advice for an electronic music beginner? thanks!

19th June 2007	#2
Remoteness Super Moderator Joined: Aug 2002 Location: NYC Posts: 7,405	Split the tracks into a few channels. Send the click track to the drummer's ears. Send the rest of the tracks to the PA and/or monitors. If you only have two tracks to deal with, mix the click to one (track) side and the pre-recorded instruments to the other (side) track. Pretty simple stuff. Give it a shot. I hope this helps. __________________ Steve Remote AuraSonicLtd.com the home of ASL Mobile & Location Production Remoteness on the Linkedin Network What about my Facebook Profile? Remoteness on Myspace

11th August 2011	#11
drummechanic Gear interested Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 1	Bleed over Hey, guys. I've tried to use an iPod with the tracks panned left (or center) and the click panned right, but I get bleed over. It's probably the most frustrating thing ever. We ended up using Logic, an interface and then to a mixer and it was just super stressful. A friend of mine was telling me this was how he did his: Back tracks right (or center), then click left, both are sent to a mixer, left in channel one, right in channel two, main out right (click) sent to headphones, main out left (back tracks) sent to a DI box, then DI box to PA. Would this work? Can anyone see why it wouldn't? Does a DI box separate the signal? I just can't get it to work for me, but everyone talks like it's as simple as walking. Haha. Any help would be great.

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20th June 2007	#6
Jim vanBergen Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2005 Location: New York Friggin' City Posts: 2,562	In addition to the stereo buss outs, you also have two aux sends you could send individual tracks to. Worth thinking about!

20th June 2007	#9
foldback Rocket Scientist Joined: Nov 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,221 1 Review written	I have done this many times and many ways, everything from Garageband playing live to using Protools LE 002R for playback to using an iPod. In the end, just using an iPod for playback worked as well as anything. I mixed my material on my PA speakers so I had it sounding right. I put the click on the left and everthing else on the right and use the PA in mono. KISS is the principle here. Get your mix as worked out as possible. I ran the mix track thru a 1/3 octave eq so it could be tweaked for the room. Finding a click track that works for your drummer is one of the biggest hurdles and many people don't give it enough attention. My studio drummer in LA likes a closed hi hat chip sound. The drummer in my local band needs a deafening snap kind of click. The kind of headphones the drummer wears can also impact his ability to play in time. My live drummer likes isolated closed cans. This helps him here the click better and that is sooooooo important. At times, he has gotton one click off, then we're all out of sync and the whole thing sux bad, in this case, we say the drummer is "one beat off" If you have a full time sound engineer who is there for every gig and knows the drill, then multi-track can be an enhancement. Otherwise, I would urge you to get your mix really squared away and go mono. I have a 1GHZ 12" G4 powerbook and have done this using the earphone output jack, pan the click left and music right. This setup sounds good and works good. I run the right output to a transformer DI box and send to the pa as balanced mic level. My band is 3-piece, guitar, bass and drums. It is an awesome effect to suddenly have a huge string section or brass section join us for a couple of songs. I have also done solo gigs with a recorded backing track. The principle is the same as syncing a live drummer, keep it stupid simple (kiss). Dont forget, you can make a custom click track too so you dont have to use the Garageband metronome for the drummer. I have several sounds that I have made into Appleloops for custom clicks. Much easier on the drummers ears. Good Luck Mark King

20th June 2007	#10
nathanvacha Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2005 Location: Orlando Posts: 1,231	i'd suggest same thing as mark. put it on an ipod with the click in one ear, the music in the other. use the stereo out as a 2 track out, two mono tracks.

12th August 2011	#12
Remoteness Super Moderator Joined: Aug 2002 Location: NYC Posts: 7,405	With regard to using an iPod, the idea is to do a dry run... Test different click gain levels to make sure it doesn't bleed into the other channel. Record the tracks hot and the click as softly as possible.