Help with Live Playback!

[Sword in Hand]

Hey,

I'm a solo musician who has been recording songs for a while now and I'm ready to start playing live. The problem is, I don't have a band. I've decided to play an instrument and sing while a pre-recorded track plays everything else in the background.

I'm going to need some sort of playback device for the pre-recorded material and I'm thinking a DI. I want my setup to be simple, reliable, durable and cost effective, somewhere in the 300 to 500 dollar range. This setup will hopefully be short-term so it would be great if the pieces of gear you all recommend could have some sort of double use. A DI for use with my keyboards after it's no longer needed with the playback device, for instance.


Thanks,
Sword in Hand

[mischultz]

Originally Posted by Sword in Hand

Hey,

I'm a solo musician who has been recording songs for a while now and I'm ready to start playing live. The problem is, I don't have a band. I've decided to play an instrument and sing while a pre-recorded track plays everything else in the background.

I'm going to need some sort of playback device for the pre-recorded material and I'm thinking a DI. I want my setup to be simple, reliable, durable and cost effective, somewhere in the 300 to 500 dollar range. This setup will hopefully be short-term so it would be great if the pieces of gear you all recommend could have some sort of double use. A DI for use with my keyboards after it's no longer needed with the playback device, for instance.


Thanks,
Sword in Hand

Not entirely sure I'm following the "DI as playback device" line of thought, but you could certainly run from an iPod headphone out to a DI: simple, portable and well within budget. This is assuming that you're relying on a house PA for amplification, which isn't entirely clear.

My advice to most folks starting out live is to keep things as simple as possible. If the songs absolutely need the additional background to work, then do that and do it well, but guitar/piano and vocal done right can be quite compelling on its own.

Best of luck with whatever path you choose.

Michael

[tINY]

Backing tracks bug me. But, they seem to be all the rage anymore.....

If you have to do it, you could use the recorder you created the Karioke tracks on (if it's portable). Else, a solid-state playback device is a pretty good choice.

If there are no Balanced outputs, then a DI box is a good idea, but a line impedance converter like the ones you used to get from radio shack are pretty reasonable (and inexpensive)



-tINY

[Sword in Hand]

The wording was confusing, I need a playback device and a DI. I will be running it into whatever house PA there is at that particular venue.

I was thinking about an iPOD with a Radial JDI Duplex. Do you think that the quality will be sufficient enough for what I'm doing? If I'm blasting rock music at rock venue levels I don't think anybody is going to care what kind of DA conversion is going on. Am I wrong about that?

tINY do you think 2 line duplex converters will work well with an iPOD stereo out?
This isn't a karaoke it's hopefully going to be alot more dynamic than that. I play guitar, drums, keys, vox etc. Possibly happening at the same time.


Thanks for the fast replies

[tINY]

That box you quote seems mighty pricey for what you need to do. If you figure you'll have phantom power available, you might want to go for one of the less expensive active DI boxes. You won't be picking up much noise if the wires between the Karioke machine and DI are short.

I hooked up an Ipod for a wrapper last night. It seemed to work well......



-tINY

[Sword in Hand]

What about the cable length from the DI to the front of house Mixer? What would be too long going that way? I'm sure from the playback device to the DI I wouldn't go more than 10 ft. But to the mixer how long?

I chose the radial JDI duplex because it seems like you could use it on anything and it'll last forever.

But maybe I should go cheap.

[Sword in Hand]

Whoops. That's the other thing, I don't know if I'll have phantom at every venue. Plus I want control over what works and what doesn't. You know what I mean?

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by Sword in Hand

That's the other thing, I don't know if I'll have phantom at every venue.

every venue should be able to suply phantom, its more a case of how clean and reliable the phantom suply is. all venues should have DIs but quality of some is questionable. go passive or even self powered but passive is simplier, the ART Duel Passive DI is clean and cheep.
what playback devices do you already have? ive mainly had bands with CDs (just played using house CD player) or minidisc, or computers if its a more complex track. anything should work, just make sure its reliable

[Sword in Hand]

I don't have any outboard (portable) playback devices. So I'm thinking the iPOD will be the most bang for the buck.

As far as the DI, I will probably get a higher end DI, because I know that I could use this for other things as well (keyboards, bass etc.). The iPOD, on the other hand, won't be as useful once I have a band. But do you think that getting something like a Radial JDI duplex is overkill? Do you think a whirlwind stereo DI or an ART DI will be that much of a step down (build quality and sound quality wise)? I don't want to buy something cheap now and then realize later that it was a mistake. But if the difference is very slight then I'll probably go cheap.

I understand that most venues have a 48v and DIs, but I don't want to rely on too much of their gear. I want to be ready to roll in any situation at the best price to performance ratio.


Thanks

[Sword in Hand]

I also want full control over when my music plays and stops. If I go to a venue and the mixer doesn't know my stuff he might que at the wrong times. It's just easier if I have full access to the transport.

[tubesandteles]

Okay,
So I have only actually set this up for a couple of tracks. But I am in the same situation. Here is my setup.
SKB rack with:
Power Conditioner
896HD
B******** Headphone amp
AT Wireless for Acoustic guitar
Meek Brit Channel
Meek Brit Channel
x73i
TC Electronics M300 effects unit

I'll be running a custom PC (AMD processor/2 gig DDR) on stage (w/flat screen monitor) under a midi keyboard going to a Midi-sport interface. Also I have a M-Audio Trigger Finger connected to the Midi-sport interface.
The computer is running Cubase SX 2 rewired to Reason 3.0. (Trigger Finger triggers a Redrum module with a few drum samples and vocal samples. The midi Keyboard triggers a combinator.)
Cubase will have one large file open about 50 minutes long (length of set) with about 5 tracks running (1extra bckrd vocals, 2extra guitar, 3bass, 4loops/percussion, 5synths/pads and a click track NOT ROUTED TO MAINS) These are all just studio track stems from my CD put together in one Cubase file.
There will be a marker location set at the beginning of every new song.
I have a Frontier designs tranzport mounted on a mic stand. I use the marker buttons to skip to the beginnings of each song and the footswitch on the tranzport to start and stop. The click track is routed to output 3 on the Motu and goes into my in-ear monitor mix.
My vocal mic goes x73i (2 outs...1 to direct inject on my headphone monitor mix) to TC M300 to Motu. SM57 on my guitar cab to Meek British Channel to Motu. My Acoustic has a wireless, wireless unit goes to Meek British Channel to Motu. I also have a MicroKorg that goes directly to Motu.
All live inputs are mixed on computer screen with Motu Mix software and Main Outs on Motu Go to PA.
Does it make sense?
I went to this from tracks on a mini disc...LOL.
Either way, It can work.

[7rojo7]

tubesandteles, that sounds like a great setup. What kind of music are you doing and what kind of venues do you play?
I remember some mid 80's beatbox solos and duos that were pretty cool.
Nothing wrong as long as you're strong.

[jasonare]

Theres another aspect of this discussion I would like to share with you as I started as a one man project.

I use a ipod for triggering my backing and it will give you control your after.

However have you thought about your stage presence?

One person on stage will lose a crowds attention very quickly, and once you've lost them it can be very unfullfilling experience. My suggestion would be to hold off performing and go and find yourself session muso's to play part's of the backing, which will you leave you to be front man or whatever you wanna do.

Spend time at rehersal rooms with all your live gear, setting up and packing down is good practice and get used to performing your music at death man volume.

When your ready, start gigging and knock em dead

[Sword in Hand]

I understand your concern about one man on stage, but I don't have the money to afford session players and/or find people that will fit right with my music. I've been trying to form a band for over 2 years and can't find people who understand what I want to do.

I think my music is really great (I know, I know everybody says this, but it's different than most stuff in my area) and with the right light setup it should be interesting. Plus, most venues in my area only allow for a 30 min set. If people don't like the music they're probably not going to care for my presence anyway.

I'm not looking for a setup like tubesandteles, even though it sounds cool, because I plan on finding a band by getting out there and spreading the idea of my music. It's just a temporary solution I really do want a band to perform and write with.

Unless somebody can recommend something cheaper, the iPOD sounds the best.
I still don't know what DI to get Radial JDI Duplex, the ART stereo DI, Whirlwind PC-DI or Stereo box. Which one? Or is there something else. I don't need an esoteric type box, just something awesome that will last, basically forever.

Thanks all of you for your help.

[tINY]

If you are dead-set on spending $300 or more, you'l be better served by a small mixer like the Alesis multimix, Yamaha MG124, or a Mackie 1202. At least you could run your own monitors and effects, run a whole show with a rented PA speaker, or do your own mix (and send everything to the house in one feed).

You don't need jensen tranformers for a line-level output in a small-venue live show.



-tINY