Sequencers/Backing Tracks Live - Advice Please?
Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:20 am
Hey all... I just needed to ask some advice of those who have maybe done this before:
I'm in the beginning stages of putting together a band to perform my original music and I'm planning on flying in some of the keyboard parts as audio tracks. I'm hot and heavy on using an iPad to do this that will be positioned back by my drummer. He'll have earbuds and be able to hear a guidetrack and a click. Meaning one audio track will have a voice that gives the name of the song at the beginning than an actual verbal count "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8" (two bars but count eight for safety's sake in case playback starts late, whatever) before the click then starts.
I'm planning on using an iPad DAW called Meteor that I like very much. The plan is that while it is playing back audio, I can also have a MIDI interface attached to it and get it to change all the patches in my guitar rig for me as well. No more tap dancing.
Here's one of my primary concerns however:
A lot of guys locally are doing this in small clubs (the backing tracks thing) on a song or two from iPods, etc. and using just the stereo outs. The click is hard panned left, a MONO mix of the backing tracks are panned hard right and then that mono mix of the backing tracks goes to the house PA.
In a lot of these situations, especially as an original act, you have minimal setup and you never know what you're going to get with the house FOH engineer. My first question though is that would I be better off trying to get an interface for the iPad with four discrete outputs (Focusrite Scarlett series is supposed to work and has MIDI interface) and try to have "stems" for the mix engineer? For example, synth and keys on one output, sound effects on another, perhaps some backing vocals on another (having issues with band members singing... don't ask!). My concern is, and perhaps I'm overthinking this, that a mono blend of these various elements that sounds good when set in a rehearsal studio or my recording studio may sound funky in the acoustics of a club and that stems might allow a soundman to make adjustments with "like sounds" to compensate for room deficiencies or whatever that I can't anticipate pre-mixing everything.
Anyway... any advice is appreciated. Frankly, as a old school rocker, who has never really used backing tracks in actual performance, I'm deeply concerned about it because of the "trainwreck" potential should the drummer not be able to keep with the click (he's doing fine in rehearsals) or some sort of equipment/technical failure.
I'm in the beginning stages of putting together a band to perform my original music and I'm planning on flying in some of the keyboard parts as audio tracks. I'm hot and heavy on using an iPad to do this that will be positioned back by my drummer. He'll have earbuds and be able to hear a guidetrack and a click. Meaning one audio track will have a voice that gives the name of the song at the beginning than an actual verbal count "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8" (two bars but count eight for safety's sake in case playback starts late, whatever) before the click then starts.
I'm planning on using an iPad DAW called Meteor that I like very much. The plan is that while it is playing back audio, I can also have a MIDI interface attached to it and get it to change all the patches in my guitar rig for me as well. No more tap dancing.
Here's one of my primary concerns however:
A lot of guys locally are doing this in small clubs (the backing tracks thing) on a song or two from iPods, etc. and using just the stereo outs. The click is hard panned left, a MONO mix of the backing tracks are panned hard right and then that mono mix of the backing tracks goes to the house PA.
In a lot of these situations, especially as an original act, you have minimal setup and you never know what you're going to get with the house FOH engineer. My first question though is that would I be better off trying to get an interface for the iPad with four discrete outputs (Focusrite Scarlett series is supposed to work and has MIDI interface) and try to have "stems" for the mix engineer? For example, synth and keys on one output, sound effects on another, perhaps some backing vocals on another (having issues with band members singing... don't ask!). My concern is, and perhaps I'm overthinking this, that a mono blend of these various elements that sounds good when set in a rehearsal studio or my recording studio may sound funky in the acoustics of a club and that stems might allow a soundman to make adjustments with "like sounds" to compensate for room deficiencies or whatever that I can't anticipate pre-mixing everything.
Anyway... any advice is appreciated. Frankly, as a old school rocker, who has never really used backing tracks in actual performance, I'm deeply concerned about it because of the "trainwreck" potential should the drummer not be able to keep with the click (he's doing fine in rehearsals) or some sort of equipment/technical failure.