Backing Tracks

[KCravens]

Is it a legitimate application to use a laptop to playback midi, audio files and software syth/sampler plug-ins for a live one-man country band type performance?

I have been out of the technology loop for quite awhile and barely know what I am talking about although I have had good success and a little experience creating midi tracks in Cakewalk Home studio to use as backing tracks to play in front of at home. I haven't really experimented with audio recording on the desktop because it is old and doesn't have a lot of HD space. But I would like to be able to record some fiddle or steel parts and take it to the gig. I've been using a Roland XP-50 as my sound engine but I have heard that software based virtual instruments and samplers would sound better

Is there a better or more efficient way to do what I want? Would the new powerful laptops be able to reliably handle this?

Thanks
Kim Cravens

[Fernando Ramirez]

Lots of folks use an audio recording program on a laptop, then connect it to the mixing board and use pre-recorded tracks.

I used to know a band that would record their songs first, using a Cakewalk program, and then just play along live with the recorded backing-track. This is a good thing to do if you have unreliable players. When the bass player doesn't show up, you just un-mute his track. This band sounded great... not exactly live in my opinon, but really good.

Another musician I know would record his backing tracks (with keyboards, a click track, guitar) onto a small Sony Net MD player, and then connect that to the mixing board. The band would play along to this. The click track helped the drummer keep good time, and some difficult keyboard parts would be played. (This musician would record his own keyboard parts, and it was easier to record that stuff onto a track and bring that than to lug 10-15 different and valuable keyboards to every gig.) I never figured out how he was able to mute the click track. I think maybe he would pan the click track to the left, feed the signal to the drummer, and mute it so it wouldn't go out to the audience the way the keyboards did. The keyboards must have been panned to the right.

Anyway, it's okay to do this. Lots of bands do it.

[dogrox]

I remember them days.. back in the 80s. We used to use Brother PDC-100 Midi data recorders hooked up to a Roland keyboard for the sounds (drums and bass) we were two guitar players doing a small club type act.. playing 50-60s classic to the later country and rock!! I even used them to do solo act as well hooked to a Yamaha Tg-55! .. there is NO shame in using it for small clubs.. but larger clubs they want the drive of a real band.. the push of a real drummer!!

There was other bands in the area that was using cassette tapes.. and doing backup vocals, and back up instruements as well on the tapes, (tho the quality of audio cassette tapes, was not as good as using MIDI data), to me that was like cheating the way they were recording the vocals etc etc , and you cant add lib to that!.. Thought you cant add lib MUCH to the Midi Sequensor either but if you had an 8 bar pattern looping you can get by ad libbing at times. :)

it was funny tho cause it was almost to a point where you go to your gig.. set up your gear..... press a button ... walk over to the bar order a drink and say "HOW DO WE SOUND?" hehehe ok ok well it was funny back then!! :P