View Poll Results: Backing Tracks for live gigs
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You're absolutely right that music was more advanced back in the day because that's what the 'market' paid for. The kings' court and such. It's fascinating to me that we still have talented pop musicians making somewhat emotionally impactful music. But it's filtered. I miss the old way where the artists played exactly what they meant and the market supported it, and society enjoyed it. Oh well, it's never going back. Fortunately, the grass roots styles of music still continue on, only not as popular forms in society.
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04-26-2021 04:54 AM
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I think it is also important that 20th century was a century of pop culture and originally it was produced by America (and I understand why) and it gave a unique possibility for rare talents to express themselves in pop culture.
Originally Posted by Clint 55
It was great and we got used that there were The Beatles and Chaplin, Elvis and Disney... that really mass culture can produce masterpieces.
But the problem of pop culture is that it cannot last long or form a school and tradition.
And that is what we have now... it is exhausted and it becomes what it really is ... a mass entertainment.
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It's about generations. Born in the late 50's a lot of us were flashy. Music videos, dancing. Acting weird. We're 'younger' boomers. GenX turned literally everything upside down. Music became something based on street logic. Millennials turned rap into a source of comedy They're technical. They break things down to a science in music. Originally Posted by Jonah
Now it's Gen Z's turn and women are leading the way. Cardi B, Billy Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo.
It's just pop music but there can be moments of brilliance.
This thing with 'entertainment' has been going on for 35 years in pop.
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If it is that easy to replace a musician by a backing track . . . . Originally Posted by Will St Peter
Well, the musician was in trouble to begin with.
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We do not talk about top of the market... of course Scofield or Benson would not exclude a musician from the band bacause of that. Originally Posted by Marcel_A
Or middle segment where they would consider efficiency but would not sacrifice music.
But as we speak about bottom of the market - the biggest area - where musicians struggle for every buck.... they would easily substitute even good bassist or drummer if they can emulate them with backing tracks, or pedals and drum machine and they can live with decrease of musical quality
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Originally Posted by Jonah
Market? Which market? I guess some would like to call themselves musicians where in fact they are just hobbyists who charge money every now and then.
Besides that: every bandleader knows that bringing more musicians means more paychecks to pay. Hence . . . smaller bands. Having a hornsection means your doing good. Replace a hornsection by one sax/trumpet and a keyboard, and it means you're doing not so good. Leaving out the one horn, it means . . . . . Well fill in teh blanks.
You are making it sound like there is a crisis going on. We have the corononacrisis, a housingcrisis, a political crisis and above all there is a crisis in musicianmarket: they are replacing bassplayers with backingtracks!
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I would always opt for live musicians on gigs where the budget allows. Always. Greed is unacceptable. However, there are lots of gigs, i.e. senior facilities, small cafes and restaurants where neither the budget nor the space allows for more than a solo act. in those conditions, my home-studio made tracks keep me employed on the local level. When I use tracks, the only criticisms I ever get are from other musicians, and they never pay to get in, so I never worry about what they think. they're always eager to accept a gig from me, though. Originally Posted by Marcel_A
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Anything goes on gigs and in the studio. Downsizing isn't going away. You might be the best band around but fewer people and more tech might make more money for the venue.
Backing tracks- yes.
I'd be bored out of my mind doing it but there's no sense in being a hater.
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Just use a looper.
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If someone uses the backing tracks reasonably and tastefully... I'm all for it.
Of course, it all depends on what you're playing and in what style.
I used to do a solo in a music studio with live musicians... it was also like a backig track.
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8 years later, id like to chime in and say I've come around on this and have softened my stance and hatred against people who gig "jazz" with backing tracks.
Just kidding!
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Just did this last night...about 50/50 chord melody/looper. bought one of those new Boss RC-5 loopers. its great..i record myself in garage band and then bounce the track to the Boss looper and store the track. it has and internal memory of 99 slots. So i guess its a backing track sorta, but its me playing, using my Godin or Moffa and no other instruments. im just not using the looper on the fly...yet
Originally Posted by strumcat
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For those interested in how tracks can sound live, here is a live recording (two-minute listen) from a retirement home gig earlier this week.
There are four song snippets, chosen to showcase listener response rather than my decidedly modest guitar and vocal skills (I’m no jazzer, but I do play a number of standards). I put my H2N on the floor about 6 feet in front of my speaker and let it run for an hour.
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I don't like using backing tracks but I have used them in situations where the budget did not permit for me hire sidemen.
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Perhaps a better question would be “does the reality of your venue require backing tracks?”
Restaurant gigs are where I see some fine jazz musicians use backing tracks due to limited space and a tip jar (no need to split with the virtual band). Here in Houston, most non-club jazz gigs are at fine restaurants. You rarely see more than duos playing live.
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Pay musicians. Elevate expectations for solo performances. Just say no to tracks.
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Totally agree. Venue owners are getting away with not paying a decent wage to musicians, waitresses, bar tenders, etc. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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If you are relying on backing tracks for a live solo guitar gig to substantively or meaningfully fill out the musical space, it just means you don’t know how to play your instrument and probably need serious time in the shed.
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Glad to see this old thread still thriving two years on!
Although I was a work-a-day musician long before backing tracks were a thing, I’m now a casual player. I get invited to do a one-off solo guitar set, maybe twice a year, usually as part of a local event.
Initially I used backing tracks on a couple of tunes, or for a medley, until I found them too predictable and very constricting, which oddly made it feel stressful.
After corona shut things down for a while, it seemed like everyone was going solo. So I used the idle time to up my chord melody game. I also got inspired by what Scofield, Frisell and others were doing with loopers and effectors, and decided to give them a whirl, dumping the backing tracks.
Not much of a tap dancer for the fancy stuff, so I settled into an approach in the most recent set, a suite of 3 Jobim tunes (to commemorate his birthday in January), by starting with some rubato ambient improv on melody variants over a drone, and then making a 2-4 chord vamp on the fly that evolved from a hybrid of the changes to do some rhythmic improv, and wrapping it up with a segue into a more or less straight forward chord melody.
Took about a month to work out the contours and settings, and about half an hour to perform it live. It was a bit looser but more relaxed than with the backing tracks, a lot more fun, and, most importantly, well received.
I think approaching a solo set as a suite of inter-related tunes, sans the tracks, has further potential, so next time I’m invited I’ll try something similar, perhaps with a different thematic inspiration.
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i totally agree, but i just came across this guy not sure he needs more time in the shed, (maybe not his best performance here) and hes using a abersold track at the namm show, mind blown lol Originally Posted by Navdeep_Singh
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Google “Larry Carlton.” Originally Posted by jazzgtrl4
One of the great fusion guitarists of 80s and 90s. One of the most renowned studio musicians of his time.
Perhaps an outlier.
Also he’s playing here in a very specific situation … which is to say that he’s probably playing 30 minutes at the NAMM booth and the booth didn’t want to pay for a full band, and/or couldn’t fit one even if they did, and/or no one could hear them even if they were there.
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Nobody's bringing a band to NAMM to sell guitars. Originally Posted by jazzgtrl4
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Originally Posted by pamosmusic
google larry carlton..? you serious clark?
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I mean … you just came across that guy. Sarcasm in your original post or did you not realize it was Larry Carlton? Originally Posted by jazzgtrl4
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great solo...my fav at moment is Tal Farlows take.. band in a box tabs...if you cant handle the notation...mix them both before long you`ll be notating.
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