The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Hey guys… I don’t have much experience at all with backing tracks. Where/how do you guys find yours? Do you subscribe to a service? Do you pull them from YouTube? Do you have a computer program or drum machine that generates them? Thanks for your help.


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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I use Logic to create backing tracks for singers and for my commercial solo gigs. I have several high-end drum programs that allow me to create fills and to actually play beats into the track on my keyboard. I also play the bass into the track as well as any rhythm guitar or guitar fills. This gives the track a live feel, then I can add horn or string parts if warranted. For latin feels, I generally play any drum parts in on the keyboard, while tracking shakers live with a microphone. The more you can record live instruments, the less machine-like your tracks will sound. I also like to record backing tracks into a looper using my 7-string With the right looper, you can have 3 separate sections recorded: head, blowing section and outro, cued by a pedal, so that you can play as few or as many choruses as might work. This is especially effective if you have a partner on the gig like a horn-player; thus you can have enough latitude for solos from your guest(s).

    All of this is mainly for background music gigs in restaurants or function situations. I have not yet played any kind of concert or listening situation with tracks, except for Senior Center audiences, and hope I never need to.

    There are thousands of tracks available for download from several companies as well. Many really suck, some are OK, the downside is that you are stuck with the format that you download. Check youtube for samples. Also, explore iReal Pro for basic tracks that can be adjusted for tempo, feel and key, very useful for practicing, somewhat useful for performing in a background music situation, and thousands of tunes are available. You can use your phone for playback, plugged into an amp or PA system. You can also create your own arrangements and save them to your playlists, all for very reasonable money. I have occasionally recorded one of those backing tracks into Logic and added to the spare arrangements provided; the drum tracks are really the weak link in iReal Pro. But the program does provide you with chord charts that can be edited for substitute changes or intros/endings, completely transposable and can be printed out for live work, and very useful feature for doing quick sketches for rhythm section, for instance.

  4. #3

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    Band in the Box is a great software for creating backing tracks.

  5. #4

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    irealpro plus bluetooth speakers

  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by ronjazz
    I use Logic to create backing tracks for singers and for my commercial solo gigs. I have several high-end drum programs that allow me to create fills and to actually play beats into the track on my keyboard. I also play the bass into the track as well as any rhythm guitar or guitar fills. This gives the track a live feel, then I can add horn or string parts if warranted. For latin feels, I generally play any drum parts in on the keyboard, while tracking shakers live with a microphone. The more you can record live instruments, the less machine-like your tracks will sound. I also like to record backing tracks into a looper using my 7-string With the right looper, you can have 3 separate sections recorded: head, blowing section and outro, cued by a pedal, so that you can play as few or as many choruses as might work. This is especially effective if you have a partner on the gig like a horn-player; thus you can have enough latitude for solos from your guest(s).

    All of this is mainly for background music gigs in restaurants or function situations. I have not yet played any kind of concert or listening situation with tracks, except for Senior Center audiences, and hope I never need to.

    There are thousands of tracks available for download from several companies as well. Many really suck, some are OK, the downside is that you are stuck with the format that you download. Check youtube for samples. Also, explore iReal Pro for basic tracks that can be adjusted for tempo, feel and key, very useful for practicing, somewhat useful for performing in a background music situation, and thousands of tunes are available. You can use your phone for playback, plugged into an amp or PA system. You can also create your own arrangements and save them to your playlists, all for very reasonable money. I have occasionally recorded one of those backing tracks into Logic and added to the spare arrangements provided; the drum tracks are really the weak link in iReal Pro. But the program does provide you with chord charts that can be edited for substitute changes or intros/endings, completely transposable and can be printed out for live work, and very useful feature for doing quick sketches for rhythm section, for instance.
    Wow - Great info, Ronjazz! Thank you!!


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