Mixing & mastering backing tracks

Aidy · 03-26-2010, 05:24 AM

Hi, I do a lot of recording at home already, but want to sort out some backing tracks to use live, anyone got any tips or advice on this? Is it much different to mixing and mastering for a regular CD release?

Freebase Dali · 03-26-2010, 05:14 PM

I guess it would depend on the material itself and your situation while live. Obviously if you're playing backing tracks at a venue over a known pair of loudspeakers, you'll want to reference your mix on them and make mixing decisions based on those speakers and the acoustics of the venue if that's where your backing tracks will primarily be heard.
At the very least, make several different mixes of the backing tracks that each adhere to certain characteristics, I.E. one mix light in the bass/low end, the other a little heavier, so on and so forth... and see if you can play all of the versions through the loudspeakers at soundcheck and determine which mix works better for the specific venue.
Depending on what exactly your backing tracks are, you may not even have to worry much.

May I ask what your backing tracks consist of?

Aidy · 03-29-2010, 03:11 AM

Thanks for that, my tracks are basically gonna be full versions of my songs with the guitar turned down, which I'll play live, and vocals off.
They vary a lot but usually consist of drums, bass, lead guitar and some synth. Someone told me to leave the rhythm guitar in at a low level to give a better sound when playing along.

Freebase Dali · 03-30-2010, 03:31 PM

Yea, that can sound good if you're able to play along to the backing rhythm track precisely. The doubling effect fattens up the sound nicely. But if you play out of sync to it, it's going to be noticeable depending on how loud the backing track is... so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that if it's low enough in the background to not be noticeable when you play out of sync, then it's probably not loud enough to be helping in the first place... so finding that balance is important.

Aidy · 03-31-2010, 05:54 AM

Cheers for the advice :-) I take it you've had some first hand experience with this kind of thing then?

Freebase Dali · 03-31-2010, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aidy

Cheers for the advice :-) I take it you've had some first hand experience with this kind of thing then?

Not so much the actual using of the backtracks, but mixing for those that do.

03-26-2010, 05:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
Aidy Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Cambridge Posts: 50	Mixing & mastering backing tracks Hi, I do a lot of recording at home already, but want to sort out some backing tracks to use live, anyone got any tips or advice on this? Is it much different to mixing and mastering for a regular CD release?

03-26-2010, 05:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I guess it would depend on the material itself and your situation while live. Obviously if you're playing backing tracks at a venue over a known pair of loudspeakers, you'll want to reference your mix on them and make mixing decisions based on those speakers and the acoustics of the venue if that's where your backing tracks will primarily be heard. At the very least, make several different mixes of the backing tracks that each adhere to certain characteristics, I.E. one mix light in the bass/low end, the other a little heavier, so on and so forth... and see if you can play all of the versions through the loudspeakers at soundcheck and determine which mix works better for the specific venue. Depending on what exactly your backing tracks are, you may not even have to worry much. May I ask what your backing tracks consist of?

03-29-2010, 03:11 AM	#3 (permalink)
Aidy Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Cambridge Posts: 50	Thanks for that, my tracks are basically gonna be full versions of my songs with the guitar turned down, which I'll play live, and vocals off. They vary a lot but usually consist of drums, bass, lead guitar and some synth. Someone told me to leave the rhythm guitar in at a low level to give a better sound when playing along.

03-30-2010, 03:31 PM	#4 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Yea, that can sound good if you're able to play along to the backing rhythm track precisely. The doubling effect fattens up the sound nicely. But if you play out of sync to it, it's going to be noticeable depending on how loud the backing track is... so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that if it's low enough in the background to not be noticeable when you play out of sync, then it's probably not loud enough to be helping in the first place... so finding that balance is important.

03-31-2010, 05:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
Aidy Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Cambridge Posts: 50	Cheers for the advice :-) I take it you've had some first hand experience with this kind of thing then?