Live performance Click/Backing Tracks

Hammerin' Cameron · #1 05-28-2011, 10:24 PM

hey all...

just wondering if anybody out there is useing Click and Backing Tracks Live....

I recently got a gig dropped into my lap that is useing these.... so far I am useing My I-pod Touch or Laptop...(click hard panned left comeing just to me... and the backing track hard panned Right going to FOH)

what experance does anyone have???

did i miss a previous posted Thread???

I have been playing to Clicks / metonomes for years.... useing them as more of an even pace keeper to eliminate arguments from other band members.... either Boss Db metronomes or my HR-16 drum machine(real easy on the fly use)

my real question....

what has work best for anybody else...

Thanks for any input
HC

Naigewron · #2 05-29-2011, 01:09 AM

I play to a click live in both my bands, both because we use backing tracks and to keep the tempo under control. We usually didn't have problems with the tempo going up and down during songs, but we did tend to play songs too fast due to the adrenaline of the live show kicking in. The click tracks really help us out, meaning we know the tempo is spot on and we can concentrate on the song and performance instead.

I posted this in another thread a few days ago (there have been quite a few threads on this in the past)

Quote:

I used to run tracks from a Roland SPD-S, which would feed through the headphone out into a small mixer, which ran my in-ear monitors. The SPD-S line-out (one of the channels) would run straight to the front of house. Worked very well, but it was a fairly large and overcomplicated setup for our simple needs, and took some time to set up (annoying when we needed to get on and off the stage quickly).

However, now I have a BRILLIANT little device from SM Pro called the DI Dock Live. It's essentially an iPod dock created specifically for this exact purpose, so I'm now running click tracks and backing tracks both to my in-ear monitors and to the front of house through a single, small device. Made my life a lot easier. It allows me to send single channels to the front of house, while I can mix my own in-ear signal straight from the box (I can have only the click, only the track or a mix of both).

I highly recommend this little gadget. It even runs on phantom power (or a standard power adapter, of course).

Here's a link:
http://www.smproaudio.com/index.php/...xes/didocklive

Essentially, I've gone from this:

To this:

DrumEatDrum · #3 05-29-2011, 05:38 AM

I have in the past, with three different bands.

I admit, at first, it was a bit weird at first, but once I got used to it, it's like second nature.

As the drummer, I always want to be in control of the starting and stopping of the playback device, although in one band it was the keyboard player who started and stopped the sequencer, so we just had to make sure we had a good line of communication. You say you have used a click with a band before, so really, it's not any different of a concept.

My live rig was based on a DAT machine, but now with the easy use of iPods, I would certainly go that route and get one of the devices Naigewron posted about.

dantheman · #4 05-29-2011, 11:03 AM

back in the 80's I played with a trio that used backing tracks from a roland mc500. I ran an earphone jack to it to get the click. Every song had a 4 click count in. I used an old rhoades pedal to start/stop the mc500. It worked very well for what it was (state of the art back then!).
playing like that you either got very tight or gave up! We were very good and toured throughout the U.S.A. It was the most fun I ever had in a band!

Hammerin' Cameron · #5 05-31-2011, 02:44 AM

Thanks for the info....

The dock is very interesting.... solves my issue with the main signal being sent to FOH through a 3.5 mini plug headphone jack...

I have been considering a SPD-S type thing as well.... Sample in the "Parts" intro, verse, chours, Bridge, Outros, etc.... and useing a click.... then more or less "Play" the "Parts".... granted it would only be one hit at the begining of each section.... but it would solve the issue of haveing to shut down the tracks if we get off.... I would be in control....

again Thank You for the input

HC