So I recently hooked up with a guy for potential Duo work (Covers).

He was very adamant that using backings was the way to go and that every solo/duo performer/s he sees are using them.

I have hated them for my whole musical career and have made a point of only ever playing acoustic guitar with a stomp box and nothing else. To me it stinks of karaoke.

However, I have since started thinking about doing a set or two with backings, as it definitely lifts the sound, particularly the bottom end.

I'm still in two minds. The files I would have are done by live session musicians and sound pretty decent for backing files - no midi at all.

What do you think?

It depends imo. If it's stuff like lip syncing and miming playing your instruments and stuff, that's really ****ing lame. But I see nothing wrong with a band playing some backing tracks to fill in their sound. I saw NIN in 2005 and they do. Show was really ****ing awesome.

Smoosh does as well. They're a trio now but here they were as a duo.





It's really nicely done and isn't real obvious and it's not like they're trying to fake playing their instruments or something, they just didn't have enough hands to play the lead parts.

Yeah I will be playing either Acoustic, Electric or Bass to augment the tracks.

But definitely not the Bassoon, but most definitely the Fool.

I do not know where I stand on this topic, but I sure do appreciate the fact that you put BASTARD as an option.

I thought it was standard 2+2 practice!

I am a poll newbie, but I am always prepared to be swayed by popular opinion and ipso facto you have "bastard" as an option!

I think you did the right thing. I dont respect any poll that doesnt have bastard as an option.

I crave your respect.

If you're there performing, as in playing your guitars and singing, then you can use whatever in the background. There's a charm to having a full band and all but as cliche as it sounds, just do whatever works for you. Some purists might disagree but a lot of them have no problem double-tracking guitars or doing vocal overdubs when recording.

I just wouldn't get too carried away is all. I mean if you've got a breakdown and the guitars are silent for a bit, and you're just sitting there doing nothing while things are raging behind you, that's a little awkward I guess.

In one case I recall being thoroughly lectured on how tragic it was that an old group of mine piped in prerecorded synth stuff for 3-4 songs in our set (no keyboard player). Meanwhile the same guy is sitting there with this giant collection of rack gear, and this horribly phony & weak guitar sound that was just processed to death. Seriously? It's still echoing in here from your chain of delay effects a half hour later, and I'm the bad guy?

I have been wondering about this as well. I'm planning on doing some open mic nights, and I have no desire to try and put a band together. Definitely nothing serious.

I guess my options are just singing, playing rhythm and singing, or playing lead and singing. A backing track cd would take care of the other parts. I think playing rhythm would be my least favorite idea because it seems like it would be weird to have a guitar solo with no soloist. Any thoughts? Will it be lame no matter which I choose?

slackers

I think there is some beauty in hearing a song stripped down. Just a guitar and vocals. Kinda makes me think about how the song was originally written. To me, it seems like one of the purest forms of a song. I am not saying that backing is bad or wrong... I just think that simplicity is worth hearing as well imo

Personally I would be catering to specific venues.

Some venues will be just 100% acoustic, some 75-25, some 50-50.

I don't think that I would do the backings 100%. I may have a combo though of Acoustic, Acoustic w/drum machine, Electric w/drum machine & Backings.

@ Gonzo - yeah reasonable point. I recently saw a guy playing and it sounded great so I went up to tell him in his break and he told me it was all cheating as he had a loop pedal going and also a vocal harmony generator that had a pitch corrector. Most people wouldn't even know and would think he's a superstar though.


@ gambit - generally I agree. I love the stripped back mode more than anything. Just me and my guitar. But there are some songs that revel in the full band sound and I would love to be able to them as well.

This is awesome!





Why no more votes on this? Only 3 so far.

Lol.. that is ****ing sweet Prana... the video had me in a good mood the whole time

I think that playing to a prerecorded instrumental track live is pretty lame. If it's prerecorded sound effects/ambient noise/etc., that's fine. And if you program a drum loop in real time or use a looper pedal for rhythm guitar, etc., that's great.

i think there are very limited circumstances and genres where it can work. perhaps ironically, it's easier to fit it into a full band performance without it seeming weird. in certain genres having a "sound manipulator" is trendy, and they can trigger loops or effects in addition to whatever other lame **** they are doing i guess.

i remember seeing atom and his package 10+ years ago at a small college and his sequencer had **** the bed at some point on the tour. so the show was just him singing along to his "beats" on a portable CD player, and plugging his guitar into the PA for like 2 songs at the end. he was hilarious and silly about it and nobody cared. but, again, that's kind of part of his shtick.

hi ham!