Are We Cheating By Using Tracks?

[@starsam8247]

David... well done! This is a thoughtful and thorough treatment of this subject. Personally my thoughts have "evolved" over time. I am a dinosaur... started playing in the mid-sixties and am still going strong! I've experienced the early transition to tracks by bands who weren't very good and tried to cover their inabilities with tracks (poorly at that). But the music scene as transformed dramatically throughout the years and so has the technology and the sophistication of our audiences. I truly concur with what you have put forward in this video. Faking is bad... enhancing is good (as long as it is done well).

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you for checking this video out! I think that it’s important that many of our perspectives evolve over time. With more information, with changing circumstances, comes greater understanding. Hats off to your long career in music! It’s a tough one!

[@r.towers4374]

Hello David. Towers here( it's actually Torres). Glad you brought up my subject. You justified it all in one sentence " to please the audience for a better experience". Yet, it still not for me. I'm now an acoustic guitar player. My Tool, Godsmack, and Disturbed days are over. Too old to jump around. However, I am a Looper and proud to say "yeah, all that is me". ( you can do a lot with the Cure). Anyway, the fun thing about looping is recording your harmony and chord progression as you solo. Moreover, oh it's so cool to get in the mood to slow it down like "Moondance" or speed up Take 5. Either way we all love being musicians. Lastly, I'm guilty of playing and tuning most of my song list to E flat. But heck, 4 sets can kill a guy in his 50s. Thanks for the subject and you guys sound great.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this one! I do love playing with my looper! It affords a bit more flexibility in some ways to create your own arrangements, but I have determined that I don’t love building EVERY song from scratch lol The overall point being, give the best performance for your audience. Use the right tools, pick the right songs, execute well! Rock on Torres!

[@manoloherrera]

It's important to make it clear. The backing tracks are there to help us sound fuller and enhance the experience for the audience. Cheating, as you said, would be if the track has the lead vocal in it and the singer is just moving his/her mouth.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Couldn’t agree more! Is your band using tracks? How are you running them?

[@manoloherrera]

@@DavidPaigeMusic we're using kinda the same method, but with bounced tracks into my tablet. And we also use an app called tempo, for the metronome when not using the tracks In the same tablet

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

@@manoloherrera we do bounced stem tracks from the studio recordings with the click for my original band too. For the songs we don’t use tracks, I bounced a click track using Logic so we just use the same app through the whole show.

[@h5mind373]

I think you nailed the distinction- enhancement versus deception.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

I love that!

[@CharlesNTaylor]

Great Job Bro!

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you!

[@mindyastar]

Thank you for sharing. This was very interesting to learn about. ❤️

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for taking the time to listen! It’s a subject that most musicians don’t like to talk about and many audience members have no idea is happening.

[@randybeidelschies]

Thanks David, for touching on this subject. I played on cruises for several years in a couple of 4 piece dance bands for RCCL (Lido deck). One band did not use any backing tracks, while the other band I played with, used tracks in certain situations ( Mostly...Disco Night) while we all played our instruments. It enhanced the music experience for everyone, and I never considered it cheating. I am currently (and for the past several years) have been a solo act - while using a T C Helicon Voicelive 3 Extreme using tracks and the harmonizer. Being a keyboardist, I create (play) and record all my own backing tracks. Like you, I also like creating medleys of songs, and it keeps the audience paying attention. (Sometimes especially hard to do on a cruise ship !). I really enjoy following your journey through your videos. You and your wife do a great job, keep the posts coming.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thank you so much for this comment Randy! It’s nice to hear some stories of solidarity! It’s really all about giving the most entertaining performance while also being authentic. There’s absolutely still plenty of space for authenticity in a performance with tracks. Thanks for watching!!

[@jknorratl]

I have been using tracks off and on since the 80s (backing tracks was simply midi at that time). They are a necessity at times; you only have so many hands. Its only cheating if you a "finger syncing"... tracks can be used to enhance the performance. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for sharing yours as well!! It's insane how much the track process has evolved over the years! I'd love to know how you ran them back in the 80s!

[@jknorratl]

@@DavidPaigeMusic Tracks in the 80s and 90s meant something different than today. remember this was pre digital audio, So when we used tracks it was either a computer with sequencing software (no DAWs back then) or hardware sequencing controlling synths or rack modules on stage. Being that the 80s and 90s was heavy on synths, this was simply extra hands playing the equipment on stage. If we wanted any kind of voice background, the closest thing we could do was user a sampling keyboard and play back the sample live on stage. Keyboard "workstations" actually came out of this era of sequencing live and wanting to limit having to tote extra hardware.

[@h5mind373]

My son had a recent experience with this while covering as keyboardist for a local rock band. My son was asking where to plug in and they said, "Oh you don't need power." Only the drummer and lead singers were mic'd. It was odd, because everyone knew the material and were great musicians. From what he gleaned, they were contractually required NOT to go live on guitar, bass or keyboard. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

That is the kind of thing that would make me leave the subbing gig. If I put in the work to become good enough to land the gig, and then the hours to learn the material, and then I get there and I’m not even plugging in?!? I’d be furious.

[@DanAtEXIT]

It's not like you have a complete band so running tracks is a given. And you're right about backtracking - It's a fulltime distraction when you see it once and takes away from the experience. You're doing it right.

[@LucianaMilano]

Hello, hello! I'm from Brazil anda am organizing my life with my boyfriend to apply for duo lounge this year and we loved your videos. Thanks! PLEASE, where do you get your backing tracks? How do we get them without guitar so he can play live on top of the track?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

That’s amazing! Pulling for you!! There are so many ways to do tracks; you’ll need to figure out what was works best for you!

[@THEL0NEARRANGER]

So I sing (w/ vocal harmonizer) and play a Keyboard and use my own custom styles. The styles are not tracks but short 4 measures that repeat and the chords I make in my left hand. It that something performers can use as soloist on a cruise ship?

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

You absolutely can! You’d just make a video with what it is that you do and if the lines are into it and a ship needs that type of act, you may get an offer!

[@koolkat808hawaii]

Tracks? Where do you draw the line? Man your jumping back and forth. on your discussion trying to justify it . Just download karaoke tracks and be done with it. The public really doesn't care anymore. At least a looping pedal the guitar player is playing the part. Why not lead vocals? Really, whats the difference? Where is the line? Drums and bass are o.k, but lead vocals are not. I would say in your demo the drums and bass are doing just as much lifting as your vocals. Once you start using tracks it no longer a LIVE , real performance. Its not you anymore (unless you do everything on the tracks yourself but its easier to use loops. I'm old school . I've seen a guitar player and a singer move mountains with nothing but the guitar and a voice and it still happens to this day. On my last cruise I ended up listening to the solo piano player the most, No tracks just him , his voice , and the piano and the 100's of songs he played without tracks or I-pad. He knew all the words to every song he played 'and every request, That's just to much work for people today. Don't get me started about and I pad and singers not knowing the words. If your a duo trying to be a dance band then it will be tough, but not impossible to do without tracks. If your a duo and you want to sound good pick songs that fit your vocal range first, 2nd get the right guitar for the gig la and use voicings on that guitar that really enhance what your doing to get a full sound. 3) use a looper to at least put a rhythm part on it while you do a solo over it. With the right looper used correctly an inventive in your show you can make the drums and the bass parts If you don't sing well put a lead vocal on it and sing along with it, Loopers IMHO are not cheating because your playing all the parts you've created for the loop. No dig, but basically your using Karaoke tracks playing and singing along with them. If it works for you and you can make a living doing it then I say why not. I just hope you continue to evolve as a musician. Most friends of mine that resolved in using tracks never get better at their craft. Like I said before. If using tracks gets you work then go for it. Even though its not you the crowd will believe it is and will be amazed on how good you sound. Tracks and I pads , in ears, auto tune are all a fact and accepted part of the music biz now. Hey, Journey uses tracks FACT !! so why can't you. You make your duo work , you and your wife are getting paid and you get to see the world.together getting new experiences everyday that is worth more than worrying about tracks, THE CROWD DOESN'T CARE.

[@DavidPaigeMusic]

Thanks for watching! I said where I draw the line in my video. I don’t prefer playing to tracks over a live drummer and bass player, but when the gig is a duo, I’ll play to a track. If my band had been hired instead, we would all be up there with no tracks. I played gigs for years where I brought my loop pedal, my acoustic guitar, my bass, my electric guitar, and my pedalboard. Looped the whole thing. I hated playing alone and while that’s cool to watch two or three times, sometimes people just wanna hear the song and not the 5 minute build up to when the song starts. I love playing with my band. I also, love performing on a ship and traveling the world. I’ll continue to do both. I’m doing just as much lifting as a guitarist and singer in a duo with tracks as I am in a band.

[@metalpuppet5798]

Tracks are exclusively used for additional layers like orchestral parts etc that simply cant be played fully live for financial and logistical reasons. Yeah some may use them for a bass if theres no bassist or for a third lead guitar when there are only two guitarists. Thats perfectly fine too if the music requires the extra parts to be there. The one important thing is that the musicians on stage actually play live