SIMPLE Guide to Live Backing Tracks with Ableton Live

Taking a step into the Live Music realm, today we learn about using Ableton to run our backing tracks live! How to setup the outputs, how to make songs flow easily into each other, and how to change the set on the fly!
Leave a comment if you want to know more!
-drû
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:43 - Why Use Backing Tracks?
2:30 - What You Need
4:06 - Set Example 1: Heirloom
12:42 - Set Example 2: abandcalledlove
16:46 - Building a Set From Scratch
31:29 - Outro
________________________________
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#abletonlive #backingtracks #musicproducer

[@musicbydru]

If there is something you think I missed or anything that you'd like me to explain drop those questions HERE 👇

[@theonenonlykyler]

what was the orange channel on the first band?

[@musicbydru]

@@theonenonlykyler I believe you are talking about the production 2 track. Some of it is ambience but some songs didn’t have anything I just have it in there just in case there is something quiet that visually isn’t showing very much

[@7stringzombie]

not sure if you still monitor this: I'm curious about levels for individual tracks and what the ideal level for the main out should be?

[@musicbydru]

@@7stringzombie I try to shoot for a -4db output to FOH that way everything comes out clean and there’s no hiss from the noise floor from them having to gain stuff up. But I would recommend whatever DI you are using has a pad on it so that you can quickly drop -10db off it if needed

[@7stringzombie]

@@musicbydru Thank you! I'm currently building my first backing track project and tried to keep everything relatively close to -6.

[@orencioperez9120]

I love these backtracking videos , its taken so long for it to become norm with lots of groups , I've been backtracking for at least 35+ years , first time was with cassette ( pain in the butt) then we started sequencing with the very first Mac,from there to ADATS , Fostex 8 track recorders, back to MMT8 sequencing , now im using my iPad.

[@maxbrown961]

This is the first video I found that's actually been helpful. Building a live tracks rig for my band for the first time. Thank you so much

[@musicbydru]

Glad I could help! Hoping to do some more live track videos with Ableton soon!

[@benkitay9015]

I’ve watched this 3 times now. It’s very good. It’s so full of information it took several views to catch everything going on. But very helpful.

[@musicbydru]

Yea it’s a lot of info but I really wanted to have one video for most of the basics with examples! I’m glad it was so helpful for you!

[@RachitLuitel]

Absolutely Amazing and Super Informative!!

[@musicbydru]

Hey thanks so much! 🙏

[@Benskingdom]

Thanks Dru, really great video and info. You have given me a great place to start with creating backing tracks for my solo electric guitar set. Thanks 🙏

[@musicbydru]

You are very welcome ben! Glad I can help and hopefully I can make some more videos that help even more!

[@Lavoradesso]

Best video about this topic. Thank you very much.

[@musicbydru]

Hey thanks so much for the love! Hoping to make some more videos about Ableton Live tips for the stage soon!

[@donovanroybal]

I always come back to this video for help, miss you dru! ❤

[@musicbydru]

You the best! MISS YOU GUYS 🥰

[@kingdavidakinyemi]

so so so helpful thank you!

[@musicbydru]

So glad I could help!

[@JE_Drumming]

This was extremely helpful! I just got started working with Abelton

[@musicbydru]

Thanks man!

[@gabsarmento]

Great video, dude! Helped me a lot! Cheers from Brazil

[@musicbydru]

Glad I could help! Recently dropped another video on live tracks tips if that’s something else you are looking for!

[@davidnazem]

Excellent tutorial

[@musicbydru]

Thanks so much!!!! 🙏

[@JamesFranchiseMusic]

Thank you so much for this

[@musicbydru]

Of course! Happy to help out the community!

[@bobbysbackingtracks]

Video very well received! 😊

[@musicbydru]

❤️

[@atilio11111]

GRACIAS

[@brensocial]

great tutorial very helpful thanks! please do more!

[@musicbydru]

Thanks so much! Got a couple in the pipeline that I’m excited about!

[@brensocial]

Really good dude! I'm switching from loop pedal to ableton rn so I have so much to learn. You make great tutorials, thanks!@@musicbydru

[@musicbydru]

@@brensocial glad to hear! Hopefully stuff I’ve already made and things I make in the future help you with learning!

[@maxijr]

hi. excellent video, it helps a lot. where i can find that precount speech? thanks

[@bashka_music]

Gold content 🔥

[@musicbydru]

Appreciate it! 🙏

[@baddreamfancydress2017]

So we are about to start our live journey, we're also looking to run Volta lighting so that would be useful? But this was the best how to we found. Many Thanks BDFD

[@musicbydru]

Glad to help!

[@Pnccruz]

Hey drû! Excellent tutorial, I have a question regarding the signal flow/cable routing for this to work. I’m just getting into IEMs so I’m not very familiar with the wiring/cables needed to run the tracks out to FOH. I know you mentioned needing either an interface/splitter cable, but Any other hardware/gear I would need? And where would you recommend these cables run though for either splitter/interface? I’m a drummer that wants to have control over click track/backing track volume on my end and am okay with FOH monitor mix. Hopefully this helps for context…Thank you so much for an awesome video, learned so much!

[@derekflores4601]

Any videos on how to plug in the system into a mixer/cable routing? 👀

[@musicbydru]

I talked routing a little in this video! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWeYmGqMes2aac0 But it’s only a basic look. I am working on a video that is going to be a look at a more complex setup for an actual live rig

[@akiradanaka]

Thank you for this video! it really helped me a lot. I would really like to see how you sync the Video contents with tracks using Ableton for live performance!

[@musicbydru]

Yea I can definitely work on that!

[@hypelightsband]

Hey man thanks a lot for this incredible guideline! Quick question, how do you know set levels? For now on, I've muted drum, bass, lead vocal, lead & rythmn guitars. I only have FX, Synth, Vocal harmonies set at 0db. I added a rythmn guitar to thicken some parts set -10db. The whole thing is hitting -6db (cause drum and bass are muted). Should I leave it like this? Or should the master volume be hitting 0db and not -6db ?

[@musicbydru]

-6db is fine! It might actually be a little hot You gotta remember at the sound board there will be some added gain/level as well so you don’t wanna go to hot and potentially send too much

[@adamwrose]

Did you create your queue track yourself or do you have a link to where I can buy one

[@adriangorka1]

Very nice guide, Thank You. Just one question - how did you get thos tempo countdown sound ? ;-)

[@musicbydru]

The guide voice? You can either track some yourself or buy them online at multitracks dot com

[@johnnorland5177]

How do you start and stop playback without fiddling with the computer on stage? What if you want to skip ahead a song or back a couple songs?

[@musicbydru]

as far as the not stopping, I normally setup my set to hit play once and it runs the entire set so I never have to touch it. They also make apps that let you start the set off stage remotely if needed for a cool stage entrance as far as the navigation. I use hot keys combined with way points. I talk about it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWeYmGqMes2aac0

[@jmusic7466]

Hey man wondering if i wanted to change the set list and switch song orders how could i do that easily?

[@musicbydru]

You can use the Flag Markers to change the set list to whatever you want it to be but swapping the hot keys for them or the "next song" midi cue I showed

[@TheProblemAddict.]

Can you also process vocals though the same ablation project running the back tracks? So you can sing with full processing over them?

[@musicbydru]

Yes! I’m actually thinking of making a video on how to do this

[@TheProblemAddict.]

@@musicbydru please! I will literally pay you to walk me through it

[@runesig]

Great video! I have one question regarding vocals on backing tracks. I have some backing vocals to help our bass player who also is do backing vocals. Would it be an idea to send those dry out to a channel without effects and let the FOH use the same effects on it as he or she would have used for the bass players vocal mic?

[@musicbydru]

That would make sense but only if you are traveling with your own FOH. For consistency I would say print all the FX you need into the BGV track when you bounce it. It’s less work for everyone involved when you already have a lot going on with a sound engineer who theoretically doesn’t know your music

[@runesig]

@@musicbydru yep, I can see your point. But I was thinking that the backing vocals from the tracks possibly would sound so different from those sung live that it would be obvious that they were not live?

[@musicbydru]

@@runesig As long as they aren't too forward in the tracks it won't matter. Live is VERY forgiving when it comes to live track balance

[@runesig]

@@musicbydru good point! I’ll go for your suggestion. Thanks so much

[@musicbydru]

@@runesig of course! Let me know how it works for you!

[@mattisvural7866]

Hey drû I just need to wrap my head around this routing here. When sending the track and the click/cues to separate external outs - doesn't that compress your stereo track to mono? If yes how could you rout it to not be? And how would you route it in your IEM system? Great video for someone like me who is just starting to dip their feet into backing tracks and in-ear monitoring. Keep it up⚡

[@musicbydru]

Yes it would put it down to mono, that’s basically an absolute basic situation if you need to run a headphone to stereo cable to make it happen! If you want to keep the tracks stereo you will need an interface with 4 outs. Then I would suggest putting tracks out of 1-2 and then click/cue out on 3. (Then you have a backup 4th channel in case you need something else sent) Hope that helps!

[@musicbydru]

Also thanks so much for the kind words! I really am trying to lower the barrier to entry on these kinds of things! 🙏

[@musicbydru]

As far as the IEM system. I’ll have to make a video about that cause it’s a little complicated, but at it’s basic level I would run the click/guide direct into the IEM transmitter

[@mattisvural7866]

​@@musicbydru. Thanks so much. It's really cool you're doing it because it really helps and I don't see any other routing/setup video that isn't really expensive or feels really circumstantial. So thanks for that

[@musicbydru]

@@mattisvural7866 of course! Trying to help people have an easier time cause I know it was a pain for me to learn starting out lol

[@esthesiarules]

nice video, how do you make the voice for the cues? sound like an programmed voice 20:57

[@musicbydru]

I got them from a friend actually. But you can just make them yourself which is what a lot of people do!

[@esthesiarules]

@@musicbydru im looking a while for an plugin or a workaround from ableton or logic, got both but didnt find a solution, i need one where i can give a text into it, any ideas?

[@musicbydru]

@@esthesiarules for the cues? Just record yourself saying them. Unless you are looking specifically for the robotic sounding cues. Then just use a speech to voice thing on Google

[@esthesiarules]

@@musicbydru i dont want my personal voice every time on in ears, so yeah i would prefer the robotic sound, ah ok maybe i try this, but a plugin with tempo settings would be nice

[@musicbydru]

@@esthesiarules I can understand that! And yea what some people do is make an Ableton rack out of the words and just fire them that way

[@guy539]

How do you split the click to your in ears from the interface ?

[@musicbydru]

Click goes out from output one and tracks go out from output two inside Ableton.

[@musicbydru]

This is like the easy version there are a bunch of other ways to do it too, but I generally send click and cues down output one

[@TheProblemAddict.]

If you use master out 1 for cues and 2 for tracks won’t your tracks be in mono? Or only come from the right PA speaker?

[@musicbydru]

Yes, it would be mono. The point was like an absolute beginner setup where they only have a laptop and no interface

[@TheProblemAddict.]

@@musicbydru ah okay gotcha, just wanted to clarify :) thanks!

[@musicbydru]

@@TheProblemAddict. all good! It’s a lot to take in all at once lol

[@rogersaver2606]

This a very dumb question, maybe i missed it, so sorry, but I wanna learn, so this is playing in the back ground and people watching are also hearing it, but there are the metronome and the counts which are auidble only to the band members, and that is my question, how do you set that up?

[@musicbydru]

Not a dumb question! I totally understand the confusion! You can either pan Left click and Right Track or use an interface to send multiple outs down different output channels! You send the click and cues down it's own channel and then it doesn't go to front of house and only goes into your in ear system and or headphones that you are using to hear the click. I hope that clears things up for a visual check out this video where I talk about it in more detail! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWeYmGqMes2aac0

[@ibrajimenez2098]

So awesome. People complain about cheating dont realize that music is not a competitive sport haha. Thank you for your video! Do you happen recommend a particular laptop? Say a budget one? Cheers

[@musicbydru]

You can get away with a lot. Honestly for simple setups pretty much any recently purchased laptop should work!

[@CrisGarcia6]

Will Logic Pro work with Live Backing Tracks?

[@musicbydru]

Yea it definitely will! I just know that ableton is generally the go-to option because of the stability. Logic will work just fine though! Pretty much all of this video outisde of a few key things will work in logic as well!

[@orencioperez9120]

@@musicbydru Yes Logic will, Ableton is probably better for on the fly changes , but if your going to have a set show no changes logic will work , I like to use logic for all production then transfer to iPad

[@SaveManWoman]

Very cool for backup stuff but still don’t solve what I’m looking for. “Live”. I want to solve my mics being used with plugs for fx’s but still get feedback because it’s always processing in live mode. Real live means I can plug my mics into my audio unit and use plugs. Live still can not do live show like hard gear PA system.

[@musicbydru]

Yea that video is geared towards backing tracks, hence the title. What problem are you trying to solve exactly? Maybe I can help!

[@socasack]

What does Ableton give you for this that you cannot do with Audacity?

[@musicbydru]

in general you can do the same, but I like ableton for setting up hot keys to quickly jump from song to song with just hitting a button or other specific routing things. If you want more ableton specific info check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWeYmGqMes2aac0

[@guy539]

I press a to edit the click tempo and nothing happens ?

[@musicbydru]

Make sure that the type to midi function is off. The keyboard icon on the top right needs to not be highlighted. Click “A” and make sure that the tempo is selected by clicking it.

[@michaelclabaugh2465]

So were the backing tracks pre recorded by the band memebers? Or created by ableton?

[@musicbydru]

The band and their producers make the backing tracks themselves. Generally during the recording process. If it’s a song they haven’t recorded yet then yes they make them themselves

[@michaelclabaugh2465]

Gotcha thank you sir.

[@musicbydru]

@@michaelclabaugh2465 of course! Let me know if you need any help with backing track stuff!

[@michaelclabaugh2465]

@musicbydru well I'm about to get ableton live 11 for our praise team. As far as backing tracks go, do you have to buy tracks to songs to use them? If we wanted the keys backing track for an elevation worship song for instance. Or can you build a backing track using ableton? Like actually go in and select an instrument and manually build chord progressions as you see fit to play back live during your set list? Hopefully that makes sense lol. Thanks again brother

[@jeffcook3277]

The lesson was great, but the music SUCKS! Do you have any bands that are any good?

[@musicbydru]

Might just not be your flavor of music, but check out my playlist called “stuff I’ve worked on” on my Channel. if you don’t vibe with any of that then I may not be the guy for you

[@RandomVelocity]

Um. No. If you’re a 4 piece band you should not use backing tracks. If your a one man show fine because it’s all out there and very obvious. This is cheating if you’re a band. Hire a keyboard and another guitarist who can sing back up. Smh.

[@musicbydru]

Talk to literally the entire major live music industry about it, cause basically every band/artist uses some form of backing tracks live

[@RandomVelocity]

@@musicbydru yeah idk. Doesn’t seem right to me , and if you’re a band you shouldn’t need to use backing tracks. Whether other bands do or not. If other bands jump off a cliff will you ? 😂.

[@maxwell9714]

@@RandomVelocityHow old are you????

[@mirrorr_]

lol

[@kylejensen6022]

Bands aren’t just 4 pieces anymore.. most bands nowadays would require 10+ people to play every single instrument played. In some cases it’s not even practical as some sounds aren’t even instruments anymore. I’d say welcome to 2024 but this has been normal for over 10 years