# Laptop live questions (backing tracks ect)



## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

Hey, I saw a few of these threads but it was hard to understand as it wasn't all exactly what I wanted to know.

I'm forming a prog metal band now and I'm going to be the only guitarist, so I wanted to use a program to run the 2nd guitar parts and little effects like reverse cymbals and all that good stuff live. I have no idea what I'm doing honestly but I need to learn at some point..

1) Will Fl Studio work as a program to run the backing tracks live? I heard someone say theyve used cubase for it, and from what I know those 2 arent toooo different I dont think.
2) If Fl studio is okay, does the drummer go to the click and backing tracks on one channel and the backing tracks without the click go through the master channel of fl studio to the mixer? 
3) How would I even hook the laptop up to the mixer? What kind of chord or whatever would work? 
4) How do I make only the backing tracks go to the mixer and on for the audience to hear while the drummer only can hear the click ALSO? 
5) For regular band practice, what would I do? Buy a mixer and speakers to go with it? 

Anything you can say will help, I have way too many questions to ask on just this page. Thankyou in advance to anyone who can help me out


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

Also, would their be any way to just play through pod farm live? Maybe thats a stupid question, I dont know.


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## brutalwizard (Apr 22, 2012)

1. Fl studio will work perfectly for what your doing, its functionality is very similar to cubase.

2. you sum it up perfectly how that would work

3. I hook up my laptop at my jamspace through the PA to play vst instruments and stuff simply with my line6 ux1 interface. That idea is interchangeable with any audio interface

4. No clue honestly, i know its possible but am too tired to figure it out right this second hah

5. if there is a PA at your jam space do that if not get one or something similar yo get you by though practice.

6. i have heard VST amps sounds amazing though power amps and cabs, so its certanly possible


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## KingAenarion (Apr 22, 2012)

4) You need an interface with multiple outs, and you need to know how to route the click in FL Studio. I have never mastered that program... but there must be a way to turn it off for the master and on in the headphones or vice versa...

Then you send your main signal to Front of House and your version with the click to your drummers In Ears


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

thanks guys, that definitely helped, if anyone else has any more input please help out!


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Apr 22, 2012)

Lot's of musical directors in the pop world are using devices like this...

HD24 24-Track, 48kHz Hard Disk Recorder

As their music is so reliant on backing tracks, auto tune and choreography, multiple backups are used.

At a minimum, a drummer needs his own track (click perhaps with a blend of backing) and a stereo mix to the front of house. So, options are;

1. Click mix for drummer
2. Mono backing mix to front of house

If you can use in ear monitors, or have time to setup with the sound engineer you can add individual mixes for stage monitoring.

Zoom, Tascam and others offer solid state compact recording/play back multitrack studios which are a great solution on a budget.

Product: PocketStudio 5 | TASCAM

Zoom R8 Digital Multitrack Recorder | R8 Portable Digital Recorder by Zoom | Zoom Specialist

Add a headphone distribution amp and you can craft your monitor mixes for each musician, if you want to go further with monitoring quality.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Behringer-HA8000-Powerplay-Headphones-Distribution/dp/B000CZ0RMO

Make sure to leave enough count in at the beginning of tracks and decide who controls the backing. The reason not to use computers for this role is reliability. I use a laptop for rehearsals as changes can be made, but for live I'd suggest a dedicated unit, perhaps like the Tascam multi tracks.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

What I'm trying to figure out now is how to get the backing tracks for everyone to hear, do I just click the master channel in fl studio and assign the click to another channel for the drummer? Would he just put headphones into the laptop then? How could I make it so he could hear the click and backing and have just the backing tracks come out of the mixer for eveyone to hear? I have all the equipment to do this, but I cant go buy all that stuff you mentioned, being a 20 year old college student and all..


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 22, 2012)

Check out this thread over at the sneap forum, it will definitely answer some, if not all of your questions:

FAQ: Live shows with backing tracks - HOW TO? - Ultimate Metal Forum


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

metal_sam14 said:


> Check out this thread over at the sneap forum, it will definitely answer some, if not all of your questions:
> 
> FAQ: Live shows with backing tracks - HOW TO? - Ultimate Metal Forum


 
The drummer NEEDS an in ear monitoring system??


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 22, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> The drummer NEEDS an in ear monitoring system??



If you want him to play in time to the backing track, then yes, he needs a click track.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

metal_sam14 said:


> If you want him to play in time to the backing track, then yes, he needs a click track.


Okay, so if I have this right, I can have fl studio open with 4 channels. 2 to the FOH and 2 toooo..the drummer for the click? Should the drummers 2 channels with the click also have the backing tracks on it? When I open Fl studio and get it connected to the mixer, I just have the 2 first backing track channels regular and make the next 2 channels for the drummer from my laptop only so only he can hear the click? And does he just put headphones in the laptop and hear the click that the 2nd two channels are playing? Sorry I'm asking so many dumb questions, Im just majorly confused on so much of this and its my first time.


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 22, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> Okay, so if I have this right, I can have fl studio open with 4 channels. 2 to the FOH and 2 toooo..the drummer for the click? Should the drummers 2 channels with the click also have the backing tracks on it? When I open Fl studio and get it connected to the mixer, I just have the 2 first backing track channels regular and make the next 2 channels for the drummer from my laptop only so only he can hear the click? And does he just put headphones in the laptop and hear the click that the 2nd two channels are playing? Sorry I'm asking so many dumb questions, Im just majorly confused on so much of this and its my first time.



Read through the link I sent you, it should answer everything. 

I will try to summarize: 
2 channels to FOH = the stereo bacling track
1 channel to Drummer = Click track

You can either mix in a bit of the backing track to the drummers output, or send the backing track to 2 DI's, and feed the "through" from the DI back to a small mixing desk next to the drummer, also send the click to this desk, this means only the backing track goes to FOH and the drummer gets click and the backing track, plus he can mix it however he likes for his earphones. 

Thats a rough guide, which should get you started. google is your friend.

EDIT: for any of this to work you will need an audio interface for the laptop, if you do not have this then it will not work, again read through the guide on the sneap forum and it will explain everything.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 22, 2012)

Just a few questions about using a laptop with fl studio for backing tracks and a click for the drum hooked up a mixer live. 

Like I said I'm just using fl studio, so this is what Im confused about or need help with. This is my first time doing something like this so please bear with me.. :/

1) I have the lead guitars on 2 channels in fl studio. If I wanted to put in 808 drops or reverse cymbals ect, would those all need to be seperate channels? Or would they be seperate channels and I could just route them all to those 2 lead guitar channels?
2) What would I need to do to prepare fl studio to be in a mixer for a live show? And should the backing tracks be panned or anything? Like to the opposite side of my real guitars, as if it were a 2nd guitarist playing? Iv played live very few times so I have no idea..
3) on the 3rd(?) channel, would I just have the click for the drummer with the backing tracks mixed in a bit? Would he need that, plus also to hear MY actual guitar playing? If he had a click and the backing tracks it wouldnt even be that necessary would it? Idk. Like I said I'm a n00b. 
4) I cant figure out how to have the drummer hearing the click track (headphones?) but having the audience hear the backing tracks WITHOUT the click.

These questions may be very flawed, as I said this is my first time. Thanks to anyone who can help me understand better in advance


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 23, 2012)

metal_sam14 said:


> Read through the link I sent you, it should answer everything.
> 
> I will try to summarize:
> 2 channels to FOH = the stereo bacling track
> ...




That guide hardly answered any of my questions. But after reading it I'm certainly more confused.

1) I have the lead guitars on 2 channels in fl studio. If I wanted to put in 808 drops or reverse cymbals ect, would those all need to be seperate channels? Or would they be seperate channels and I could just route them all to those 2 lead guitar channels?
2) What would I need to do to prepare fl studio to be in a mixer for a live show? And should the backing tracks be panned or anything? Like to the opposite side of my real guitars, as if it were a 2nd guitarist playing? Iv played live very few times so I have no idea..
3) on the 3rd(?) channel, would I just have the click for the drummer with the backing tracks mixed in a bit? Would he need that, plus also to hear MY actual guitar playing? If he had a click and the backing tracks it wouldnt even be that necessary would it? Idk. Like I said I'm a n00b. 
4) I cant figure out how to have the drummer hearing the click track (headphones?) but having the audience hear the backing tracks WITHOUT the click.

These questions may be very flawed, as I said this is my first time. Thanks to anyone who can help me understand better


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 23, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> That guide hardly answered any of my questions. But after reading it I'm certainly more confused.
> 
> 1) I have the lead guitars on 2 channels in fl studio. If I wanted to put in 808 drops or reverse cymbals ect, would those all need to be seperate channels? Or would they be seperate channels and I could just route them all to those 2 lead guitar channels?
> 2) What would I need to do to prepare fl studio to be in a mixer for a live show? And should the backing tracks be panned or anything? Like to the opposite side of my real guitars, as if it were a 2nd guitarist playing? Iv played live very few times so I have no idea..
> ...



ok let me see if I can figure this out:
1: you can add as many tracks as you want, just mix them how you like and send them to the same set of stereo outputs. 
2: This is entirely up to you, pan your stuff however you like, if you have a stereo FOH mix then you can go wild. 
3: Yes this track is for the drummer and yes he needs the click, this isn't negotiable. your actual guitar would be sent to his foldback monitor just like any normal gig, or not at all, it doesn;t matter, as long as he has the click its all good. 
4: this one is easy, output 3 (click) goes straight to the drummers headphones, and outputs 1/2 which are the stereo backing track go straight to FOH, so the audience never hears the click.



If this is all to hard for you then I suggest you go this route:

2 tracks in FL, panned hard left and hard right.
L track is all of your samples, R track is 100% click

Send L channel straight to FOH, and send click to drummer. you only get a mono backing track, but it is a hell of a lot simpler. 

You can then run the backing track from an ipod + splitter cable.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 24, 2012)

metal_sam14 said:


> ok let me see if I can figure this out:
> 1: you can add as many tracks as you want, just mix them how you like and send them to the same set of stereo outputs.
> 2: This is entirely up to you, pan your stuff however you like, if you have a stereo FOH mix then you can go wild.
> 3: Yes this track is for the drummer and yes he needs the click, this isn't negotiable. your actual guitar would be sent to his foldback monitor just like any normal gig, or not at all, it doesn;t matter, as long as he has the click its all good.
> ...




thankyou, that cleared a lot up lol. But what are the drummers headphones plugged into?


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 24, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> thankyou, that cleared a lot up lol. But what are the drummers headphones plugged into?



If you want to mix in the backing track to the click, then send both to a small mixer and the drummer gets a headphone feed from that, if you want just click in his phones, just go straight out of the interface I reckon.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 24, 2012)

I am going to be the only guitarist in my band, would it be fine to use the ipod method for not only things like 808 drops and reverse cymbals, but the 2nd guitars leads? 

Also, would a live setup just be like ipod to splitter, and one of the splitter ends to the mixer?


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## JStraitiff (Apr 24, 2012)

Theres no need for double posts. You should have appended this onto your other post here: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/li...laptop-live-questions-backing-tracks-ect.html

it would be like ipod direct into the mixer.. Whats the point of a splitter if its just pumping a backing track into the PA? This would be fine but are you going to have someone queueing the songs for you? If not you might want to get a remote of some kind. Not that i recommend investing in this setup but you could get a universal dock and an apple remote and use the remote to queue the tracks.


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 24, 2012)

I answered this question in your last thread:



> 2 tracks in FL, panned hard left and hard right.
> L track is all of your samples, R track is 100% click
> 
> Send L channel straight to FOH, and send click to drummer. you only get a mono backing track, but it is a hell of a lot simpler.
> ...


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## JStraitiff (Apr 24, 2012)

^ cool idea.


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## Winspear (Apr 24, 2012)

Yep that's a good description. You absolutely need a click if you're using timed samples.


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## polarbeast666 (Apr 24, 2012)

JStraitiff said:


> Theres no need for double posts. You should have appended this onto your other post here: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/li...laptop-live-questions-backing-tracks-ect.html
> 
> it would be like ipod direct into the mixer.. Whats the point of a splitter if its just pumping a backing track into the PA? This would be fine but are you going to have someone queueing the songs for you? If not you might want to get a remote of some kind. Not that i recommend investing in this setup but you could get a universal dock and an apple remote and use the remote to queue the tracks.



How the hell is that a double post? The other one was a laptop. Not a big deal dude, get a life outside the internet.


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## ZXIIIT (Apr 24, 2012)

There are literally 2 of these threads made every week.

We used to have the bass parts in our backing track, they sucked, so we got a real bass player. We still use them for a drummer and extra key/effects.


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## Pedrojoca (Apr 25, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> How the hell is that a double post? The other one was a laptop. Not a big deal dude, get a life outside the internet.



boom, and just like that, you managed to be rude to people that are actually trying to help you. 


I'd go with a laptop.


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## metal_sam14 (Apr 25, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> How the hell is that a double post? The other one was a laptop. Not a big deal dude, get a life outside the internet.



Time to grow up a bit, myself and a number of people have spent a large amount of time giving you straight answers and helping you with this, and now you are being a dick.


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## Demiurge (Apr 25, 2012)

After seeing "Why We Do This," with the part where the band's opening act is a kid flailing-around, screaming along with an iPod playing backing tracks... eh, what is seen cannot be unseen, so personally I think it looks bad.


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## TheDisturbedOne (May 10, 2012)

Hey!

I like the option with the mp3 player and the splitter cable. Which splitter cable I need exactly? can you show me an example?

thx!


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## metal_sam14 (May 10, 2012)

TheDisturbedOne said:


> Hey!
> 
> I like the option with the mp3 player and the splitter cable. Which splitter cable I need exactly? can you show me an example?
> 
> thx!



You need a cable that goes from a 3.5mm male connection, to 2 MONO jacks, and thats it. 

something like this: Stereo 3.5mm Mini Male to Dual Mono 1/4 Inch Phone Males Y-Adapter Cable 10 Feet - SJ Media Systems

You can get them with RCA and XLR mono plugs, depends what you want.


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## TheDisturbedOne (May 10, 2012)

Thx man!

Lets say that I have a mixer like this for example: http://images.piens.be/behringer/Behringer_Xenyx_1002.jpg

So the 3.5mm male connection goes to the mp3 player(or maybe laptop) and the 2 MONO jacks goes where exactly to the Behringer mixer?

I also have a Line6 POD UX1. Can i use it or somehow or is it unsuitable?
Sorry for the nooby questions but i´m very inexperienced in this area.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 10, 2012)

TheDisturbedOne said:


> Thx man!
> 
> Lets say that I have a mixer like this for example: http://images.piens.be/behringer/Behringer_Xenyx_1002.jpg
> 
> ...


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## metal_sam14 (May 10, 2012)

Pan the samples hard left and the click hard right.

Add 2-4 bars of count in, and a few minutes silence at the end 

Send track L with the samples straight to FOH (into the stage box/multi core, whatever the set up is), and send the click straight to the drummer via a small mixer. 

easy


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## polarbeast666 (May 23, 2012)

how long would this cable have to be then? IT would have to be insanely long since the mixer is ussually far away..


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## polarbeast666 (May 23, 2012)

If you get a splitter thing for your ipod to use backing tracks and one part of the splitter goes to the mixer (correct), and the other side goes to the drummers headphones (correct?), then you need to turn the ipod up enough for the backing tracks to be at a good volumes for the audience to hear, but what if the drummers headphones arent loud enough? Like its at a good volume for the audience but not him? What would you do? inb4searchbar


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## Razzy (May 23, 2012)

Get a little mixer to go between the iPod and the soundboard so you can adjust the levels being sent to the headphones and board independently.


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## Winspear (May 23, 2012)

The sound engineer has control over the volume of the backing track, not you. You give the output to him. So just turn it up loud enough for the drummer and the engineer will turn it down or up if necessary.

Don't forget, you have control over this when you make the backing track anyway. You can make your right channel (click) really loud and the left channel (mono backing track) really quiet if you wish, so it wont distort when the iPod is turned to max. Then the engineer can just bump it up. Doesn't matter if your click is clipping to hell on the mp3 AND the iPod!

Sounds like you haven't done this before so just to confirm the splitter is a L R mono splitter NOT a stereo splitter that doubles the signal for two people to listen to. If you use the latter you'd end up with the click going to the soundguy (audience) too. However he'd have to be spitting it L/R to plug into his desk anyway so he'd just discard the click side..but whatever, just make it easy from the start


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## metal_sam14 (May 23, 2012)

There is usually a multi-core that all the stage mics plug into, which runs back to the desk. so you will only need a few meters max.


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## metal_sam14 (May 23, 2012)

Can you stop creating new threads for every little question you have about this, you already have one on the go, reposting wont get you help quicker and it is against the rules.


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## polarbeast666 (May 23, 2012)

metal_sam14 said:


> Can you stop creating new threads for every little question you have about this, you already have one on the go, reposting wont get you help quicker and it is against the rules.


http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons.../watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png


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## metal_sam14 (May 23, 2012)

polarbeast666 said:


> http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons.../watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png



Cheers to the mod who merged these threads, and thumbs down to you for being an ass. I have spent a fair bit of time helping you with this issue and this is the second time you have attacked me for it, not cool.


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