100% Consistent Backing Tracks Tutorial
It was a complete nightmare getting backing tracks working and completely reliable, but I finally found a working method, so I thought i'd share it.
(i know there are other tutorials, but they were missing things)
WHAT YOU NEED:
Ipod / mp3 player
1/8 stereo to dual ¼ mono splitter (found one at guitar center)
¼ mono to ¼(or 1/8) stereo adapter (found one at radioshack)
Two ¼ instrument cables (do I need to say this?)
A headphone amplifier IMPORTANT-- (found at guitar center)
Headphones
*DI Box -- only if the venue does not have one
WHAT TO DO:
Pan tracks left, click right. Plug in the splitter to the iPod. From there, the chain is:
LEFT > DI > venues PA
RIGHT > AMPLIFIER > ¼mono to ¼ stereo > headphones
-----------------
the above is what I did since its good enough for me, and i didnt have a stereo instrument cable lying around, but it might be better to go
RIGHT > 1/4"mono to 1/4" stereo > *stereo inst. cable > amp > headphones
This way you only need one mono-to-stereo adaptor instead of one for each headphone out on the amplifier.
-----------------
WHY IT WORKS: (just from observation, Im by no means an expert)
The key here is the headphone amplifier. If you plug in a pair of headphones, without the amp, directly into the splitter, there is some resistance or mismatched impedance or some shit, which causes the click to bleed into the left(tracks) channel. Once that happens youre fucked. The headphone amplifier fixes this problem.
The mono to stereo adaptor fixes the click-in-one-ear-only problem.
Also, the headphone amp conveniently has multiple headphone outputs So if your band members ever want a click in their ear, just grab some wireless headphones and theres plenty of click to go around.
The whole setup costs around $200 (not including DI box)
The only downside is the tracks are mono. But who cares, its just a shit ton of bass drops after all
It was a complete nightmare getting backing tracks working and completely reliable, but I finally found a working method, so I thought i'd share it.
(i know there are other tutorials, but they were missing things)
WHAT YOU NEED:
Ipod / mp3 player
1/8 stereo to dual ¼ mono splitter (found one at guitar center)
¼ mono to ¼(or 1/8) stereo adapter (found one at radioshack)
Two ¼ instrument cables (do I need to say this?)
A headphone amplifier IMPORTANT-- (found at guitar center)
Headphones
*DI Box -- only if the venue does not have one
WHAT TO DO:
Pan tracks left, click right. Plug in the splitter to the iPod. From there, the chain is:
LEFT > DI > venues PA
RIGHT > AMPLIFIER > ¼mono to ¼ stereo > headphones
-----------------
the above is what I did since its good enough for me, and i didnt have a stereo instrument cable lying around, but it might be better to go
RIGHT > 1/4"mono to 1/4" stereo > *stereo inst. cable > amp > headphones
This way you only need one mono-to-stereo adaptor instead of one for each headphone out on the amplifier.
-----------------
WHY IT WORKS: (just from observation, Im by no means an expert)
The key here is the headphone amplifier. If you plug in a pair of headphones, without the amp, directly into the splitter, there is some resistance or mismatched impedance or some shit, which causes the click to bleed into the left(tracks) channel. Once that happens youre fucked. The headphone amplifier fixes this problem.
The mono to stereo adaptor fixes the click-in-one-ear-only problem.
Also, the headphone amp conveniently has multiple headphone outputs So if your band members ever want a click in their ear, just grab some wireless headphones and theres plenty of click to go around.
The whole setup costs around $200 (not including DI box)
The only downside is the tracks are mono. But who cares, its just a shit ton of bass drops after all
