Best way to run a backing track for my band live?

[Sora01]

Hey guys,

Got a lot of gigs coming up with my band entrosolet ( www.myspace.com/entrosolet )

and I'm needing a way to run backing tracks through any PA whilst on the road. Now I've got the tracks made with the click panned full left for the drummer and ambience 80% right so the drummer can still hear it slightly, they also all have a 2 bar count in (we don't mind running it stereo and splitting it so the click and ambience are mono).

How would this be set up live so that the drummer can control the *play* button and still be able to split the signal into two? Left for his headphones and right to the mixing engineer.

Thanks in advance, hopefully this is the right sub-forum, as I thought I might need a new piece of equipment to do this.

 

[TonyS.]

The problem when the drummer turn the headphone volume, he will also turn the volume on the Pa...so you have to put a little Mixer between the player and the drummer.

I do it with one of my FP10's and a notebook. Just have a stereo-track going to pa and click on the drummers headphones. He can control his volume and the bleed between the track and click.

 

[vespiz]

We use an iPod, a DI box and a small mixer. A y-cable from the iPod splits the L/R signal. Click is on the left and goes straight to the mixer.
The backing tracks are sent to FOH via the DI box, and to the mixer from the DI through where the drummer adjusts levels to his liking.

 

[Sora01]

Ah I think i've figured out a way, http://www.delamar.de/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/mackie_onyx_satellite_pod.jpg

Using this part of my mackie. We can run a laptop/notebook through firewire to this, the drummer hits play, we have the unbalanced right sending to the pa, this means they only get the ambience, the control room knob controls the amount sending to the pa and headphone jack 2 could be used with the phones 2 knob to control how much the drummer wants to hear.

This would work in theory yes?

EDIT: Thanks by the way guys, I came up with this after reading your posts

 

[bryan_kilco]

I am trying to do the same thing with an SPD-S. The thing is, I never spend time with the unit because its not mine. We have a couple ambient samples in some of our tunes and we've always just hit the sample and hope we are playing to the right tempo, but obviously this isnt the correct way to go about it.

I want to program (if possible) 2 samples on 1 pad of the SPD-S, so that the ambience goes to the PA and a click will go to the drummers monitor.....anyone know if this is possible? I think someone told me they do this but I need answers.

 

[JonWormwood]

Yeah that would work.

Out the interface we have our backing tracks(mono) that go to a 8ch rack DI box (along with triggers), then the other stuff (click, backing tracks, triggers) go to the drummers personal mixer.

 

[arv_foh]

I am trying to do the same thing with an SPD-S. The thing is, I never spend time with the unit because its not mine. We have a couple ambient samples in some of our tunes and we've always just hit the sample and hope we are playing to the right tempo, but obviously this isnt the correct way to go about it.

I want to program (if possible) 2 samples on 1 pad of the SPD-S, so that the ambience goes to the PA and a click will go to the drummers monitor.....anyone know if this is possible? I think someone told me they do this but I need answers.

I don't think this is possible with the SPD-S, it's just to trigger samples with the pads so there is no way to start a click track and samples at the same time

 

[bryan_kilco]

I don't think this is possible with the SPD-S, it's just to trigger samples with the pads so there is no way to start a click track and samples at the same time

hmm, well is it possible to use an actual kick trigger on the kick drum and send it to the SPD-S, so that it receives the trigger and sends a kick sample to the PA?

 

[Forflex]

We use an iPod, a DI box and a small mixer. A y-cable from the iPod splits the L/R signal. Click is on the left and goes straight to the mixer.
The backing tracks are sent to FOH via the DI box, and to the mixer from the DI through where the drummer adjusts levels to his liking.

I agree with TonyS. ... a little mixer is required from the drummer (Behringer xenyx 802??)

Our setup is very similar to vespiz. A custom y cable goes from Laptop to L and R channels. Both channels goto the FOH mixer. L is click, R is backing. Then the monitors are mixed as usual (no click channel in mains .

We run www.aparae.com software on the laptop. Their facebook fanpages has details on howto build the "laptop splitter (to 2 mixer input) cable which is balanced"

-Forflex.

 

[acappa]

One my last live shows (last one was past Augoust in Wacken OA 2010) was as FOH for Grooverial Metal Fest (Mnemic, Sybreed, Hacride...)
As you know Sybreed uses lots of synths, fx, orquestra, pads...
They brought a stereo sampler, where one mono output had the click and the other one the music content, direct to the patch. Hacride and Mnemic also took their sampler, so no laptops/sound cards, etc etc
How would you manage backing music (pads, sinths...) and Snare/Kick triggers??? I´m searching for the most reliable way to do it...i´d like to use slate trigger samples, cheers!

 

[AdamWathan]

iPod and a splitter cable is the most reliable way, especially a flash based iPod like a nano. Load the tracks on everyone in the bands iPod and you'll have 3 or 4 backups at the gig if anything goes wrong, which it won't because it's an iPod and not a laptop

 

[arv_foh]

hmm, well is it possible to use an actual kick trigger on the kick drum and send it to the SPD-S, so that it receives the trigger and sends a kick sample to the PA?

yes

 

[greyskull]

im actually working on something for this.....