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Topic: Most economical playback format for backing tracks? |
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2009 11:09 am |
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| I have an 8-track Tascam hard disk recorder and a few loopers, and Band in the Box - but what's the best way to store and play back backing tracks for practice and/or small gigging? Burn them to a disk, make a cassette? I'd rather burn up a $40 boombox every few years than run a hard disk recorder four hours a day just for playback purposes. I know some people use laptops, but they're rich people, right? |
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Steve French
From:
Roseville CA
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Posted 29 Aug 2009 12:04 pm
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iPod or other MP3 player. Small and easily portable, and some models are pretty cheap. Export your files as MP3 or wave files, load them in your player, and you're good to go. Easy to line in to a PA or your amp.
Steve |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2009 12:16 pm
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Yeah, an MP3 player is the way to go these days. I use an iPod, but there are brands in the under-$100 category that do the job just as well.
_________________
-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2009 6:45 am
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Thanks guys, this looks good. I have avoided the Ipod ontogeny because it served no purpose for me, and I certainly don't want to spend any more time wearing headphones than I already do - ALL of my guitar students are going to be deaf as doorknobs by the age of 30. But I can see it for storage... I found these two Alesis ports:
Multiport
Protrack
You just plug a processed guitar tone into the port and record right to the Ipod. I use little mixers anyway, with preamp, drum machine already loaded. I'm still trying to avoid having to turn my computer on to perform every single little function in my life, here. (They haven't computerized blowing your nose or taking a dump yet, but the day is young....  ) |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Posted 8 Sep 2009 10:39 am
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I use ZUNE MP3 players, (cheaper than IPOD's but work great)
I apply velcro to the units and a small pad to all of my guitars. This keeps them in the right place- to scroll backing tracks, play and adjust volume easily.
I have two, so that one is always fully charged and ready to go.
Dom 
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Mike Wheeler
From:
Delaware, Ohio, USA
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Posted 12 Sep 2009 2:20 pm
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I seriously suggest you check out the Sansa Fuze. I bought a 2Gb unit and I use it for this exact purpose....storing and playing back backing tracks. Mine cost about $50 at Best Buy. It has a Micro SD slot so I can add tons more memory if I want to, it does video and has a built-in FM radio, and a built in microphone for live recording.
It has more features than any of the other units I researched...and it's VERY easy to use (a must for this old geezer  )
And, no, I don't have any affiliation with them.
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Best regards,
Mike |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 13 Sep 2009 6:46 am
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David, buddy, you do know this is 2009 , right ?
You can go to Wallmart and get a $30 1 gig player like this one or you can just drop about 250 MP3 song data files on to a 700MB CD disk and play it in any recently made CD/DVD player.
We recently converted all of our CD's to MP3 files and have them stored on an external drive. I change the music in the player all the time when I travel. It lasts about 14 hours on a USB battery charge. The other small MP3 players mentioned above are also really nice, I think you will find the best deals on Amazon.com for them. I got one of them for my wife but I went the cheap way for me, $30 at Wallmart. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 14 Sep 2009 7:05 am
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Ummm, you mean it's NOT 1989? Damn - they slipped a couple by me! 
I really am a willfully-ignorant techno-idiot in a lot of ways. I only learn what I want when I need to, otherwise it looks like it can totally bog you down, programming every damn thing in your life just to make a cup of coffee or a phone call. My phone doesn't take pictures, my car doesn't talk (I'd have to shoot it) etc. I am now Ipod-ed up, so far I loaded a transcendent Mahavishnu Orchestra concert (11-09-72) into Cakewalk, chopped it into songs and stuck it in the Ipod, now I have the best ever Allman Brothers show (09-16-71) to go - oops looks like I'm gonna need another Ipod.  But I'm not bogged down... really.
http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/ |
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gary darr
From:
Somewhere out in Texas
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Posted 15 Sep 2009 6:07 pm
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| Slightly off topic but I record my own backing tracks and load them up on a phillips mp3 player and then I plug the mp3 into a wireless mic transmitter that sends the signal to the mixing console at church,this allows us to cue up the music from anywhere in the room. |
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