Anybody Doing 1 Man Band Gigs w/Backing Tracks?

I've thought a lot about doing this - mostly because of dissatisfaction with bandmates... I've even assembled a number of backing tracks... but never followed through. I guess I figured no one would want the sit through watching me masturbate on guitar .... which at the end of the day, is probably exactly what I would be doing. I have this internal discussion about it.... which is better, a bad band or a guy playing to jam tracks? I think it would be cooler to have great single guitar arrangements of various recognizable pop music, and be so adept at outlining chord changes with
Leads that no one noticed when you switched to single note lines... or, polish up on chord melodies...so now, I'm thinking a lot about doing this....

If you do the jam track gig, let me know how it comes out...
 
There was a guy out there doing a One-Man Joe Satriani tribute to backing tracks. But I don't know how much work he got? Haven't seen him around in a while.
 
Not quite. We do one man one woman with backing track. Computer controls lights, Fractal, X32, Voicelive 2, GR55. Well ... technically it is a one 'man' band...lol.
 
Yeah I can imagine how much work this involves.

The issues that come with relying on others to maintain a project/band seems to make the effort more attractive.

The other challenge I have with this is I'm not really a singer and it doesn't seem like the average audience would stay very engaged without vocals.

I could either work on my own vocal performance or decide to work with someone else.
 
When you're a singer its seems acceptable to sing along to a backing track. Rappers and R&B singers in particular seem to do little else. Of course the human voice is a lead instrument that people focus on. Other instruments tend to be viewed as backing instruments, which looks weird to only see that, and not the whole. For rock it even looks sad. Part of the attraction of rock music is seeing a live band that elevates their music to a whole new level. It's about the sum of the parts being greater. Seeing a guy play guitar alone looks sad and like a severe case of audio masturbation. Only suitable for guitar clinics and workshops. Real solo artists hire a backing band. That way they can recreate their music live and not have to worry about the opinions and personalities of band mates. Band members have the right to spout undesired creative input and the right to annoying quirks. Comes with the territory of creating a band together. Hired musicians are guns for hire, and just have to do as they're told. Sounds harsh, but then again everybody knows what they're getting into.

Personally I love being in a band. Yeah, personalities can clash and be very annoying, but I would hate to be a solo artists. Because when it does work magic gets created. And sometimes you need that input from others who call you out when you're creating crap.
 
Yeah I've played in bands and been on both sides of the creative fence for many years. I appreciate and desire the benefits a full band brings to the table.

Just want to explore my options of maybe doing a type of 1 man+ type of project.

Primarily to bring my music to an audience with a blend of other stuff I would love to hear and think people would appreciate hearing. Not trying to get into the top 40 cover tunes thing.

And although it's not my goal, I thought it's worth pointing out what Jeff Loven is doing (see video above) is anything but "sad".
 
I saw someone opening for Michael Schenker several years ago doing just that, and although he was really good player, it just seemed like something was missing without having a band there. It just didn't seem as entertaining not having that interaction with other band members.
 
Muad'zin said:
Seeing a guy play guitar alone looks sad and like a severe case of audio masturbation. Only suitable for guitar clinics and workshops. Real solo artists hire a backing band.
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Damn sure hard to know which end of this bullshit statement to start with. I like playing live too but I can easily say in 47 years of playing guitar the most difficult and fulfilling music experience I've enjoyed is backing track work.
 
I used to gig in a 2-piece with backing tracks. In fact, I put myself through 2 years of college doing this. Mind you, in those days, "backing tracks" meant a bunch of hardware synthesizers and a MIDI sequencer that ran on single-sided floppies.
 
mwd said:
Damn sure hard to know which end of this bullshit statement to start with. I like playing live too but I can easily say in 47 years of playing guitar the most difficult and fulfilling music experience I've enjoyed is backing track work.
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There's a major difference between running a backing track along a full piece band, to fill out some additional sounds from a recording, and playing alone on stage with a pretend band. The former at least still looks like a full piece band, the other just looks like a sad git who couldn't, or can't bother to get a real band. And I've played along with backing tracks in a full piece band and I would do so again. It would only be problematic if you're doing lengthy live improvisations. It still doesn't negate the fact that when you see a musician alone on stage knowing that everything else comes out of a HDD they look sad. I would also feel cheated, as in where's the beef!

That's just my opinion, it probably doesn't count much in this day of age where people are used to seeing people sing along to canned music on things like (insert your country) got Talent, or The Voice. And where DJ's are considered as artists performing a show for playing what is essentially canned music only. I'll just take some actual real musicians instead any time. Even if they're shitty ones.

And that's excluding the fact that when you have a backing track disaster, which will inevitably happen, the full band can go on and compensate, whereas the backing track artist will now look even more like a sad git.
 
Personally I don’t play for looks I play for the music. I go into the studio and record a complimentary backing guitar, many times acoustic, then bass, keyboards and send the track off to a killer drummer in Dallas for the drum tracks. It is then mixed and balanced and then my guitar and a female vocal are played live. So to be honest I ‘feel’ like a real musician.

We have a balanced sound. We don’t speed up and slow down, don’t have multiple guitars that fight for volume levels or bass that vibrates the capo’s and tuners off the amp. I’m not married to 5 people, practice is precisely on time on a regular basis. No interruptions or disruptions. My Fractal and every device, including lights, are precisely timed so I just play. The foundation music is the exact same each time it is played mix and levels are refined over and over, as is my playing and Fractal presets. My main guitar is an Evertune model so I could walk out and play for 1-1/2 hours straight, no garbage, no tuning, just pure music. (I say 'could' because I'm not past the one hour pee break).

I get that it may not be your preference or you feel cheated. But I don’t get insulting musicians that do prefer this method. I don’t get into thrash metal or rap but I do respect that it is someones ticket to music enjoyment and realistically that is why we all play.

I ‘choose’ to not have ‘real’ band. Been there done that for decades and ultimately it bores the crap out of me. The ability to take a duo (in my case) and see how far that can be expanded, using technology, is fascinating to me. As well, ultimately, from start to finish, this is the hardest, most technical, most complex and satisfying musical project I have even been in. What would this ‘duo’ be otherwise. A guitar and vocal? Two guitars and vocals?
 
My personal preference is to play with a full band, allow for improvisation and on the spot creativity, spontaneous reaction to one another, interact with the audience in many ways, etc....

That being said, if having to decide to not play music for people because hiring 2-4 musicians isn't in the budget, I'll gladly settle for having some backing tracks fill in for them.

And based on Muad'zin's example of the culture that is arising from The Voice, ....Got Talent, etc. where the band is just live karaoke anyway, wouldn't musicians be just physical representations of what your hearing anyway?

I wouldn't call it my preference but I've seen some amazing talent performing to backing tracks and/or just using a looper to create their own backing tracks live on the spot. I'm also not suggesting this format should replace full live bands.

And the most important take away from all of this is.....

This thread wasn't asking for opinion - it was asking if anybody doing this for the purpose of gaining their insight, advice, experience, etc.
 
MesaGuitarGuy said:
a friend of mine in Minnesota does great.
He's also a Fractal user.

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The genius of a solo act doing a lip sync promo video (I assume this is one since I don't hear any venue/audience except dubbed in at end) is that it's much easier because live video and studio recording are using the same tracks! I've thought about it, but I really like the audience/venue sounds in my crappy iPhone YT videos. When I get serious about more live video, I'll hang a studio mic for venue noise and mix that in.
 
Warrior said:
This thread wasn't asking for opinion - it was asking if anybody doing this for the purpose of gaining their insight, advice, experience, etc.
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I have past experience with this, therefore I guess I have valid insight and advice. But it still kind of ends up as opinion...

Way back when, I was in a stagnating band, not many gigs and when we did gig it didn't pay much after splitting 4 ways. Eventually that band shut down so I decided to go solo! Something I'd always wondered if I could pull off. This was my chance.

It took a LOT of effort to build up my show ('Solo-Act' is correct on this). I already knew songs, lead vocal and guitar, but I needed a bunch more material with better variety. I was savy about midi sequencing, sound modules, mixing, PA and all that stuff, so I knew I could pull it off technically to a high standard.

Months of effort and expense later I had about 50 songs down plus all the gear I needed to go out, tested and ready. I made demos and promo materials and talked to some booking agents about finding me some gigs. Finally I got my first booking, a weekend at a nice pub. Soon I had a few more, plus interest in return bookings. New Years Eve.. big money! EVERY gig I did, first to last, paid more than I was used to from the previous band.

To recap: I loved the idea of it. Wondered if I could pull it off. I worked hard and I DID IT. And I can say it was a success!! At first I felt a big sense of accomplishment, achievement. Big Win all around right?

The only problem was, I quickly discovered that I hated playing solo gigs. DO'H!

Practice alone. Show up at the venue alone, talk to pub managers.. alone. Load in PA and heavy gear... alone. It's a workout. Time to play, still the best part, but it feels like Karaoke. Because it is. Not nearly the same feeling as real live music in a band. Alone on stage means you do 100% of the "entertaining". Host and MC, audience banter, jokes, talking to drunk people. You really need to have the right personality to do it well, and I probably don't. Occasional awkward silence from stage when you have to step away from the mic to deal with a tech issue, tuning, guitar change. With a band there's always another guy to talk on a mic. Set breaks? I'd try to roam around and make new friends, but it's more fun to hang with your band buddies and talk about the set or whatever.

I also found out how exhausting it is to do 100% of the lead vocals all night. I know lots of singers do it, but for some reason I found it physically exhausting, especially when you play a 4 hour set 2 or 3 nights in a row. I had no idea how hard that was. Maybe just me. I've always been in bands where lead vocal duties were shared.

It didn't take long before I no longer wanted to do the solo thing at all, at any price. So that was that. Been in a real band ever since. Still not enough gigs and the pay is still shitty, but I love it :)

Interesting lesson learned.
 
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