Backing Tracks

[Steven Waters]

i am a singer song writer and at the moment i am recording my songs on cubase. i have recorded a number of tracks with vocals, playing the acoustic guitar and adding in drum loops. i have pretty well got this right so far but have hit a dead end. i want to add other instruments in like a bass, keyboard or harp ect but dont know how i can do this. apart from learning the instruments or getting other musos to play is there a way where you can add them in through some sort of software. i know there is a vts option in cubase but i havnt got my head around this yet. is there a software that can add the instrument and track my original song and play to the beat and rythm. probably asking for to much but you never know. the drum loops are ok but they are constant so you have to keep time and theres no variation. i have learnt the bass and harp enough to play simple melodies and am trying to learn the keyboard. just want to add more instruments to my songs to give them more fullness. does anyone have a similar problem or better still has found a way to do this.

[thetau]

Let me know where I can hear some of your tracks.

I can pretty much help you out with most of what you're looking for here and I could always use a male vocalist.

Arrangments are a good part of what I do.

Send me an email with some info regarding some of your tracks

magicsongwriter@gmail.com

Russ

[John Dwinell]

Sounds to me like programming is what you are looking for, brother. This is exaclty the way most pop records are done. So I would also search for any music "programmers". Being that its all digital, the world is your oyster! Try www.fiverr.com, i'll bet you could find several people who would be willing to either program the tracks or teach you to program your own (from tech questions, to arrangement) for just $5!! Pretty cool resource.

[grays4u]

why not try band in a box 12 put the chords in to a song then listen to a style but only listen the guitar or theany other  part by itself if you think it might fit then save as midi file then export them into cubase see what works  

[bobbyearlray]

Hey Steve- I can help you if you need.....Thanks- Bobby

[SteveA]

This is what it's all about Musicians helping Musicians.....

 

I would love to hear the outcome

[Steven Waters]

hi thanks for all the replies i must have missed the last ones as i only just got a message for the latest post. ive since got another interface a focusrite scarlet 2i2 with ableton software. i wanted a 2nd one for another setup and the new one was easier to understand. i quickly worked out how to add vts instruments and they have a fair amount like bass, piano, brass and wind plus a good amount of synths. i get a pretty good result though it sounds a bit 4/4 as i havnt got the flow and timing happening at the moment. it does add some backing but i dont think i could get it to a decent level for a while and probably need more variety of instruments to find what im looking for. i start to think that i wish i had some live instruments now as the vts seems a bit  or maybe im not doing it right. anyway thats where im at and thanks for all the feedback i will also try some local musos as i am living in australia. i jam with some friends and we record that and its always fun and we end up with one or two bits of great sounds or we think so anyway. maybe we might have had a bit to much to drink but its all fun anyway.

[David A]

Grays4u has a really good idea with the Band in a Box 12 (BB) option. I used BB and it really works fine after the learning curve is over. Any style, genre and feel is available. Reproduction of midi sounds may be lacking if you don't have good samplers though. The next option may be Construction kits that are available at music software sites like Big fish audio or esounds.com. I have been using a midi controller called YRG with great success. It is essentially a guitar neck that can trigger samples and since my first instruments are string instrument the end result sounds pretty convincing.

[Steven Waters]

Let me know where I can hear some of your tracks.

I can pretty much help you out with most of what you're looking for here and I could always use a male vocalist.

Arrangments are a good part of what I do.

Send me an email with some info regarding some of your tracks

magicsongwriter@gmail.com

Russ

hi there you can get a couple of my songs off soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/steven-waters-3.

There are few bits and pieces of other stuff which me and my friends mucked around with as well but they are just ad lib stuff. The songs on there are older but are very basic with my first attempts to record. I have a lot more new ones but these should give you an idea. Frustrating as i keep writing new stuff and have just hit a brick wall with recording. My equipment is not the best and I just cant get that clear sound with good backing instuments and sounds like you hear on some songs done in home studios. I havnt learnt how to mix properly so voice is to reverbed ect. All sounds a bit amuturish. I have been trying to get some decent recordings for a while now. Just either dont know how to do it or I dont have  the right equipment. Maybe I am just not good enough.

[Bernd]

You could always use Midi (either the inbuilt Cubase-Midi or Microsoft-Midi). Either edit the notes with the mouse, which can be cumbersome, but then, you can copy-and-paste the parts later and maybe add slight variations, or use a Midi-keyboard (actually ANY keaboard).

But the assistence of true musicians certainly will help get the sound and production right ;-)

 

Bernd

[drumguy4all]

I don't know if you can get programmed music for five dollars Steve and if you can I'm sure it would sound like five dollar music. There is an abundance of online musicians that can provide guitar,bass,drums or any other instrument plus mixing,mastering etc. My point is if you really want to make your music sound the best it can use real musicians and be willing to spend a little money. I don't think you will have to spend thousands of dollars as if you were going into an actuall studio but trying to get your ideas out musically for free through collaboration will most likely result in music that sounds unprofessional. I know there are guitarist that offer tracks and bass online for under $100 a song and I offer drum tracks recorded on real drums for $55.00 a song. I have been providing my service since 2005 and would love to help you if you're interested.

[Steven Waters]

yeah thanks for all the help. Its all a learning curve for me. All sound like good ideas and i will navigate my way around to try them all. I do agree that real musos are the best way to go as its real and it can be improvised or you can become in tuned with each other and its flexible. The sound is real andraw as well. I do jam with some friends and we have fun but have never really got serious about taking things any further. The main trouble is each wants to do their own stuff and my stuff is a lot different to what they like. We will back each other up for when we do our own stuff but most of the time we just ad lib on some blues mostly which is not what i mostly like. But for having some fun its great and you never know we could take it a little further with making a band  or doing ocassional gigs. But the other thing is we all play guitar and pretty much the same so it doesnt help with the other instruments. I have been toying with learning the drums and i know a bit of bass aand keyboard as well. I know when i have a real bass it does sound better than the Vst ones. Or at least you can give it a better rythmn on a real bass than on some buttons or keys IMO. I am trying to find a local musos get together or put an ad in for having a social get together with local musos so that i can get out there and meet people. I think this is a good way to make friends and develop connections with other musos.