Playing along to backing tracks

Gear & Tools Talk đź’» Hardware, Software & Recording
1

Hi Folks,

I was hoping you maybe able to point me in the right direction please.

First my setup

Helix LT, output to Studio Monitors

Helix LT connected to PC using USB for Audio Interface.

I connect to Ableton on PC purely so I can play along to backing tracks separated into stems, so at any given time I can play along to U2 minus the Edge guitar, and attempt to play his parts

Also Ableton allows me to create Midi clips which change the Helix LT snapshots during playback of the backing track.

All of my own guitar effects, amp. Delay etc are handled by Helix LT and my guitar isn’t monitored by Ableton.

So all sound, backing track and my playing comes out of studio monitors.

I find playing along to backing tracks in this way has worked wonders on my learning curve.

Here’s the problem, although Helix does give you ability to control incoming backing track volume independently from my guitar playing ( It has usb trim volume settings in global settings) I still have trouble getting the balance right between my guitar and the backing track.

It just sounds like a lack of fusion between my playing and backing track.

I’ve tried messing with Ableton mix controls on the backing but not getting very far.

My initial thoughts are. Is this a frequency mismatch? I do realise I’m trying to play along to backing mastered by a pro, yet my guitar playing of course isn’t

At this stage in my learning I’m not interested in recording my playing. But more in trying to create a sound of my playing integrated into the backing better.

Would appreciate any help from anyone who has experience of this
Cheers,

Steve

2

Hi Steve,

I’m not sure what you intend by “lack of fusion”. Maybe a short recording with some description would help.

I also have a Helix LT. I find the balancing act is very annoying between different recordings. I am always trying to mix myself in before a song, then I play the song, then I need to remix for the next song.

One way to help this is to re-level each song to the same point. I do this in Audacity which has a re-level tool that will put each song’s peak at 0.5dB below full scale. This way, any volume dynamics should be generally my own and less so the difference in song level.

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3

Hi
Many thanks for the reply, I will certainly give your suggestion a try.

Sorry about the Fusion thing, I appreciate it was probably a little ambiguous. I can best describe it as a slight tone difference, which when heard sounds like it’s not actually part of the recorded backing track

Thanks again,

Steve

4

if you think you are mis-tuned compared to the original, that is not too strange. I know of at least two songs I have worked on that are off around 1/3 to 1/2 of a fret.

I just looked at Ableton. Looks fancy. Is there a way to have it verify the frequency of some note on an individual track? You can validate your suspicion that way.

Again on Audacity, I can grab a short section and calculate the FFT of it, then see what note is is played or how far off it is in your case. I do this for transcribing when I am having trouble.

One other thing I have noticed is that one of my guitars does not like heavy handed playing - it goes well out of tune sharp until the note fades a bit. Could this be something you are experiencing?

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5

:slight_smile: i Thanks,

That’s a very valid point, and makes perfect sense to me. But I don’t think this is a mistuning effect, as I know that dreadful sound which has pretty much given me tuning OCD :slight_smile:
I have 4 other guitars and the effect is the same on all of them.
In Ableton you can alter the pitch and tempo of course, which I messed with as a test but to no avail.

I’ve had another go this afternoon, and it’s as if the EQ on my guitar is off against the EQ of the backing track, maybe I need to balance both EQ’s

Thanks for your help again. It’s very much appreciated

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Studio recordings are highly engineered so that each instrument occupies it’s own place in the mix. As home players we often are adjusting our tone to sound good all by itself. So when we play over a backing track our guitar will sound separate from the rest of the recording or almost like it sits on top of everything else.

Also, when it comes to the rhythm guitar, pro players often do not play full standard open or barre chords - they will often play triads or partial chords to leave room for the vocals or the lead guitar or keyboard.

To sound more “in the mix” try using EQ to limit the range that your guitar occupies and, if you’re playing rhythm, experiment with partial chords.

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7

Thanks @Rider2040
Thanks for your help, I will experiment with EQ a little more in order to try and balance up the mix.
The U2 tracks I play over thankfully have many triads for the Edge played parts

8

I’m glad that is helpful to you.

A couple other things I thought of:

  1. Sometimes the simplest way to “EQ” is simply working with the tone and volume knobs on your guitar.

  2. Live recordings are often less engineered than studio recordings so sometimes it is easier to get your guitar to sound “in the mix” with a live recording. One of my favorite things to do these days is to play along to live videos of my favorite bands (Grateful Dead and Phish) - I can usually get my tone to sound pretty good in the mix, plus it’s awesome when you see the band start to smile as they get into a groove and you can feel it too.

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9

Hey that’s a good point mate, hadn’t thought about playing over the live recordings, and like you say, yes less engineered…why didn’t I think of that :slight_smile:
And another one is I agree quite often overlooked is the EQ you have in your tone knobs on the guitar.
Right. That’s given me plenty to chew on, thanks so much for your pointers

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