Playing Live – How to Set Up Your Band With Monitors For a Killer Sound
January 27, 2012 | 
Author You’ve got your amps, you’ve been practising in a garage or small rehearsal room and things sound pretty tight. Now you’ve got a chance to play down at the local pub/bar. How difficult could that be? Well, if you feel that all you have to do is set up and play just as you’ve been practising then there is a 99% chance of disaster. Many bands sound awful at their first gigs because their PA isn’t sorted; they find themselves playing out of time and out of tune.
Why? It’s monitoring – or to be precise a lack of it! Your singer will only be able to sing in tune if he can hear what he is singing. Your guitarists will only bend notes accurately if they can hear their own guitars. Bass and drums will only lock in if they can hear each other, and each of you will only know where you are in a song if you can hear the rest of the band. It’s wholly different to the confines of the garage or practice space and this can really throw you all. You will be struggling to hear the overall sound and may even have trouble in properly hearing your part of it. No matter how good you all are as musicians, no matter how much you’ve practised, without good monitoring you will end up out of time, out of tune and wishing you’d stayed at home. When the on-stage sound is wrong, amplifying it will just tell the audience how wrong it is.
For bands of three to six people with electric guitars and bass, a drummer, a singer and possibly a keyboard, playing in small venues to audiences of less than 200 (a typical start up scenario) your amplification needs are threefold:
1) Back line – this includes your guitar and bass amps, your drummer
2) Monitors – these are on-stage speakers relaying “fold-back” – your own sound
3) PA – the front of house sound which the audience hears
Notice that 1) and 2) create your on-stage sound whilst 3) delivers the on-stage sound to the front of house. Lets take them one at a time:
Backline
You will need 30 to 50watts RMS for your guitar to match the drums. The bass will need 50 to100 watts. If you are using keyboards they will need 100 watts as a back-line instrument but if you choose to put the keyboards directly through the PA to the front of house, bear in mind that without a mixer they will be a distraction for the vocalist. Those pieces of kit which do not have a volume control – the drummer and the singer – now need to be considered. The vocals will definitely need a system that delivers over guitars, bass and drums to a room full of noise absorbing people (and audiences absorb the higher frequencies more efficiently than the lower ones), so PA’s are first and foremost the province of the vocalist, but also for keyboards and, if you chose to microphone them, the drums.
Monitors
You need stage monitors so the singer can hear themselves and the rest of the band can hear the singer. A monitor is a speaker, often quite small and wedge shaped, which can be pointed at the singer without hiding him and generally raised at the front edge by a stand (or propped up by an old brick) to project better. Add more monitors so the rest of the band can hear the singer and position one of these next to the drummer. You’ll need a separate power amplifier to drive the monitors although it needn’t be as powerful as a PA power amp, and if you have extra acoustic instruments you will need to put these through the monitors too. Look for monitors of 100W, you can get active ones with built in amps or go for a monitor amp with separate speakers. Understand, too, that your guitar and bass amps are, on-stage, monitors. You need to set these so that you can hear yourself and the other band members, and that they can hear you as well as themselves. This is the trickiest part and when sound wars break out on stage, often a competition over being loudest, it’s the audience that suffers. Don’t make the mistake of turning up your amps to impress the audience as you will just be unbalancing the band’s sound. In very small venues and for mainly acoustic bands, the monitors can be angled to spill sound to the audience.
You now have control and balance issues to consider. Decision one: either you balance the back line to the drummer or you microphone the drums and balance through the PA . There are compromises possible when playing small venues where it may be effective to simply microphone the kick drum.
PA
To the singer, the PA is what an amplifier is to a guitarist, but it’s much more besides. What goes to the PA goes through a mixer. These days a mixing desk capable of handling the whole band can be picked up for the price of a low mid-range guitar. Given that many venues, even smaller ones, now have their own PA systems, including a mixing desk, you will need to come to terms with these either way. At the basic level if you only have vocals going through the PA you will only need 100W per channel and a couple of full range speakers with stands. The speakers will have a ten, twelve or fifteen inch bass speaker and a horn to handle the high notes. You’ll need to raise the horns above the audience or the people at the front will absorb all of the treble and the rest of the room will get mush. This is why most PA systems feature stands, so use them! Make sure the cabinets are well to the front of the vocalist or your back-line sound could overpower the vocal mike and set up a howling feedback loop. If you’ve got your on-stage sound right then you won’t get this problem from the back-line but if you do then you now know the answer. Turn down the back-line!
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Carol of the Bells
The song was created by the Ukraine’s most popular composer, Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych (1877-1921). Despite being born in Ukraine, living in Ukraine, and largely working with Ukrainian music, Leontovych and his works are most than occasionally called “Russian.” The composition from which “Carol of the Bells” was derived, the choral work Shchedryk, which was first performed by students at Kiev University in December 1916, has not been exempted from the mislabeling. But the Ukrainians, from one perspective, have had the last laugh in this cultural comedy of errors, for by far the best-known carol music to originate in any portion of the former Soviet Union was Leontovych’s brilliant musical portrayal of the sounds of Christmas bells.
Only 20 years after its composition, the music from Shchedryk was converted into a carol halfway around the world. Peter J. Wilhousky (1902-1978), a composer, lyricist, and conductor who worked with Arturo Toscanini on NBC radio, adapted Leontovych’s music and added some lyrics. The title chosen by New Jerseyite Wilhousky was ideal, for “Carol of the Bells” is not only extremely suitable as a characterization of the melody, but also is completely harmonious with the old Slavic legend on which Shchedryk is based. At midnight on the night Jesus was born, the legend claims, every bell in the world rang out in his honor.
Since the synthesis of “Carol of the Bells” in 1936, the song, also known as “Ukrainian Carol,” has increasingly become a part of the celebration of Christmas in the United States. Its public acceptance was surely boosted by the employment of the melody in a series of television advertisements for champagne. The idea, apparently, was that the champagne was as tasteful and sparkling as the music. In addition, the melody has been utilized in three other American carols. In 1947, M. L. Holman wrote “Ring, Christmas Bells.” In 1957, the anonymous lyrics “Come, Dance and Sing” were published, and by 1972 another “Carol of the Bells” (this time anonymous) was published. Wilhousky’s original “Carol of the Bells” can be easily distinguished from the later one by his first line, “Hark! How the bells, sweet silver bells.” The second “Carol of the Bells” starts with “Hark to the bells, Hark to the bells.” This multiple usage of Leontovich’s music for four carols as well as for a variety of other purposes is sound testimony to its quality and popular appeal.
Play the chord changes em to C with a walking bass line. Then the right hand plays pretty much a B7 5 finger pattern several times. You’ll find many beautiful arrangements on the internet for piano and flute.
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Piano tabs
Piano Tabs vs. Guitar Tabs
Piano Tabs are basically the same as guitar tabs. Why is that fact important to you? Simply because most chords/lyrics which are in tab form on the internet are going to be listed as “Guitar Tabs” and not necessarily “Piano Tabs”. The chords to a song, the lyrics to a song are the same regardless if a guitarist or a pianist is playing it. So if you’re looking for the “tabs” for a song on the internet, you may end up having to look at a guitar tab site rather than a piano tab site. But no big deal here!
One big difference with guitar tabs, which of course is short for “guitar tablature”, is that the guitar diagrams are almost always shown and these indicate what fret, string, etc. to play. Just ignore that part. You’re only looking to get the lyrics and chords and disregard everything else relating to guitar playing. A student of mine once pleaded with me to explain how to directly translate the guitar notation into piano. Here’s the deal though, pianists DO NOT waste time doing that exercise. Maybe it’ll be fun for you but practically speaking, it’s a waste of time. Guitarists don’t typically take a fully written piano arrangement and extract out each note to directly use that to perform on guitar. So conversely, why whould you want to do this for piano? Just chords and lyrics my friends, chords and lyrics!!
By the way, many pianists never use guitar tab books or guitar tab sheets to work up songs. I certainly do! They argue that the melody line is not included there but it is always found in “lead sheets”. What I do for a song I’m familiar with, is I have already memorized the melody line, (a relatively simple task) so all I’m missing is the chords and lyrics. Case in point, recently, I bought a fantastic Billy Joel Guitar Tab book. I would assume though that very few keyboard players would consider picking up such a book. My thought though was that the fact that I know these songs so well, just having the chords in front of me would enable me to play the song. Additionally, I could now concentrate on working on my singing without being bogged down on the note for note piano arrangement. When you’re on stage, chances are you have memorized everything already, but if you have the guitar/piano tabs in front of you as a “cheat sheet”, it enables you to still perform the song with minimal diversion to “looking at the music”.
But the most important aspect of this type of “tab” playing is that in my experience, with pop/rock band performance, the best, most efficient information you can have to play any song and learn it quickly are guitar tabs!! That is the Secret Weapon all these garage bands use to work up songs and they’re able to do a great job playing these songs, regardless of how much traditional harmonic theory they have been exposed to!
Lesson learned? Go Google or search out your favorite songs and put “tab” after the song, and you’re 80% on the way to perfecting that song in its entirety!
There are many sites on the web where you can find Piano Tabs. If you are able to find a good piano tab site or at least accurate tabs for a song you’re searching for, you are well on your way to playing that song. The major obstacles to creating that song from tabs are
CHORDS
1. Sites infected with Viruses – Unfortunately, this is a very common problem at tab sites. More often than you’d like, your computer can be infected so make sure your viral protection programs are up and running. If you do not have protection for virus infection, you can get free trail downloads at http://www.download.com.
2. Wrong chords and/or lyrics -
Many of the tabs listed on the web for your favorite songs have been put together by well intentioned amateurs who either don’t double check that all the chords are correct or perhaps are unable to distinguish between a correct chord and an incorrect one.
On a scale of 1-10, there are varying degrees of “wrongness” for any chord. Example, if the correct chord should be G7 and instead the chord is listed simply as G, well that’s a minor offense and you could say it’s a “9″ in terms of accuracy. A common mistake is listing the relative minor for a major chord or visa versa. For this error, we might consider it a 6 or 7 in terms of accuracy. In short, for well regarded substitutions for chords, one can live with that. However, with free piano tabs, you can often see wrong chords listed which are at the opposite end of the spectrum for what the chord should in fact be. The chord might be a B flat minor and the tab says that it’s a G sharp major, not even close and completely out there in “left field”! We’d give that infraction a “1″ on a scale of 10. Then again, you will definitely see chords that are that far off. Your final judge should be your “ear”, engage your inherent musicality- if it sounds wrong or really bad to you, there’s a good chance that it is in fact wrong.
LYRICS
For lyrics, again, the same principal applies here – you will see major infractions and minor ones. Just take the posture that the lyrics are “guilty” until proven innocent, i.e., are not 100% accurate until you proof them against either an artist songbook or against a recording.
With No Written Reference for the Lyric: If a song has never been published or perhaps is out of print and one simply can not find a written reference to check the song tabs against, then your guess is as good as anyone’s really. In this case, you basically have to check it and proof it against the recording to find out how accurate it is.
Missing Lyrics and/or Chords
Another common phenomenon with free piano tabs or free tabs is that entire whole portions or sections of a song may be eliminated. It can be frustrating when this occurs so just check against the artist songbook if you have one or if one is available or check against other tab sites for that song. Speaking of which, “comparison shopping” can be a good idea with free tab sites, taking a consensus of opinion, using your own musicality as the ultimate judge again and determining which portions of a tab for any song is correct or appealing to you and which ones are not.
Free Karaoke Backing Tracks by You!
Free karaoke backing tracks are something most singers might look for on the internet whether they wish to perform with them or use them simply as a practice tool. Sure there are sites that have them available but their quality and the completeness of the song might leave something to be desired. These days it’s possible for you to make your own tracks in the comfort of your own office and for not too much money, especially when compared to buying the tracks individually.
You need to have some kind of music editing program at home and be a little bit familiar with MIDI files to make it happen but you can make quality backing tracks at home that will rival anything you can get online, especially the free ones.
The program I use is called Cubase. It’s a software program that is MIDI compatible but was originally designed for multi-track recording, which is to say, recording different instruments in a band at different times. Along with this program I use what are known as VST instruments. VST stands for virtual studio technology. You can acquire many of these instrument sounds for free by simply “Googling” them.
The first thing I do is decide what song I wish to put together. I go to one of my favorite sites, www.musicrobot.com to find the files I use. Their little robot will find and return all kinds of MIDI files of varying length. I usually choose a file that is larger because I assume it to be more complete. You can search either by band or artist. I will check out several files usually to ensure I’m using the one that will give me the best results. Once I have selected a file I then save it in a file on my PC.
The next step is to open up Cubase or whatever program you are using. I import the MIDI file into Cubase and it usually opens up so that you can see all of the individual tracks. By highlighting each track I can assign an instrument to each one but with Cubase in particular I find that if you are using a sound from one synth, that particular synth can only be used once, which is to say that you may not use it for another sound at the same time. If I require the use of use two sounds from the same synth what I do is export the track I want to an audio mixdown and save it to my desk top. I can then go back and change the synth to the other sound I wish to use. Usually I import each track to audio mixdown and save them on my desk top one at a time.
When I have all of the tracks I require I open a new project and insert the number of tracks that I need. If you highlight a track you can then import the audio files one at a time from your desktop into Cubase. Do this for each track i.e. Track 1 will be Drums, Track 2 will be bass guitar etc. until you’ve added all of your tracks.
The volume levels will likely be OK but you can tweak them at this point if you wish to have one instrument louder than the others or whatever. Now you can export this project to an audio mixdown and save it either on your desktop or a folder somewhere. Wherever you like really. With Cubase you can save the songs in various formats, not just MP3.
There are other programs that you can use to make your own free karaoke backing tracks. I have also used Acid Music with limited success. Because I’m not that familiar with I find it to be somewhat cumbersome but it does have really good instrument sounds so it could be worth the effort. The only real issue I have with using Acid Music is that when you need to adjust the tempo of the song you end up adjusting the pitch. With Cubase I can adjust the two independently.
You may think that a couple of hundred bucks is a bit of money to spend on a multi-track program. Acid Music is a cheaper way to do it but it does seem more difficult although it always gets easier the more you do it. However if you had to buy a repetoire of backing tracks then even at a few bucks per tune the cost would add up quickly. The advantage to the multi-track software is that you could not only record the music but you could add your voice to it as well should you ever have the need for a demo of your voice. This is worth considering if you’re thinking about pursuing a band or singing competition or something to that effect.
You may find that you have to “drag” your parts a little bit to make the musical timing line up. This is because of “latency”. Depending on how much memory you computer is using, Latency could be a small problem. Basically it makes the parts sound as if they’re coming in a little late. If you have loads of memory then it shouldn’t be an issue.
This is the exact method I use to make backing tracks for the bands I play in and I use these tracks in live applications consistently. They sound great and I have even had soundmen comment on the good quality of the tracks so it is possible to get quality free karaoke backing tracks anytime you want. All you need is the right set of tools.
How To Sound Like David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
David Gilmour, like his Pink Floyd predecessor Syd Barrett, played a Telecaster initially, but he soon became one of the first British rock guitar legends to favor the Fender Stratocaster and to create a signature sound with the instrument. His parents bought the Tele for David’s 21st birthday, and he played it for a year (including on the Saucerful of Secrets record) until it was lost by an airline.
Upon officially joining Pink Floyd, Gilmour purchased a custom Stratocaster (the first of many) at a Cambridge music store. During the early Pink Floyd years, Gilmour played a Strat almost exclusively, taking full advantage of its wide tonal palette and vibrato bar in his style. He used a Lewis 24-fret electric guitar on rare occasions for its extended range, as in the solo of “Money,” and continued to employ a Tele sporadically in the repertory. Gilmour strung his electric guitars with Gibson Sonomatic strings made of a customized light-top (using the standard E and B for the B and G) and heavy-bottom set gauged .010, .012, .016, .028, .038, and .050. He used a Herco heavy-gauge pick.
David Gilmour’s earliest amp setup with Pink Floyd consisted of a Selmer 50-watt head with a 4×12 speaker cabinet. By 1970, he found his signature sound with a stack made of Hiwatt 100-watt heads with WEM 4×12 cabinets. The Hiwatt/WEM combination can be heard conspicuously on Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon. In the studio, he sometimes added a Fender Twin Reverb combo amp with two 12-inch speakers to his lineup for certain parts, as on Dark Side of the Moon.
David Gilmour’s early Floyd effects consisted of a Binson Echorec tape delay (like Barrett, he used this device from his first days with the band), a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzzface fuzz box, Uni-Vibe pedal, Vox wah-wah pedal, a DeArmond volume pedal, and Leslie and Yamaha RA-200 rotating speaker cabinets. The latter were routed through the output sections of Hiwatt heads and then to WEM 4×12 cabinets. In 1972, his effects boxes were mounted in a custom cabinet, and his array of processors grew to include a second Binson Echorec and a second Fuzzface, an MXR Phase 90, a Crybaby wah-wah, an Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress flanger, Big Muff fuzz, an Orange treble and bass booster, and a custom-built tone pedal.
Additionally, Gilmour used studio effects like ADT (Automatic Double Tracking, a favorite studio processor first developed at Abbey Road Studios for the Beatles), Kepex for tremolo, various tape effects, studio echo chambers, and backwards guitar. He also employed an EMS Synthi Hi-Fi guitar synthesizer (heard on “Time” on Dark Side of the Moon), and usually played a lap steel or Fender twin neck pedal steel guitar for slide parts. He used various acoustic guitars on early Floyd tracks, later settling on Martin D-18 and D-35 models in the 1970s, and, depending on the song, alternated between fingerpicking and playing with a plectrum.
The Drifters: The Best "White Christmas"
When composer Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” in 1941, he insisted that the superstar of the day, crooner Bing Crosby, be the first to record it. Crosby’s version, recorded for Decca on May 29, 1942, became the best-selling record of all time. But is it the best version of the song of wishing to be home for the holidays?
Facts of how and where Berlin wrote the song are murky, with accounts that he may have written it at one of his homes in New York or Beverly Hills; one account has the song composed poolside at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.
Though written in 1940, the song made its first appearance in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn. As troops left home in the shadow of World War II, the song’s tale of longing to be home for Christmas became more poignant… and ensured its success.
More than a hundred cover versions of “White Christmas” have been recorded, from country (Chet Atkins) to gospel (Mahalia Jackson) to rock (Elvis Presley) to modern R&B (Babyface). Even Twisted Sister recorded the song. But for many, the Drifters’ 1954 version remains the gold standard.
The Drifters of the early 1950s was a group that had scored hits on the rhythm & blues charts like “Money Honey” and “Honey Love.” Built around high tenor Clyde McPhatter, who had just left Billy Ward and the Dominoes, the group included Bill Pinkney, brothers Andrew and Gerhart Thrasher and Willie Ferbie.
McPhatter was a revolutionary figure, fusing his gospel style with the R&B of the era to create the template for soul music. But McPhatter, singing falsetto, shared lead vocal duties on “White Christmas” with bass man Bill Pinkney, resulting in a unique and memorable sound. But it would be years before the song would even be heard by most of America… white America.
In the early 1950s, racism prevented black groups like the Drifters from getting airplay on radio stations with white audiences. When “White Christmas” was released, it reached number 2 on Billboard’s R&B chart, but only made number 80 on the pop charts. The song was rarely heard until used in the 1990 film Home Alone, lip-synched by a young Macauley Culkin, who sings into a comb as he applies his father’s after shave.
The song’s appearance in that hit movie (and subsequently in The Santa Clause) made the Drifters’ version a staple on rock, pop and country stations every Christmas season. It even became a popular Internet cartoon by animator Joshua Held. Ironically, the song’s release signaled the end to the first chapter of the Drifters’ story.
Clyde McPhatter was drafted into the Army soon after the song’s release and thanks to its success, Atlantic Records decided to make McPhatter a solo act. McPhatter followed with two big hits, “A Lover’s Question” and “Lover Please,” but his success was soon eclipsed by the soul singers he had inspired. McPhatter died in 1972.
What happened to Bill Pinkney and the other Drifters is part of rock history. In 1958, Drifters’ manager George Treadwell fired the entire group at the Apollo theater, replacing them overnight with the members of the Crowns. These “new” Drifters – Ben E. King, Charlie Thomas, Doc Green and Elsbeary Hobbs – and their successors went on to become one of the most popular singing groups in history, recording iconic hits like “There Goes my Baby,” “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “Under the Boardwalk,” and “Up on the Roof.”
The last of the original Drifters, Bill Pinkney, continued to record and perform with his group until his death in 2007.
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Top Ten Greatest Guitar Players
When learning another language, experts recommend that you immerse yourself in the language. The same principle applies when learning how to play guitar. Listening to great guitar players can be a source of inspiration, can encourage you to keep practicing, and give you a goal to work toward. The following are the top ten greatest guitar players, listed in no particular order:
1. Jimi Hendrix – At one point, Hendrix couldn’t get a break in Nashville, and he ended his backup days with Little Richard in a contract dispute. He quickly realized, however, the value of innovation in playing, as well as in putting on a stage show that fans would remember. Many fans claim he was the greatest guitarist ever to pick up the instrument. At the very least his creative drive, technical ability and such effects as wah-wah and distortion forever transformed the sound of rock and roll. It was his innovation, and his ability to play his guitar in any position with any body part, that consistently places him as one of the top rated guitarists ever.
2. Eric Clapton – Clapton can not only brag that he’s considered one of the greatest rock guitarists and one of the greatest blues guitarists, but also that he has drawn huge crowds for his classical guitar concerts. His playing style is smooth, yet precise, and chords almost seem to flow from his fingertips.
3. Robert Johnson – Recorded his songs for the first time on November 23, 1936 in San Antonio, Texas. Although modern guitar players will often complain that Robert Johnson was out of time, out of tune, and you cannot understand his vocals, style of playing was unlike anything else at the time, and set the pace for future generations of blues players. Johnson is also the guitar player often accused of having made the deal at the crossroads, selling his soul to the devil in order to be able to play.
4. Eddie Van Halen – The lightning speed and innovative sounds of Eddie Van Halen’s guitar are easily recognizable. They are even more impressive when taking into consideration that he is completely self-taught, having never had any type of lesson. It has often been said, that it is easy for Eddie to be creative in his playing techniques because he was never told how he could or could not play.
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Born on October 3 1954 , in the Oak Cliff Section of Dallas Texas. Easily one of the most well known modern blues guitarists, Vaughan’s music seemed to be pulled from the depths of his soul at times. While his playing was smooth, it was the sheer amount of emotion in every note that drew people to his music.
6. Tony Iommi - For many people, Iommi is considered the first real metal guitar player, using a lot of distortion but keeping it completely controlled. His fiery style is even more impressive because his fingering hand is missing the tips of two fingers, requiring him to use rubber prosthetics when playing.
7. Jeff Beck - Many guitar players consider Jeff Beck to be one of the most well rounded guitarists in the world, able to produce incredible tones with what appears to be very little effort. Despite his ability to create amazing sounds with a great depth of feeling, he is rarely given the credit he deserves.
8. Jimmy Page - Formerly one of the hottest studio players in England, Page not only has the ability to write incredible guitar riffs, but he also has the ability to play them perfectly.
9. Randy Rhoads – Was an American heavy metal guitarist who is best known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. Rhoads was perfect and precise in every note, but did so with a great depth of feeling. Not only could he play the music, but he could write it also.
10. Joe Satriani – Satriani may well be the next stage in the evolution of guitarists. He has the ability to play music when he is goofing off that many guitar players will never be able match, even after years of practice.
While this is by no means the definitive list of the greatest guitar players, and some would disagree with the names on the list, it is an excellent starting point. By listening to accomplished players, those who are learning to play guitar can find their inspiration.
Free Karaoke Backing Tracks by You!
Free karaoke backing tracks are something most singers might look for on the internet whether they wish to perform with them or use them simply as a practice tool. Sure there are sites that have them available but their quality and the completeness of the song might leave something to be desired. These days it’s possible for you to make your own tracks in the comfort of your own office and for not too much money, especially when compared to buying the tracks individually.
You need to have some kind of music editing program at home and be a little bit familiar with MIDI files to make it happen but you can make quality backing tracks at home that will rival anything you can get online, especially the free ones.
The program I use is called Cubase. It’s a software program that is MIDI compatible but was originally designed for multi-track recording, which is to say, recording different instruments in a band at different times. Along with this program I use what are known as VST instruments. VST stands for virtual studio technology. You can acquire many of these instrument sounds for free by simply “Googling” them.
The first thing I do is decide what song I wish to put together. I go to one of my favorite sites, www.musicrobot.com to find the files I use. Their little robot will find and return all kinds of MIDI files of varying length. I usually choose a file that is larger because I assume it to be more complete. You can search either by band or artist. I will check out several files usually to ensure I’m using the one that will give me the best results. Once I have selected a file I then save it in a file on my PC.
The next step is to open up Cubase or whatever program you are using. I import the MIDI file into Cubase and it usually opens up so that you can see all of the individual tracks. By highlighting each track I can assign an instrument to each one but with Cubase in particular I find that if you are using a sound from one synth, that particular synth can only be used once, which is to say that you may not use it for another sound at the same time. If I require the use of use two sounds from the same synth what I do is export the track I want to an audio mixdown and save it to my desk top. I can then go back and change the synth to the other sound I wish to use. Usually I import each track to audio mixdown and save them on my desk top one at a time.
When I have all of the tracks I require I open a new project and insert the number of tracks that I need. If you highlight a track you can then import the audio files one at a time from your desktop into Cubase. Do this for each track i.e. Track 1 will be Drums, Track 2 will be bass guitar etc. until you’ve added all of your tracks.
The volume levels will likely be OK but you can tweak them at this point if you wish to have one instrument louder than the others or whatever. Now you can export this project to an audio mixdown and save it either on your desktop or a folder somewhere. Wherever you like really. With Cubase you can save the songs in various formats, not just MP3.
There are other programs that you can use to make your own free karaoke backing tracks. I have also used Acid Music with limited success. Because I’m not that familiar with I find it to be somewhat cumbersome but it does have really good instrument sounds so it could be worth the effort. The only real issue I have with using Acid Music is that when you need to adjust the tempo of the song you end up adjusting the pitch. With Cubase I can adjust the two independently.
You may think that a couple of hundred bucks is a bit of money to spend on a multi-track program. Acid Music is a cheaper way to do it but it does seem more difficult although it always gets easier the more you do it. However if you had to buy a repetoire of backing tracks then even at a few bucks per tune the cost would add up quickly. The advantage to the multi-track software is that you could not only record the music but you could add your voice to it as well should you ever have the need for a demo of your voice. This is worth considering if you’re thinking about pursuing a band or singing competition or something to that effect.
You may find that you have to “drag” your parts a little bit to make the musical timing line up. This is because of “latency”. Depending on how much memory you computer is using, Latency could be a small problem. Basically it makes the parts sound as if they’re coming in a little late. If you have loads of memory then it shouldn’t be an issue.
This is the exact method I use to make backing tracks for the bands I play in and I use these tracks in live applications consistently. They sound great and I have even had soundmen comment on the good quality of the tracks so it is possible to get quality free karaoke backing tracks anytime you want. All you need is the right set of tools.
How To Choose The Best Stereo Receiver For Your Needs
It used to be a lot simpler to find the best stereo receiver for your needs since most people only used receivers for their home audio system, but today the addition of video devices and the multitude of audio/video sources makes the choice more demanding. So here are a few tips to keep in mind as you shop for a stereo or digital receiver.
First of all make sure that the receiver that you choose to be the brain of your home entertainment center will be able to support all the devices that you intend to use with it. These days video and audio can come from a variety of sources including camcorders, digital video recorders, DVD players, cable or satellite boxes, video game systems, cd players and so on. You will need to have corresponding inputs for however many devices that you intend to use. So plan ahead and make sure the receiver you buy will fit your needs that way. You will have to pay more for a digital receiver that carries a plethora of input connections, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Also be sure that the connections for both audio and video match between your components and the receiver. Most devices can support a standard composite cable connection, but for your best video sources you will probably want some S-video connections that produce a better screen picture with more detail. On the audio side, if you are using surround sound as many people are these days, make sure that the audio connections from your components match the inputs on your receiver. For digital equipment it is usually either an optical or coaxial connection, but whichever it is, be sure that the connections on both ends will match.
Then be sure that the receiver will be sufficient for your room size. Most rooms will take about 50 watts per channel to power the speakers sufficiently, but larger rooms may require 75 watts per channel and very large rooms can use 100 watts per channel to fill the room up with sound.
You also will need to match the receiver to your speakers too as some speakers use different ohm ratings to accomplish their sound purpose. An ohm has to do with how much resistance there is to the current being sent from the receiver. If you match an 8 ohm receiver with a set of 4 ohm speakers you may damage your receiver because of all the overwork that it has to do to keep up with the current demand from the speakers. So just make sure that you match the receiver requirements to the speaker set that you have.
Finally, don’t assume that price is the definitive guide for quality. Many reviews of the best stereo receivers have concluded that high quality equipment does not always cost more, so read the reviews, shop around thoroughly and follow the suggestions given above and you can make a good stereo receiver purchase.
How to Make a Sword -The Six Step Process
The process of making a sword is more than what you see in the movies. For many people being a blacksmith is a fantasy where you pound steel against an anvil, dip it in water and voila! You have a completed sword ready to mow down the evil hordes of creatures that lurk in the forest. But swordmaking is much more than this. Swordmaking is both an art and a craft and it takes hard work, a lot of practice and a significant amount of specialized tools to create a sword. It also takes many years of practice to become proficient at this skill.
Before the blacksmith or swordsmith actually starts hammering or heating the metal for a sword there is a lot of work to be done. The sword size, shape, properties, and metal composition all have to be decided upon. These factors determine the amount of metal, the temperatures of heating and the specific steps in the process that have to be completed. This article doesn’t cover the complete art of swordmaking. It will only discuss and outline the process of smithing the blade of a sword.
There are many different methods for making a sword and the art has changed over the centuries as technologies, tools and the science of metallurgy has changed. But for the past five hundred years there has been one method that still stands as the most common. This is the six step method. of taking a bar of the desired metal to a completed sword.
The First step is Forging
A bar of the desired metal or combination of metals is heated in a forge and then it is hammered into shape.(The shape of a sword) This hammering process can take a long time and it is called drawing out the sword. The sword is worked on in sections (usually around 6 inches in length) and repeatedly hammered and heated until it comes into the desired shape .This process is repeated many times and the sword is often heated then allowed to cool without hammering. This is required by the metal to keep the desired properties of strength and flexibility. Once this step is completed the sword is in the proper shape but the properties of the metal make it very brittle and something has to be done to give flexibility to it.
Step Two: Annealing
Annealing softens the sword and makes it easy to grind into shape. The sword is now heated and then allowed to cool very slowly. Often it is wrapped in an insulating material to slow down this cooling. It can take as long as 24 hours and this annealing process makes the sword soft and easy to grind.
Step Three: Grinding
Now the blacksmith uses a grinder to work out the edge and point of the sword. This would also be when any engraving is added. This is not a completed sword yet. It is still much too soft so it must be hardened.
Step Four: Hardening
Now the sword is heated to a very high temperature and then placed into a quenching tank. (This is what we always see in the movies). This quenching allows it to cool quickly and evenly which will harden the metal. After this hardening the sword is brittle and something must be done to make it strong yet flexible.
Step Five: Tempering
Again the blade is heated and quenched. But now the heating is at a much lower temperature than was used at the hardening. This heating/quenching cycle may be repeated several times. This tempering allows the blade to be strong but not brittle. This is one stage where the skill and experience of the swordsmith is invaluable. It takes a trained hand and eye to understand the properties of the meta. It will have a certain amount of flexibility yet still retain its sharp edge. Now the sword is ready for completion.
Step Six: Completion
The sword blade itself is now complete. Now the additional parts will be added such as the pommel the guard and the hilt.
For the past five hundred years the only way to learn the art of swordmaking was to find a skilled blacksmith or swordsmith that was willing to take you on as an apprentice. Because of the specialized skills and tools, and the skill that is required this tradition remains the best way to do it today.
Before you invest lots of time in money in equipment and materials you should find a master that is willing to teach you the basics of the art. You won’t have to devote your life to endless hours of hammering against an anvil and with a little perseverance, a little patience and some practice you will be able to make some decent swords that you can be proud of.