Are Backing Tracks Cheating? Only If You’re full of sh!&
There’s a hot debate in the very nerdiest corners of the internet about whether running backing tracks is cheating. And there are a few different scenarios.
One: if you have musicians miming on stage, 100% cheating. No question, you're faking it. Not cool.
Two: the scenario that I'm often in. So I'm running tracks for a friend tomorrow at a show, and the keyboardist two days ago ducked out of the gig. He dipped, and we have a lot of sharps and flats. It's not an easy set to play, super touch-sensitive and dynamic. And with the press of one button, I can add that stuff back in.
And assuredly, there's no miming. We have live drums. We have yours truly on bass, but I also have tracks for all that should whatever happen. The drummer doesn't show up? I can slot the track in.
But the biggest point: the crowd doesn't care. At all. I never heard a person complain. I've only had questions from interested nerds. And running tracks has got me gigs like ACL Fest, sold-out gigs at the Mohawk, etc.
So, it isn't really... I guess the answer to "is tracks cheating," is it depends.
If it's additive and it's making the show better, no way. If you're faking it and trying to deceive people, yes way. That's it.
But I would suggest if you're a bassist or a drummer or you play keys, learn how to do it. Look at From Studio to Stage on YouTube It's such a useful skill to have for this particular artist, Katherion She didn't know she needed it. So I showed up to play bass and was able to pick up and do it easily.
And because I've (now) done it so much, I can do set changes on the fly. I can fix stuff. I can speed it up. I can slow it down. And it's no problem. And oftentimes I can fix things right at rehearsal. So super flexible.
For tomorrow I haven't gotten an email back from the sound guy re: requirements. I can go one of two ways on running these tracks. I'll be ready for both (or more).
So not a yay me post, but a: What you got in your tool bag, b*tch?