Backing Tracks A collection of legal backing track sources

[Mark Hancock]

Hello all.

I'm just jumping onto this band wagon! (no pun intended )
What I would like are some MP3 backing tracks using real musicians, jazz standards mostly.

I'm using iReal Pro at the moment, which is great because you can adjust the temp, highlight sections to repeat, change chords, etc. But the rhythms are a little limited and the sound is a bit stale.

Any current suggestions? I see this thread is 2 years old now.

I have a few backing tracks from Jazzbacks.com. I think they are very good. Real musicians.

 

[6441]

What I would like are some MP3 backing tracks using real musicians, jazz standards mostly.
Any current suggestions? I see this thread is 2 years old now.

This seems to be around and updated:

PG Music - Band-in-a-Box for Windows - Jazz RealPAKs

www.pgmusic.com

 

[Colin the Bear]

Band in a box is very good. Real tracks have real musicians. Tempo is infinitely adjustable. Different musicians available in different line ups. Move the band around on the stage. Input your own tracks from scratch or download from a vast data base and tweak them if needed.

 

[Nikki]

What a great thread. Thanks for starting this and for all who contributed. I must bookmark it

 

[PMason247]

Band in a box is very good. Real tracks have real musicians. Tempo is infinitely adjustable. Different musicians available in different line ups. Move the band around on the stage. Input your own tracks from scratch or download from a vast data base and tweak them if needed.

I've been looking at that thismorning, looks good! But have some question.
I have sent them an email, but feel free to answer if you wish -
1. Is there a minimum spec laptop needed?
2. Can you record? (through microphone)
3. Can you save down to MP3?

 

[ajmiller]

Not sure about spec on laptops but I use BIAB 2019 on a PC Pentium 4 3gb memory running WinXP. Can export wav, MP3 or m4a. BIAB comes with RealBand which is effectively a DAW that can import BIAB files and you can record into that. HTH

 

[Bari251]

If you play other music as well as jazz/swing era tunes, there is a marvellous source of backing tracks in Musescore.
This is free open-source software for writing music. If you subscribe for downloads, there are many arrangements where you can remove the melody, and play along.
I am at present using a piano accompaniment for baritone sax practice, playing Mozart's clarinet concerto, and Monti's Czardas.
Malcolm

 

[Colin the Bear]

I use audacity to record. I never got round to learning how to do it with biab. Tracks can be converted to many formats. I use wav. Mp3 sounds a bit thin to my ear.

 

[jbtsax]

I am reviving this thread because I have found a new treasure trove of Band in a Box MGU files containing songs in all different styles. BIAB Files For those not familiar with it this is a source with jazz and latin tunes @Colin the Bear called to my attention a while back that I use a lot. BIAB Jazz and Latin
For those who are not familiar with how these work, if you own BIAB you simply click on the song you want and it opens in BIAB with the changes already written in. It took about a minute to create this backing track. It is not mixed of course.

https://soundcloud.com/jbtsax%2Fhave-yourself-a-merry-little-christmaswav

 

[6441]

Actually, that collection is mentioned by you on the previous page, in a post from October 2019.

 

[6441]

The BiaB files link is the first one I try for standards and Beatles tunes.

 

[jbtsax]

Actually, that collection is mentioned by you on the previous page, in a post from October 2019.

The second link was but not the first. 😉

 

[6441]

Yes, and it's a good one!

 

[rhysonsax]

I am coming back to this thread as I have just bought an App (Apple iOS only at the moment) that seems to be related to SessionBand and is a big improvement on it for me.

It's called Quartet and I just bought a bundle of Quartet Volumes 1 to 4 for under £40. This gives a user access to 500 Jazz Standards recorded by a quartet of some of the big names of UK Jazz, such as:

• Drums - Sebastiann de Krom; Rod Youngs
• Bass - Geoff Gascoyne
• Piano / Keyboards - Graham Harvey
• Guitar - Nigel Price
• Saxophones/Flute - Dave O'Higgins, Andy Panayi, Graham Blevins
• Trumpet - Steve Fishwick

View: https://youtu.be/_D02v92maWk?si=4vFPJVo8oJjJrzGL


The User can take the basic track and tailor it, for instance it lets them:

• Change the mix by including/excluding instruments
• Change the key
• Change the tempo
• Change the number of choruses
• Build playlists
• Export audio (you can also make in App purchases to export individual instrument stems to work with in your own DAW software)

So far I am very impressed. You can get more information from the website.

Rhys

PS The App also has a couple of tracks (labelled Beta) that are Free Improvisation

 

[DavidUK]

Looks interesting Rhys.
Am I correct in saying it's a one off payment, around £15? I could only see it in USD.

 

[rhysonsax]

Looks interesting Rhys.
Am I correct in saying it's a one off payment, around £15? I could only see it in USD.

I bought the bundle of all four volumes (500 tunes total) for £39.99.

As far as I can tell either Quartet 1 (150 tunes) or Quartet 2 (150 tunes) is £14.99 in the UK.

And either Quartet 3 (100 tunes) and Quartet 4 (100 tunes) is £12.99.

I think that other bundles for Vols 1+2 and for Vol 3+4 are available, saving a bit of money.

Here's an example tune - Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia". It has the Latin and Swing sections and shows the intro, head (AABAC), break, impro choruses, head and outro structure.

View: https://youtu.be/Lr0pQoH8tH8?si=QQc0d3PmXrxgb2iL&t=36


Rhys

 

[nigeld]

Please let us know how you get on with this @rhysonsax .

It would be good to have an alternative to BIAB sometimes.

 

[rhysonsax]

Please let us know how you get on with this @rhysonsax .

It would be good to have an alternative to BIAB sometimes.

I'll probably use it to make the backing track if/when I host the TOTM/BOTM next. But maybe not a swing jazz standard.

Rhys

 

[Jeanette]

I'll probably use it to make the backing track if/when I host the TOTM/BOTM next. But maybe not a swing jazz standard.

Rhys

Are you offering? June? 😀

Jx

 

[rhysonsax]

Are you offering? June? 😀

Jx

Are you asking ?

Rhys

PS Happy to do it any time.