Multi Track Playback for Live

relayer

Hello All,
I have been using an app called Backing Track Studio It was a simple set up with files coming out of my fire pad to a small Behringer mixer with right channel going to FOH and click panned left for drummer. Simple and quick. I am moving over to Stage Traxx with the goal of sending 4-6 tracks to FOH. Drummer currently plugs headphones into mixer. He still wants control of click and track volume in his phones. Is that possible? What would be the best solution? Gear?
Thanks!
Russ

peter

With a digital mixer, everyone can control their own monitor mix via tablet / phone. That would be my preference.

Fallback in analog world would be to send to aux lines to the drummer and he uses a small submixer to do his mix.

relayer

Do you have any suggestions for a mixer?

peter

Depends on how willing you are to learn a digital mixer and what features and how much channels you need.

relayer

I am willing to learn whatever it takes to make the multitrack playback smoothfor both band and venue. We don't travel with a sound person so we have to rely on venue personel
6-8 tracks out will be sufficient.

Damir

relayer I am willing to learn whatever it takes to make the multitrack playback smoothfor both band and venue. We don't travel with a sound person so we have to rely on venue personel
6-8 tracks out will be sufficient.

What I do, is I use a small Yamaha digital mixer to mix down my whole performance and provide the front house main PA a simple full mix , they handle the front house and my fold back I tell them once they are happy with their setup to leave the faders alone from there on I have small tweaking available to me via foot pedal for backing track, Alan heath digital mixers are great for interface for multitrack control.

peter

Well in that case I would recommend a Behringer XR18. It is quite affordable, offers all the features you need and has a very large user community so it is easy to get support. The biggest downside is that you absolutely need a tablet to use the mixer as it has no controls directly on the device. A step up would be the Allen & Heath CQ12T which has a built in touch screen so that you don't necessarily need a tablet and can mix directly on the device. The CQ12T works with 96kHz internally and it does indeed sound a bit better (clearer, feels a bit like a curtain has been lifted) than the XR18 but it is more expensive and has fewer features and way less Effects than the XR18.

Both of these work well with ST3 multitrack playback. If you want remote control (for the drummer to setup his own monitor for example), you need a wifi router with a physical ethernet port for both of these devices as they don't have builtin wifi.

philip_davison

My band literally use this set up.

I have the traditional method of having my vocal tags and click fully left, and every audio backing track fully right. Both the 'left' and 'right' enter the mixing desk effectively as two mono jack signals (XLR is fine too depending on the desk's I/Os ).

Each band member (we've had up to 4 separate mixes, and mine's stereo which is better still) can control their own mix via a phone app, or directly via my Allen & Heath QU16 digital mixer.

We're two gigs in and it's working brilliantly.

Damir

philip_davison I use to run exactly the same with band but as a solo artist I got rid of the click track as well and run very simply making use of visual metronome , audio segments and my ears to know exactly where I am with foot control and it’s very simple and easy to create and use , as they say less is more .

philip_davison

Damir Totally agree, click is a necessity in a band with three live instruments with stops/starts and changes, but if I was a solo singer . . no way I'd want a click in my head.

What's 'Foot Control'?

Damir

philip_davison I use a Bluetooth foot control to select NEXT song, change to a different audio segment in a song, XFade to the next song , stop start, and my guitar DIGIT3 remote can also volume up/down and Tempo Change, so I don’t need to touch the IPad at all while performing .