Piano backing tracks - audio/midi/etc.

dore_m

Does anyone know of any good resources for piano backing tracks - any genre?

So far, I've found some MIDI versions of some jazz composers like Vince Guaraldi that are fun to play along to, and there are probably some Piano Concerto MIDI files out there - but it takes alot of DAW programming to get the instrument (strings, brass, winds) articulations correct.

Is there an easier way other than to play along to a CD recording?

I guess I'm looking for "Piano Karaoke".

Drew-r

dore_m

Based on my limited hands-on midi experience, as far as genuinely good resources, your best bet is to use those resources from the same brand/manufacturer as your DP , if they exist ….. or else run the gambit of trying CDs or free/downloadable pre-fab’d tracks.

As a big brand example, Yamaha offers such resources, for a per-item fee, which may still end up an unsatisfactory solution if you do not have a Yami model designed to utilize/integrate with Yami backing tracks not already built into your DP. 🙁.

A midi reality is, yes, its a standard, but when it comes to midi uses such as play-along with backing tracks …… tracks from a given source A, B, C etc, that plays/sounds the same or close-to-same on any big brand x, y, z, etc device - that don’t also require a lot of “articulations tweaking” - are not.

Frédéric L

With a MIDI file, you just have to mute the piano part you will play instead of. Articulations (col legno, …) are not normalized, then with a General MIDI file, you won’t have them. At best, you will have expression variation (if the author had included them). If they miss you so much, the best thing is to use a CD (MusicMinusOne for example).

vagfilm

Take a look at Home Concert Xtreme (timewarp tech). I am planning on programming a similar app but that instead of using a simple "wait for the note" approach (that stops abruptly whenever there is a mistake), adapts the tempo of midi playback to the tempo of the soloist. But there is also work to do, ans not enough time for all interesting projects...

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https://www.roland.com/us/products/bk-7m/

It's discontinued though.

Drew-r

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At least from a marketing theory view, BK7M was probably more than enough to meet the request here …. and probably cost way more than enough.

From a different approach, Yamaha’s MusicSoft approach - still in the stage of being an unwieldy sales website - is more of a nickel&dime approach - read: 8-13$ per package download - is further complicated by Yamaha’s inconsistent approach to product sales/marketing/support specs/literature on their main DP website …. some specs/literature hints that MusicSoft is tailored for Clavinovas only, while other specs/info suggests it can also serve the needs of Yami hybrids …. or arrangers …. or digital pianos, but if/when you land on the current website that once was www.musicsoft.com, you find a mishmash of links that ultimately make it difficult to confirm which app or download serves the needs of a given web surfer who landed there? …. kinda like modern legislation …. one must buy it to find out what is in it and more importantly, who’s purpose / what purpose does it really serve?

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Drew-r At least from a marketing theory view, BK7M was probably more than enough to meet the request here …. and probably cost way more than enough.

I remember the street price being somewhere around 700 bucks, which isn't too much for a full featured arranger/extender.

However in the smartphone app age it's understandable that Roland discontinued such a device.

dore_m

I guess there isn't anything out there that meets my high expectations. I don't need another sound module, I can edit MIDI myself, and if I need to and have the time, I can program the articulations in my DAW/Kontakt. That is the most realistic way to get the orchestra part of a Concerto. It's just alot of tedious work. Doesn't seem like there's anything better/easier.

vagfilm

I have played a bit with orchestral midis on a daw, and you can get a good enough realism with minimal editing: even with a few articulations (only change from staccato to long notes, for example), it is satisfying. And you keep improving it section by section... No need to do everything all at once.

dore_m

vagfilm I have played a bit with orchestral midis on a daw

Which orchestral library ar you using?

vagfilm

I have NI Essentials (not bad, but not good...) and the Spitfire BBC Discover (this one is a striped down edition from the full VST and it is really good, but very basic: only 4 articulations for strings and only shorts/longs for the rest... But it is free like in zero euros...). But I have access to another Spitfire Orchestra from a friend (don't remember which one of the Spitfire orchestras he has - it is either the Symphonic or the Studio) and I ask him to render my files because that orchestra has very good legato, and I think that if you put it on kind of automatic articulation, it will use different articulations based on velocity and maybe duration of the midi messages. The Spitfire BBC core looks very appealing, but it is in the 500 dollars range I believe... Another option is the VSL special edition volume 1, that has a good orchestra with tons of articulations and is much cheaper. And they have a 30-day demo right now...

dore_m

I have BBC Discover too, and the original Albion. I might try what you recommended. I just remember making a midi version of a horn ensemble that I performed in a couple years ago and taking about 5 hours of my 13 hour plane ride to program the legatos and staccatos. The result was cool, but the programming was pretty tedious. Would have been easier for me to just record myself playing my trumpet into the DAW.

vagfilm

Well... You can spend hundreds of hours finetuning all instruments: first articulations, then expression, then mixing correctly everything... But that is borderline OCD. My approach is to aim for "good enough" and just tweak what is really way out...

I like the sound of BBC discover, but not having legatos is a bit annoying. The NI Essentials also does not have legatos (if I remember correctly). Albion are ensembles, correct?

I am ok with these two for the moment; I use them more to play around in the DAW rather than for something with a set goal. Otherwise I will spend copious amounts of time tinkering with articulations rather than having fun...