The Tom & John Duo - First Gig

Friday, 22 October 2004 23:00

News Blog

Tom and I played our first gig (four sets) using backing tracks for about one third of the songs we played. This definitely worked well in a live situation, the mix of guitar/bass live and guitar/guitar live with guitar/trombone and accompaniment was appropriate. We do have an opportunity with the non-jazz repertoire to bring the energy level up using backing tracks. Logistically, songs are easier to handle if they are in a playable order on the CD and having the player in front of us makes it easier to cue up the songs. An alternative is use and MP3 player. We could also bring a synthesizer (or PC with a synthesizer output)and play MIDI files instead of .WAV files. The MIDI file playback approach has always seemed to be more hassle: It's more gear to carry and we don't have a need to modify the arrangements. One advantage though would be the ability to embed light show control code.