Hi all...hopeing I cann get some help here. Im in a cover/party band that has talked about delving into the world of playing along with some sequenced material(dance music that just doesn't sound right played with the instruments we have...). I was wondering if you all had any ideas on going about doing this...like what equipment we'd need, ect...

We do have a keyboardist, so Im wondering if we can use him and his equipment to do this, or we need to buy extra equipment.

Thanks.

What equipment do you already have?

Not sure what the keyboardist is running..I know its top line stuff, but what i'm pretty sure of is that he's got room to sample some clips here and there...like 10 sec. clips, but i think he's made mention that a complete song would use too much memory and we're looking to do at least a few songs a night, if not more....

Quick couple of questions first:
1) Do you have a drummer?
2) Has you keyboardist have any keyboards with sequencers on board?

If the answer to question 1 is yes:
Well the drum will have to be able to play to a 'click track' and this is a very hard thing to do! Headphones will be required as he need to hear it loud enough to over come his own drums, but you don't want the public to hear it. Go out of sync, or lose track of where you are in the play back of the sequence, and you will have an audio train wreak.

If the answer to question 2 is yes:
Makes life slightly easier, as the keyboard player can set the sequenced tracks in montion, but you'll still need to keep very good time, and know exactly how the track goes, the sequencer will not make a mistake, and it will be unable to 'follow you' if you make a meal of things. With a drummer on board, you'll need a have a special audio send from the controlling sequencer/keyboard as their click track.

To sum up, it's not for the faint hearted.
It might be worth looking at the instruments you have and changing them to match the style of music you want to play:
Electric kit for the drummer?
Synth for the bass player to play synth bass lines on, or a processor on his bass to make it sound more like a synth than a bass?
Or even guitar synths?

Playing a mini-disk and miming is NOT an option!

Just my thots...

Sonic is right on the mark with his comments about the drummer needing to be in complete control.Yes, we've had audio train wrecks.and it ain't fun.
I used to play with a band that used sequenced material...."Man am I glad that's over with"..The drummer would be monitoring a "click" track, and the rest of us could get a feed of whatever instrument or vocalist we wanted...BUT...you're still tied to a sequencer. No adlib, no stretching out a particular song, no deviation from the set sequence....in a word.."boring".
It was too easy to get out of sync if you lost the percussion in the mix, for whatever reason.
I've done a lot of solo gigs where I've used sequenced material, mainly percusion, and the odd string piece, but I don't even do that anymore.
Trust me punkyb...your audience isn't stupid, and they'll know.
Play live....you'll be better musicians for it. And as a better musician, you'll be in demand, and you'll like what you're doing a whole lot more.

...Just my thots...and Good Luck with your endeavours.

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...shboom

Playing to a click, whether there's a drummer involved or not, is usually difficult at best. However, there is a better way to stay in time with sequenced material. It may or may not be the answer for punkyb, but some here on SZ should find this at least interesting: http://www.visualconductor.com/

--Barry