Behind the Scenes: How We Create Your Acoustic Backing Tracks
To date we have created over 1300 acoustic backing tracks covering a wide range of styles, eras, bands and artists. Many of these arrangements are one of a kind versions that have never been heard before. But how do we create these acoustic instrumentals? Where do we start and what is the process like?
Creating Unique Backing Tracks
Our aim at Acoustic Backs And Tracks is to help you surprise and delight your audience. So the arrangements we put together are often something a little different to help you stand out. At the beginning of the month we set out to create three volumes of acoustic tracks. This is very important for us because it gives us a focus for the month and helps us to build similar stylistic tracks. This will help your sets have continuity of sound quality and vibe.
Picking The Volumes
Every day we receive song suggestions from the AB&T community which goes into a general list. The top 20 are available to see on our website and can be voted into the catalogue by you. The rest of the list is a roadmap to what you're looking for. We look at common themes in these suggestions from artists, to styles to eras and more. From there we'll pick 20 - 30 songs to create.
Choosing The Stylistic Direction For Our Backing Tracks
The stylistic direction is then set for the tracks to be featured in these volumes. Maybe we'll take pop dance tracks and make them ballads. Or we'll find a couple of songs to mash up. Maybe we'll just stick to the tempo and feel of the original, as well as other factors. We're very much looking at trends in the events industry and this will often come from social media performances, cover versions on streaming services or videos from YouTube.
Creating The Acoustic Backing Tracks
Once the songs and musical direction have been set, each team member of AB&T will be given the ability to choose which songs they'd like to create. This is important because at Acoustic Backs And Tracks we want our musicians to play on their strengths. So rather than assigning tracks to creators, we let them decide what they think they'll have the best influence on. After sending some reference songs for vibe and a few back and fourths, the team will go ahead and create the 3 - 5 minute acoustic instrumentals.
Mixing And Mastering
The tracks are then sent to a central hub for mixing and mastering. This is extremely important because we want our tracks to gel together well. If some tracks are extremely loud and bright and others quiet and warm, then it'll stick out like a sore thumb in your sets. So we use a central mixing and mastering space to create cohesion and consistent high quality with all our backing tracks.
Loaded To The Store
Once a song has been completed, we'll upload it to the main catalogue, put a small description featuring the key, tempo and information about the song and a short 35 second preview. This allows you to get a feel for the vibe of the song, especially if the song is in a different key to the original or a completely different style.
And That's All Folks
After that we wait for your wonderful tags so we can see these beautiful acoustic arrangements come to life. Without your performances, these tracks are very lonely. So we love seeing them used at a range of events and on your socials. If you're looking for a new acoustic repertoire, I invite you to check out the Acoustic Backs And Tracks catalogue today.
