Create backing tracks without a style?

[Dave Nuttall]

Does anyone have a "work flow" for creating a backing track without using a style?

I have at least one or two Christian country gospel songs that I'd like to have backing tracks but I haven't found any style that comes close.

A couple of examples are in this folder on Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W_PuKpvDuNg9xRD9QN0HUXJejJIHGqVm?usp=sharing

TIA.
Dave

[OmbDave]

Hi Dave, hello from the U.K.
I use the multi-track midi recorder and lay it down track by track. I record a bass line track first and then quantise it to get it in time, then I record a drum track using track 10. This is the most difficult part as I am using multiple fingers to get BD, snare and hi hats etc but it is possible to overdub other missing bits like cymbal crashes and fills afterwards.Then finally (using a track for each voice) I record piano, strings, brass and so on until I've completed the song.
When I am happy with it I do a final mix down using the on board mixer (I know nothing about DAW software) then save the midi file.
Good luck

From Dave

[mikf]

Dave
If you use a midi as the accompaniment, then you should know that you are stuck with staying exactly to the recorded arrangement. That may or may not be an issue for you.
I did not listen to all of the songs you posted, only the first one, and my initial thought was that this was not so way out there that a suitable style could not be found. Of course it would not be exact but with some editing of voices and style tracks, maybe some cut and paste between styles, possibly get close enough with minimum effort. Especially bearing in mind you can add riffs and phrases by playing along with it.
If you really want to make a midi that is very close to the original accompaniment, another way is to start with a very basic style - cut out unneeded  tracks to get it to a minimum - maybe just the rhythm and bass, then record that as a basis with the correct chord changes, then add some additional tracks using multi track recording to customize it. I find this a very fast and simple way to make a midi.
Here is an example. It sounds like a highly customized track by track midi, but it's not. Its a hybrid starting with a basic style driven accompaniment then adding just a few tracks. This can be done so quickly compared to starting from nothing.
https://app.box.com/s/kp3mhz4b6hyy1lgrtyim5mber7xwvio5
Mike

[pjd]

Hi Dave --

I knocked out a few demos for our church group:

http://sandsoftwaresound.net/what-did-you-do-in-self-isolation/

Method varied from song to song. Most everything was recorded on Genos with some detailed MIDI editing in a DAW (usually Cubase). One approach that worked pretty well: use the Genos accompaniment to lay down a rhythm track only, put down a guide "vocal" or melody over the rhythm, lay a bass line down, then add a simple piano/guitar rhythm. Recording to MIDI first allows changes. Once the structure is set, freeze the MIDI to audio. Then overdub more audio over the basic track.

Genos is powerful enough to do it all. I kind of like the audio multi-record as you can go all "sound-on-sound" like Les Paul or early Beatles. Very simple. Sometimes a PC-based DAW is just to complicated and not immediate enough. I like having a play-it-live feel.

Hope this helps -- pj