Backing Tracks

There is nothing worse than finishing a filk and then not being able to find a backing track for it. Imagine it, you had this really nifty idea, to a cool song, you had great inspiration and your lyrics came out perfect, and then… bum. We’ve all been there (eh, Aislinn?), it sucks. Of course, you could claim that the fun of a filk is in the writing of it, and I know that for some people it is. There are some great creative people out there, real wordsmiths, but with no interest in showing off their vocal qualities to the world. Fair enough! But for most of us filkers, we kinda want to hear that finished product, and possibly share it with others, too. So, each time I get a great filk idea, the first thing I do is go on a hunt for a backing track ’ before I even put a word on paper. In fact, I am a bit of a backing track addict, I buy them if I just like a song and I think that I might perhaps someday possibly potentially come up with a filk for it. When that day comes, I will be prepared. But you won’t catch me up filk creek without a paddle ever again.

Backing tracks, however, can be a bit of a problem. I have had a fair few beginning filkers ask me how to go about getting backing tracks, so today I’ll write down some hints and tips. Like everyone else, when I just started out filking, I had no idea where to start looking. iTunes offers a few karaoke versions of songs, but very few, and they’re generally in a protected format so you can’t easily adapt them in Audacity (although there’s ways around everything). Of course, Google should always be everyone’s first port of call, but that can be a bit of a pain too. No, by far the easiest way to go about finding backing tracks when you first start out, is to ask another filker where they get theirs, so you’re off to a good start!

It turns out there are many sites aimed at karaoke singers or pageant or other talent show contestants that offer backing tracks for a few bucks. I have bookmarked quite a few of them by now, for easy browsing, but I still come across new ones regularly. Most of these sites offer the tracks in MP3 format, instantly downloadable, others also give you the option of having them mailed to you on CD. I will list some of my favourite sites at the bottom of this blog.

The tracks that are offered are generally of pretty high quality. Most sites aim to recreate the original music as closely as possible, and the variety of choice is pretty astonishing ’ you can pretty much find anything from 1950’s rock and roll classics to the latest Justin Timberlake, from Christmas carols to that great song from Hairspray. Sometimes you can even find various versions of the same song, specifically recreated in the style of a certain artist. I for one could not believe to not only find a backing track for the Spiderman Themetune (which I wanted to turn into the Voldemort Themesong), of which there are many renditions, but even the specific Michael Bublé/Junkie XL version I was after! It was recreated to the last snap of the hi-hat and toot of the brass section. It shouldn’t be too hard to find most of the more well-known sons out there. Of course, the more obscure a song is, the harder it is to get a track for it. So if you’re after that unknown b-side (yes, I am from the vinyl era), you may have to revert back to Google.

When it comes to backing tracks, however, a great frustration of mine is backing vocals. Sometimes you find that perfect track for your song, perfect to the last note… but the backing vocals are already included, and of course they are singing the wrong lyrics! It can sound rather messy when you are singing “just close your eyes and count to ten, here I come, ready or not” while the two lovely ladies in the background are going “I’m still mad as hell and I don’t have time to go round and round and round.” Sometimes you can get away with it; when the lyrics are similar enough to your own and no one will notice (we’ve had that by accident, too ’ my filking partner wasn’t sure what I was singing and sang something else… but no one ever noticed), or if the backing vocals are quiet enough so it won’t sound all muddled and messy when you sing over them. But of course the end product is more professional when you and your background Snapettes at the very least sing the same words. So I like my tracks clean, with no vocals. Besides, even if they’re only oohs and aahs, or if I haven’t actually changed the lyrics of the chorus, I get great enjoyment out of recreating the backing vocals myself (I’ll talk to you about that sometime soon I’m sure)! Fortunately, some sites give you the option of buying the song with or without backing vocals, or they will at least tell you if they are included, so you know not to buy that one, but not all of them do.

You will have to put down a few bucks for your professional backing tracks, too; they are unlikely to come for free. Backing track makers have to earn a living too, and like I mentioned, most of the tracks are of such high quality you can imagine they weren’t simply cobbled together on a rainy afternoon in the garden shed. Most sites are pretty reasonable, though. The cheaper ones offer tracks for about $3 a pop, but I have seen them on offer for anything up to $20 ’ but you have to really want it to shell out $20 for a bit of fun, I think.

If you don’t want to pay anything, you can look around for midi files (include “midi” in your Google search). Midi files generally have a distinctly lower quality than the professional ones (frequently they actually were cobbled together on a rainy afternoon in the shed ’ usually sometime in 1989). You might strike lucky, though, our filk “Neville Snake Slayer” for example is done to a reasonably good quality midi ’ they do exist.

Sometimes, however, no matter how hard you look, the track you’re after just isn’t out there, and you will simply have to relinquish your idea, which can be frustrating as some ideas are just too good to let go of. Unless, of course, you make your own…

But I’ll talk to you about that another time!

~*~

These are the sites I most commonly use:
* Karaoke Versions – my favourite site. Huge variety, MP3 download, generally has versions with or without backing vocals. All songs can be previewed before buying. Very cheap at $3 a pop. Frequent customers regularly get free tracks.
* Ameritz – also a great site. Large choice, MP3 download, will indicate if it has backing vocals, but not all songs can be previewed before you buy. British site, very cheap at £1.50 a piece.
* Musical Creations – another very good site. Large choice, MP3 download or CD, with or without backing vocals, all songs can be previewed before you buy. Slightly more expensive at $8/$10, but you get a file with the original lyrics and an extra track with the vocals already on it, so you can hear how it’s done.