I would like to practice playing my whistle with an accompaniment (backing track). I have previously used Band in a Box for this when I play saxophone. BIAB used to use MIDI and it didn’t sound great but now they have RealTracks which are recorded by real studio musicians and they sound much better.
The newest version of BIAB includes a Celtic Jig/Reel RealTracks add-on (also available separately for $30). I’m curious if anyone has tried it? I listened to the demo and I’m not sure how useful this would be. If you’d like to listen to the demo, you can click on this link and then click on 104 in the list at the bottom of the page (in the pop/rock category):
They have a bass only, guitar only, a bodhran only, and I guess combinations of those.
Another source I have found is Blayne Chastain’s lessons. I did a free one and it includes a guitar accompaniment which is pretty good but I am finding it challenging to play along with it. I would like some simple bodhran tracks to play with or something. I’m currently using a metronome so I figure something more musical would be more interesting.
I know this may offend ITM purists but I just play my whistle for fun at home.
I am a long time user of Band in a Box. I use it regularly for writing and arranging. Real Band has made the product far more useful to me than the strictly midi driven output of the past. I do not use BiaB for Irish music although I have played with what is available. The styles you link to are nice but rather limited and not particularly traditional. But since you already use BiaB there is no reason you shouldn’t use the RB styles in set 104. And since you use BiaB you may find some of the stuff on Alf Warnock’s website amusing. I wouldn’t suggest that someone just getting into ITM go out and buy BiaB as a learning aid. There are better ways to go.
Assuming that going out to play with others is not an option, I would suggest playing along with something like the BBC Virtual Sessions or maybe tracks from the Riley School of Irish Music or some of the tracks on the CCE website. There are many other resources available as well. What you find useful depends on your goals and tastes.
BiaB is a good tool. They just do a better job on some types of music than they do on others.
It’s been many years, but I’ve used it in the past for practice. Rather than use the more complex or newer sampled styles, I ended up just using simple ragtime-style piano styles for basic chord backup, was a lot of fun. I think it’s a great practice tool.
Thanks for the links Feadoggie, I’m definitely going to check them out. I agree on BIAB, it’s great for Jazz standards such as those from the real book. I put it on and just jam with it. So I’m a bit lost when it comes to Irish music, which is a good thing as it’s all new to me and quite exciting.
I have an older version of BIAB so mine doesn’t have the jig & reel realtracks. I’d have to buy them separately or upgrade and get all the new realtracks. I’m considering the latter as I still like to play sax for pop/rock/jazz.
And BIAB is great for composing as you can test out ideas really quickly and then fine-tune what you want.
Thanks again for the links, they sound interesting.