Free Multitrack Backing Tracks for Download

gtaus

For a long time I've been looking for multitrack backing tracks to play along with. I play both bass and guitar, so the typcial guitar backing tracks never really worked for me if I was trying to play the bass line. There are now some commercial sites that offer multitrack songs, but they cost like $10 per song. Too much for my budget.

Yesterday, I came across a thread that mentioned a group of people are ripping Rock Band discs into multitrack .ogg files and that it was easy to take those files and make your own backing tracks. Fantastic. The thread I went to is called the ULTRA-MEGA Rock Band Thread and you can get there with this link: http://www.fretsonfire.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30926#Downloadable_Content. You have to register with the forum before you can download any songs/files. Also, the forum is a bit hard to navigate. But there are hundreds of Rock Band songs there ripped into multitrack files.

The posters are using Rapid Share to host their files, so unless you pay for the premium service, you will have to wait XX minutes between downloads. But I have more time than money. All the files I have downloaded are in .rar compressed format, so you need to unrar them before you can use them.

Most Rock Band CDs are ripped into 4 separate tracks: vocals, guitar, drums, and bass. So I can load up the file in my DAW and solo/mute whatever track(s) I want. Also, I can export custom .mp3 backing track files from my DAW to play in my guitar/bass trainer.

As a bass player, this is the most excited I've been about backing tracks in a very long time. Now I finally have some high quality recordings to jam along with on my bass where I can totally mute the original bass track. Or, I can also solo the bass track and really hear exactly how it is played without any other distractions.

Got to go now, still downloading more files.....

judaskiss

So, being the computer whizz I'm not, how do ya un-rar them? Is that like a zip file?

gtaus

.rar files are compressed files like the .zip format. If you don't have a program that can uncompress .rar files, here is a link to the free program 7-Zip which works with many formats, including .rar files: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-9942407-12.html?tag=rtcol;relnews. Also, you could probably Google for other programs to un-rar your files. Winrar, a very popular program, has a free trial period. But there are lots of choices, both free and commercial.

After you un-rar these files, you will find that audio files are in compressed .ogg format. My DAW supports .ogg format so I was able drag and drop then into my DAW. However, I noticed that the tracks were not in sync with one another. At first I adjusted the tracks manually to they all played in time. However, today I discovered a much better solution. You simply convert the compressed .ogg files back into uncompressed .wav files, which restores the complete file length and when you load them up in your DAW, all the files are auto-magically back in sync like they are supposed to be. I found a nice little free program for converting the files called \"Able MP3 Ogg to WAV converter\" which you can download at http://www.guitar.sk/mp3_ogg_converter.htm.

Although you have to unrar the project files, and uncompress the .ogg audio files, I suppose it makes more sense to share files in those compressed formats to save on download times and bandwidth. For example, a 5 MB .ogg audio file uncompresses to about a 40 MB .wav file. So the savings is signifcant when you add up number of songs/projects/packs you want to download.

judaskiss

okay, I hate to keep bothering you bro, but I did download some songs, unzipped them, put them on my software, but the whole song is on there. I must be doing something wrong. I have 3 files when I unzip--guitar, song, notes. when you click on notes it goes to windows media player and plays anoying high pitched sounds. When you put guitar ogg file in software, it has all the tracks into one track. Like I said, I'm sure I'm doing something wrong or I have to have some other software to download.

gtaus

OK. Here is what I have learned the past couple of days. Guitar Hero songs only have one track, because, in the game, you can only play the guitar part. In Rock Band, however, there are 4 audio tracks. One each for drums, bass, guitar, and vocals. It's the Rock Band files I have been downloading from the Frets on Fire forum site to get those multitrack backing files. The link I gave you above should get you there. On the first page of that thread, you will see links to download Rock Band files followed by Rock Band 2 files, followed by Rock Band DLC files. I think the DLC stands for downloadable content and it comes out on the internet monthly - I think. Like I said, I have no interest in the games themselves, only the backing tracks.

The thread I went to is called the ULTRA-MEGA Rock Band Thread and you can get there with this link: http://www.fretsonfire.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30926#Downloadable_Content.

If you download the Guitar Hero tracks, all you essentially get is one stereo file of the song - no multitracks. So there is no advantage of using that over the original song file off the music CD. It sounds to me that maybe you download some Guitar Hero project files. Try my link above to get you to the correct thread for downloading the Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band DLC multitrack files. If you have any other problems, let me know. I've been downloading the files since yesterday and have all kinds of good stuff. So I know they are still there.

judaskiss

gtaus, thanks for the time. I will give it another shot tonight, I may have a little time on my hands. Thanks for the link and the help. I too, like you, have been looking for a more affordable multitrack backtrack (boy, thats a mouthful).

gtaus

Hope you find some songs in there that you want to jam along with. I brought this topic up in the Zoom (multitrack recorder) forum and there is a lot more interest there with those guys. I just thought I would offer up the idea here in case anyone was interested. If you have a GNX3/GNX4, you could transfer the audio files to your GNX and use that as a multitrack backing machine. With 4 separate audio files for the guitar, bass, drums, and vocals, you can pick and chose which tracks you want to play yourself and which tracks you want to as the backing track(s).

Again, as a bass player, there is little in the area of bass backing tracks available for us, so I have been looking for some high quality backing tracks to play along with my bass. I know most of the guys here are mainly guitar players, and so was I, but I was hoping someone other than myself would find these multitrack backing tracks useful.

judaskiss

gtaus, appreciate all the help. I know what you mean about finding high quality backing tracks--especially free ones. I'd say 90% of the free ones either don't sound that great or its played incorrectly.

So, I'm gonna chck this out and see whats up. I think I did download a Judas Priest track once that was from here. Thats about the only one I have that does sound good, but its all on one track--w/o guitar though.

Anyway, I'll download some of them, see how it goes and I'll let you know. Thanks again for link and the help. Rock on...

gtaus

Many of the Rock Band tracks are masters from the original bands, some are performed by cover artists to sound like the original. I guess it depends on the licensing agreement between the artists and the makers of Rock Band - the game. So far, the ones I have loaded up into my DAW sound really good. Since the audio tracks are ripped from the Rock Band discs, it's the same quality as the game. Only difference is that you have four separate audio tracks to load up in your DAW and play around with as you want. Again, for me as a bass player, this is great because I can just mute the bass track and make my own bass backing tracks to play along with.

Just a reminder, you need to download the Rock Band, Rock Band 2, and Rock Band DLC files if you want the multitracks. Guitar Hero files are just one audio file with everything mixed in - you can't separate the instruments.

I have nothing against midi backing tracks, but compared to a live player on a guitar or bass, the midi backing tracks always seem to come up short. IMHO, all the subtle bends, slides, palm muting, etc... just don't come though on the midi tracks. Plus, these Rock Band audio tracks have a real singer, which is something you would never get from a midi file.

So I hope you find some good tracks that you enjoy. Take care.