Karaoke is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Everyone sings - both those who can, and those who have stepped on the ear. And if you want songs and dances without leaving your home? Or do you need a phonogram to perform at the competition? Is it realistic to make the backing track yourself?
Google help
Finding minus phonograms (popularly - minus one) of popular hits on the Internet is not a problem. Moreover, various options are often offered to choose from, and some specialized sites help to correct the tempo and tonality of the phonogram in real time. But the possibilities of the Internet are not endless. Backing tracks for bass players and drummers are much less common than backing tracks for vocalists and guitarists. In other words, situations are not uncommon when a person has to make a negative phonogram himself. For an experienced sound engineer, this is not particularly difficult, and a person who has at least minimal skill in working with music editors will be helped by perseverance, professional advice and literature, a list of which will be provided by a search engine.
Crush unnecessary
One of the technologies for making minus phonograms from original tracks is "asking". By duplicating a track of a track, adjusting the frequency balance on each of the takes and then mixing into a single mix, ready-made tracks are obtained. Their main disadvantage is a sharp loss of quality compared to the original. In addition, when the main element (vocals, guitar) is "suppressed", an additional element of the same frequency (backing vocals, the second melodic line of the guitar) is also lost. As for the bass, experienced sound engineers say it's easier to sit down and record everything from scratch than to cut or crush the bass line. But if the minus is needed exclusively for home or school holidays that do not require high sound quality, this method is quite suitable.
MIDI files and sound libraries
What is MIDI (abbreviation from the English. Musical Instruments Digital Interface - digital interface of musical instruments), knows any sound engineer and almost everyone who touched such business as making music at home. In order to create a quality minus from a MIDI file, you need a music editor that supports MIDI format (Nuendo, Cubase), a musical instrument library and some time and patience. The essence of making a minus phonogram from a MIDI file consists in replacing "toy" MIDI sounds with sounds from instrument libraries with further conversion of each track into audio format and subsequent mastering. The quality of sound libraries and mastering directly affects the quality of the final track.
Multitracks - "Blackmore & Co accompaniment"
A multitrack is a version of the original composition, broken down into tracks: guitar - separately, voice - separately, etc. Where to look - again, in any search engine. Of course, multitrack is not so common in comparison with ready-made minuses, but if you are lucky, you can find whole deposits of diluted studio tracks of famous artists. In order to make a minus phonogram, it is enough to open the multitrack in the editor, mute the desired track (vocals, guitar, drums, etc.) and combine the tracks into a single mix. The output is a finished phonogram from the original parts. This practice is gaining popularity among fans of rock bands - Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, etc.
Do it yourself or to order
If your home equipment has or has a recording studio, you can invite musicians who are ready to play the necessary parts and record them channel by channel, and then spend a lot of time mastering and mixing. With the appropriate skills, you can make a high-level phonogram using a workstation (synthesizer with huge functionality) and the above-mentioned MIDI interface. And for a person who is far from working with music editors and sound engineering, the easiest way is to find an online store and order the necessary material for himself.
