Find MultiTrack MultiTrack Player - How To Guide
How to purchase and download the MultiTrack Player
For detailed instructions on installation and use, see our picture guides - How To Guide - PC and How To Guide - MAC.
Quick instructions to purchase the Player:
Click on the following link to the player
http://www.worshipbackingband.com/the-player.html
Click “Add to cart”
Proceed to checkout
Register to create an account (or login to your existing account)
Put in your payment information
Place order
An email will then arrive with links to download the player (check your spam if it doesn’t appear)
Alternatively click on My Account at the top right of the page. This shows you your purchase history and in the left hand navigation is a link to MY DOWNLOADABLE PRODUCTS. Click this to access your purchases.
Download the player by clicking on the relevant link. Remember that you will only have two attempts to download. Please ensure that you back up your software in another location (eg usb drive).
You can download a very detailed picture guide step-by-step instructions for buying and downloading the Player and songs here.
How to purchase and download the MultiTrack backing tracks
Click on the following link to the library of backing tracks
http://www.worshipbackingband.com/multi-track.html/
Search for the track you need
Click on it and click “Add to cart”
Proceed to checkout
Register to create an account (or login to your existing account)
Put in your payment information
Place order
An email will then arrive with links to download the backing tracks (check your spam if it doesn’t appear). Alternatively click on My Account at the top right of the page. This shows you your purchase history and in the left hand navigation is a link to MY DOWNLOADABLE PRODUCTS. Click this to access your purchases.
Download the backing tracks by clicking on the relevant link. Remember that you will only have two attempts to download. Please ensure that you back up your software in another location (eg usb drive).
While the player is a small file the songs are about 40-60mb each so we would recommend download the player first and then then songs one at a time to avoid any bandwidth issues.
See below for instructions for using your newly purchased library of backing tracks and setting up a play list.
Mac Users
When you download a song, the file will appear in your "Downloads" folder and it will have a ".dmg" extension and show as a file of type "Disk Image". You need to double-click that file and agree to the license conditions. That will create what's known as a "virtual volume" and mount it on your desktop (along with other "real" volumes, such as "Macintosh HD").
When the volume is mounted, it should show a window containing a file named "Double-click to install". When you double-click that file, it will copy the song files into the folder where the player is located. After you have reloaded the page, you need to click on the "Library" button, then song should appear in your song list.
Do I have to be online to use the player?
No absolutely not. The player software is designed to be used offline. I.e. the last thing you would want is for a bad internet connection to disrupt a time of worship.
Downloading a song
Click on My Account at the top right of the page. This shows you your purchase history and in the left hand navigation is a link to MY DOWNLOADABLE PRODUCTS. Click this to access your purchases. Choose either PC or Mac (please note your license provides you INDIVIDUAL use of these songs. Do not copy songs for other people or to use on additional computers).
The link should show a .exe file being downloaded – the file will be the name of the song and once you have opened it will be saved in your C drive in a folder called Musicademy.
When its finished downloading double click on it
You’ll see a prompt box in the middle of the screen – hit ‘run’
This will run you through the set up wizard – use it like you are installing a programme.
You may get a notice a notice saying an unidentified programme wants to access your compute – hit allow.
You’ll then get the set up wizard – there will be three ‘next’ prompts then install.
When you have clicked through the set up wizard hit finish.
Open up your player, if its already open hit the refresh button on your browser. The song should now appear in alphabetical order in your song library. If it still doesn’t appear, try closing and re-opening the player.
Drag the song from your Library to the Playlist. Click “LIBRARY” again to go back to the screen which will enable you to play the song. Hit play. The volume sliders and mute buttons in the left hand pane should be self explanatory. For more information about the MultiTrack stems, read this blog post.
Downloading a song on the Mac (Detailed instructions using Chrome – this may differ slightly with other browsers)
Click on My Account at the top right of the page. This shows you your purchase history and in the left hand navigation is a link to MY DOWNLOADABLE PRODUCTS. Click this to access your purchases. Choose Mac (please note your license provides you INDIVIDUAL use of these songs. Do not copy songs for other people or to use on additional computers).
The link should show a .exe file being downloaded – the file will be the name of the song and once you have opened it will be saved in your C drive in a folder called Musicademy.
When its finished downloading double click on it
Click on the DMG link. This should open in a new window or tab. At the bottom of the window you may get a warning that says “Are you sure you want to download this?” Click Save. The warning should now turn into a box with the song title and the download time remaining. When its done (i.e. its stopped showing the time remaining) then click on it once. A box will appear with terms & conditions. Click Agree. Another small window will open which says the song name and a folder saying Songs and an icon saying Double Click to Install. Double click on the install icon. You will now see a box saying “…is an application downloaded from the internet…” Click Open. You will hear a noise which signifies that it has installed the song to your player.
If the song does not show up in the Player, close and reopen your player and the song should appear in your Song Library (you could also do this by hitting the “Refresh” button but be aware that with some systems you may need to hit Refresh more than once).
Setting up a play list
Open up your song library by hitting the Library button. The library will appear in the centre section over the player controls. Simply drag your chosen songs in the order you want them from your library into the play list area on the right. The first song selected will automatically be highlighted so all you have to do is hit play. If you want to remove a song simply click on the song to highlight it and then hit ‘Remove selected song’ at the bottom of the play list pane.
Setting up a song mix
When you first use the player the easiest option is to simply mute the instruments you have playing live, and once you’ve saved your song mix you’re ready to go. However once you get familiar with the MultiTrack stems you could try mixing in some of them in conjunction with your live instruments at a lower level by using the volume faders to fatten up the sound of your live band. The obvious stems to try this with are electric guitars and keys 1 & 2 so it’s worth soloing these for every song you’ve got to hear exactly what’s being played.
From a music production perspective, good parts to mix in at a low volume level are the ones that add a sense of width to the sound by using textures. So distorted low end electric rhythm guitar parts and Hammond organ washes work well here. If you are mixing in a more ‘lead’ orientated part be careful that it you don’t mix it so loud that it cuts across the vocal melody but mix it loud enough that your live players can hear it so that in turn they don’t cut across it themselves with their parts. I.e. two lead parts played simultaneously often sounds confused to the listener. That’s why a well mixed studio album will only draw your ear to one part at a time.
Tips
In a few songs we’ve deviated from the 1 acoustic guitar, 2 electric guitars, 2 keyboards format purely for production reasons. So there might be no acoustic, 3 electric guitars and 1 keyboard for example. In that instance we would place the additional electric in either the acoustic, keyboard 2 or ‘extras’ stem. As you play with the backing tracks you’ll find these as you solo through each stem and decide what you want in your mix.
Setting up two mixes for congregation and band
If you’re using the backing tracks through a PA system you may want to take advantage of the way we’ve designed volume faders to set two separate mixes. One for the congregation and a fold back mix for the band. Having a separate fold back mix has multiple uses. For instance it means the congregation doesn’t have to hear the 2 bar intro click or the click tracks if you don’t want them to, or the band can have the lead vocal as well as the vocal cue only in their mix to help guide them through the song. You could even use the mixes as a training tool, so keep the backing track acoustic part in the congregational mix but have a brand new guitarist in the band playing along but not amplified.
Cable
To use the two mixes you will need a standard splitter cable. So one end would have the 3.5mm mini jack stereo headphone output connecter and the other end would be split into two cables which would in turn plug into two inputs in your mixing desk. The plugs would depend on the inputs of your desk but would generally be ¼ inch jack or RCA. Lots of places like Maplin or Radioshack should do these type of cables. Better still, if you are going to be using Backing Band a lot get some quality cables made up. Other than that all you need is your computer and you’re ready to go.
How to use the click tracks
Within the backing tracks there are 3 separate types of click. The first is an intro click, which is the very top stem within the band pane. This only lasts for the first two bars on each song. Then there’s an 8th note click and a shaker for a more natural sounding rhythm guide. The shaker is best to use if you want a rhythm guide but aren’t using the fold back mix, (maybe just going into a single channel amp) so your congregation is most likely to hear it.
Therefore we’d really only recommend using the 8th note click track if you are using the left/right volume sliders to set up a separate congregation and fold back mix. Of course the click track is mainly designed to be used when you have a live drummer but even an added click in the fold back can really help keep the whole band in time. (Especially if you’re using ear pieces or headphones instead of wedges)
We’d also recommend putting the 2 bar intro click just on the fold back mix too so the congregation doesn’t hear it.
Tips to remember
If you don’t want any type of click track, remember to mute all three clicks. So if you’ve muted both the click and the shaker and you still hear a click when you first play the song you’re hearing the 2 bar intro click.
