Create backing tracks for free

Ravi B

 The problem

I love performing at open mics, either solo or with other musicians.  Usually the group you’re playing with often lacks a drummer and bass guitarist which can leave you sounding thin, especially when covering popular classic rock tunes that have a chunky rhythm and full background.  One way to fill out your sound is to play to a backing track.

In this article, I’ll show you how to easily create a backing track for free and even customize the track to your key and tempo.  I’ll show you:

 Tools

The only tools you need are:

  • a web browser
  • a sound editor like Audacity (free)

 Downloading the backing track video

Backing track videos for popular songs can be found on YouTube.  Search for the song followed by “backing track” or “karaoke”.


When you find a video you like, download it to your computer using the SaveFromNet - YouTube Video Downloader site.  Don’t worry if the video contains an introductory voice over or lead-in music.  We’ll get rid of these shortly.  You can use any online YouTube video downloader - I just found this one easy to use.

  1. Visit SaveFromNet - YouTube Video Downloader.

  2. Enter the link to the video in the box and click Download.  When the video’s preview image appears, click the low quality download link.


  3. Next, select the MP4 360 version (with sound) and click the green Download button to download the video.

 Extracting the backing track audio

Now that you have the backing track video, we’ll extract its audio using the Biteable - Extract audio from video site.  You can use any online audio extractor - I found this one easy to use.

  1. Visit Biteable - Extract audio from video.

  2. Drag the backing track video file into the box, select the WAV audio format and click Extract audio to download the extracted audio file to your computer.


 Trimming the audio track

Backing tracks downloaded from YouTube often contain lead-in music and a promotional voice over at the beginning.  You can use any audio editor to remove these artifacts.  I prefer Audacity, the completely free and excellent audio Swiss army knife that runs on PCs, Macs and Linux computers.

  1. Install Audacity from this site and start it.

  2. Drag the audio file into the program.

  3. Play the file and identify the part of the audio you want to remove.  You can zoom in and out to get a better view of the audio waveform.


  4. Select the portion of the track to be removed and click Delete.

  5. Do File | Export Audio... to save the modified file to a WAV file.  Be sure to not save it as an MP3 as that reduces the quality of the audio every time you change and resave the file.

  6. Exit Audacity and ignore the prompt to save the project.

 Changing the key of a backing track

Having a backing track to play to is nice but if (like me) you have a limited vocal range, you can transpose it to a more comfortable key.  Here’s how you do this.

  1. Listen to the backing track and determine how may semitones you want to transpose the track up or down.

  2. Drag the trimmed backing track file into Audacity.

  3. Use the Edit | Select | All command (or press Ctrl + A on Windows) to select the entire track.

  4. Do Effect | Change Pitch to display the Change Pitch window.  Enter the number of semitones by which you want to lower or raise the pitch.  In this example, I’ve transposed the song 3 semitones (frets) down.  Click OK to transpose the song.


  5. Do File | Export Audio... to save the transposed song to a WAV file.  Be sure to not save it as an MP3 as that reduces the quality of the audio every time you change and resave the file.

  6. Exit Audacity and ignore the prompt to save the project.

 Changing the tempo of a backing track

You can change the tempo of a backing track (without changing its pitch) to slightly slow down or speed up the song.  Here’s how to do this.

  1. Drag the trimmed backing track file into Audacity.

  2. Use the Edit | Select | All command (or press Ctrl + A on Windows) to select the entire track.

  3. Do Effect | Change Tempo to display the Change Tempo window.  Enter the percentage by which you want to speed up or slow down the song.  In this example, I’ve slowed down the backing track by 2.55%.  Click OK to change the tempo.


  4. Press Play to listen to the changed track.  If you’re happy with the results, proceed to the next step.  Otherwise, do Edit | Undo Change Tempo (or press Ctrl + Z on Windows) to undo the change and return to the previous step.

  5. Do File | Export Audio... to save the song to a WAV file.  Be sure to not save it as an MP3 as that reduces the quality of the audio every time you change and resave the file.

  6. Exit Audacity and ignore the prompt to save the project.

 Summary

And there you have it - an unending supply of backing tracks customized to your playing style.  Now go make some music! 



Most of the drivel at this site is copyright © Ravi Bhavnani.
Questions or comments?  Send mail to ravib@ravib.com