I guess the name "NOIZ IN DA BASEMENT" kind of speaks for itself. LOL

Yeah "IN DA BASEMENT" LOL

Here is how I create and use my backing tracks:
1) First, I begin with a midi file that I get from one of these sites.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com **I download Guitar Pro files and then export them as a midi file**
http://www.musicrobot.com **decent selections here**
http://www.midi-hits.com **you have to purchase these files but most of them are excellent quality**

2) 2) I open the midi file in Cakewalk's Sonar 6 and edit the bass and drum tracks of the file to come as close as possible to the cover. This can be quite time consuming and if you are new to Sonar, it can be quite a daunting task to learn.

3) In Sonar, I insert two plug-ins. Edirol Virtual Sound Canvas for the Bass and NUSofting DK+ Drum Synth for the drums. (**The wav files that came with NUSofting DK+ were not what I was looking for so I recorded each drum hit from the Pearl Drum site. You use up to 24 different drums, cymbals etc... The cymbals were recorded from the samples at Zildjian's web site**)

4) After I get everything sounding right, I export the bass and drum tracks to *.wav files and import those into Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks Pro 3 and save them as a *.cwb file.

5) I now have my backing track ready for export out of Guitar Tracks. The tracks are exported with the drums panned 100% left and the bass panned 100% right. All other instruments and synths are centered. (The reason I place each track on separate left and right channels is so you can control the levels of the drums and bass when you route them through your mixer and out to the PA). I then convert them to an mp3 file or wave file.

6) Now comes the tedious process of creating the karaoke files. I use Karaoke Builder Studio for this agonizing process. After the cdg files are created, I burn the mp3 and cdg files onto a DVD to use in our karaoke player.

We use the karaoke players outputs to send both the bass (right) and drum (left) channels to a separate input on the mixer and route the video output to the monitor. All audio tracks located on my music page are unprocessed. I add reverb, compression, panning, widening, etc.. to the bass and the drum channels using rack mount processors. These channels are then mixed together and then out to our 4-speaker Fender Passport Deluxe 250 P.A. system. We use the P.A. for the backing tracks and vocals. The guitars are played through our stacks but 10% of the guitar outputs from the mixer are also sent through the PA Speaker. Stack and speaker positioning is the key to an awesome sound.

If you are just jamming along in front of your computer, here is an inexpensive idea. Buy a decent audio receiver and a cheap 4-channel mixer. Plug a 1/4" stereo adapter with an RCA plug splitter (figure 1) into the headphone output of your computer. Now connect the RCA cable (figure 2) to your mixer and plug each one into its own channel (figure 3) - You now you have full control over the bass and drum levels. Now you can add your guitar and mic on their own channels. Route your mixers CD/Audio output to your receiver and you now have your own backup band at your PC.

Visit my website to download the edited midi files, Guitar Pro files and other stuff...