DocumentationBacking tracks

Backing tracks

A song can carry audio that plays along with you. Not one file — several layers at once, each with its own settings.

The usual reason: the click and the count go to the drummer's in-ears, the strings and vocal pads go to the PA, and everyone sets their own level.

Layers, not one file

A song holds a list of stems. Each stem is an audio file from your device and plays alongside the others.

SettingWhat it does
VolumeSet separately for every stem
MuteSkips that stem, the rest keep playing
SoloYou hear only this stem — handy while rehearsing
OffsetStarts a stem earlier or later when the entry does not line up

Per-layer settings

Stems are managed in the backing editor on the song. Add a file, set its volume and offset, done — the settings are saved with the song.

Backing tracks across the band

This is the interesting part: no audio travels over the network, only where in the recording you are.
When the leader starts playback, one message goes out carrying the position and a time anchor. Every device works out from it where it should be and starts its own mix. Nothing is sent periodically after that — as long as nobody scrubs, everyone runs off that single anchor.

A few things follow from it:

  • Everyone hears their own thing. Click for the drummer, nothing for the guitarist, everything for the sound engineer. Each person sets their own stems, because these are personal fields.
  • The network stays quiet. One message per start, not a stream of audio.
  • Scrubbing is a new anchor. Move the recording and a fresh message goes out, so everyone jumps with you. It works while paused too — then the message says "I am standing here".
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For this to work, everyone taking part needs the stems on their own phone. Audio files are not sent over the network — only the transport is synchronised.

Lyrics that follow the recording

Auto-scroll normally runs at a fixed speed in pixels per second. On a song with backing tracks you can switch it so the text follows the position in the recording instead.

You see the difference the moment you scrub: at a fixed speed the text carries on regardless; tied to the recording it jumps to where it belongs. At a rehearsal where one passage gets played five times over, that is the difference between usable and useless.

The switch is per song, not global — a song without backing tracks behaves the way it always did.

Driving it on stage

Backing playback has its own bar on the stage screen — start, pause, position.

It can also be mapped to a pedal. Pedal & HID keyboard has a "backing" action, so you can start it with your foot without reaching for the screen.

Where backing settings live

Backing settings are a personal field — like notes, transposition or auto-scroll speed. Which means:
  • They do not sync to other phones during a band session.
  • They are backed up into .eutbackup along with your other personal fields.
The audio files themselves go into a backup optionally, and it is off by default — recordings are large and the backup would grow into hundreds of megabytes. Turn it on while creating the backup if you want them included. Details in Backups.

Limits

  • Audio is not transferred over the network. Anyone without the stems on their device hears nothing.
  • Backing playback does not drive the metronome and vice versa — they are two separate things, both synchronised by an anchor.
  • The backing editor lives in the app, not in editing from your computer.
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