For a long time, I was against using tracks.
Not for any justifiable reason, mainly because I didn’t like being told what to do. And it felt like tracks could potentially determine the structure, style, and progression of a song I appreciated the flexibility of being able to change key or tempo to suit the setlist. But more than that, using tracks felt like lying or cheating - creating something that you were not actually able to reproduce with your given team.
You are likely familiar with tracks, but if not, they are pre-recorded elements that play along underneath the live band. They are often called backing tracks, loops, or simply tracks. They are not necessarily meant to replace instruments, but to enhance and compliment your team, as well as fill in musical holes. This is not a post about the technical side of setting up tracks - there are resources available with far more detail and skill than I could offer in that department. This is not even a post about selling you on using tracks, they are likely not right for every team and every church. What I hope to offer in this post is how to consider and implement tracks if you, like me, had never used them before.
Over the last 18 months, our church has been incorporating tracks into almost every song. And it has surprised me how much I have enjoyed using them. Like most things, there is a learning curve, and it has taken me some time to find the rhythm which works best for our team and our church, but overall, I am really happy with the decision to be using them regularly. There is far more flexibility in use than I had anticipated, and the fuller sound and the opportunity to introduce songs I would not have considered because of the way the production supported the song has outweighed my fear about tracks as lying or cheating.
Using in-ears.
If you are going to be using tracks, at least one person will have to be using in-ears. Because tracks are being played back with a click track (metronome to keep you in tempo and time), at least one person (usually the drummer or worship leader) needs to be able to hear the tempo to follow the track. And because you usually don’t want the congregation to hear a click track along with the song, the best application of tracks is with in-ear monitors. Tracks are just audio being played back, and therefore are not reacting dynamically to the live musicians - they are not slowing down or speeding up based on what other people are playing. You hit play on a track, and you’re into the song.
Start with a click track.
Before you invest a lot of time, energy, money, or effort into backing tracks, start with a click track. Backing tracks will include cues that will count into each part of a song. This is a significant adjustment. So starting with a standard click track will help the team get comfortable with hearing something in their ears apart from one another. It is also fairly low risk - if the team gets off the click, they just need to keep playing until they can find the pocket again - and generally, the congregation won’t be able to tell.
Start small.
Try adding a track to one song in the setlist. How does the team like using the track? Does the sound person feel equipped to be able to mix the song well? Does this feel like something that will work well in your context and with your congregation?
Like many things, there can be a temptation with tracks to go over the top and overboard very quickly. But a good song is a good song is a good song. My encouragement is to let the track complement the song, not overwhelm the song. As worship leaders, we want to utilize technology to enhance and adorn our worship gathering, but never to become the center of the gathering.