Cover band needs keyboard track for "Jump" by Van Halen

[plapnab]

Hi all,
I'm in a cover band and we have no keyboard player. We do a lot of Van Halen and would like to do "Jump" but, with no keyboard player obvioulsy this would be tough. I've seen other bands play this song using some kind of keyboard backing track that's played through an Ipod/laptop/or mp3 I think. Been searching the internet and can't really find what we need for this. Can someone tell me how this can be done and where to download what I need to do this live? :mrgreen:

 

[plapnab]

Close...but, the entire keyboard track with nothing else from begining to end, in time so that it can be dropped down on an ipod and played live. This has to be out there somewhere.

 

[ned]

Just play it on guitar and don't use the track.

 

[plapnab]

Tried that...just doesn't sound the same.

 

[ned]

They audience won't know or care and unless you are already using tracks it isn't worth it for 1 song. We play Don't Stop Believing without a track (3 piece band), I just play the piano part on guitar and no one cares they all just go nuts when we play it. Home Sweet Home by Crue is another one that would work that way.

Part of my response is the bands in Austin are so over tracked it's just wrong. Bands lip syncing, air guitar and these are from some of the best musicians in town.

 

[plapnab]

Do you have anything recorded of you doing this? Anything on youtube I can take a listen to. Yes, it's always boils down to not what your doing but how you do it. But, I'm on the other side of your arguement that in my bands case (cover band) the crowd more often than not wants to hear songs played as close to the original as possible. And, playing the keyboard part from "Jump" on guitar would lose the essance of that 80's synth sound. I could be wrong.

 

[ned]

Not tracks of us doing it that way, but we do it on a lot of songs since we're mainly an 80's cover band. As long as you get the chords right and the vibe they won't care.

Tracks are a lot of work, your drummer is going to need a click track that he can control the volume which means we are talking about a sub mixer. Plus a way to start and stop the track - iPod, PC. If you're not using tracks now I would say play the song a couple of time live on just guitar and see how it goes. I've never really seen Jump go over all that well seems like Panama is the best VH tune for getting them on the dance floor and Dance the Night Away is hit or miss.

 

[plapnab]

Yes, the click track is a concern. However, the keyboard part is consistent throughout the song it might not be necessary. I've seen it go over quite well. Steel Panther does both "Jump" and "Don't Stop Believing" with a track and those are there two biggest cover songs. They didn't start using in ear monitors up until a few years ago...so, I'm not sure how they could have incorperated click tracking. Even Van Halen used a keyboard track when they'd do "Jump" on their last tour...it was their encore. IDK, there's a billion other cover songs out there to do and I'm not going to put much more effort into finding the track I'm looking for. We used to do "Panama" all the time but for some reason it never went over. As far as what people "want to hear" I think this pretty much sums it up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_tiGZgPP4

 

[pokerrules47]

You will need a click track for it live... the keyboard will get lost in the mix... another option is to get a midi foot keyboard and have your bass player tap it out ... just the main key riff... I've seen a band do that