joemed - Posted - 04/13/2021:  19:12:40

Anybody use it?

What do you like/dislike about it?

Mandodennis - Posted - 04/13/2021:  20:00:33

I suppose I have used it, in a manner of speaking.

And I should have thought of this in your introduction thread.

GrassTrax is basically songs built in Band in a Box and then saved as mp3 files. The files are static, you cannot change them as you could with BiaB, but they would still be useful. I have done more than few performances where BiaB was my backing band. And the bass player showed up on time in those cases.

If you have an mp3 player that can change speeds without changing pitch that might be all you need.

I think the GrassTrax proprietor is a hangout member, maybe on the banjo hangout.

joemed - Posted - 04/13/2021:  20:44:58

Thank you Dennis. I’m not really big into all the technology. I am a solo player so I am very interested in finding the best way to play pack up tracks on my iPhone. And in the box won’t work for me on the iPhone but I played around with grasstrax tonight. I was able to download their sample of cripple Creek, still need to spend some time playing around with it but I did get as far as being able to actually play it on my phone so that’s a big step.

I attempted Mandolin several years ago and did not get very far in the journey. I think I probably just had bad luck picking out which beginner materials I tried to learn from.

This time around one of the books I got comes with a CD that has a backing band play each of the songs at five different speeds. This one CD alone has pushed me leaps and bounds forward with the mandolin. I am so excited about it. Now I want to find some more backing tracks because I don’t want to face burn out playing the same few songs over and over and over lol

joemed - Posted - 04/13/2021:  20:48:12

Not having a computer makes all of this a little challenging but looks like this might work. Definitely interested if anybody has any other ideas that might work on an iPhone.

By the way that book that I mentioned in case anybody is interested is Mandolin Primer by Bert Casey. The particular book that I got actually comes with a DVD and a CD. This book alone what is responsible for helping my progression so much so that I went ahead and ordered a $800 mandolin, just a month later

Mandodennis - Posted - 04/14/2021:  05:59:28

I don't know if this might work on an iPhone but there is another website with a lot of songs that were generated via Band in a Box that you might take a look at. It's called "Free Bluegrass Backing Tracks" oddly enough.

fbbts.com/

The difference here is that you play the files over the internet, no download. The interface is pretty simple and may work ok on a phone. Might be worth a look.

Mandodennis - Posted - 04/14/2021:  12:32:53

I noticed that you can download the FBBT tracks if you'd want to.

The player on the website allows you to speed up or slow down the tracks so I thought that might be of interest.

That ... and the price is right.

joemed - Posted - 04/14/2021:  14:06:44

Oh Dennis, jackpot! This is EXACTLY what I wanted/needed



Only spent a minute on there, but saw several tunes, heard a little playback, worked the slowdowner (yup) and this is exactly what I was hoping for!



Can you work some of that magic to deliver my mandolin? 

 

joemed - Posted - 04/16/2021:  02:54:43

Ok, this FBBt is great. I’ve just played a little with it here or there, as time permits.

Many songs on there that are already part of my practice. I am looking very forward to the next couple of nights. I’ll have several hours each night available to try using this with my mandolin.

Thanks again Dennis!

Hi Terrence...