Custom Backing Tracks import from Apple Music and Spark
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Hi
Received the Spark last week and been playing with it.I have quite a few custom backing tracks I have built for gigs and practice. They are in a playlist i keep on Apple Music. I wanted to import the playlist in to the Spark app so that i could play the custom tracks through the app/amp as well as all the other cool tracks that already appear in the app. Problem is when i import the custom backing tracks from Apple Music they show up in the Spark app as the original song or some YouTube variation of the same title. I can't seem to get the Spark app to import my specific custom backing track file. Maybe i am doing something wrong but i have tried it a number of times with no luck.
Any pointers? Thanks!
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@jgriffter The Spark app currently is only programmed to find the original song on youtube, analyze that, and use that as the playalong track.
I've already submitted a feature request to PG using the Contact Support link on the top of this page and suggest that you (and others!) submit the same feature request that the Spark Amp app be able to access any/all mp3 files on our devices. Even if we don't get the chord analysis (how many of us really need that for tracks we've programmed ourselves?) just having the ability to access the many Band-in-a-Box backing tracks I've created myself, or using the backing tracks I've purchased over the years from within the app would be so wonderful!
Currently I'm using the app AnyTune, but I can just as easily use the built-in Music app on my iPhone/iPad to play any track on my device, running that app side-by-side with the Spark app.
Another option (I don't know how well it would actually work) would be to create your own YouTube channel and upload all your files and name them something distinctive such as Griffler-Layla or Griffler-Stairway or Griffler-Watchtower so that the Spark Amp would have to look for your specific versions of those songs and not just find Clapton's or LedZep's or Hendrix's versions.
But as things stand now all we have are workarounds.
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I think the issue with uploading your own versions of songs to youtube is that you may need to make them public for spark to be able to access them. If that's the case you run the risk of copyright infringement.
Best case, they aren't picked up by the algorithms used by music companies to spot copyright infringements, or they are spotted and company moneitizes your vid.
Worst case, they take down your video and you get a copyright strike. Two many strikes and your youtube account is banned.
Not a deal breaker if you're not a regular youtube content creator but something to be aware of if you invest a chunk of time transferring things over to youtube.
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Good suggestions - thank you. It is good to at least know it is not pilot error on my part. I was surprised when I first tried this, since i planned to use my own backing tracks with the Spark along with others the app provides. I will put in the feature request and hope it might be something that becomes available. Would make the amp far more functional for my purposes.
Thanks.
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@carl-galilee said in Custom Backing Tracks import from Apple Music and Spark:
I think the issue with uploading your own versions of songs to youtube is that you may need to make them public for spark to be able to access them.
If one has their own versions, why don't they just Bluetooth the file through the spark?
why would one want to use the app?
the looper is useless.
the chords are mostly incorrect and not synced correctly.
What else? -
@crystalpit True -- and with the multi-tasking capability of iOS these days (can't speak for Android) it's possible to run the Spark app alongside either the Music app or another mp3 file player such as AnyTune, to get the streaming of backing tracks that are on the device.
However on the small screen of an iPhone, multitasking requires such excellent eyesight, that I hope PG builds the ability for us to access our own mp3 library through the Spark app so the screen doesn't have to be shared. On an iPadPro 12.9" screen, it's quite easy to work with both apps, easy to see.