TRACKING THE DEBATE OVER BACKING TRACKS Raise a glass

E Is For Eiswein

Ray West

... a professional musician, singer, actor and executive director of the Key West Music Awards, is known to sacrifice his comfort for that of his cat.

There has been a fair amount of news in the rock music world regarding certain ’80s rock bands using backing tracks in their live performances. The crux of the argument is whether using tracks to enhance a player’s performance is fair to the fan who purchased the ticket. Adding to the debate is the fact that many fans don’t seem to mind either way.

Not every type of backing track garners decisiveness. Since the onset of advanced recording technologies in the late ’60s and early ’70s, bands have recorded music that they couldn’t play by themselves in a live situation. It started by adding a horn section, string section, background singers, five extra guitar parts, percussion and a tambourine solo. And soon moved into Pink Floyd recreating the sound of 20 grandfather clocks chiming at perfectly timed intervals. As you can imagine, the thought of touring with so many musicians is fraught with issues and financial impracticalities.

These backing tracks can be triggered manually by the players themselves, by computer or by people behind the scenes. The more complex and involved these tracks are, the more difficult they are to play along with. Should you, as a mere human, make a mistake, the track will never stop to help. It will plow through and over anything in its path until a player is somehow able to right himself and continue.

Another type of backing track mistakenly falls under the umbrella of lip syncing. We’ve all heard the notorious cases of straight lip syncing, but most artists still use a live microphone and do sing. Some, however, will have a prerecorded track of themselves singing that they can fill in at any second and back up parts that sounded great in the studio that one day, but may not sound quite as good live. When you see an artist completing a rigorous dance routine, climbing 10 stairs and sailing back down on a rope while still singing smoothly and in as perfect pitch as the studio recording you heard in your car earlier that day, despite looking like a normal, out-of-breath person, let’s just say, it may be Memorex.

And therein lies the rub.

In the news recently, bands like Kiss and Motley Crue have been under fire for using this type of backing track not only for vocals, but also for drums and guitars. There are countless videos of drum intros in which the drummer is seen running to the drum set, and instances of perfect vocals while no one is on the mic. Some bands deny using tracks entirely, while most admit to using “some,” and saying “everybody does it.”

The question becomes, if a player can no longer perform the songs live for whatever reason, should they? If you cannot perform that dance routine and sing that complex melody at the same time, should you? If you recorded 10 guitar tracks in the studio, but you’re a three-piece band, should you hire nine more guitar players to tour with, play the decidedly emptier three-piece version, or just record one guitar?

In the end, all the arguing seems moot as the shirts get sold and the seats get filled.

“Extravagant,” “elegant” and “eclectic” are commonly used to describe Eiswein (ice wine), a style of dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine.

Instead of being harvested in early autumn, like most others, the fruit is left on the vines for much longer and hand picked at the height of winter, usually in the middle of the night at temperatures of -7°C (19.4°F) or below. It is labor intensive and only done in ideal conditions, so it is not made every year.

Frigid temperatures with plenty of sunshine are needed to ripen the grapes. The frozen fruit ensures that the grapes have a high sugar level when picked. Sweet wines must have this high concentration of fruit sugar. During fermentation for a dry wine, the chemical reaction is complete once all the yeasts die, usually when the alcohol reaches 13% to 15% when at this point there is no sugar left, hence producing a dry wine.

To produce a wine that still has some sweetness left in it once the yeast has all disappeared, the winemaker needs grapes that are higher in glucose than usual. The frozen grapes contain very little water and the sugar percentage is very high. It is a long fermentation, nearly 6 months, while the yeasts attempt to eat through all the sugar.

German Eiswein is a rare wine specialty. Tasting it is often described as drinking liquid gold; the flavors cannot be compared to any other wine. Highly aromatic, honey, ripe peaches and mangoes, marmalade, jasmine, caramel, a lush fruit cocktail syrup. Most German Eiswein is made from the Riesling grape, but many other countries make ice wine from Vidal Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc, Gewürztraminer for white and Cabernet Franc and Merlot for red, but these are very rare.

German Eiswein is the most famous and expensive, but ice wine is also produced in Austria, Northern Michigan, Finger Lakes New York, many Eastern European countries, China and Canada, which is the world’s largest producer of ice wine. The Niagara Peninsula, Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia consistently have freezing temperatures in winter and their volume is greater than all the other countries combined. Inniskillin, Pelee Island, and Pillitteri are world-renowned producers of Canadian ice wine. Royal DeMaria, a small Canadian winery, released five cases of Chardonnay ice wine in 2006 with a half-bottle price of C$30,000 each.

Elizabeth Schweitzer

Serving Eiswein (ice wine if it is not German) is a special time. It is sweet, very sweet, sweeter than a can of soda, so a little goes a long way. For this reason, it is mostly sold in half bottles. Serve it cool, not cold, to reap the most flavors. Small flutes or small wine glasses are best, as the pour will be only a few ounces. Savor it, smell it and sip it slowly. Best on its own, be careful pairing it with anything too sweet. Marcona almonds with ginger, a savory slice of sausage, sliced peaches with a soft cheese are a few suggested pairings.

Enchanting. Ethereal. Eiswein. Until next time, Cheers. Reach me at raiseaglass2023@gmail.com.

LIZ’S WINE PICKS

Save a little: Chateau Chantal Vidal Ice Wine, Old Mission Peninsula, Michigan.

President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau sipped this wine at a White House state dinner. Decadent apricot, toasted caramel, baked apples with balanced sweetness. Half bottle. $45.

Spend a little: Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Goldkapsel Riesling Eiswein 2020. Explosive nose of tropical fruits, papaya, mango and candied citrus. Dense and concentrated, caramelized nuts, raisins, round, refined and endless racy finish. Organic. Very limited production. Half bottle. $220.

SAVE

Friday, April 14

April 14

$2,000 GRANTS SUPPORT LOCAL ART PROJECTS

• Application deadline for May Sands Montessori School in Key West. The free, public charter school serves students in pre-K through eighth grade. Application packets and instructions are at maysandsmontessori.com or at the school’s front office. The public admissions lottery drawing will be held on May 5. For more information, call 305-293-1400 ext. 53418.