Greetings y'all! I'm Russell, new guy in the ring. I play guitar, bass, mandolin and am currently trying to wrap my brain (and fingers) around a banjo I was gifted. I love writing songs and think I am a fairly decent songwriter. I started "recording" back in the late 80's early 90's with a Tascam PortaOne 4 track cassette and a Casio keyboard (as my drum machine) and an acoustic guitar. Treble way down to record basslines and back up to record guitar parts. Added a TR-505 real drum machine after a bit. (I still have everything but the Casio!)

Not the best setup to make something I wanted to share. I got a version of Cakewalk (Sonar) with a SoundBlaster sound card I bought for my PC and that was quite a step up. Went from there through several versions and wound up with Sonar X3 Producer. Still struggled getting a really good sound. My biggest issue is being limited to just the instruments I played. Never took any music theory and have never had the time or skill to learn keyboards so while I tried my hand at some basic midi / synth instruments I pretty much sucked at it and it added nothing to my music. I've spent lots of money (way too much - ask my wife) on gear, guitars, microphones, plugins, add-ons and whatever I thought would help me get the recording I wanted. Got close but it still wasn't what I heard in my head.

Fast forward to 10 days ago when I first heard of, then purchased, Band in a Box UltraPAK . . . I am in heaven! I have 8 of my songs more than 80% done and one 99% I hope to be sharing this weekend. It took a couple days to figure this thing out but wow!!! It's like I have become a MIDI master! And the best part is it's real musicians playing the parts I want.

I'm in my 60's and did have some concern about being able to learn this but it really is fairly easy to get started. I think it helps that I am a musician already (I still play out whenever I can - Currently playing bass in a Molly Hatchet tribute band and singing / playing guitar in an acoustic duo)

I know I've just scratched the surface and as I get better at dialing in the multitude of features I know my music will just keep sounding better.

For anyone reading this who is here trying to decide if they want to spend the cash, let me say - Do it!! It's WELL worth every penny.

To the folks at PG Music - Thank You! Great tool to add to my musical toolbox. Just wish you advertised better and I had found it sooner LOL!

To the folks here on the forums - Thanks for already having the answers to many of the questions I had - The search engine here ain't perfect but it got me through. I do have many more questions and some suggestions that I'll ask and share in posts later but I did want to express my complete satisfaction to this point.

Last thing - I want to share my music here for critique but I'm a wee bit nervous . . . In perusing the "User Showcase" forum I see some of y'all have set the bar pretty darned high! Some great stuff there!

~Russell~

Hey Russell,
Glad you find this tool useful, I too consider it awesome.

And don't be shy about sharing your work here. Most of us are amatuers, and those that are pros (certainly not me) are friendly and helpful in giving good tips.

Play on man, and have fun!

Welcome to the forum Russell. Always nice to see fresh faces.

Dan

Welcome Russell.
FYI -I feel the same way about BiaB, i.e. I like it! Even though sometimes I complain about BiaB virtually every song starts in it! Note that I mostly work in the MIDI side of BiaB.

Do not hesitate posting your songs. You will never get "that sucks" here, just likes and/or constructive criticism.

Welcome to the forum and to Band-in-a-Box Russell.

If you don't mind my asking, how did you discover Band-in-a-Box and decide to give it a try?

The User Showcase is a great place to link to your original songs. Feedback is typically general unless you specifically request feedback. When asking for feedback it's better to be specific about your concerns.

It came up when i was looking for info on pedal steel guitar synths on the Cakewalk forum. Now that I've given it a go I'm quite surprised it isn't something talked about more over there. Cakewalk / Sonar and BiaB is the perfect combo!

Thanks to all of you for the welcome!

Russell,
Welcome!
If you are into Rock/Country/Pop/Jazz/Folk/Blues and few others, you are in a right place.
I don't believe there anything better out there than BIAB as far as software goes at this point in time for these genres.

Also, consider yourself lucky, as you came at the right time as we did get some power features past couple of years. One of the best items added lately was "Partial Regeneration". I strongly suggest looking into it, as it allows you to manipulate real tracks to better fit your composition, giving you different choices - generations per selection (of particular bars or range).

Ohh yes, do post on User Showcase! In first years I got some excellent suggestions to get my stuff under control! Besides that, I met interesting people, done over a dozen+ collaborations, etc. The unspoken rule of User Showcase is, if you want to be listened - listen and comment on music of other people. As far as critique, just be clear and say what you want to say in the post. Like: Please comment on the mix, etc. With extremely rare exceptions, there are no bullies here. People are respectful and helpful.

P.S. I am on my 6th year with BIAB and I also feel that I only scratched a surface, so welcome to the club

Excellent --(spoken like a mad scientist wringing his hands). Big welcome to the forum, Russell. Saw the pic with the bass and had to learn more. Man, if ya ever think I can help with anything, please send me a message. Thanks for the intro!

That got a chuckle outta me!



Thanks! I appreciate that. I see you're from PA - I lived there once for a couple years. Little tiny spot call Covington - A bit North of Williamsport. Are you a fellow bass player?

welcome. if you have the windows version of BIAB you have RealBand for free. many of us rough out a song in BIAB then fine tune it in RB. take a look at this thread.

https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=756853&page=1

Thank you for this - I've actually been wondering what RealBand was - I was thinking it was the "Lite" version of BiaB but Maybe that's not the case . . . ? I'll check out that link!