Hi,

When I create user tracks with a wav file recorded in Pro Tools, I get playback issues. Sometimes certain chords are not found or ignored, sometimes the ending is played in the middel of a chorus and many times the tempo is off. In some cases I have seen the program altering the tempo setting while playing the song!

- I create a new folder in the user tracks folder and name it 'Gypsy guitar, swing, 190'.
- I copy the template Song_1m_Jazz_1.sgu and rename it to 'Gypsy guitar, swing, 190.sgu'.
- I save my wav file into the folder and name it 'Gypsy guitar, swing, 190.wav'.
- I play the song and my wav is played at a way higher speed that recorded.
- The wav was recorded at 190 bpm and the song file is set to 190 bpm
- (There's a .bt1 file in the folder that was created automatically.)

What's is going wrong? What can I do about this?!

grts, Carlo

Hey Carlo,

It sounds like you make have used a template file from the zip file for making user tracks WITH Band-in-a-Box, rather than the one for making them WITHOUT Band-in-a-Box.


The template Song_1m_Jazz_1.sgu is a template for recording a user track in Band-in-a-Box and it defaults to a jazz swing style at 140 bpm. If you used this with a recording at 190 bpm, the user style you're creating could still be set to 140 bpm with a 190 bpm recording. Playing this back at 190 bpm would still treat it like a 140 bpm track, and consequently speed it up.

If this is the case, head to https://www.pgmusic.com/usertracks1.htm and scroll down until you see the section titled "How to make UserTracks without using Band-in-a-Box® or RealBand". There you will find a zip file you can download that includes a whole bunch of different template songs at various different tempos. When picking one, be sure to pick one that is 190bpm.There is also a very helpful tutorial video there that can help make sure you're following all the right steps.

Let me know if this is what the issue was, or if it's something else I've missed.

Happy music making!

Hi David,

Well of course I changed the tempo... When I said 'the tempo is off, I actually meant the recording is out of sync with the real tracks. Both are set to or recorded at 190 bpm but they are not lined up. Now don't explain to me how I can fix this by setting bar lines, I need to make over 300 backing tracks so I'm not gonna repeat that tedious job that many times.
Also the '1 minute UserTracks template instructions' say:

The steps you can take to make the UserTrack are:

1. Pick the style and [i] tempo you want to record at, and give your UserTrack a name.[/i]

So using the Song_1m_Jazz_1.sgu template and setting it to 190) should work in my opinion. Could you explain the difference between those song files? Because I don't see it. The only difference I see is that the templates you suggested are all pop and I want to record jazz.

grts, Carlo

Hi Carlo,

The '1 minute UserTracks template instructions' assume that you are recording the audio for your UserTrack in Band-in-a-Box or RealBand, and the Song_1m_Jazz_1.sgu is for use with that method too. They won't work properly if you recorded your audio in a different program.

There is a separate section on that page for recording UserTracks without recording in Band-in-a-Box or RealBand, which is your case if you are using audio you recorded in Pro Tools. You'll have to scroll down quite a bit to see that section. The zip file to be used with this option is called "Pop UserTracks 1 minute template without Band-in-a-Box® with Audio Backing Tracks.zip", but there are numerous different options for backing tracks in that file.

The backing tracks are also just to help you play on beat, and will not be used in your UserTrack, so the style does not really affect the final result. If you would rather just record with a metronome or click track, that is possible too.

When you're done recording along to the backing track (or metronome/click track) you can delete the backing track and export only the audio you've recorded. Be sure to export it at 16bits and 44khz.

If you would like, you can send UserTracks to us at support@pgmusic.com with Attn:David in the subject line, and we can take a look to see if there are any issues with them.

But for now I would try watching this video about recording your UserTrack in Pro Tools specifically, rather than Band-in-a-Box or RealBand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=404&v=5acNhCOZt4k&feature=emb_logo

Let me know if the issue persists,

David

Usertracks require two bars of silence in the beginning of the audio file. PG Music programs automatically adds the two bars of silence.

You may find the attached pdf file useful.

I know that, my recording is not exactly 2 bars out sync.

Hi David,

Ok so I am having the exact same problem when recording in BIAB or in Pro Tools. So let's stop assuming that I do not understand how to record the user track.

I have come one step further in understanding what's wrong. Yesterday and the day before I was suddenly able to record perfectly aligned tracks and completed 2 user tracks that work absolutely fine. Today I wanted to start the 3rd user track and did everything in the exact same way and the recording was out of sync again! I tried a clean file (Song_1m_Jazz_1.SGU) and again it was out of sync.

To be clear: at this point I am only recording inside BIAB!

Now earlier when recording suddenly worked I noticed that my Pro Tools was open and thought maybe that's the difference (because it is using the same interface). So now I checked but it was open now as well. So I tried with Pro Tools closed. No change. Restarted my Mac, made sure all sound related programs were closed. No change...

Again: at this point I am still only recording inside BIAB!

I tested by selecting the built-in in/output of my Mac and now the recording was in sync! But yesterday it was in sync with my interface as well! So it's clear that somehow there is a buffering issue somewhere as you mentioned that sometimes causes delays and sometimes not. Is there a buffer size setting in BIAB 2020 (because there is none in my 2018 version)?

grts, Carlo

I read through the thread and you mentioned at one point that the recording was faster, but I think that was a different problem, right? Is the problem that you are currently having that the recorded track is out of sync by a fixed amount for the whole track?

In other words, can you fix the problem by nudging the whole track back or forward.. e.g. deleting or inserting a bit of silence at the beginning? To answer your question there aren't any buffer settings in BB.

Hi Andrew,

That's correct, it's off by around a quarter note and I could fix it but I don't think that is a solution. Because it worked just a day ago and suddenly it doesn't, it's weird and very frustrating. I recorded on monday and tuesday and it worked fine. I left the room and my pc running as always, came back the next day and repeated the same process and the recording is out off sync!? I don't get it!

And indeed I had an issue where the recording was played faster, but that was when using a wav recorded in Pro Tools so let's not get into that. I am not aiming for that option now, I want to be able to record in BIAB and be done when I click 'Ok - keep take'.

grts, Carlo

Ok, I just now found out what makes the difference between straight result and out of sync result. It's Pro tools! Earlier I found out there is a difference if PT is closed (out of sync) or opened (works fine). But the next day I had the out of sync issue, I checked if PT was open and it was! So I thought there goes that theory. However today I found it it's not just PT that needs to be open, I need to have an active session in PT while recording in BIAB. That is the only way things work as they should. And I am talking about recording in BIAB, which has nothing to do with Pro tools at all.

I see, so it only records in sync in BB if you have an active session in Pro tools? And what is your hardware that you are using for recording?

That's correct! I am using the M-Audio M-track Quad.

In the Mac system preferences -> Sound ... can you make sure that the Pro Tools aggregate device is not selected there? Then in the Band-in-a-Box settings, make sure that it is using the default device. Then try recording in Band-in-a-Box again...