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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37 |
Hi...
I have been enjoying using Band-in-a-Box immensely. Thanks to all who've made it such fun. But I seem to have reached a sort of transition point. I have CDs with instrumental versions of my songs but people listen and say "That's great but where are the vocals?" And you know, I've been scared to ask this question, 'cause I'm a French lit. graduate and I know someone's going to say "You gotta get a Hasseldorf multiport phonic recorder with J78 overdrive reciprocal adapting sequencer" or something of the sort. But I guess I can't put this off any longer. I have to know how to put vocals on my songs without somehow getting lost in the technology woods. Coward that I am, I thought maybe I could just take my Band-in-a-Box instrumentals minus melody line to a commercial studio and sing along or hire a singer to sing along. But that's not taking the bull by the horns. So if anyone can recommend a simpleton's way forward, hey, you have all my gratitude...
Long live the music, Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
When the audio track was first added they used the cheapest mic you could get.
If you use the Vsc Dxi synth, all you need to do is to plug in a mic to the mic in port and test it. There is a record audio button. You should load a song you know, save it as singtest then cut out all but the first 10 singable bars save it again, and press the record button. Make sure the meter shows input, you might have to tinker with that in windows to ensure the microphone slider is all the way up and that u are just using the soundard's mic. Sing along. Then look at all you can do, boost volume, add reverb, auto harmonies, etc.
Nothing hard about it really. Use headphones so you don't get the audio from the program bleeding into your mic.
When you decide to take the plunge the best thing is to get a small mixer for 60 bucks or so, and use some good headphones a nice mic and off you go. Then you get GAS or Gear Acquisition Syndrome, and buy an Audix Mic, a vocal harmonizer with the bells and whistles, 500 dollar earphones, ...just kidding, sort of.
Actually I thought I couldn't sing at all, and now that I have the Bose, the audix mic, the Bose mixer I figure I'm a bass baritone Frank Sinatra...in my delusional state. Where's my pills?
John Conley Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37 |
Thanks for your time, John. If I could press a button to deposit a bottle of cognac on your doorstep, you'd have it. I might have extra questions for this forum later but you've shone a bright light on the path for me.
Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
chris.. i gotta say several things mate.. 1. a persons biggest enemy can be lack of confidence., so take the attitude i can do this. so what if your worried bout criticism..have confidence. also understand this is supposed to be FUN !! there will ALWAYS be folks that criticise no matter how good the vocallist. my attitude is i do my best with vocs and if i fail n get arrows in my back i accept it and move on and try better on the next song. but i learnt decades ago if i worry constantly bout critique.. i would never get a song done. worry can kill creativity etc etc.
2. just go at it gradually developing vocal technique. and play to your vocal strengths. look at neil young...or leonard cohen...both good examples of people with therir own vocal style WHO DO THEIR OWN THING/style of vocs. can leonard sing like a mezzo soprano ??..nope. but he has his own lower register style. the key to it all is working round ones weaknesses and developing ones vocal style. and playing to voc strengths. 3. use something like realband where you have lots of traks you can experiment with lots of vocal takes mate. experiment lots with comping together the best vocal takes. over time youll thus start to realise what works and what doesnt.
what do you have in the way of gear ?? any mics ?? mic pres ?? sound device ?? if you have no gear , to save me lots of typing read my tips in the tips n triks section as to el cheapo gear n recording with no money. for example you could get a cheapo dynamic mic for 50 buks into a cheap sound interface that has a mic pre built in.
but above all HAVE FUN AND DO IT WITH CONFIDENCE. sure youll fail..EVEN THE BEST FAIL sometimes. if a voc part dont work belting it out..try softer or whispery n see if that works and vice versa. the key to the whole thing is to work around ones voc weaknesses AND JUST GET IT ON AND DO IT.
i wish you every success mate n god bless.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE ! "what is the black art of audio engineering ?" my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992
Expert
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Expert
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,992 |
chris.. forgot to add. the hardest thing is the first vocal trak cos one has no voc reference. so lay down a scratch trak and then sing against it. often i find my vocs turn out better this way mate. in any song try double tracking the vocals. this can realise a denser vocal result. anothe trik is to put one vocal in level down from the main lead vocal n put a bit of echo/chorus on it. read up on google various triks for produceing vocs. theres lots of em. and the term VOCAL CONDITIONING. all the best.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE ! "what is the black art of audio engineering ?" my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning see my tips in the tips section.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 37 |
Thanks for all that. I hear your passion and humanity and generosity clearly. Actually I'm not afraid to sing as such. It's the technical stuff that had me apprehensive, and John C. gave me good advice on that. Nonetheless your tips are very welcome and I've copied them for a future reminder. I reciprocate your good wishes and hope you are succeeding in whatever you are busy at.
Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,900
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You don't need anything fancy at all to get the vocals down, if you have the backing trax already. All you need is a mic and Audacity (it's FREE). Well, that deals with the basics. Of course, the more you want, the more you need...
Follow That Dream Sam Karaoke King -------------------- Turning that corner again - I have to keep following that dream, no matter what
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 928
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 928 |
Quote:
Thanks for all that. I hear your passion and humanity and generosity clearly. Actually I'm not afraid to sing as such. It's the technical stuff that had me apprehensive,
Yeah, I thought from your first post that that was what you were asking about.
As mentioned above, get something to record into, like Audacity ... a great free program. I happen to use Mixcraft Acoustica:
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/
Don't forget, that BiaB also comes with a sequencer included - Real Band.
The only other thing you need is a microphone.
The MXL 990 plugs directly into your USB port:
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pro...WELAID=26021004
You're all set.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
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At the simplest there is an audio track in Band in a Box. For a beginner it's easier to pull off. Just remember that if your song is abc.mgu the abc.wav file in the same directory is just the audio. You can then render the whole thing from there.
I'd suggest that for starters. Lots of level of complication are available, exporting to RealBand or some DAW. But to start with put the song in your key and do a verse. Watch the sound button, the wave form. Use the Audio option to kill it and redo it. Get it close, add some reverb. After a few tries you can try the TC helicon harmonies to suit your voice. Don't stick in a lead in for 6 bars or the preview is cumbersome. Honesty, Band in a Box ships with Folksongs in a folder,go the the Children's folder and do something like She's coming round the mountain. Muck with the style. Put the song in a special directory C:\users\you\mysongs . That keeps things in order when you look in there.
Later you can go into Audacity. Pay attention to mono or stereo.
John Conley Musica est vita
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box User Video Tutorials!
If you've reviewed our Support page, you've probably noticed the Videos page, which separates our Band-in-a-Box® tutorial videos by category: Overview, VST DAW Plugin, Setup, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and there's even an Archive category to go down memory lane... (You'll also find these videos on our YouTube Channel.)
It's always great to hear how other Band-in-a-Box® users create their songs, especially when they explain in detail what they're doing. Like Henry Clarke's YouTube Channel, Henry Clarke - Senior Musicians Unite! There you'll find his ALL Band-in-a-Box Tutorials playlist with over 50 videos! His top-three most watched videos include "How to Get Started with Band-in-a-Box," "How I use the Audio Chord Wizard in Band-in-a-Box," and "How to Create An Effective Solo Using Band-in-a-Box" - however he touches on many other topics and also demonstrates his own Band-in-a-Box® songs in the Band-in-a-Box Created Songs playlist!
You're guaranteed to find some helpful videos when you visit Henry Clarke's channel!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Italian for Windows is Here!
Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!
Tutti Pacchetti | Nuove Caratteristiche
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 French for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 et bien plus encore!
Tous Packages | Nouvelles Fonctionnalités
Video: Making a Song with Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V
Take your Band-in-a-Box® project to a whole new level when you incorporate ChatGPT and Synth V to add lyrics and vocals to your song!
We wanted to demonstrate how this is done with our video, where we show you how to go from nothing to a finished "radio ready" modern pop song by combining the features of Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V!
Listen to the finished song, so you get a listen to the finished product: https://demos.pgmusic.com/misc/behindthefame.m4a
If you like it, watch the video. Either way, let's hear your comments!
Henry Clarke: Revolutionize Your Band-in-Box® Tracks with Regenerating Function
User Video: Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 German for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!
Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
Paket | Was ist Neu
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