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is there a way to make the instrument in RealTracks play the exact melody that you want ? ?
SITUATION: i've a song loaded and am using style: GEORGE ctry bal w george Fiddle (85 RS)
what i'd like to do is have this RealTracks fiddle play a melody(turnaround)that i designate -
not the background fills that it normally plays. i've tried entering the melody with my keyboards
in to the melody track, open the melody track menu > edit melody track > move to soloist track, but
the soloist track does not play back the RealTrack fiddle - it plays violin (41) from the GS wave-
table.

is there a way to have the soloist track play the melody that i enter with the RealTracks fiddle used in the style listed above (George ctry bal . . .) ? ? maybe moving the melody entered, from the melody track to the soloist track isn't the right approach, maybe there's another way - maybe it can't be done at all.

any help app
Hi Fivestring,

Realtracks are unable to play notes specified by a user. This is because Realtracks are not assembled from single notes. They are actual live recordings. What BIAB does is to slice and splice sections of these recordings to assemble a suitable track based on the entered chord structure.

Regards,
Noel
many tks noel - now i can quit beating a dead horse
Or the answer software developers normallly give ...."not in the current version!"
Realtracks are so misunderstood.

If you could make Realtracks play a specified melody line, then they would no longer BE Realtracks, that is already what we have with any MIDI synthesizer, samples of each note that can be told when to play. But that won't give all the subtle nuances that the Realtracks give because the Realtracks take PHRASES, not single notes of music that has already been recorded and rearrange them to fit your chord changes. Thus Realtracks can only play the phrases that were recorded in the first place.


--Mac
someone told me they generate multiple tracks using a single Realtrack and then export all of them to their DAW where they splice various bits together to get more control over the final track. I know that wouldn't give the level of control the OP wants but it might help a little. I guess it would also add quite a bit of time to the process!
JJJ you can definitely do it, because I've done it. We have all the tools in RB already. Pitch shift for one. Just expand the audio edit window, get familiar with what a note looks like as a waveform and start slicing it up. When you do that you will get pops and clicks if you don't know all about cross fade looping. But, and it's a very big but, you lose the live phrasing the original player put into that RT. All your doing is taking one note out of a bigger file. Oh wait, that sounds familiar doesn't it? Yeah, I hit a key on my Kurzweil and what do I hear? One note. That's called a synth. Oh wow, <Face palm>...damn that idea sounded so cool.

Just having some fun John. What you're hearing is the quality of the recording like the RT Sax soloist for example. You listen to the sax patch on a basic synth like the Coyote Wavetable and it sounds like crap. The sax's on my Kurz however sound great. A good synth uses high quality one note recordings done in a studio by top players just like the RT's. The very best ones with tons of memory use one recording per note so a sampled piano has 88 separate recordings per velocity layer and the good ones have multiple layers so you do the math. That takes a whole lot of memory. Cheaper synths may only have one or two layers for a given patch and they pitch shift one note to cover 3 or 4 keys so they only need maybe 30 recordings per layer, that requires much less memory which equals a cheaper keyboard or PC to play it. You get what you pay for with different synths.

This is the big deal with the new Supertracks btw. With a good synth, a midi Supertrack can definitely rival an RT in quality.

Bob
This is just off the top of my head!! If the timing of the solo is about right - why not use Melodyne or something similar to get the melody you wish for.

Of course it may be more work than it's worth.


Kevin
Quote:

- why not use Melodyne or something similar to get the melody you wish for.





Otherwise known as "The Cher Effect for instruments".
I have found that the best way to get exactly the notes you want in BiaB is to Record them using a MIDI Controller keyboard or other MIDI instrument that you can play and then assign that to a high quality MIDI synth of some sort.

When mixed with a few Realtracks and the Realdrums, the result is very striking and can sound realistic. Matter of fact, many listeners don't even realize that there is any MIDI involved.


--Mac
Quote:

JJJ you can definitely do it, because I've done it. We have all the tools in RB already. Pitch shift for one. Just expand the audio edit window, get familiar with what a note looks like as a waveform and start slicing it up. When you do that you will get pops and clicks if you don't know all about cross fade looping. But, and it's a very big but, you lose the live phrasing the original player put into that RT. All your doing is taking one note out of a bigger file. Oh wait, that sounds familiar doesn't it? Yeah, I hit a key on my Kurzweil and what do I hear? One note. That's called a synth. Oh wow, <Face palm>...damn that idea sounded so cool.

Just having some fun John. What you're hearing is the quality of the recording like the RT Sax soloist for example. You listen to the sax patch on a basic synth like the Coyote Wavetable and it sounds like crap. The sax's on my Kurz however sound great. A good synth uses high quality one note recordings done in a studio by top players just like the RT's. The very best ones with tons of memory use one recording per note so a sampled piano has 88 separate recordings per velocity layer and the good ones have multiple layers so you do the math. That takes a whole lot of memory. Cheaper synths may only have one or two layers for a given patch and they pitch shift one note to cover 3 or 4 keys so they only need maybe 30 recordings per layer, that requires much less memory which equals a cheaper keyboard or PC to play it. You get what you pay for with different synths.

This is the big deal with the new Supertracks btw. With a good synth, a midi Supertrack can definitely rival an RT in quality.

Bob




maybe I just haven't heard the right system but everything I've heard so far that was not RealTrack sounds like the circus just got to town!
.
>>>...someone told me they generate multiple tracks using a single Realtrack and then export all of them to their DAW where they splice various bits together to get more control over the final track...>>>

It might have been me that said that. Here is an example of a song where I was able to find and edit real tracks to fit the melody I already had. It was largely serendipitous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg6gF9siJeg&feature=plcp

I beleive I used the "GEORGE" fiddle tracks used by the original poster. All the editing was done in Real Band.
Quote:

.
>>>...someone told me they generate multiple tracks using a single Realtrack and then export all of them to their DAW where they splice various bits together to get more control over the final track...>>>





I have done the same thing using a single RT with Melodyne in my DAW. Tedious and timeconsuming, and honestly, no way to make music. Learn to play or find someone who can and you will appreciate the effort and end results so much more.
Quote:

maybe I just haven't heard the right system but everything I've heard so far that was not RealTrack sounds like the circus just got to town!




A very common complaint with MIDI - 10 years ago! Tell us again what synth are you using?
Here is the project done here oh so long ago.. unfortunately all the files have been lost,
. but some of the comments may provide insight.


http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/showflat.p...true#Post328145
Quote:

Quote:

maybe I just haven't heard the right system but everything I've heard so far that was not RealTrack sounds like the circus just got to town!




A very common complaint with MIDI - 10 years ago! Tell us again what synth are you using?




well, honestly, I don't know! I know there is a computer involved and Windows 7 and recently BIAB! And I know whatever sound card I have plays music from games real nice. Beyond that I know nothing and suspect I have the most basic of MIDI capabilities.
Quote:

Quote:

- why not use Melodyne or something similar to get the melody you wish for.





Otherwise known as "The Cher Effect for instruments".





That was not Melodyne, that was Auto-Tune.....
Quote:

well, honestly, I don't know! I know there is a computer involved and Windows 7 and recently BIAB! And I know whatever sound card I have plays music from games real nice. Beyond that I know nothing and suspect I have the most basic of MIDI capabilities.




Free to try for 30 days, then the best $40 BIAB addon you can buy!

http://www.pgmusic.com/coyotefortedxi.htm
Quote:

Quote:

well, honestly, I don't know! I know there is a computer involved and Windows 7 and recently BIAB! And I know whatever sound card I have plays music from games real nice. Beyond that I know nothing and suspect I have the most basic of MIDI capabilities.




Free to try for 30 days, then the best $40 BIAB addon you can buy!

http://www.pgmusic.com/coyotefortedxi.htm




So, how would I compare this to non-coyote MIDI? Is there a sample song or something that uses only MIDI that I could then convert to this to hear the difference?
Samples to compare may be found here: http://www.pgmusic.com/dare-to-compare.htm
thanks Matt. interesting listening. its hard to compare the synths to the RealTracks though! I guess you'd use MIDI when 1) you want more control over what is being played or 2) no RealTrack meets your current needs?

I downloaded and installed Coyote ForteDXi but cannot really figure out what to do next! can someone give me just a really brief instruction on how to use Coyote ForteDXi in one of my songs? Is there a quick way to convert my song (currently using RealTracks) to MIDI and then switch between Coyote WaveTable and Coyote ForteDXi so I can hear the difference?
oh and one more question...can you run a MIDI guitar track through Amplitude?
Quote:

well, honestly, I don't know! I know there is a computer involved and Windows 7 and recently BIAB! And I know whatever sound card I have plays music from games real nice. Beyond that I know nothing and suspect I have the most basic of MIDI capabilities.




Ok, so now we're on to part two of your Biab education. The sound quality. First and foremost, Biab has no midi sounds, period. Not talking about Real Tracks here. Biab is a stand alone program that generates midi commands, not sound. Remember that, NOT SOUND. It seems like Biab is generating sound but it's not, it's generating midi commands. Where those midi commands go is entirely up to you. Right now you're telling Biab to use the most basic, worst sounding synth in the world, the Microsoft Wavetable. It's only used to generate the beeps, bloops, and other weird Windows sounds you hear when you do certain Windows functions or games.

PG gives away two basic synths, the Roland VSC and the Coyote Wavetable. The VSC doesn't work on 64 bit systems so they made a deal with Coyote to modify the basic Windows Wavetable to work with Biab. Neither sounds that great but the Wavetable is definitely the worst of the two, they at least give a new customer something to play if they don't have better synths already.

You need a real synth, John. This topic is probably the single most talked about thing on this forum. Do a search using words like "best synth" "Biab sounds" etc. No need for us to list all that yet again in this thread.

Bob
is there a point at which MIDI rivals RealTracks? and all I'm referring to is quality/realism of the instrument sounds.
Quote:

is there a point at which MIDI rivals RealTracks? and all I'm referring to is quality/realism of the instrument sounds.




Sounds a little like a trick question, but I'll bite. First of all Midi can approach a level of realism to where the ear can not tell if it is a synthesized sound or the real vibrations of a string.

Otherwise,

Music generated by Realtracks is Real.
Music generated by Midi is a simulation of real via a synthesizer.

I'll step back and duck now!
That's exactly right. When you try to compare midi/synths to real recordings you're getting deep into recording art. The answer is the classic "it depends". Midi can sound very, very realistic but not always. Emulating solo instruments that are supposed to be right out front in a recording or performance is the most difficult. The two biggest ones are horns and guitars including a steel guitar. Very difficult to fool a good listener that you're hearing a real person soloing on those instruments. But, as soon as stuff is in a complex mix then you can't tell at all with good equipment and synths. Movie soundtracks have tons of midi all through them. Strings, horn sections, rhythm sections, all of it. Put a real soloist, vocalist or lead player on top of that and it sounds awesome. Whats $20,000 worth of synths and studio gear and maybe two killer players compared to hiring the LA Phil for a week for your movie project? Remember Miami Vice and Jan Hammer? That was all done by him in his house 25 years ago with one or two real soloists like I said. The stuff is way, way cheaper and much better now.

The new midi Supertracks will sound great through a high quality synth but notice PG hasn't released any jazz, rock or country soloist sax, horns or guitars Supermidi tracks? They probably won't because even with a great synth they still won't sound that great, good maybe but not that real. Pianos, vibes, strings can sound pretty good.

To get down to the real world in your house John a good decent synth for a few hundred bucks will probably be good enough for you but again "it depends". It depends on how picky you are and how much you want to spend.

Bob
so far, it seems to me that BIAB can generate accompaniment with RealTracks that is indistinguishable from a live session recording (unless I do something goofy like adjust tempo or scale into a range a real instrument could not reach.)

Can MIDI do that using a high-quality enough synth? Or is it always gonna be detectable as MIDI?

I am not disrespecting MIDI or those who use it. Just, for my personal tastes, it does not seem to deliver what I am looking for. But maybe I'm wrong and having the right synth would make all the difference. That's all I'm trying to find out!
Quote:

...Can MIDI do that using a high-quality enough synth? Or is it always gonna be detectable as MIDI?...




Absolutely.

Hollywood movie soundtracks and underscores use MIDI for a lot of things, including the famous Dreamworks' private MIDI samples of the London Symphony.

Nobody complains about THAT sound.

And many of the recordings you hear today use MIDI keyboards, at least.


--Mad
thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and insights on MIDI. I still have a couple of questions if anyone can help,

1) I downloaded and installed Coyote ForteDXi demo but cannot really figure out what to do next! can someone give me just a really brief instruction on how to use Coyote ForteDXi in one of my songs? Is there a quick way to convert my song (currently using RealTracks) to MIDI and then switch between Coyote WaveTable and Coyote ForteDXi so I can hear the difference?

2) can you run a MIDI guitar track through Amplitude?
OK,

Do you have a folder with demo songs?

If so you need to go into the Opts, Prefs, and then Midi and select the Coyote Forte Dxi. I'm sure they have a read me file in there, that would be a good place to start.

Midi is a language, and it tells each note what the note is, how long, and other stuff.

So instead of having a RealTrack you get a sort of retro thing.

Now consider this: Most Movies and their soundtracks use Midi a LOT.

So what I would do is get a track, ie Melody in one of the folders, and then listen to it with the midi. You can switch the actual notes to be patch 25 (Nylon Guitar) or drop down and find a cello. Or fiddle. Muck about. Mute everything else and listen to it. This will give you a good idea of where things are, and what might work.

Midi includes everything. Drums, Bass, etc. It gives you total control, unlike Realtracks which are made by the musican and Doc Gannon and his pals. So you can sort of get to the guts of things.

I don't know Amplitude from yer hole in yer wall. Yet midi has been around from the get go, and I have 3 midi modules, a Ketron I got from PG music was the last piece of hardware I got. I can take my cheesy Yamaha keyboard make years ago, and plug the cable from it to the Ketron and then to the mixer and get some great sounds. You too can do this, midi modules are all over.

Good luck.

I think you must have some simple folder of songs you got with Band in a Box. Look for them. Some are classical. At one time you got Scottish, English, Irish, and American Folk songs with the purchase.

Give it a whirl as they say.
The factor which determines the quality of the midi playback is the quality of the midi synthesizer. That is it in a nutshell - as others have pointed out.

The factor which determines the quality of the midi synthesizer is the quality of its samples and the size thereof. The cheapest and by association - cheapest sounding - have a very small and limited sample set. As Mac has said the Hollywood composers are using Mega Gigabyte sample libraries which with all the various articulations available will sound very realistic indeed. The Edirol SD range of modules falls in the middle ground with obvious smaller sample sets. Sometimes even a poor sample can sit just fine in the mix!!

BIAB's realtracks are the closest you'll get to real before you get a real band in and record them.

I sometimes wonder why the obsession with making it sound totally real from midi - the musicians of the 80's only had analogue synths and drum machines, but to me, some great pop songs came out of that period. Stevie Wonder and his early synclavier (limited memory and sample quality)were a great team and nobody despised the sound of his backings.


Kevin
Kevin, I agree. And the end result is in the eye of the beholder, or as we might say, in the ear of the B flat. Most, as in the average Joe, could not tell a 10 cent organ from a 400 dollar sample. In fact they might like the cheap one.

There used to be a woman who played locally and she had a terrible organ. It was beyond junk. Yet content rules in Canada say that a percentage of all air time has to be Canuck. OK. But my Mom and Dad loved her, and she played stuff they knew, like old Nat King Cole songs. Her drum machine was just the pits as we say. Awful. Yet Mom would say if only you could play like that. Geez.

I know for a fact that the guy sitting next to you can't tell the Strat (whatever that really is) from the front fender of your Chev. Great. So on we go. Guys mess with midi and this and that ad naseum.

In reality, get on with it. I just want to hear music. Layers of sound is ok I guess. But just a nice bass, a good comp, and me on top works fine. No need to get too fancy. When my wife plays the flute or a keyboard with me, I play the 3rd below or whatever is called for. Stay out of the way. If we get serious I arrange it a bit, with some notes on what to do, or NOT to do. And some simple stuff like an up arrow and 8va etc to ensure she does not get surprised by an upcoming Bflat on the flute where it won't go.

Alas. (poor Yorik)!!!

I'm holding the numb skull at this point, gazing into the eye sockets....

Where's Oh feel ya.??
ok. I appreciate the help but I'm really lost! I found a song file named -BigPink.MGU and loaded it and it appears to be pure MIDI except for drums. when I play this song it sounds exactly like the "music" I experienced on my computer long ago (very bad in other words!) so I must be using a really bad built-in synth.

I tried to change to Coyote Forte Dxi but couldn't really figure out how to do that. I just don't yet have enough knowledge of MIDI and BIAB to intuit anything!

For now I'll just stay focused on using RealTracks and if I need more then I'll learn more about MIDI w/BIAB to see if that is something for me. Thanks to everyone for helping.
The only chance is to create a chord progression that convinces the fiddle to play as close as possible to the intended melody line.

Also tedious work and no guarantee that it will play the same any time when it is regenerated.
John^3: You are now getting into the never never land of midi quality. There are tons of free soundfonts and soundfont players (replacement for things that ship with BIAB -- google SGM-V2.01 or Free Soundfonts). However, expect to spend a lot of time downloading stuff and testing it out. Buying stuff will "probably" get you better results, but I use only free stuff -- I don't do tons of midi. Here are two songs with some midi in them using only free soundfonts and a free soundfont player (sounds OK to me):

Made To Be Played: Midi: bass, piano, soprano sax

5/4 Swing Jam: Midi: piano and soprano sax (maybe bass -- but I lost this file in famous disk crash of 2009! -- Oh yea, buy a one TB external backup drive now!!!!!!!!!!!!) By the way, the 5/4 jam came straight from a BIAB demo song: Gimmie Five - 54_Even.sty demo (I think)

Soundclick is acting up for me, so you might need to download these to listen to them
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