If yours ain't broke, don't fix it. Those I can remember are:

- BSTSW drums don't generate properly. Measures are silent when changing from A/B part markers
- Some diminished chords with a pedal bass don't generate properly in the RealBass
- RealDrums and RealTracks often generate past ending.

...and a few more I can't remember right now

I'm sure some of these will be addressed in next update

R

Thanks all! I guess BIAB with Real Band is what I'll get seeing is it's only $30. Can't wait to get started!

To me Rachael, all those things are little nothings but that's just me. They are valid points. I've been a pro musician for 40 years and I look at these programs to give me some good raw material to work with not to complete the tune for me. Key phrase is raw material. RB is a midi/audio recording program with a ton of really neat features that you use to record and/or create with.
I take tracks from many different sources, prerecorded midi files, Biab generated tracks, my own playing and put them all together with lots of editing, cutting, pasting etc. And lots of experimenting. Having a Real Track generate a bar past the end of the tune is nothing to me, I can cut that out, do a quick fade where I chopped it faster than I can type this post. For me this kind of thing is standard procedure and I find it a lot of fun. It sounds like you're not using the program much because of these glitches. Work with it, it will do a lot for you. These things are certainly worth mentioning to the developers but I wouldn't let them stop me from using the program, they're easily worked around and there's nothing else that does what it does.

Bob

Get both and play around with them and you'll soon find the strengths / weaknesses of each. They give me the best results when I use them both. I can't imagine doing what I do with only one of them.
Good luck.

Hi All,

I'm new here, I bought BIAB & RB but has been only using RB to put up my new song with the style and the instruments available with it. So far, still trying out how to use the features to enhance the song.

After reading some of the posting in the forum, if i understand correctly, many of you using BIAB then import into RB. Is it true?

How does help to enhance the song arrangement or other aspect?

Need some advice as I am new to the such software, and has little knowledge about music, this is only my first piece of work.

I think a lot of people import BIAB songs is because they were BIABers before RealBand came out. I have several hundred arrangements done in BIAB and if I need more control over them, they can easily be imported into RealBand.

BIAB will allow you to try a bunch of different things without too much effort. You can change styles, drums, etc and hear the result by just hitting play. For live performances, BIAB offers plenty of features such as the conductor that allow you to change things on the fly. RealBand is not for that. It takes your arrangement and 'sets it in stone'.

RealBand gives you much more control over how your arrangement sounds but involves more 'hands-on' from you. BIAB does most of that for you.

Hope this helps,

Rachael

Hi Rachael,

thanks! it sure help, guess Maybe I'll restart and tried using BIAB with the song instead(Should I?), as I was having difficulty using RB ( I am unsure how to do it) with a few things.

1. Changing style for certain instrument, tried many times in RB but maybe I miss out a few steps.
2. Everytime if I add in addition chords to the song by hitting the "Generate" or "+" it generates the song and change the instruments as well..

If you are new to both programs, Biab is probably easier to use than Real Band. A Biab style controls what instruments are used so if you change styles and regenerate, you could hear all new instruments or maybe one or two depending on the style. In RB if you are using the first 8 tracks as Biab tracks, then it works the same way when you hit the generate button. BUT and this is where RB is so good, you can highlight a track outside of the first 8 like track 11 or 32 or whatever and select a style, then right click anywhere in the track and select either midi or a Real Track and then it will generate that one track only. The reason I like Real Band so much is I can either import a Biab song or create one from scratch using RB's chord grid (the same as Biab) and generate the song. That gives me a starting point. Then I start highlighting other tracks starting with 9 and generating new tracks using all different styles, some midi and some Real Tracks or drums. You have 40 additional tracks to play with. Just remember that by highlighting one track and using the right mouse click to select the instrument will generate that track only and leave the rest alone. Now you can have several different styles in the same song using both midi and RT's. That can be very cool.
Biab is easier to use because you put in the chords, select the style and that's it, done but with a lot fewer choices than Real Band.

Bob

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the tips! I'll try that, use track 9 onwards! I hope it will solve my problem.

Another thanks for the tip here, Bob. THANKS!!

Thanks for asking this, I am also new to BIAB and RB and from a newbie perspective is it VERY confusing, there seems to be a lot of overlap between the 2 products and the line is blurred where one product ends and the next begins, the recommended strategies for getting them to work together, which is better to use based on what you are trying to accomplish, etc. This topic alone that addresses the difference between the 2 products could be its own white paper which I wish PG would publish.

Realistically, I think we are all still working out our separate workflows, habits, discoveries etc. with them.

--Mac

bking,

I used to assemble my arrangements in BIAB and then mix the final product in RB. I no longer do that. These days, I use BIAB to settle on the best style for a song because it's quick and easier to change styles and demo them (as some others above also do). I don't worry about trying to develop an arrangement in BIAB - I just go for the "overall". When I've settled on a style, I then load the BIAB file in RB and use the BIAB file as the foundation for an arrangement I develop in RB. RB is much more powerful in that it gives me greater control over tracks and sections of tracks.

As Mac has said, though, much of it has to do with what you get used to.

Regards,
Noel

I use the software for hours every day, since my retirement. It's first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing at night. Perhaps I'm obsessed. I did just manage to clean the kitchen, run the dishwasher, and make the coffee, start the supper meat defrosting, and listen to the news though!

I suggest any new user go a 'hunting'. Find Band In a Box files using google.

I've gotten thousands of jazz classics, and use them all the time.

Another good source of starting material is to acquire a fake book and backing tracks from Notes Norton. I got the 60's Rock and Roll fakebook and have had lots of good times with that. He has the Mantooth series of jazz books, and those are a great start for someone wanting to do jazz.

I'll admit that I don't seem to need Realband for my purposes. My workflow is Band in a Box to Audacity. Audacity is free, and I'm used to it. I can sing my song, record the Band in a Box output and vocal into Audacity and trim the front and back, shine it up a bit, and save it as an mp3. That's it.....

Lots of people where will help you. New users should post their setup, ie computer, operating system, sound devices, and type of music, with an example song they want to work on and ask for some help. We all go our own way, but you'll get lots of 'advice' on how the song evolves. Do all the regular things, determine the number of repeats you want, add a solo, put in lyrics so you get the hang of that, and explore plug ins..(unless you have a 64 bit operating system and you might have to wait.).

I am new to Band in a Box and RealBand. Here is what I have found.

Regenerating Tracks - Band in a Box
Can freeze or lock an entire track so it won't regenerate (eg. lock a solo or bass part).
Cannot select part of a track to regenerate - it's all or nothing.

Regenerating Sections of Tracks - RealBand
Can regenerate any section of a track (eg. from half a beat to any number of bars/measures).
Can also cut and paste any section of a part.
There is a handy "Snap to beat" button which makes selection easy.
I have used the above to build a double bass intro from a RealTrack.

Volume Control
Band in a Box has some easy to use Master volume sliders to get your track to the right volume (eg. match CDs in your music library). There is a peak limiter on the master output so the audio will never clip. RealBand is quite different and I haven't got that sorted yet.

Interface Differences (Traps)
In Band in a Box you can enter chords using 1, 4, 5 or I, IV, IV but not so in RealBand.
In Band in a Box hitting "Escape" will stop playback, but again this does nothing in RealBand.

Like others I have found BiaB easier and quicker to use but need the features in RealBand to finish my songs.

Hi Joseph,

Welcome to the forums

That's a good summary you've put together.

All the best,
Noel

This for me is exactly the way to go but thats just me other users might go another way.

I am new to BIAB and RB ... I just want to thank you for your kind way of sharing to help others on the site ... I look forward to reading more of your posts ... thank you again ...

Donnie ...

Wow that post was resurrected from 2010, and even had a Mac post. A lot of good info in it. Kinda cool to see the love RB was given back then. I think it is still a valuable tool, and should be given some more love.

Notice: this is not an invitation to pounce on me or RB in an attempt to squash any further development of RB in favor of those who think it should go away.

Your opinions are valid for you there are others who feel different and there views are valid as well.

are your karaoke tracks midi or audio? if you have existing backing tracks and don't want to generate new ones RealBand is great. If they are midi, just open them in RB and chose the key you want to transpose to.

If they are audio you'll need to pitch shift them by semitones but that's easy too.

If you do want to generate new tracks use BIAB, and getting the hang of it is quite easy. If you have sheet music for jazz standards then it might have the chords already for entry - i had several cole porter songs like that.

one problem i find with BIAB - but you may not - is that as a folk/country/pop guitarist i'm used to major, minor and seventh chords but jazz standards often use more complicated chords and to get the right backing by ear wihtout the music is not as easy as say a track for creedence clearwater revival(John Fogarty responded to criticism that they were three chord band by saying they would be two chord band if they could get away with it!)