Have you used the new Intelligent Style Suggestion feature in Band-in-a-Box 2016 yet? It's AMAZING! All you have to do is type in the name of a song you like, and Band-in-a-Box will tell you the styles that have a matching genre, feel, and tempo to that song!

We show off this feature in our 2016 New Features video - jump to it here: www.pgmusic.com/?vid=iKUE4vSfISc?t=836

All of the new features in Band-in-a-Box 2016 list here.

Great feature, I love it, only thing is it could do with the extended list of songs as quite a few are not included in the 7000 song list.

Still a great feature makes things a lot easier.

Thank you

Musiclover

I’m currently doing a cover of Mission Impossible (MI) theme using my Sound Library. Just for fun I tried out the ‘Intelligent Style search’ feature and yes it came up with ‘Mission 1’ an essentially midi style but its not useful. MI is in 5/4 time but BIAB can only put in four chords in a bar but MI contains in addition to one on the first beat, two chords on the fourth and fifth beat.

In any case the BIAB Mission 1 style IS ‘impossible’ as far as dynamics are concerned. But I do admit this theme is unusual and essentially a ‘one off’

But granted the ‘intelligent search’ feature would be useful for many songs but of course it is limited because of the vast number of song titles and styles out there.

Back to my sound library and yes things are staring to sound with the dynamics and orchestra of the more recent movies MI theme.

I do not completely understand how this feature works. I expected it to return 2 or 3 styles that would work for the song I entered but instead it seems to return a ton, most of which do not appear to me to be even remotely similar to what I typed in! Maybe I am doing it wrong?

- I click Style button and then clear my previous criteria and I see 4,754 styles in my list
- I type Tequila Sunrise in the familiar song box and it suggests Tequila Sunrise
- I double-click the suggested Tequila Sunrise and now the list is only 308 styles
- but in that list is reggae, dance pop, funk pop, folk with accordion and on and on!

The list of styles more closely resembles a list of the wide variety of BIAB styles available rather than being representative of Tequila Sunrise!

If someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I'd love the figure it out and use this feature.

JohnJJ,
When I enter 'Tequila Sunrise' I get a response 'Tequila Sunrise [Eagles] [Lite Pop ev16 110]' and
a list 15 Lite Pop entries all of which are Midi Styles as well as a few others that are not relevant unless presumably I decide to change feel of the tune. Oddly I also get Mission 1 listed ?

Re F

The list you get is the styles that will woke, sorted from best to worst match. So the fact that it shows a lot of styles is good, because you can then refine it, by typing in a search word like ukulele and it would then only show styles with ukulele, still sorted in the best to worst for that song.

But if you prefer a smaller kits, deselect the "include similar" checkbox.

You can also have it show only real styles, or put the MIDI ones at the bottom of the list, using the type menu on the stylepicker.

I find that sometimes the New Style Picker works great and sometimes not so great.

Try this:

From a "blank" Stylepicker window, type Wildwood Flower into the "familiar song title" box.

Out of the 4648 styles in my original list, it returns 3788. Now if they're indeed sorted from best to worst by match, why doesn't the WILDWOOD.sty show up somewhere near the top?

In fact, when I sort this filtered list by Name, the WILDWOOD style doesn't show up at all.

All this of course, is assuming that the WILDWOOD style was created in the first place to be used with Wildwood Flower.

Strange!
LLOYD S

I agree, the "Intelligent Style Suggestion" needs work.

Try inputting "Piano Man" and you are told it should be in 4/4 time whereas Piano Man is a waltz!

Tony

Peter, thanks for your reply. Can you define "will work"? I have clicked the "include similar" checkbox and BIAB still returns lots of styles that seem to be completely unrelated to the song I searched on. Maybe if BIAB highlighted the ones it feels are best or maybe rank them somehow. Currently it feels like maybe the first one or two are applicable and the rest are just a random list. Honestly it does not seem "Intelligent".

I agree with John.
Here's another example.
I decided to look for a style to use for "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (the Izzy K. version). I type that (without quotes) into the "familiar song title" box, no other filters except "Include Similar" and click the Enter button onscreen. I get 3 returns:

- Somewhere Over The Rainbow [Judy Garland] [Lite Pop] [Orchestral][4/4 sw8 90]

- Somewhere Over The Rainbow [Tommy Emmanuel] [Ballad] [Acoustic Guitar Ballad][4/4 ev16 85]

- Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World [Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole] [Lite Pop] [Tropical][4/4 ev16 85]

So far, so good. The third one is the one I'm after.
Now what do I do? The style list returned 3460 styles (out of my 4648 list), with the first on the list being _SPTRIO1 which has a time signature of 12/8, plus sw8 and 85 and the Genre is Soul.

That doesn't match ANY of the returns I got.
It DID set the Filters to be Lite Pop, 4/4, Sw8 and 90 which are the settings for the first return in my list.

How do I get it to set the filters for the THIRD choice in my list?
I decide to try clicking on it. Nothing happens.
I try double clicking on it.
The filter buttons change to Ev16, but the style list is now at 3477.
The top one on the list is _BUBLPOP, 4/4 Ev16 90, Genre Modern Pop.
Not what I'm after.

The first mention of a Lite Pop style in the list is the 3rd one _DRVBRIT Driving BritRock Guitars. Not what I'm after.

I don't know what else to try so I give up on the "Intelligent Style Suggestion" and revert to manual. Since I know that Izzy used a ukulele, I nuke the song title from the box and hit the Clear button and the Refresh button.

Now I go to the Filter String box and type in "uke" with no quotes. I get a list of 20 styles, including several with UKE in the name. I find that _UKES140 is very close to Izzy's style so I select that.

Someone please let me know if my "process" is faulty. I'll be happy to try something else more "intelligent" <grin>.

LLOYD S

>> Someone please let me know if my "process" is faulty. I'll be happy to try something else more "intelligent" <grin>.

It sounds like you might be focusing on the wrong things.

For example:
1. you're concerned that there are 3,460 styles listed from best to worst. As mentioned above, if you want to list less, de-select "Include Similar" and you'll see 340 styles.
But moreover, why do you care how many styles are listed, if they are listed best to worst? Because if you only want to see ten, then just look at the top 10.

2. You didn't select the song that you wanted correctly. You should highlight it (the Even 16ths one), and then either double click or press the ENTER button. Then you'll see the filters set to Even 16, and you'll be in business.

2. You are concerned that _SPTRIO1 is listed. That's because that was your current style, and BB doesn't want you to lose your current style regardless of what new setttings you apply. You can turn that feature off (press the Options button to set that), or just press Refresh when you aren't highliting that style.

But the main reason I think you're process may be faulted is nowhere do you say "and I tried out the first style, and here's how it matched what I was looking for...:

I tried out your song, " Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World [Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole] [Lite Pop] [Tropical][4/4 ev16 85]" and every one of the top 10 styles listed sounded great to me over that song. So I would like you to try the same thing

(note that we're expecting styles to match an Even 16ths feel, the modern "Iz" version of this song, not the older one from Wizard of Oz)

You should be seeing this list:

_BUBLPOP 21st Century Radio http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_BUBLPOP.wma
_ELFLUTE ElectroFlute Pop Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_ELFLUTE.wma
_DRVBRIT Driving BritRock Guitars http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_DRVBRIT.wma
_STRFOLK Viola & Violin Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_STRFOLK.wma
_HVYDANC Modern Pop Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_HVYDANC.wma
_PBALLAD Pop Ballad w Symphony http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_PBALLAD.wma

_HSTRBAL String Quartet Pop Hall Country http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_HSTRBAL.wma

_NWORMRG New Orleans MardiGras 16ths http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_NWORMRG.wma
_80SBRPB BreezyPop w/ BellPadSynth http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_80SBRPB.wma
_AcFidGs Slow Country/Folk w/ Fiddle http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_AcFidGs.wma
_ACHARGS Slow Country/Folk w/ Harmonica http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_ACHARGS.wma
_FPBNTBA Pop Ballad w/ 2 Fingericked Guitars http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_FPBNTBA.wma
_PBALCEL Pop Ballad w/ Cello & Guitars http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_PBALCEL.wma
_ACCFOLK Folk-Pop, Accordion.,Mandolin http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_ACCFOLK.wma
_PNO16BR Folk Rock w/ Piano http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_PNO16BR.wma
_BALLP16 16ths Pop-Rock Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_BALLP16.wma
_ACPOP16 16ths Accordion Folk-Pop http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_ACPOP16.wma
_POPBAL Dreamy Guitar Pop Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_POPBAL.wma
_MDBAAMP Amplitube El. Guitar Pop Ballad http://demos.pgmusic.com/audio/allstyledemos2/_MDBAAMP.wma

Double click on each one, and see how good it would be for your song. Note that these are pre-made demos, with different chords, so they aren't playing your song. But if you want them to play your song, type in the chords to the song on the chordsheet, and then use the PLAY button on the stylepicker, and you'll hear them demo over your song.

So how do those styles sound to you? Would they work over a slow, Even 16ths, reggae type feel of Somewhere Over the Rainbow? If so, the feature should be useful to you. For example, _ACPOP16 demo sounded good to me, since it has acoustic instruments like mandolin, accordian, and high-string guitar, so I typed in some chords similar to your song, and it sounds like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lb0fsuk9ju20zkm/Untitled%20Song_Render_DragDrop_0.m4a?dl=1


The important thing here is that the process of finding these styles to match your song is fun and effortless:
1. Type the name of your song, press ENTER when you find it
2. Then see the styles sorted best to worst. Double click on each one for a quick audio demo. Audition 20 styles in about 3 minutes, and find the best one.
3. Press the PLay button to hear it over the chords that you have typed in your song to hear how it sounds.

If you have a way of finding styles that's easier and more fun than that, please let me know.

>> I find that sometimes the New Style Picker works great and sometimes not so great.
From a "blank" Stylepicker window, type Wildwood Flower into the "familiar song title" box.

Those are not the results I get. I type in Wildwood and Wildwood Flower shows up. I then see list of styles sorted best to worst. I try the first style in the list, and it's a winner!

Style is _BCJG110.STY (BmChkJoe 110 Gtrs Solo)

RealTracks in style: 2518:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking BoomChickJoe Ev16 110 (Simple)
RealTracks in style: 2517:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking BoomChickHighJoe Ev16 110 (Simple)
RealDrums in style: CountryTrain: a: Brushes Soft b: Brushes Hard

Here is it how it sounds over the first 8 bars. Remember, Wildwood Flower is a 'boom chic' type of old country song, and this is just the BiaB style based on the chords I typed in. You add the melody etc.

This style has 2 boom chic (Chet Atkins style) guitars, played as a RealTracks by Joe Robinson (Australia's Got Talent winner 2008) who ia a world expert on these styles.

And all we did to finf this style is type in "Wildwood"
And here's how it sounds....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6wg9unststshaqk/Untitled%20Song_Render_DragDrop_1.m4a?dl=0

Moreover, all the styles in the top 20 or so would work great for Wildwood Flower, varying in instrumentation and genre slightly (within the Country realm). For example, some are Rockabilly, others have Celtic feel etc.

How would you rate this style as a good one to use for Wildwood Flower?

OK, thanks Peter.
Let me take another stab at it, first thing in the morning.
I'll report back.

LLOYD S

In reply to Peter's responses:

He said: "1. you're concerned that there are 3,460 styles listed from best to worst. As mentioned above, if you want to list less, de-select "Include Similar" and you'll see 340 styles.
But moreover, why do you care how many styles are listed, if they are listed best to worst? Because if you only want to see ten, then just look at the top 10."

Here was my thinking regarding the "Include Similar". I wanted the style picker to show me the best (i.e. the closest match to all attributes shown for my choice, #3, in the Familiar Song box), PLUS all the styles that were similar.

There are 5 "attributes" listed for each song returned in the FS box. I would assume that the "best", which would be listed first, would include ALL of the attributes. Where then, does the Include Similar kick in? Does it include say, 3 attributes?, 4?, any one attribute?

Now that I know what that button does, I'll know better how to use it.

I really DON'T care how many styles the Style Picker lists. It just seemed unlikely that, that many styles would contain ALL 5 attributes listed in the Fam Sng Title box.

(continued)

In reply to Peter's responses:

He said: "2. You didn't select the song that you wanted correctly. You should highlight it (the Even 16ths one), and then either double click or press the ENTER button. Then you'll see the filters set to Even 16, and you'll be in business."

I think I did. I stated that "I tried double clicking on it" and yes, the filter DID change to Ev16.

He said: "2. You are concerned that _SPTRIO1 is listed. That's because that was your current style, and BB doesn't want you to lose your current style regardless of what new setttings you apply. You can turn that feature off (press the Options button to set that), or just press Refresh when you aren't highliting that style."

OK, fair enough. I would have thought that "feature" would be off by default but I can certainly set it.

(continued)

In reply to Peter's responses:

He said:

>>"But the main reason I think you're process may be faulted is nowhere do you say "and I tried out the first style, and here's how it matched what I was looking for...:

I tried out your song, " Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World [Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole] [Lite Pop] [Tropical][4/4 ev16 85]" and every one of the top 10 styles listed sounded great to me over that song. So I would like you to try the same thing

(note that we're expecting styles to match an Even 16ths feel, the modern "Iz" version of this song, not the older one from Wizard of Oz)"<<

Perhaps all of the first few styles would have been acceptable if I had just wanted that 2-song medley in any style that was "similar" to Izzy's. However, since I knew what his sounded like, none of the first few (I tried 5 or 6) showed any promise for what I needed.

(continued)

Peter:

Thanks for taking the time to address this. I can see that this feature is near and dear to your heart <grin>. I think we're just looking at it from opposite sides of the fence, so to speak.

I certainly don't profess to be a programmer, although I dabbled in it enough to know how complex it can be. If we start at the beginning of the "Intelligent Style" feature, I assume that someone, likely a lot of people, would have to go through each song in that Fam Sng list (musiclover says 7000), and assign the 5 attributes that get returned in that box.

My thinking would be that the IStyle feature would first list the styles that met ALL 5 criteria, although I'm not sure what order it would pick to set the "priority" for listing.

For example, in the Somewhere... example, I assume the style would HAVE to be 4/4, Ev16 and <> 85 for tempo. So far, so good. Next I expected it to look for the mentioned Lite Pop genre, and list those first, preferably starting with ones that had "Tropical" shown in the "Other Genres" column, since those were the other 2 criteria shown.

Doing all of that is what I would agree is "intelligent" style picking, although I would say more like "artificical intelligence" and here's why:

The person who assigned those attributes, I assume, would have had to listen to Izzy perform the song, since his version is the one specifically mentioned in the FSTitle window. When this person listened to the song, they would have recognized that (in all the youtube versions I've come across), the "style" consisted of a solo uke accompaniment.

And here it is (and I should just add it to the Wish List). Why not add this to the Izzy entry in the FST window: (Try _UKES140.sty)?

Yes it would take a little longer, and yes it wouldn't work for every song, and yes somebody would have to go back through the list, but my feeling is that it would add another layer of "intelligence" to the IStyle picker.

Some songs in the list likely already have a style that was made with that song in mind, plus a RT "replacement"style. Those could be added to the FST window.

All in all, I'm deeply impressed by what that window can do. I just think that with a bit of tweaking it could be substantially enhanced.

Thanks again Peter!
LLOYD S