One-time new product announcement.

Norton Music's Christmas Fake Disk has been updated to reflect the changes in Hal Leonard's Ultimate Christmas Fake Book - 6th Edition. Some new songs added, some old ones dropped. Details and song list here:
http://www.nortonmusic.com/fake15.html

Thanks, Bob. Just in time for Christmas.

Do you know how many songs changed from the previous edition? (I have the previous edition printed book).

Sorry, I don't. We were so intent on getting the new edition out that we didn't count. I would guess a dozen or two. It took more time than we intended because we went back to the same songs that were in the previous versions and changed many of the styles. New styles have become available in BiaB that simply fit the songs better, so why not update the whole disk? We started months ago, but it was worth it.

The song list is on the fake disk page, so you can browse it to see if there is anything new you need (there are some nice contemporary ones like "Mary Did You Know:). There are also a few free, complete, demo songs on the page.

Notes

Thanks, Bob. I will order it this weekend. I'll just have to decide whether it's worth it to get the newer edition, or if I already have those songs from other Christmas song books.

are these all set up as BIAB songs? and are they set up to use only MIDI or are they set up to use RealTracks?

I'm not Bob, but the (excellent) songs I have from him load into BIAB. They are MIDI, for reasons Bob has clearly expressed in other discussions. He probably has that lecture saved and ready to paste here.

Nothing prevents you from replacing one or more of his instruments with a RealTrack. Note that the songs contain chords but not melodies when that would be a violation of copyright.

The quality is top-notch, as is the service.

I'm trying to understand what you get with these. if there is no melody and the styles are based on the stock BIAB MIDI how are these different from me typing in the chord progressions and picking a style? not trying to disrespect the fake disk...just wanna know what I would get if I bought it!

J3, the difference is you get a set of BIAB SGU files which have all the songs chord progressions typed in already (so you don't have to do it) and matched to an appropriate style that works for that song (so you don't have to audition a bunch of styles to figure out what works). Of course, once you have the file, you can change it to your hearts content, but Bob Norton has done the bulk of the work for you. And you'll find every song in the printed fake book (which will give you the melody and lyrics) is matched to a corresponding SGU file. Think about how long it will take you to do that yourself.

But, yes, if you wish, you can do the work yourself, or you can save time and buy the fake disc (and corresponding printed fake book, if desired).

I have a bunch of Bob's Fake Discs (along with the corresponding printed fake books) and love playing along. For songs I want to go deeper with, I can then modify to taste.

Actually, I noticed that quite a few of the demo songs were using Realtracks now. I rather like that although I'm a big fan of midi too. Perhaps they use both? They're very impressive generally. Bob Notes has done a great job. Can you download the books with the songs or do you have to purchase them separately?

I don't believe Bob directly sells fake books but his site has links you can click on goes to where each book is for sale.

Thanks John! I wonder if the lyrics have been added since BIAB now accepts lyrics in the songs. That would be a great addition.

No, you would have to input them yourself. The issue is a matter of copyright. Sure, Bob could create files with melodies and lyrics, but he would then have to pay the licensing costs, and I suspect the fake disk would cost $3,000 instead of around $30. (I just made up that number, but you get the point). Since chord progressions are not copyrighted, and he is using a commercial program that creates arrangements, he can freely sell the fake discs based on the printed fake books. (And I understand he has vetted all this with his lawyer).

But he has done a lot of the work for you in finding appropriate styles (which may or may not be what you would have chosen) and all the chords are entered. Load the song, hit play, and sing along. Or dive into it and change it up as you see fit. For me, the cost is worth not having to enter all the data.

Obviously, if you only need a song or two, then it's probably not worth it. But for the whole book, it is definitely worth in (IMHO).

I concur with jford. I have purchased some of Bob's offerings and they have been excellent. A time saver and, for me, better than what I would have come up with myself.

Thanks John! I appreciate the detailed explanation!!

Ok, I'm Bob Norton again.

What I have done with my fake disks you can definitely do yourself. It takes many hundreds of hours to compile a fake disk, so all I'm offering is the time saver of me doing the work for you. That way instead of entering millions of chords, you can just start playing the music.

Here is how we do it.

1. Buy an off-the shelf fake book
2. Enter the chord changes exactly like they are in the book so you can follow along (the book is optional and I offer an Amazon link to purchase it if you want). My first disk was done without a book, and a couple of others have the books discontinued, but you may still be able to find used ones
3. Change any chords that don't seem to work with the way BiaB thinks - these are few and far between and it usually means simplifying the chord a bit, perhaps removing an extension
4. For chords which BiaB doesn't support, deciding which is the best way to go - for example: if it is a minor chord with a sus 4, deciding which is more important, the minor third or the fourth by playing the melody along with both choices
5. Double checking
6. Sending the song to sub-contractors to choose the most appropriate style for the song. I tell the subcontractors not to favor my style but to let the music decide - be true to the music (If I did this myself, I'd probably favor my own styles)
7. Get the files back from the subcontractors, listen to them all (we call it office Karaoke) triple-check to make sure everything is working right and in very rare cases, override a contractor choice
8. zip, upload, and offer for sale

The songs are in MIDI format, and depending on how your BiaB is set up, many will either suggest an appropriate Real Style, or automatically substitute one.

I suggest that you listen to both the Real and the MIDI because sometimes the MIDI style is perfect while the RT style is not so close. That of course depends on the availability of styles.

Also, you may want to change the style, and you are free to do so. Who says "The Christmas Song" can't be done as a Funk, Salsa, Reggae or whatever.

As noted, the melody and lyrics are not included in the Fake Disks. The copyright people wanted to charge me from $1 to $2.50 PER SONG to include that. Some of the disks have over 700 songs in them, so with melodies the wouldn't be affordable.

I asked Harry Fox agency (who represents many of the publishers) how come they want so much when I can get the melodies and lyrics in the books for a few cents per per song? They said that I should buy the book. So that's why I offer the books for that.

You can open the book, load the fake disk file, and play along. I try to do everything without repeats on the BiaB matrix, so if you want to repeat a section for soloing or whatever, it's easy to do in BiaB.

I hope my customers feel they are good value for the money, and I sincerely hope they give you years of enjoyment and add value to your Band-in-a-Box experience.

Insights and incites by Notes

I feel that they are a great value. As you said they save me hours of chord input. Sometimes I will change the style so I can challenge myself.

These are great for learning new genres, practicing improvisation, site reading and/or just having fun. I can not post those songs that I do using your fake discs because of copyright issues.

These are definitely a no-brainer IMHO.

This is certainly my experience. Many years ago, I started going through my music books to create my own "fake discs" (not to sell, but just for my own personal use), and then one day I saw one of Bob's postings on the forum advertising his fake discs.

I ordered a couple and was hooked. I have the printed fake books (although for a few, I'm a revision or two off), but using Bob's discs saved me a ton of time and I then had a lot of fun playing and singing along.

While none of the BIAB styles (whether from PGMusic or Bob Norton or anywhere else) exactly replicates the song (otherwise a general style would be too song specific), Bob and his team do a great job of finding styles that capture the essence of the original songs.

Over the years, I have purchased 14 Fake Discs (for each of which I have the corresponding printed book), 20 Norton style discs (I'm working to catch up with the rest of them), and 7 Hawkesford style discs.

Sure it's MIDI only, but as has been said, substitution is easy enough. I generally keep them as is, as I have found the I really like Bob's styles.

Thanks for the kind words Mario and John.

It's good to know our effort is being enjoyed.

Notes