I put in the chords. I put in the melody. I had BIAB create a harmony part and I can hear it but I want to print it so I can give it to the guy who's supposed to play it. I can't seem to find this technique.

Hi Fiddler,

Melody menu - Convert Harmony to Melody Track will do the trick. Might want to save before doing this, in case you don't want the harmony notes written to the track permanently.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

I would think many people would want BIAB to create a harmony from a given melody and then print out just the harmony part on a separate page to give to that player.

Now, if I convert harmony to Soloist track, that should do what I want but it doesn't.

The "Convert harmony to Soloist track" command does work, but it's for Soloist harmonies, not Melody harmonies.

If you'd like to print the harmony separately, you can open the song in RealBand, select the Melody track, click on the Generate menu, and select Generate MIDI Harmony. There'll be an option for generating the harmony on a new track.

Thanks
Kent
PG Music

Thanks, Kent. I'll try that. I never have figured out what to do with Real Band.

Rick

Okay. I opened the song in RealBand. Most of the tracks are MIDI and therefore silent because I haven't selected a MIDI driver. They tell me to go to "Options/MIDI Drivers" but there is no "MIDI Drivers under the Option Menu. Later....I did get this to work.

Also, I did generate a harmony track of the melody and selected "Put it on a separate track" but the track has both the melody and the harmony parts. What did I do wrong?

Okay, I clicked around and got the MIDI output driver somehow, Now, the question is how to get just the harmony on the harmony track.

I guess it can't be done. Too bad. That would be a popular feature, I am sure. Input a melody, choose a harmony, (2, 3, or 4 parts) and then print out each part to give to that musician to learn. Surely, someone has done this?

Fiddler,

It can be done.

Have a read through the below post that I've written especially to answer your question. It's in the 'Tips and Tricks' forum.

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=442045#Post442045

Please keep in mind that this is an advanced topic in BIAB. That being said, it's not all that hard to do. There are a number of settings that need checking, though, because if something is not set correctly, the process is disrupted.

Because of this need to check settings, the process seems much more involved than it really is.

Regards
Noel

• one of my songs: This Road

Thanks, Noel,

Geez, though, that's really complicated. I don't think I'll even try it. PG Music should make this a simple process. Like, "Write Harmony on new track?". OK, done.

Considering the alternative... doing this all manually, it is not THAT hard. If you spend 10 minutes learning how to do it, you'll know how for the rest of your life. I use this all the time, and once it is second nature, it's a breeze. Some things in life require a modicum of effort.

If you decide to give it a try, I think you'll find that by the end of journey, it's not as bad as it looks.

As I've already said, many of the instructions are about checking things and once these are checked, there's no need to worry about them again. Because this is the first time, though, it pays to be thorough.

As PhillyJazz indicates, if you want to write quick and easy harmony parts, it's definitely 10 minutes well spent.

Regards,
Noel

Here is a basic tutorial.

1. Pick a tune.
2. Click on Harmony (Main Menu)
3. Click on Melody Harmony (Select)
4. Choose a Harmony
5. Press the "Write Harmony to Melody Track" button.
6. Click "OK" twice.
7. Click the "Lead Sheet" button.
8. Click the "Options" button
9. Where it says "Show Harmony Voice" Select the first voice.
10. Click "Notation Options" - Make sure the sheet it transposed for the proper instrument (ie. "alto Sax+9)
11. Print the part.
12. Go back to step #9, select the next voice, and loop to 11 until all parts have been printed.
13. Drink Irish whiskey and relax.


You're welcome.

PhillyJazz,

Thanks for posting this. This is my lesson for today. I wasn't aware of how this was done.

It's MUCH easier than my first-principles approach.

I'll post your tutorial over in the 'Tips and Tricks' thread so that users are aware of this alternative.

Regards,
Noel

• one of my songs: That's What I Believe

Great Idea.
Thanks to both of you for the concise tutorial, and also for putting it in Tips and Tricks.