Hello,

With Band-in-a-Box, it's possible to display the notes of a RealTrack in the notation window (for some RealTracks).

Is it possible with RealBand ? If yes, how ?

Thanks in advance.

Either right-click on the track and select the option, or select it from the Generate button drop-down before generating.

It will give you an additional set of tracks

Remember also, that these notes are (generally) created manually as a transcription of the real track and not necessarily the absolute exact notation of the played instrument.

Thanks a lot ! I tried for one song and it worked.

But strangely, RealCharts have been generated for only three of the four RealTracks with scores in Band-in-a-Box. I don't know why.

As mentioned; they are generally manually transcribed
Not all RealTracks have these charts available.
Someone had to actually replay it and write it out. I imagine there could be quite some time involved in that, unless it was recorded in MIDI also during the original takes.

Yes, I'm certainly not envious of the task to manually transcribe.

When you use this function, remember....with BB/RB, it is not a note for note transcription of the real track. In many cases, it's not even close.

As I understand the terms: Transcription is a note for note writing of the part exactly. What someone played, gets written down so that it's possible for another player to read the part and play it exactly. It should be complete, with all the notes and with the proper note values as well. This is what Steve Vai did with Frank Zappa's music.

What BB/RB gives you is a MIDI interpretation of that part. Big difference. It can be close or kinda close or sometimes not even close.

I remember the first time I tried that. The real track had an outstandingly played part but the sound quality was in the pits. I was hoping to get BB/RB to transcribe it to MIDI and then use my own piano sampler to play the part with superb fidelity. When I played the piano part with my midi sampler, what a disappointment. The part wasn't even close. Sure it was the same chords and the same changes.... but that's as close as it was.

The problem is that transcription only gives you the notes (and some additional information). But it won't tell you exactly how hard or soft a note was played (sure, it may have dynamic markings and such, but they are open to interpretation), or exactly how the note was bent, or if it was played a little sharp or flat, or a lot of other things.

It's like listening to a speech and writing down what was said - you won't get all the subtleties of the speech, such as which words were emphasized, exactly how quickly or slowly it was spoken. Sure, you know what was said, but you won't be able to reproduce it exactly by just reading the printed words.

Just like you won't reproduce the music exactly by playing the printed notes.

The whole point of a Real Track is it's a recording of a real person playing that part. It has nuances, little timing variations, touch differences. None of this shows up in written music. Of course a midi playback is not going to sound close to the original RT. Ever listened to a midi version of a classical piano piece? The exact notes have been known for centuries. It sounds nothing like it sounds with a virtuoso pianist doing it. That's the limitation of midi.

What might get there is to have another good musician read that chart and record that live. But, what have you done then? You've created another Real Track!

Bob