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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
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OP
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Hi all,
A couple of years ago I tried a BIAB demo and it wasn't quite what I was looking for at the time. But BIAB has changed a bit since then, and so have my needs. But there's no downloadable demo now (plus it's too big for me to get now anyway). Your suggestions and experiences would be most welcome.
Back then, I recall entering the chords from "Stand By Me" and then trying to tweak it until it sounded vaguely like SBM, rather than a completely new arrangement or else one of the great many other songs that use the same progression. I was unable to get remotely close, but that could have been very largely due to my not spending long enough learning all the options?
However, I'm now wondering whether it would be useful as a song-writing tool. I'm pretty OK with lyrics but mediocre on my main instrument and positively lousy on the others. Currently I usually get lyrics fairly well advanced and then fail to get a decent music track together. I'm thinking that I might be better off getting as close as I can with something like BIAB and then finally shaping the lyrics to suit, rather than getting polished lyrics that are let down by crummy self played music.
But the big question is "How close is close?" Can you get pretty nearly what was in your head? And if so does it require a Master Degree in Advanced Geek-Speak and months of study, or can you get something reasonably individual and non-generic after, say, a few hours or days of study?
Thanks for reading.
Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,864
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Hey Chris, I write songs and I find BIAB absolutely brilliant. I use the PC version. Not having to worry about playing an accompaniment frees me up incredibly. If you're curious to hear some of what BIAB can do, go to ... http://www.americansongspace.com/Noel96/... and have a listen. Every song at that site is one of my original songs and the backing is entirely BIAB. The only "live" musician is me singing (except in "Who Knows Where We're Going" and "Everything Under The Sun" where my co-writer plays guitar bridges and fill-ins). Everything else is PG Music. All the best, Noel
Last edited by Noel96; 05/16/11 12:12 AM.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Hi Noel, Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I enjoyed listening to your songs, but couldn't help thinking that a couple of them sounded pretty familiar. Quite easy to sing along to in fact... I wasn't sure why - until I noticed that you had another link in your sig here as well. So I clicked on that and... waddya you know.... I had actually stumbled on that site yesterday and listened to a couple of your songs there. No wonder they sounded familiar! Quite a coincidence. What are the chances of that, I wonder?  I noticed yesterday that you're in Bundoora but for some reason thought that was in Queensland, so the Melbourne tag threw me. In the early 70s I used to live in inner Melbourne (Windsor) and was a partner in a design business that did publicity photos and album covers for Mushroom records. Gee, that's a million years ago now... albums were big vinyl things then! I'm just outside Perth now. Anyway, thanks very much for the chance to hear it in action. Does it give you much freedom to 'compose' in detail, or is it mostly 'in the style of' sort of feel? I guess either would do but I'd like to be able to get pretty specific if I can. Although I do have some DAWs that can tinker with things a lot too. I can feel a long bout of manual studying coming on..... Cheers, Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,864
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,864 |
Hi Chris, I've never thought about it before but I guess my compositions tend to be "in the style of", at least in their early stages. I load a BIAB style, and begin composing. Often I will load a demo song for a particular style and use the chord progression for that demo as a starting point for developing my own progression. Once my song is essentially composed, I hunt through the Realtracks to see if there might be one that sounds better than what I already have. Then I usually play around with adding shots, pushes and holds to customize my arrangements. Using these features would move me out of the "in the style of" mode and into the "tailor the arrangement" mode. When I have the song sounding like I want it, I load the BIAB file into Realband and use additional Realtracks to create fills and solos. I cut and paste a great deal to get the solos and fills exactly as I want them. Once I have all this in place, I save the Realband tracks as individual wav files and load them into Reaper for mixing and mastering. (An important thing to appreciate about Realtracks is that they are musical phrases and thus it is not possible to create individual note sequences and have the RTs play these notes. This is possible with MIDI. That being said, however, it is possible to cut and paste and create RT phrases and even individual notes if you are patient enough.) Hope this gives you some ideas! I couldn't be without BIAB. I often find the most productive way to compose a song is to type in a chord progression (or load one from a demo, as mentioned above), start the backing playing, and simply sit at the computer saying phrases that pop into my head and that fit with the backing. When I stumble on something I like, that becomes the starting point of my song. Keep in mind that PG Music offer a money-back guarantee if you do not like the product. They stand by this. It might be worth contacting them and asking about it. It's always good to meet a fellow Aussie! There are a few of us in these forums  All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 31 |
Thanks for that extra information Noel. It all sounds good.
I've also now had time to watch some of the demo videos, including one which showed how you can drop the results into GarageBand, ProTools or Logic (all of which I have) so that's handy. Apparently you can also split the BiaB arrangement into the individual instrument tracks and drop those into the DAW, which is ideal. One way or another I should have ample opportunity to tweak things around.
It should also be handy for making backing tracks for general practice. I can try and copy the BiaB arrangements with my own instruments and then make my own alterations when successful. Must be worth having! So I've taken the plunge, and it's downloading as I type this. The boxed copy will probably show up in a week or two I expect, but I might keep slowly downloading some of the files in the meantime.
Thanks again for your help,
Cheers,
Chris
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,864
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,864 |
Welcome to the club, Chris. You won't regret it Happy songwriting, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Update Your PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 Today!
The Newest RealBand 2024 Update is Here!
The newest RealBand 2024 Build 5 update is now available!
Download and install this to your RealBand 2024 for updated print options, streamlined loading and saving of .SGU & MGU (BB) files, and to add a number of program adjustments that address user-reported bugs and concerns.
This free update is available to all RealBand 2024 users. To learn more about this update and download it, head to www.pgmusic.com/support.realband.htm#20245
The Band-in-a-Box® Flash Drive Backup Option
Today (April 5) is National Flash Drive Day!
Did you know... not only can you download your Band-in-a-Box® Pro, MegaPAK, or PlusPAK purchase - you can also choose to add a flash drive backup copy with the installation files for only $15? It even comes with a Band-in-a-Box® keychain!
For the larger Band-in-a-Box® packages (UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition), the hard drive backup copy is available for only $25. This will include a preinstalled and ready to use program, along with your installation files.
Backup copies are offered during the checkout process on our website.
Already purchased your e-delivery version, and now you wish you had a backup copy? It's not too late! If your purchase was for the current version of Band-in-a-Box®, you can still reach out to our team directly to place your backup copy order!
Note: the Band-in-a-Box® keychain is only included with flash drive backup copies, and cannot be purchased separately.
Handy flash drive tip: Always try plugging in a USB device the wrong way first? If your flash drive (or other USB plug) doesn't have a symbol to indicate which way is up, look for the side with a seam on the metal connector (it only has a line across one side) - that's the side that either faces down or to the left, depending on your port placement.
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows® Today!
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
Learn more about this free update for Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#1111
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Review: 4.75 out of 5 Stars!
If you're looking for a in-depth review of the newest Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows version, you'll definitely find it with Sound-Guy's latest review, Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows Review: Incredible new capabilities to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs.
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!
The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!
There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.
If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.
We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!
Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!
We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!
There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.
Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed!
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