Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 42
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 42
I use a package called OnSong with my iPad2 which can also put out lyrics to the screen if you want; shows the chords and lyrics of course, and allows you to create "sets". You can also auto-pull back chords and lyrics from the web if you need a particular song. iTunes is useless.

This package was created mainly for people playing in churches I think, and so created specifically for playing your backing tracks.

It also always cues at 0 and and you have the option to stop and when it starts it starts automatically from 0 which is good.

Loads of other stuff.

The only thing I wish it included was EQ for individual songs, which would really polish it off, I've written to them about that.

Here is a link http://www.onsongapp.com/perform/

It also can be used with a foot pedal for starting and stopping songs which seems cool.

Cheers
Greg

Last edited by greg64; 04/15/13 08:16 AM.
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2
D
Newbie
Offline
Newbie
D
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2
I've been using an iPad with the ForScore app for a couple of years now.
ForScore can display a fake book page with the audio file already attached. Two birds, one stone.

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
iPads are very cool and all that but Pooh is talking about cheapest. $500-600 is not cheap. I keep looking at them, lots of friends have them and I think they are cool and pretty useful but every time I think about it I find something else more useful to me for that kind of money. $200 or so I would probably get one but not six.

Bob


Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Just to give some perspective I'll describe my system that is on the other end of extreme.For me I not only want to sound like a band I want to feel like a band.
I use a laptop with RB. My tracks are then setup to go to an ESI Gigaport HD+ that is a USB 8 channel Playback interface. These 8 channels then go into a 16 channel Hardware mixer. I use a TC Helicon Harmony GXT for vocals into 2 more channels and finally play bass through a Tech 21 VT Bass pre into another channel.The output of the mixer then goes to a 31 band mono EQ. The output of the EQ to a BBE Sonic Maximiser.Then to an active xover. The Freq. above 100 Hz goes to a 1000 Watt Crown and out to a pair of 15"& horn tops. The freq below 100Hz goes to a 1500 watt Crown and out to a pair of 15" subs.
I have pre built everything so that setup is about 20 minutes.
I also have a pair of 10" subs and 10" + horn tops that I can use instead of the big speakers for smaller gigs. All else stays the same.


John
ESI Gigaport HD+
Lenovo Turion II /4 Gig Ram/ Win7x64 be
15.6" Monitor
"The only Band is a Real Band"
www.wintertexaninfo.com/BANDS/JohnnyD.php
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
John,

I believe that the TC Helicon Harmony GXT is designed to work from a guitar input. Does it work well with your bass signal for harmonies, or do you set the key manually?


Regards,


Bob

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Quote:

John,

I believe that the TC Helicon Harmony GXT is designed to work from a guitar input. Does it work well with your bass signal for harmonies, or do you set the key manually?


Regards,


Bob



I have built a style that is just piano playing chords in root position.I then convert this midi part into audio. This track is not routed through the ESI card but to the internal card in the lappy. The head phone out is fed to the GXT guitar in. Works real well.You never hear this part as I don't feed the guitar output of the GXT to anything.


John
ESI Gigaport HD+
Lenovo Turion II /4 Gig Ram/ Win7x64 be
15.6" Monitor
"The only Band is a Real Band"
www.wintertexaninfo.com/BANDS/JohnnyD.php
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Interesting. Thanks.

I'm toying with the idea of using a GXT for my wife's harmony vocals, but she plays bass. Might work better for us to take my guitar output to feed the GXT.

And here I thought I had all the gear I would ever need!


Regards,


Bob

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,074
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,074
In my opinion, using a laptop opens more possibilities than other systems that do nothing but play a track.

The Laptop lets you play from a sequencing program. Sequencing programs (Like Power Tracks, Real Band, Sonar etc) usually have the ability to work with both audio and midi, and also offer more routing possibilities. Routing options can let you do things like send the bass track to a bass amp, guitar track to a guitar amp etc


The MIDI can be used to control devices such as lights, volume, effects, patch changes etc all without having to stomp on pedals or distract you in any way.

Midi driven devices also include vocal processors, which can let one performer sound like many by providing harmonies in real-time.

A sequencer also lets you keep your songs divided into separate tracks... so if a friend wants to sit in for a few songs or the whole gig, you can must the instrument he plays. Or, if you use the tracks to flesh out the sound of a whole band, and the keyboard guy gets sick or quits before a gig, you can turn that track back on and never miss a beat.

And as Notes Norton said, it gives you enhanced ability to change songs on the fly

With a laptop You can play from chord charts and keep the lyrics on screen

and many sequencers include a "juke box" feature that lets you set up play lists, and then it plays the songs in order. There are also USB foot pedals available for not much money that let you control the flow of the songs hands-free

And these days laptops are often less expensive than "pads&pods"... its a case of supply and demand. Now is a very good time to buy a laptop... you can get a lot of functionality for not much money

Anyway, these are the reasons why I opt to use a laptop.

But, as stated earlier.. if I only wanted to play a backing track, I'd definitely use an MP3 player of some kind.

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 881
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 881
Quote:
I am looking for the simplest, least expensive product to play back MP3s - with a decent sized screen that I can actually read/scroll the song titles and obviously with decent quality... I am NOT interested in a phone... thanks.


Have Fun!


i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259
Pat, Notes and others make some excellent points for using a laptop. In fact in an earlier post,. I also extolled the laptop/netbook virtues. However, recently I've had problems with it. Initially, I thought it was the mp3 software player that I was using so I switched to Windows media player. It does the same thing with wmp also--sort of like some buffering process like when you send something to the printer.

The problem is this.....When I push play for the 1st song, it doesn't play and the little circle just keeps spinning. This only happens with the first song. I use playlists for the types of gigs we do. So far, the only way I've found to combat this is to get everything setup and then put the netbook to sleep. I wake it up when we get to the gig. I've had this happen twice and the last time was with an audience of a couple hundred people. Well, that's pretty embarrassing. I'm going to check and see if the same thing happens if I don't load up a player pgm and just double click on a tune in a folder instead. In the mean time, I've ordered a little Phillips mp3 player to use as a backup. There's really no time to futz with this kind of stuff in the middle of a church service. The sound quality is fine. I only use single play. My ears are wide open to suggestions. Oh yeah, I also have a Nexus 10 that I haven't tried for gigs since I'm not certain of it's reliability.

Stan


Cornet Curmudgeon
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,259
I tried to find a standalone mp3 player that would do single play, but after hours of searching, they no longer seem to be produced.

Bob (Notes) way is the best and most practical for the types of gigs we do. We don't have any gigs where we play more than 18- 20 songs so we just have those songs in a folder in the order that we want to play them. To do this, we number the songs ( 01, 02, etc..). We use Win Media Player. With the folder open we just double click on a song. I use the mouse pad to go to the next song. We talk to the audience in between songs except at church.

I took most of the programs off of our ASUS Eee netbook. The wifi is set for manual connect only. I upgraded to a usb external sound card -- Creative Soundblaster THX which comes with a volume control and remote. The sound now is pretty good compared to no sound card which is terrible. Lots of good reviews on the THX which was only $56 on Amazon.


Cornet Curmudgeon
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
"...but I am looking for the simplest, least expensive product to play back MP3s - with a decent sized screen that I can actually read/scroll the song titles and obviously with decent quality... I am NOT interested in a phone... thanks."







Laptop/Windows Media Player/MiniLyrics. Works great.

Here's the link for MiniLyrics:

http://www.crintsoft.com/


Free. Can't get much cheaper than that.


Regards,


Bob

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 722
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 722
I'm wood shedding now getting rid of the rust. I should be ready in a month or two for some guitar trio gigs with biab holding down the bass & drums & yours truly on the guitar.

I'm thinking of a lappie with biab & usb output. I think I'll run my guitar into a pod. I kind of like the thing.

For a portable PA rig I'm thinking of something like the Fender Passport 500 Portable PA.

Comments.


biab2023(Mac)
Logic Pro X
Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 5,139
The Fender Passport is a toy. Better a small mixer and a pair of powered speakers on sticks.

Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,705
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,705
Originally Posted By: 90 dB
The Fender Passport is a toy. Better a small mixer and a pair of powered speakers on sticks.


90 DB is right on track with his advice.

I LOVE my 15" Mackie Thumps fed via laptop headphone/RCA jacks through a small mixer.

Break A Leg!

Later,

Last edited by Danny C.; 06/12/13 12:32 PM. Reason: added info
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To
Page 2 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

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.

PG Music News
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!

Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Volume Automation

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#volume-automation

Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created this short video to explain Audio Input Monitoring within Band-in-a-Box® 2024, and included some tips & troubleshooting details too!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Audio Input Monitoring

3:17: Tips
5:10: Troubleshooting

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#audio-input-monitoring

Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

New with the DAW Plugin Version 6.0, released with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows: the Reaper® Panel!

This new panel offers built-in specific support for the Reaper® DAW API allowing direct transfer of Band-in-a-Box® files to/from Reaper® tracks!

When you run the Plugin from Reaper®, there is a panel to set the following options:
-BB Track(s) to send: This allows you to select the Plugin tracks that will be sent Reaper.
-Destination Reaper Track: This lets you select the destination Reaper track to receive media content from the Plugin.
-At Bar: You can select a bar in Reaper where the Plugin tracks should be placed.
-Start Below Selected Track: This allows you to place the Plugin tracks below the destination Reaper track.
-Overwrite Reaper Track: You can overwrite previous content on the destination Reaper track.
-Move to Project Folder: With this option, you can move the Plugin tracks to the Reaper project folder.
-Send Reaper Instructions Enable this option to send the Reaper Instructions instead of rendering audio tracks, which is faster.
-Render Audio & Instructions: Enable this option to generate audio files and the Reaper instructions.
-Send Tracks After Generating: This allows the Plugin to automatically send tracks to Reaper after generating.
-Send Audio for MIDI Track: Enable this option to send rendered audio for MIDI tracks.
-Send RealCharts with Audio: If this option is enabled, Enable this option to send RealCharts with audio.

Check out this video highlighting the new Reaper®-specific features: Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Video

The new Band-in-a-Box VST DAW Plugin Verion 6 adds over 20 new features!

Watch the new features video to learn more: Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2024 - DAW Plugin Version 6 New Features

We also list these new features at www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.plugin.htm.

Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics81,392
Posts732,471
Members38,440
Most Online2,537
Jan 19th, 2020
Newest Members
zagrajbarke, Ernest J, Izzy, BenChaz, Csofi
38,440 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 195
Al-David 124
DC Ron 113
dcuny 87
rsdean 83
Today's Birthdays
CeeDee, SethMould
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5