Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Beginners Forum
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 2
D
dave_f Offline OP
Newbie
OP Offline
Newbie
D
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 2
Hello, first post here, totally new to BIAB, a little confused by it all so I need a little help with what version / packs etc I need to buy. Here's what I need to do:

I'm a jazz bassist, and I'd like realistic backing tracks for all the Real Book jazz standards for practice / studying. I currently either use iReal Pro (useful but gets very repetitive) or I program songs in Logic (I don't play keys so this can be very time consuming).

I'm looking for as close to a realistic sound as possible, and I only need drums, keys and guitar, but they need to sound good. The closer I can get to a real jazz sound the better - I don't need soloing or melodies etc, just convincing comping.

Thanks in advance.

Beginners Forum
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 18,257
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 18,257
Firstly, a big welcome to the forums.

Your question is excellent and is often asked.

My recommendation is to go for a pak with as many RealTracks as you can comfortably afford.
The entry level Pro Pak probably won't give you the results you are seeking.

The Mega-Pak should be your base choice, or the Ultra-Pak if the budget stretches that far. (The Ultra-Pak gives you more than 2,500 RealTrack combinations)

Hope this assists in your decision making in some way.

Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in)
2018-08-28_09-20-21.jpg (60.39 KB, 88 downloads)

BIAB & RB2024 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
Beginners Forum
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 25,800
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 25,800
Videotrack is giving good advice.

There have also been folks who bought the Pro (starter) package but called PG Music Sales soon after to upgrade.

The actual program is the same; the differences are in how many RealTracks and styles you get.


BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Beginners Forum
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
A big welcome to the friendliest site on the web. All questions are answered here and you will never get a read the freakin' manual response.

I would definitely use RealTracks for your songs. I would purchase the largest package that you can afford. This gives you the most band for the buck. Also note that the engine is the same for all versions of BiaB, the only difference is how many MIDI styles, RealTrack styles and Realtracks you receive.

{edit} I see I was typing the same time as Matt was!

Last edited by MarioD; 08/27/18 03:11 PM.

Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up.
Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Beginners Forum
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 2
D
dave_f Offline OP
Newbie
OP Offline
Newbie
D
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 2
Thanks very much for the advice, I think it's starting to make sense. Couple more questions:

- The jazz real track packs sound great, is there a way of buying BIAB with just these bundled, or specifying exactly what packs you'd like to include in a purchase? I have no real use for any other genres. Or would I just need to buy the most basic version and grab the Jazz packs seperately?

- Maybe an obvious question but can you mix tracks from different packs? For example, let's say I like the drums in resound.sty in Jazz 13, but I want to mix them with the keys snowdin.sty in Jazz 12 - is this doable?

thanks again.

Beginners Forum
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20,645
Yes you can buy piece meal but there is a cost is doing so.

A first time purchase for the basic program is $129 (all in USD)

14 jazz RealTrack paks at $79 each is $1106 and 7 jazz Realdrum paks at $29 each is $203. This comes to a grand total of $1309.

A first time buyer can get all of the above for $469 in the Ultra Pak.


Yes you can mix and match RealTracks and RealTracks to RealDrums.


Me, it's not about how many times you fail, it's about how many times you get back up.
Cop, that's not how field sobriety tests work.

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Beginners Forum
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 25,800
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 25,800
Yes, you can mix anything!

No, PG Music doesn’t to my knowledge offer all the jazz, and just jazz, in a package. You should call Sales and ask, but the last time I checked (several years ago) it would cost more to buy individual sets than to go for the Ultrapak.

I’m a jazz player too, but I’m surprised how often I load other genres, both with jazz tracks and for other people.


BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
Beginners Forum
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,687
Hi Dave and welcome to the forum! You're not in LA by any chance are you? I need an upright bassist for a gig in Santa Monica on November 24.

First, Book One is floating around the internet in Biab song format but I've not seen Book Two yet. Yes, since it contains the melodies, it's illegal. Shhhhh....

Second, by doing searches you can still find individual Biab jazz songs and could probably find all of them if you wanted to bad enough. BUT, you probably have those books already, no? Trust me it's faster to simply enter the chord chart yourself into Biab than spend hours trying to find it on the internet.

Listen to all the jazz demos on this website even though they use odd melodies you've never heard of, the chords will sound familiar. Why? Because they are actual Real Book songs but for copyright reasons PG has chosen to put a home made melody to Autumn Leaves for example. We actually had a little contest going here on the forum as to how many demo songs could we identify and I believe it wound up at 50 or so.

Now, I will diverge a bit here and say if all you want to do is practice the basic jazz pak may be enough. They all include some Real Drums swing and bossa's and a couple of piano and guitar tracks. That could be enough for you BUT the full boat gives you so much more to play around with you won't believe it so yeah, if you can afford it get the Ultra Pak. You won't believe how well some funk guitar can go with a classic swing tune for example then there's the much more modern smooth jazz stuff, it's really good. And the latin stuff, not just basic bossa's but serious latin including songo's, clave's, piano montuno's, etc.

And then, as a bassist wouldn't you like to see written out what some of the best players in the world did on a certain tune? A lot of the RT's have been transcribed into midi notation Real Charts including the bass parts. You could find those quite interesting. Matt btw did some of those transcriptions.

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.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To

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
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."

Happy Easter! Holiday Hours...

2024 is well underway - it's already Easter Weekend!

Our Customer Service hours this weekend are:

Friday, March 29: 8-4
Saturday, March 30: 8-4
Sunday, March 31: closed

Regular hours resume Monday, April 1st - no joke!

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

Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics81,399
Posts732,550
Members38,442
Most Online2,537
Jan 19th, 2020
Newest Members
danielsk, Mark Morgan, zagrajbarke, Ernest J, Izzy
38,442 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 199
Al-David 132
DC Ron 115
rsdean 85
dcuny 83
Today's Birthdays
(charlie), WobblyGstring
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5