This was made totally automatic and took all of about 10 minutes, using the following steps: 1) I downloaded an MGU from the internet 2) I hit harmonize in BIAB and exported the midi. 3) I exploded the midi into five separate tracks, and assigned each to a different voice in Synthesizer V. 4) I copy and pasted the lyrics from the internet onto the file, so the melody automatically sang the words.
Imagine how creative this would be if we made a more interesting melody (not the "square" one in the generic MGU file) and added a few more passing chords. But for an instantaneous choir, this is pretty impressive.
The reason it sounds better than usual is that each separate harmony is sung by a different singer, with different sound and timbre, real women on the top and real men on the bottom. When you use audio-harmony it stretches the exact same singer, so the low notes sound weird and the high ones like a chipmunk on helium, and the accent is all the same. But with this method it is a different singer on each line, which makes all the difference.
Tom, you're right, this is impressive! The audio-harmony in BiaB was never very musical sounding, as you note.
When I need to create harmonies from a single lead line, I'll also introduce small random deviations in timing between the voices to give it a more natural feel. Sometimes you want that, sometimes you don't.
I'm still pondering the role of vocaloids, AI and the like in my music. It certainly opens up a lot of possibilities...
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One StudioCat DAW dual screen Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
the harmony module in the old 32 bit RB used to have an ability to set small delays and timings in the harmonies that aren't available in the new version.
the harmony module in the old 32 bit RB used to have an ability to set small delays and timings in the harmonies that aren't available in the new version.
Well, that seems like a step backwards, doesn't it?
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One StudioCat DAW dual screen Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
The AI voices used in this test were Solaria, Natalie, Sheena, Mai, Hayden, Kevin, Jun and Asterian. They are all in Dreamtonics Synthesizer V. I did nothing to tweak them, this is exactly how they sang the midi file from BIAB. Of course, you can modify any one of them, but I wanted to see how fast this could be done.
As far as loosening up the tightness, there are several ways to do that. You can either randomize the MIDI file before sending it to Synthesizer V, or (as I prefer) alter the WAV files Synthesizer V sends back to the DAW. This can be done in Melodyne, which has an audio timing randomizer, or put a small plus or minus delay on the tracks (or both.) I did neither of these in this example, but if I had it would have sounded a bit more realistic and human.
As I understand it.... You can have SV add a humanize function to the vox which varies the voices in subtle ways so it's not a midi perfect replication rendered by different voices.
I've not used it myself since I rarely do harmonies in the way you show in your example.
So far.... I tend to use 2 harmony parts rendered by BB harmonizer and have them nudged in my DAW, panned and placed low in the mix. It's cheap, quick, and works for my needs.
Your example is really nice BTW. Something I might have to play around with.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
This was made totally automatic and took all of about 10 minutes, using the following steps: 1) I downloaded an MGU from the internet 2) I hit harmonize in BIAB and exported the midi. 3) I exploded the midi into five separate tracks, and assigned each to a different voice in Synthesizer V. 4) I copy and pasted the lyrics from the internet onto the file, so the melody automatically sang the words.
Imagine how creative this would be if we made a more interesting melody (not the "square" one in the generic MGU file) and added a few more passing chords. But for an instantaneous choir, this is pretty impressive.
The reason it sounds better than usual is that each separate harmony is sung by a different singer, with different sound and timbre, real women on the top and real men on the bottom. When you use audio-harmony it stretches the exact same singer, so the low notes sound weird and the high ones like a chipmunk on helium, and the accent is all the same. But with this method it is a different singer on each line, which makes all the difference.
I've been looking at Synth V for awhile now. Your post was the inspiration I needed to open my wallet. I had to open it WIDE. I bought the bundle (studio pro + 1 voice database), plus 3 other voice databases. That cost almost 500 € with the 20% VAT for France. I bought the Asterian, Hayden, Natalie and Solaria voices. Time to play!
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2025 Ultra Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
Yes, The Maartian, it is not cheap, but if you want vocals that sound realistic, it costs a lot less then hiring singers. I have eight English voices, so I guess I spent even more, but I am happy. If you want to make vocal harmonies, either for back-vocals in a pop song, or for choirs, Synthesizer V is the best. Here are a few examples I have made over the past year, all 100% Synthesizer V:
All of the above were made with the old version of Synthesizer V, but there is a new update with lots of new features, and it is much more capable and faster, so the future examples will sound even better.
By the way, I should mention that another user advised that if you want to quickly use Synthesizer V to realize BIAB automatic harmonies, it is faster if you make the harmonies in RealBand instead of BIAB, because that can print and export the harmonies (either Audio or MIDI) with each harmony line on a separate track, which is the way Synthesizer V needs it. If you are used to BIAB, you can make the song and melody first, and then open it up in RealBand just to get the separated harmonies.
Yes, The Maartian, it is not cheap, but if you want vocals that sound realistic, it costs a lot less then hiring singers. I have eight English voices, so I guess I spent even more, but I am happy. If you want to make vocal harmonies, either for back-vocals in a pop song, or for choirs, Synthesizer V is the best. Here are a few examples I have made over the past year, all 100% Synthesizer V:
All of the above were made with the old version of Synthesizer V, but there is a new update with lots of new features, and it is much more capable and faster, so the future examples will sound even better.
By the way, I should mention that another user advised that if you want to quickly use Synthesizer V to realize BIAB automatic harmonies, it is faster if you make the harmonies in RealBand instead of BIAB, because that can print and export the harmonies (either Audio or MIDI) with each harmony line on a separate track, which is the way Synthesizer V needs it. If you are used to BIAB, you can make the song and melody first, and then open it up in RealBand just to get the separated harmonies.
Beautiful harmonies!
I don't even install RB. I'll have check the BiaB VST in Studio One to see if I can bounce the harmony lines individually. Thanks for the tip.
I hope that you don't mind that I downloaded all of your harmonies.
I'll see how I get on with the 4 voices I bought before buying anymore.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 12/20/2308:52 AM.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2025 Ultra Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
Yeah, I didn't install RB either, but found the download in my account purchase of BIAB and just tried it, and it is a fast way of getting BIAB harmonies on separate tracks. Perhaps separate tracks can be done in BIAB too, if someone here can explain how. I don't know if Studio One can "explode" a single track into separate harmony tracks, but I can do it automatically in Sibelius. Still RB is fast and easy for this function.
The four voices you bought are great, and perfect for a small choir, because Asterian can sing bass, Hayden tenor, and Natalie & Solaria both soprano and alto. You should also download Mai, which is free, so you have one more female. Good idea to get used to these before getting more, but in the future I recommend Kevin, Saros, Jun and Sheena
Yeah, I didn't install RB either, but found the download in my account purchase of BIAB and just tried it, and it is a fast way of getting BIAB harmonies on separate tracks. Perhaps separate tracks can be done in BIAB too, if someone here can explain how. I don't know if Studio One can "explode" a single track into separate harmony tracks, but I can do it automatically in Sibelius. Still RB is fast and easy for this function.
The four voices you bought are great, and perfect for a small choir, because Asterian can sing bass, Hayden tenor, and Natalie & Solaria both soprano and alto. You should also download Mai, which is free, so you have one more female. Good idea to get used to these before getting more, but in the future I recommend Kevin, Saros, Jun and Sheena
Thanks for the additional heads-up. Mai downloaded and installed. It makes sense that the offer one free to use with the free version of Synth V.
Not Studio One, but the BiaB VST. I will have to check if it can export multiple individual harmonies into separate audio/MIDI tracks. If that works, then you could use any DAW that supports the BiaB VST. I also have Reaper. If it works in SO, it'll work in Reaper.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 12/20/2309:19 AM.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2025 Ultra Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
I grabbed the free version of SV first with the limited voice. It was sufficient to convince me to dive in.
As far as harmonies in BB. Load the vocal into the audio track. Select harmony from the top drop down menu and let it roll. It will create two harmony tracks as it's default which is plenty for me. It puts the new tracks in the utility tracks from where you can export them to the DAW.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
If you want to use BIAB harmonies with Synthesizer V you need all parts on separate tracks (one note per track) because Synthesizer V can only work with monophonic files. I can easily get separated harmony tracks in RealBand, but not sure how to do it in BIAB?
Impressive harmonies in those samples. I would love to also hear some of these vocal arrangements with an instrumental backing. That could be quite remarkable.
BIAB & RB2025 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
In the original songs thread I posted another example of BIAB automatic harmonies sung by Synthesizer V, and included the instrument of the RealTracks playing along with the vocal harmonies.
Excellent example of the use of Synth V in BiaB. But...it's guys like you, using E flat, D and D flat keys that force us bass players to use Drop-D tuning or go to a five string with a low B.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2025 Ultra Bitwig Studio 5; Studio One Pro 7; Melodyne Studio 5; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
Ha! The only reason I went from C to E-flat and D-flat was to test out the harmony function in transposition, to see if it got the right scales and passing tones. It did remarkably well. I wasn't really thinking of you bass players, but then who ever does? (The only time I can have a decent conversation at a club is when the bass takes a solo!)
More information.... Best Way to Use Band-in-a-Box to Generate Vocal Harmonies for Synthesizer V
1) After you have your chords, play the melody on one track of BIAB, or if you have a MIDI file of the melody you made in your DAW, import that to the melody track of BIAB. 2) Hit F10 (or Top-Menu>Harmony>Melody Harmony) and choose whatever harmony style you want. There are 227 different types of harmony, or you can create your own custom ones too. 3) Now your melody track should play the harmony, so you can hear it to see if you like it, or undo and try another. 4) To get it into Synthesizer V: -Mute every track except the melody track (this is important) -Hit File>Save Special>MIDI>Type 1 -Import the MIDI file into Synth V, either the VST plugin or the Standalone. -Enter the lyrics and you’re ready to go.
TIP: To save time, you might want to edit your melody track to not have gaps between notes in a phrase, because this will then have to be corrected by Synthesizer V later. One option is to run your melody first through a DAW that has the function of “legato quantize” or “length quantize” or similar, so that all notes within a phrase are connected. You can do this first to your melody before harmonizing, or you can do it later to each harmony line, but it is slower to do it once it is inside Synthesizer V.
We’ve expanded the Band-in-a-Box® RealTracks library with 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 449-467) across Jazz, Blues, Funk, World, Pop, Rock, Country, Americana, and Praise & Worship—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Blues & World (Sets 449–455):
These RealTracks includes “Soul Jazz” with Neil Swainson (bass), Mike Clark (drums), Charles Treadway (organ), Miles Black (piano), and Brent Mason (guitar). Enjoy “Requested ’60s” jazz, classic acoustic blues with Colin Linden, and more of our popular 2-handed piano soloing. Plus, a RealTracks first—Tango with bandoneon, recorded in Argentina!
Rock & Pop (Sets 456–461):
This collection includes Disco, slap bass ‘70s/‘80s pop, modern and ‘80s metal with Andy Wood, and a unique “Songwriter Potpourri” featuring Chinese folk instruments, piano, banjo, and more. You’ll also find a muted electric guitar style (a RealTracks first!) and “Producer Layered Guitar” styles for slick "produced" sound.
Country, Americana & Praise (Sets 462–467):
We’ve added new RealTracks across bro country, Americana, praise & worship, vintage country, and songwriter piano. Highlights include Brent Mason (electric guitar), Eddie Bayers (drums), Doug Jernigan (pedal steel), John Jarvis (piano), Glen Duncan (banjo, mandolin & fiddle), Mike Harrison (electric bass) and more—offering everything from modern sounds to heartfelt Americana styles
And, if you are looking for more, the 2025 49-PAK (for $49) includes an additional 20 RealTracks with exciting new sounds and genre-spanning styles. Enjoy RealTracks firsts like Chinese instruments (guzheng & dizi), the bandoneon in an authentic Argentine tango trio, and the classic “tic-tac” baritone guitar for vintage country.
You’ll also get slick ’80s metal guitar from Andy Wood, modern metal with guitarist Nico Santora, bass player Nick Schendzielos, and drummer Aaron Stechauner, more praise & worship, indie-folk, modern/bro country with Brent Mason, and “Songwriter Americana” with Johnny Hiland.
Plus, enjoy user-requested styles like Soul Jazz RealDrums, fast Celtic Strathspey guitar, and Chill Hop piano & drums!
With your version 2025 for Mac Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Or upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
The 2025 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 33 new RealTracks and 65+ new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 29 new RealTracks and 45+ new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 20 new RealStyles.
Look Ma! More MIDI 13: Country & Americana
Instrumental Studies Set 22: 2-Hand Piano Soloing - Rhythm Changes
MIDI SuperTracks Set 44: Jazz Piano
Artist Performance Set 17: Songs with Vocals 7
Playable RealTracks Set 4
RealDrums Stems Set 7: Jazz with Mike Clark
SynthMaster Sounds and Styles (with audio demos)
128 GM MIDI Patch Audio Demos.
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyles,
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
Look Ma! More MIDI 14: SynthMaster,
Instrumental Studies Set 23: More '80s Hard Rock Soloing,
MIDI SuperTracks Set 45: More SynthMaster
Artist Performance Set 18: Songs with Vocals 8
RealDrums Stems Set 8: Pop, Funk & More with Jerry Roe
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Mac!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Mac!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
New! Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher for Windows!
Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest and greatest in the all new Xtra Styles PAK 20 for Band-in-a-Box! This fresh installment is packed with 200 all-new styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres you've come to expect, as well as the exciting inclusion of electronic styles!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Minimalist Modern Funk, New Wave Synth Pop, Hard Bop Latin Groove, Gospel Country Shuffle, Cinematic Synthwave, '60s Motown, Funky Lo-Fi Bossa, Heavy 1980s Metal, Soft Muted 12-8 Folk, J-Pop Jazz Fusion, and many more!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 20 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 209 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 20 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
New! XPro Styles PAK 9 for Band-in-a-Box 2025 and higher for Windows!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 9 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 29 RealTracks/RealDrums!
We've been hard at it to bring you the latest and greatest in this 9th installment of our popular XPro Styles PAK series! Included are 75 styles spanning the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres (25 styles each) that fans have come to expect, as well as 25 styles in this volume's wildcard genre: funk & R&B!
If you're itching to get a sneak peek at what's included in XPro Styles PAK 9, here is a small helping of what you can look forward to: Funky R&B Horns, Upbeat Celtic Rock, Jazz Fusion Salsa, Gentle Indie Folk, Cool '60s Soul, Funky '70s R&B, Smooth Jazz Hip Hop, Acoustic Rockabilly Swing, Funky Reggae Dub, Dreamy Retro Latin Jazz, Retro Soul-Rock Fusion, and much more!
Special Pricing! Until July 31, 2024, all the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 9 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean