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I have really enjoyed reading some of the posts, like in the demographic thread so I thought I would start this one. How do user's utilize BIAB and RB in a live setting? and also being a guitarist, I suffer from "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" so what is everyone using for live performance? Of course, live can mean just you and friends informally or in a gigging situation. For me, right now I am just playing RB on my laptop into a mixer so I can add a mic and then into my stereo. Along with that, I pull out an acoustic guitar or an amp and guitar while I attempt to sing or my wife, who has a great voice, sings along. Blues, rock, crossover country, jazz, pop. Fun stuff, nothing too aggressive. We both have played professionally (in much earlier years) so now it is just to relax and enjoy life. At some point, I will probably buy some powered PA speakers and a mixer with effects so we can do informal karaoke at parties with our friends. I am not sure a laptop will be reliable enough for that application but it would be nice to continue using RB in that setting too. I have a bunch of gear, drums, electronic drums, half a dozen amps, guitars but my main gear is a Carr Mercury amp (love), two custom electrics that I built myself, a bass that I built, and a Taylor acoustic. Would love to hear what others are doing!  Ric
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My setup starts with the computer mentioned in my signature. I also have a 6 channel mixer. I use Real Band. I have an Audidgy 2 ZS Notebook card with KX drivers.The KX drivers give me great flexibility and options. Output 0-1 from KX mixer are all real tracks except drums and go to my hardware mixer. Output 2-3 are the Real Drums & Kick drum and go to my hardware mixer. The effects send from my hardware mixer goes to the line in of KX mixer. I patch my dynamic effects and reverb into the output chain of outputs 4-5 of KX and the into the effects send of the hardware mixer.
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Quote:
How do user's utilize BIAB and RB in a live setting? and also being a guitarist, I suffer from "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" so what is everyone using for live performance? Of course, live can mean just you and friends informally or in a gigging situation.
Ric
Ideally to gig with any kind of backing tracks, you need enough inputs to capture...
- the source of the backing tracks (laptop, CD player, whatever)
- any playalong instruments
- mics for whoever will sing along
Most PA systems will have multiple inputs where you can accommodate the backing tracks, playalong instrument and a mic or two. In your case it might be less expensive to buy a mixer and then patch the mixer's output into one of your amps, especially if your amp has a line in input. But an amp won't service the same frequency range as the PA system, so the overall sound may not be as good.
Some people carry a laptop to gigs and use BIAB or a sequencer, and send the output directly to the PA or mixer. Other people record their backing tracks to a CD then play that through the PA or mixer. The advantage of taking a PC and using BIAB directly is that BIAB plays a slightly different version every time, much like real musicians, and you don't have to take time to make finished recordings of your songs. Also, you can pick your files in any order according to the mood of the event. Once you record your songs to a CD, you're pretty much locked into playing the songs in the order they play on the CD.
If you buy a mixer, be aware that not all mixers come with MAIN and AUX outputs. It is highly desirable to have the second set of outputs so you can also use it for recording. That way you can determine which channels go to the recorder and which are heard in the background so you can hear what you are playing as you record, even without ASIO drivers. The Behringer Xenyx series of mixers comes with audio interface capability, so it's like getting two devices for the price of one
Last edited by Pat Marr; 03/01/10 04:09 AM.
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Hi, My explanation is how I make the backing tracks AND how I use them on stage. I've been doing it since the mid 1980s. And I play music for a living. The question has been asked so many times, I wrote a web page about it. It gives you the benefit of all I've learned about it since then. http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.htmlFeel free to link to that page if you find it worthy. Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Thanks Notes, I've read that page before, but didn't catch that you work for hugs. Props to you.
If someone comes up and puts a hug sum of money on the keyboard and asks for a special request we know, I can slip that in as soon as it is appropriate to do so. And so on
Good Info...eh?
John Conley
Musica est vita
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I have played piano background music for a lot of years. I use band in a box to let me get creative, and have more minimalism in my playing. I listen to the recording sometimes and say, gee John, less chordal, go sparse. I practice the horn with band in a box, and it's way better than flipping pages with a music stand in front of me. And it lets me transpose up and up as an exercise. Or make a solo and try it myself.
80 percent of my paying gigs were me and a piano. Without band in a box as a learning tool and helping me practice I would never have been as good as I am now. So if there is a meeting of 300 people for a supper, I might be in the foyer, or at the front, and they might want the National Anthem...
20 percent of my paying gigs are Celtic music, either I play the piano that's there, or take a keyboard. Band in a Box can't do this due to the fact that I've not spent time and effort to get the 6/8 12/8 stuff sorted out any way I like. And really a lot of that music does not lend itself to a traditional drummer, although the Realtracks fiddle can add a lot.
I am changing styles and genres, and am about 1/3 of the way to having 2 light jazz band in a box sets, 2 country/folk sets, and 1 'other', sort of east coast Canadian music, still working around the limitations of the 12/8 and 6/8 thing, which of course migrated with the Irish and Scots.
My present setup is a Bose L1 Model 2, and keyboard for simple gigs.
Same now for the wife and I with flute and keys.
Projected use for the system is to put Band in a Box on the Acer, have a 2nd keyboard stand behind the 1st and put the Bose Tone box on there with the Ketron SD2, add the Voicelive box, the audix mic, and away we go. Pull out the accordion once in a while, and maybe 2 or 3 songs using the baritone horn.
I have 2 friends who want me to play in their bands, but I really want to go to bed at 10 p.m. and I do never intend to take down my gear at 2:30 a.m. like they do. Call me old.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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As a single or duo you don't need much... A small digital mixer - I've got a 8 channel Fostex VM-88 Small Amp - I use a Behringer 300W Keyboard Amp Digitec volcalist and a JamMan Guitar/keyboard IPAD loaded with RealBand/Tracks/PG Cool Cats! http://www.thegigbaby.com
Yamaha...Motif ES-8, Motif Rack, CS6X
Korg...Karma,Triton Classic, PA-80, M-1+
AkaiSampler-S5000, Roland.. X5080 Rack/G-1000 Arranger
Various Guitars/Basses Amps Pedals Rec.Equip.
Plus, BIAB 2015 and Sonar Platinum 2015 Upgrade from Cakewalk's Sonar X-3
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Man, you folks have given me some great ideas to work on. Sounds like I better start practicing more. :-) I have gotten away from music over the past 5 years or so (it's tough being an adult with adult responsibilities sometimes) but sharing info on this forum is getting the creative side ticking again and that is good! gdaddy - I have a jamman that I need to dust off and put to work. I had forgotten all about it and it would certainly add to live performance variety. john - I know what you mean. I played drums for many years and the thought of setting up and eventually breaking down drums at 2:30 makes my back ache thinking about it. One of my younger friends wants me to join him but his gigs will be the late night variety. Nothing gets started in this town until 10:00! I just picture myself falling asleep after the first set. LOL! Notes - thanks for the link. I am going to spend some time reading that one. I feel another bout of gear acquisition syndrome coming on. Let's see... how can I make up a new list of gear to buy and sell the idea to my wife.... 
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Quote:
Thanks Notes, I've read that page before, but didn't catch that you work for hugs. Props to you.<...>
Hey, we're musicians, we all work for applause :-D
I didn't know you already accessed it.
I hope you found some of it useful.
Bob
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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I'm not sure I can add anything that hasn't been said. However, I'm running BIAB from a Dell Studio XPS laptop (7500 drive speed) straight into a sound system, along with electric guitar and vocals. I like my Bose Model II, but it's not stereo (for the benefit of the tracks). Sometimes, I take along two Roland keyboard amps and use that instead. Sounds good, but the vocals and guitar sound better through the Bose. I just ordered today the new Roland BA-330 stereo amp. It's very portable and light-weight. I'm one of those who's always tinkering with the sound and looking for something different/better. By the way, for you singers, give the new Digitech Live 3 a demo. I've mentioned that before. Those vocal harmonies (tracked from the guitar chords) will really enliven your act.
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Any thoughts on powered speakers and mixer versus a regular PA set-up?
The powered speakers sound like a good idea but wouldn't you need two power cords, and A and an E perhaps :-0, and the speaker cables.
Whereas with the PA, you just run the speaker cables to the amp.
Is anyone using powered speakers for live? I know they are pretty common for studio setups.
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To play spontaneously with BIAB is on my personal wish list of things to learn next. For now, I will just lump myself with the crowd that uses this software as a composition tool. When performing live I simply back out the guitar track on the .WAV file to set up a guitar karaoke style. So BIAB becomes Band in an iPod.
Funny you should mention about your wife's voice, karaoke, and gigs. I have a very dear friend who sings while her husband does the showboating or crowd schmoozing that have been getting solid bookings more than any band or DJ out there. That is partly because she is an outstanding vocalist that can sing anything from Pat Benatar to Barbara Streisand to Brittany Spears if you can imagine. Part of their act is including karaoke as well. And they are getting booked anywhere from reunions both family and school, to weddings and anniversaries to nursing homes. The nice thing about nursing homes she says is that they are usually in the late morning/afternoon leaving the evening free for another booking. Makes me wish my wife could sing! I am already the crowd schmoozer.
As far as their setup goes, they are using the Bose PA system that is a tube with a subwoofer. Attach an iPod of their playlist and a couple of microphones and they are set. 5 minutes set up and 5 minutes break down. And that includes the walk back to the car!
I had a custom electric guitar built. It is the most versatile tool in the box. I wanted something that would blend my Strat and Les Paul together. And the luthier pulled it off. Nice large Les Paul tones coupled with the split coils to get the 2 & 4 on the Strat switch. And I use a POD xtLive for all my effects. I have gotten so lazy or like you adult responsible that I have not the time to tinker with stomp boxes or their settings. The POD has a USB connection to their web site where I get to down load tone setups created by the youngens' that got the time to play with it. Then, I just tweak them. My sound is routed into my PC via FocusRite Saffire interface. An excellent firewire interface if you require 1/4", XLR, & MIDI inputs. I have a Fatar MIDI 88 keyboard connected to it as well. Everything feeds into the PC where the BIAB resides that starts my composition process. It took a while and some bucks to burn through some inferior products out there especially when it comes to the interface. I decided to go with the Saffire because of the quantity of good reviews and it has thus far matched and even exceeded those reviews for me.
From one Ric to another,
Thanks,
RickeG
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
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This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
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Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
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Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
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Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 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.
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