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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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berntd Offline OP
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Hello,

I need a new 2 bar count in in the middle of this song. (Mingulay Boat Song)
It changes from 9/8 tempo 100 to 4/4 tempo 96 for the second part.

The first part stops on the last bar with a shot. Then I need a 2 bar count in to start the new par tin 4/4 with a different style.

Can this be done and how?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Best regards
Bernt

Last edited by berntd; 05/30/25 10:02 PM.

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I don't believe there's any way to make BiaB do count-ins anywhere but at the start.

You can set up a dedicated track for count-ins and create your own. For consistency of sound, turn off the built-in count at the start and add your own there too.

Edit: Set a MIDI track, write in the 'notes' for rimshots or claves or whatever, then freeze the track so BiaB doesn't try to rewrite it. You can, of course, use the same kit as the drums tracks, so the drummer does the count-in. You could also incorporate a fill.

Last edited by Gordon Scott; 05/31/25 03:07 AM.

Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
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berntd Offline OP
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It has been a nightmare with this.

I tried loading a drums realtrack to the melody track and add notation for drum ticks manually. Well, It cannot load a real or even any MIDI drum anything to the melody or soloist tracks. Or at least, I cannot get it to do this.

Then I tried using shots with all intruments except drums muted.
But, the drums just mute along with the rest. I cannot get aven a songle intrument to mute without the drums and others also muting during 4 shots. Disaster.

I also disvovered that the 9/8 style only counts is 7/8 which confuses the start of the song and somehow it is not playing 9/8 either.

Until new revellations come along, I have stopped working on this.

Best regards
Bernt

Last edited by berntd; 05/31/25 05:14 PM.

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not that i ever use them but apparently RB handles 'odd' time signatures better than BIAB - I'm sure some RB experts can come along and help out.

if you move your project to RB it would be quite simple to create a bar of silence across the whole project and then add a count in on a new midi track using midi drums

maybe someone more expert in RB can help the OP out?

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berntd Offline OP
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Hi Bob, I have so far never played with Realband. I have never understood simply what it was for :-(
At the times I looked at it in the past, it seemed just a simplified duplication of BIAB ? Dunno.


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berntd.

to explain all the many deep features of rb would take pages of typing.
so best bet is to read the rb manual and look at the pg rb vids and faq's etc.
many of the features in rb are unique as Bob alluded to....which i havent seen elsewhere.

one advantage of rb among many is the deep audio/midi editing and various tricks....BUT as rb is soooo deep with zillions of features ...its for the user who doesnt mind spending time with it....

i dont know exactly what your trying to do...but i would spend some time with rb....and see if its for you.
unfortunately some folks want what i might term 'gimme now' solutions.
in contrast rb i would term a 'spend some time with me and i'll reward you' type of music app. just like dating someone...some people want a commitment....this is rb...gotta make a commitment.
its not for 'quickies'...lol.
one thing i like about it is the 256 tracks so i have lots of flexibility doing things in it.

as i said just read the manuals/faq's and watch the vids and spend some time with it. ive shown it to big studios who knew nothing about it and the response often was 'wow we werent aware'....

happiness

om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 06/01/25 04:37 AM.

my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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berntd Offline OP
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Well, all I (we 2 of us) ever do it enter songs from the Fake books or from our band scores into BIAB and then I practice with BIAB. Very much just like iRealPro. It bought BIAB for a practice tool where I can repat/loop passages, change the tempo and the key on the fly.

That's it.
Can I spend n+1 hours learning Realband? Maybe but will it help me with the stuff I do as above? Dunno.
I am a musician and this is a practice tool for me.


Best regards
Bernt

Last edited by berntd; 06/01/25 04:48 AM.

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Berntd.

my reply....

(ps...love aussieland...this pomme always wanted to live there.)

i get what your saying...i'm a musician too.
(done over 100 songs and more with pg products....some are in my sig.)
but sometimes one needs to use a combination of tools to achieve what one wants done.

for example i use bb for certain things, rb for certain things and reaper for certain things.
and sometimes i go (eg when i started useing rb)....
'wait a minute i can do xyz'....'wow'.

one issue for many musicians is the use of technology in doing their music.
many have said to me...
'i'm a muso and dont want to futz around with computers and windows or macs/mac os whatever to do what i want'.
i get it..i know it can be frustrating at times...yes...even for us techs.
so my reply is the same...viz..
'the more one can understand the technology, the more one will get out of it'. its just the way things are.
in summary doing songs and useing technology can be both exacting
and exciting.

thus one never knows what one can get out of a music application or technology untill one tries it.
when i first tried Realband years back, initially i found it a slog.
but...once i persevered with rb i started to go...
'wow i can do xyz...are you kidding me !!'
and got excited the more i explored it.
same when i started useing reaper and biab yonks ago.

RB user Rob Helms made a excellent point on these forums, he used the word 'familiarity' re rb for example.
sooo....one never knows...you might find exciting uses for rb as you get familiar with it. frankly i wish i could use rb on the new mac mini m4 platform.
it might push me over to the dark side...lol.

wishing you the best...and best to aussie too.

happiness.

om

Last edited by justanoldmuso; 06/01/25 07:32 AM.

my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..)
https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs
(90 songs created useing bb/rb)
(lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
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If you want to do what you described in the original post it would be worthwhile investing a little time in RB. If you open your song with RB you'll immediately see that with RB you can see all the tracks together and 'all tracks really are equal'. But if you are happy with BIAB and just this one instance is a problem you can do without, stick to BIAB. But I promiose getting to know RB pays dividends.

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Originally Posted by berntd
Well, all I (we 2 of us) ever do it enter songs from the Fake books or from our band scores into BIAB and then I practice with BIAB. Very much just like iRealPro. It bought BIAB for a practice tool where I can repat/loop passages, change the tempo and the key on the fly.

That's it.
Can I spend n+1 hours learning Realband? Maybe but will it help me with the stuff I do as above? Dunno.
I am a musician and this is a practice tool for me.


Best regards
Bernt

For your particular task, I believe it can be done in BIAB.

I've attached a screenshot of a website for the song so you can check to see if it's the correct song. If it is, download the midi file and open/import it into BIAB. The midi file notes should play and sound correct Then you simply select instruments to make it sound good for your practice.

Another method is to save each section of the song into individual songs and use the Song Medley Maker to create a single song from each saved section and Medley Maker creates a new Chord Sheet merged from the individual songs. Song Medley Maker treats between the songs as transitions (0-16 bars in length) and creates appropriate chords of 1-16 bars.
Caveats are the first 'song' must be 4/4 which could be silence so there's a short pause before the song begins in a transitioned 9/8
Second caveat is song length is limited by 255 bars. With repeats this can be extended. Description from PGM in the screenshot.

Also note in the Medley Maker description screenshot, PGM recommends not to use RealDrums in songs similar to what you're attempting. The time stretching is too extreme.

Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in)
Mingulay Boat Song Website.jpg (81.38 KB, 29 downloads)
Medley Maker Dialog.jpg (99.87 KB, 28 downloads)
Medley Maker Description.jpg (120.94 KB, 27 downloads)

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