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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7 |
Hi, I'm in my first week of using BIAB/Mac and have a few questions that I can't find answers to on this forum. My apologies if I missed the "newbies" forum...
1. How do I close a song/file without closing the entire program? I see multiple choices for opening a file or creating a new one, but no option for closing a file, so I'm constantly opening/closing the program, and it gives me the "blank slate" setup each time it restarts.
2. Is there such a thing as a "chord substitution on the fly" option? I'm working on a tune with a middle jam part based on one chord, and it would be lovely if the program substituted the chord during repeats of this section. So far I've resorted to pasting substitutions in to extend the section, but the same sequence of substitutions is getting a little stale. Dynamic substitution would be far more interesting and realistic, I think.
3. A quick scan of the web suggests that manually entering a melody note-by-note with the notation window is painful for everyone, not just me. I've resorted to using a separate program to build melody lines, then exporting/importing them as midi files. But if I make a mistake in my original midi file, I have to go back and tweak it in my other program, then reimport it, etc. It would be so much easier if I could at least select notes in the notation window, then drag them to the right pitch, or right-click to adjust them, but I'm not finding these choices. Am I missing something obvious?
Thanks in advance for any help. Looks like a friendly forum! :-)
-G.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 344
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 344 |
Hello,
i will answer to your 3rd question. In notation mode, click on the "N" button above the notation staff, so to get this notation "editable", then you will be able to drag notes or to make further editing by alt-clicking on them.
Macbook M2 Pro 32 GB ram | OSX 13.6 | BinaB 2023 | Logic Studio XI |
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7 |
Ahhh, it's the venerable ALT key! OK, I'll give that a try, thanks!!
-G.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,701
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,701 |
Hello,
1. 'File | New' will empty the chordsheet and set all the song settings to their default values. There is always a style open - there is no way for NO style to be open (although you could choose the blank style BLANK.STY). The default style is ZZJAZZ.STY.
2. No, there isn't a way for the program to generate chord substitutions on the fly. As soon as the song beings to play, the arrangement has already been generated. (Although, thru harmonies can be done on the fly). The 'User | Chord Substitutions' options need to be generated while the song is stopped. To have a different chord each chorus, you would need to convert (unfold) the song to one long chorus. This can be done by 'Edit | Unfold'.
3. When inputting notation, all you do is place your mouse arrow where you want a note and press mouse button. This will place a dotted whole note at that position. If it is in the second half of the bar, you will get an automatic 1/2 note rest in the first half. You will still get a dotted whole note in the second half of the bar. Don't worry if the first note you enter isn't the type of note you want it to be. The next note you place will determine the value of the first. Remember that the subsequent note placed always determines the value of the previous note. If you want to shorten a previous note, you can select the rest box and place a rest between the notes at the value you want the previous note to be. Notes inserted between other notes will automatically set the value for the previous note as well.
While inserting a note on the staff, holding down the [Shift] key will make the note 1 half-step sharper. Holding down the [Ctrl] key will make the note 1 half-step flatter. Holding down the Command key forces the note to be a natural. To delete a note from the Notation, hold down the delete key and click on the note.
You can change the beat resolution (the number of intervals in one beat) using the 'Resolution' setting in the Notation Window. For example, if you set this to '3', you will be able to enter triplets. If you set it to '4', you will be able to enter sixteenths.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 7 |
Thanks, Andrew, your answers really helped! I suppose my list of questions could be endless, but here is my current issue: I'm trying to put together a pop arrangement, consisting of intro>chorus>verse>chorus>verse>chorus>bridge>chorus>fade, and I want the solo to only be over the bridge. I'm using the _PBALADM.STY style, with the entire song being one chorus, no repeats. When I select a soloist, it plays over the entire song, of course. Can I restrict the solo to a specific set of measures? If I set the chorus to begin at the first bridge measure, the soloist still starts at the beginning of the song. I've not tried editing a style yet, perhaps that's the way to do it?
-G.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,701
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,701 |
Hi,
There are a couple different strategies.
One is to use the Soloist. Click the Soloist button, and then click the RealTracks button (makes it easier to find the RealTracks soloists). In the Solo Mode section, press the Custom button, and select the range of bars to generate the RealTrack on.
The other option is to use the F5 bar settings, and mute all the bars that you don't want to play. For example, if you only want it to play in bars 5-8, you would select bar 1, press F5, select mute - ok, select bar 4, press F5, select 'bar to normal'.... and so on.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 3
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 3 |
Ok So i am messing with BIAB standalone.......if i use with logic do i open logic first or BIAB?
Also I was messing with BIAB , closed it , opened logic and got no sound from logic!?! until i rebooted
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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.
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