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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
I have plenty of space on my desktop PC, but limited space on my laptop, and I work with a colleague who brings his laptop to gigs, but doesn't have all the RealTracks that I have.
I've tried inspecting the C:\BB\RealTracks folders, but there doesn't seem to be a way of working out from the folder names or the file names which set they've come from, and particularly whether the whole set has been installed. I sometimes have to delete RealTracks to make space, and it's hard to know which ones to delete.
I thought I might find out what had been installed through Start->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs, but the RealTracks don't seem to have been installed in the sense that programs are installed, and there is no reference to them in the list of programs that can be uninstalled.
My colleague and I collaborate on arrangements of songs, and exchange completed versions.
What I'd like to have is:
a) A tool which could say quickly which RealTracks are available on a computer
b) A tool which could check a BIAB song file, and say what RealTracks are needed to play it back
c) A tool which could check a BIAB song file, or a folder of BIAB song files, and report on whether any of the files can't be played back on the computer they're currently stored on, or to list all of the songs with a pass/fail comment.
Of course, what we'd really like is
(d) for each of us to be able to check songs we've arranged on BIAB to be sure that they'll work on his colleague's computer before e-mailing them, and avoid the need for the recipient to load them up and listen to them all the way through.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 4 |
g'day Lady,
I am brand new here, but a) can be found on the Help menu under:
"RealTracks sets in C:\bb\RealTracks\ "
HTH -- B
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,729
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,729 |
Hello foxylady,
The RealTracks Picker window has all the information you need to determine which RealTracks you have installed. Check the box at the bottom left-hand side of the window "Show RealTracks that are N/A". This will list all available RealTracks, with the ones you don't have showing up with N/A. There are alot of ways to get additional information - for example, you can sort by RealTracks Set number by clicking at the top of that column, and quickly see which sets you don't have, or you can sort by N/A. You can also use the filter (bottom of the window) to only show RealTracks that meet certain criteria, such as "piano pop ev" to show all the even feel Pop Piano styles.
The RealTracks Picker window will also show you at a glance which RealTracks are assigned to all of the tracks in your song, and whether they are assigned in the song or embedded in the style.
There is way you can find out if any of the songs in your folder are missing RealTracks... To do this, use the Song Picker window (press the Song button). Rebuild the song list, and then look under the [ - ] column. If there is a - (hyphen), that means the song is missing it's .STY file (Band-in-a-Box will try to substitute a similar .STY in this case). If there is a d, that means the song is missing RealDrums. If there is a t, that means the song is missing RealTracks.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Quote:
g'day Lady,
I am brand new here, but a) can be found on the Help menu under:
"RealTracks sets in C:\bb\RealTracks\ "
HTH -- B
Sorry, ain't no Lady, but what's in a name?
I've tried searching the help index for "RealTracks sets in C:\bb\RealTracks\ ", but can't find this anywhere.
You'll see from Andrew's post that my problems have been pretty much solved - thanks anyway!
Foxy.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Thanks, Andrew. That solves a), b) and c), but doesn't deal with the one I knew was going to be difficult, namely d)!
When my colleague and I exchange files, I think we should put the newly received songs into a probationary directory and run the song picker over them by clicking "Rebuild List" to ensure that all the RealTracks etc are available. We're then less likely to get caught out on a gig when we've rehearsed a song with one computer, and are playing it back on a gig on another one.
Foxy
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Rebuild List won't add any Realtracks that are not already installed and just adding some songfiles won't install them.
Why not use one USB hard drive with everything needed for the gig on it, which could be run from either person's laptop?
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
Quote:
Rebuild List won't add any Realtracks that are not already installed and just adding some songfiles won't install them.
Agreed - I wanted to identify problem songs before they had an opportunity to catch us out on a gig.
Quote:
Why not use one USB hard drive with everything needed for the gig on it, which could be run from either person's laptop?
That sounds like an excellent plan, but we still need independent BIAB installations for individual practice and for gigs and rehearsals with different musicians. If we keep only tried-and-tested songs on the common USB drive, we could arrange songs on our individual PCs and keep them in quarantine until they're gig-ready, when we'd transfer them to the USB drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,729
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,729 |
Yes, probably the best way is just to have the recipient copy the songs into a folder, then view a song list for that folder to determine if they are missing any RealTracks. They could also send you a list of all the RealTracks Sets they have, to use as a guideline - that information can be obtained from the What Add-ons do I have window. Another tip is to use the Jukebox - run it through the song folder, and have it set to switch to the next song after 1 bar, and not loop at end. If you have the patience to sit through the whole thing, it is a good way to help confirm there won't be problems.
Alternatively, the recipient could print you out a list of all the RealTracks folders they have, and you could use that list as a guideline. One way to do generate a list of the RealTracks subfolders is by typing this into a command window:
dir /b /a:d > RealTracks_Folder_List.txt
To open a command window, go to the Start menu, select Run, and type cmd. Or if you have Windows Vista/Seven, go to Start menu and type cmd in the search box. Then, navigate to your RealTracks folder. To do this, first switch to the appropriate hard drive, by typing, for example G: <enter>. Then type cd followed by the path, or drag the folder into the cmd window. Then, type the command above. Dir means that it will show a directory list for the current folder. /b means it will only list the folder names with no other information. /a:d means that it will only list directories and omit files. > RealTracks_Folder_List.txt means that it will output the data to a txt file, which you'll then find in your RealTracks folder. You can email that file, or copy and paste the contents to an email. Anyhow, that is one way to do it.
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
A couple of excellent ideas here. It obviously helps to know the software inside out - I'd never have thought of using the Juke Box in this way. I'm writing this as I wait for the Juke Box to play the third or fourth song - this one only has RealDrums in it, no other RealTracks, and I've been watching the hour-glass for more than five minutes...
The listing of RealTracks directories is comprehensive, but this makes comparison with a colleague's installation more difficult. I was hoping to be able to list just the RealTracks sets that are installed on each computer.
After another five minutes, there's still an hour-glass and the Juke-Box has stalled, so there's obviously something wrong here. I'll report it as a problem if I can reproduce it.
Many thanks for your help, Andrew.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
PS This problem with the Juke-Box is consistent - I've run it on the same songlist three times, and each time BIAB hangs on the 8th song. There's no error message, and on one occasion there was a Windows hour-glass and on the other two just the usual mouse cursor. Clicking the "X" button to close the program got me a "program is not responding" message. I thought there might be a forum slot for reporting "undocumented features", but I couldn't find it - moderator please forward appropriately.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
PPS I've tried the Juke-Box trick described above on my laptop, and BIAB hangs on the eight song again, but this time it plays the whole song first. Various odd things happened to my desktop after my Juke-Box runs - I opened a document with Open Office Writer, and it behaved strangely, with lower case "s" replaced by a newline, and when I plugged in my iPod I was informed that iTunes was missing essential files and that I'd have to reinstall it.
The lower case "s" problem disappeared after a reboot, but iTunes still complained.
I'm concerned that there is a rather nasty bug lurking in BIAB, which causes it to overwrite system information in some way.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
This is the forum for reporting such things.
First thing to do is *start a new thread* for just this problem.
It is also best to provide us with a step-by-step that includes as much info as possible.
For example, my first thought was, "is the jukebox set for straight-thru song playing or is it set for Random?" - straight thru would point to the same songfile every time, which might be corrupted or have some other problem.
Also make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest Update Patch, for this problem sounds like something that was solved already.
If neither of those does the trick, start that new thread.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 175 |
I'm using:
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Version 2010.5 (304)
As far as I can see, this is the latest Update Patch, so I do seem to have a problem.
New thread coming up!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Okay, ignore what I just asked on the other thread you started - and please contain stuff about this jukebox problem to that thread.
--Mac
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