Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033 |
Hi folks, I haven't posted anything in a while so here is a little original country song called "The Guitarman" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTIib1NmUjw&feature=plcpRealtracks used are two 12 string guitars, RT 1031 12 string finger picking, RT 1118 12 string strumming Fiddle background country swing (chops) RT 412 Guitar el soloist cowboy 165 Real drums are Nashville skip^02 Bass and paino are from midi style C_cowboy-country style Still learing on the mixing side of things, so hope I am making a little progress. Thanks very much for having a listen and feel free to comment.  Musiclover
Last edited by Will - PG Music; 06/12/12 12:27 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840 |
Hi musiclover
I love the up-beat, driving rhythm. You had me tapping my feet from the start. I also found myself singing along with the chorus - even now, I'm humming it while I'm typing! You sure pulled me into the song. I find mixing incredibly challenging. The more I practice, though, the better I seem to be getting. If I can do it, I'm sure you can too! Great writing!
All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033 |
Hello Noel, Thanks for the thumbs up. I had a listen to your latest song That's What I Believe yesterday and loved it, seems it’s the way to go now to put a song on youtube. Since you are a prolific songwriter could I trouble to ask you what speakers you use as studio monitors as I am finding it a bit of a nightmare mixing on conventional speakers? When mixing on my small speakers it sounds not too bad, but once I try to play it on anything else well let’s just say it doesn't sound good. I was looking at these studio monitors, wonder what your good self or anyone else thinks of them? http://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/MAudioBX5D2New.htmlMaybe buying them won't make much of a difference to me, I really don't know, I already have the m-audio fast track pro. Cost about £180 sterling the pair. Thanks Musiclover
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 674
Journeyman
|
Journeyman
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 674 |
thanks for sharing!
computer monitors are horrible to mix on. even studio headphones would be better than computer monitors, IMO.
but they're all subjective and you have to learn each of them and how they relate to other systems.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840 |
Hi musiclover, I use a 7-year old set of Altec Lansing speakers that have a separate subwoofer. The below link will show you what they look like. my speakersFrom what I've read, M-Audio make excellent gear for the musician and studio musician. I would have no hesitation at all buying the speakers that you're looking at. I've found that for mixing, I get the best results when working with the music at conversational volume. Once I've got a mix that sounds ok'ish, I then turn the volume up a bit and listen to how it sounds. I'll make a couple of tweaks and then go back to conversation volume. I've found that my hearing tends to tire out if the music is too loud. That's just me. All the best with your songwriting! Noel. P.S. Thank you for listening to "That's What I Believe" and for the positive feedback. It took a while to get that song together.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033 |
Thanks very much Noel for the infomation about your speaker system. It has made me think again about trying proper stands for my existing speakers, before I would buy the M-audio, as you are getting great results with your mixes, and splashing out £180 for dedicated audio speakers might make little different to myself. If I thought it would I would buy straight away, but I think I will try stands first as I am in a confined space.
Its only this last week or so I have coped on that a lot of audio speakers dont have bass or treble controls so as to not sweeten the sound, maybe I am wrong in that.
I know what you mean about how much time can go into a song, it can take a good few hours from first idea to a song finish, in cases like myself a good few years...lol
BTW did you ever join the International Songwriters Association in Limerick Ireland that you enquired about a while ago, was a member many many years ago when I was younger, but let it lapse.
Thanks again Musiclover
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840 |
Hi Musiclover,
I didn't join it in the end but I've kept mulling over the idea. Where it's good is that it offers some copyright protection which is excellent. One of these days!
All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,987
Expert
|
Expert
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,987 |
Musiclover, Good song! The volume was a little low, and the bitrate seems to compromise the quality of the sound a bit. I'll bet the song sounds pretty good on your system, or on a cd though!  Thanks for sharing this. Steve
Steve Young Music"In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of." - Robert Schumann
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033 |
Quote:
Musiclover,
Good song! The volume was a little low, and the bitrate seems to compromise the quality of the sound a bit. I'll bet the song sounds pretty good on your system, or on a cd though! 
Thanks for sharing this.
Steve
Thanks Steve, You are absolutely correct, TBH I am not atall happy with the way the mixdown sounds, and that mixdown is the best of a bad bunch, I have spent hours on it trying to improve it but with my (at the moment) limited expertise at mixing down, + bad reference speakers (the old adage come to mind "a bad workman blames his tools)
I have ordered a pair of speaker stands off ebay and hopefully that will inrpove the listening sound as at the moment they are stuck behing the monitor.
I do like the song ok as its generally the kind of simple country song that goes down well where I live, but as regards the mixdown the more I listen, the worse it sounds. I have even used ozone mastering plugin.
On listening I think that the top treble frequencies are boosted far too much, what do others think?
When I have got a better mixdown I will post again for some more advice
The bitrate is 128.
Thanks all for your advice,
Musiclover
Last edited by musiclover; 06/09/12 02:39 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840
Veteran
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,840 |
Musiclover,
What DAW do you use? I use Reaper and I find it very useful to put Ozone in the "Master Volume" FX slot so that it works with the final, mixed signal. I then usually use the "CD Master" preset to automatically compress, equalize, widen the stereo field, etc.
Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 348
Journeyman
|
Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 348 |
Hi musiclover,
Agree with Steve about the volume an bit rate. Very nice song sir. Kept me interested till the end. Look forward to hearing more from you.
Tim
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,033 |
Hello Noel,
The way I do things is I have the song finished in my head both lyrics and melody (found it very interesting how you write yourself in your other thread) I probably find this the most enjoyable part as well
I then lay out the chords in biab use a suitable midi style and may or may not try out a few realtracks then save and open in Realband. I select the realtracks that suit best and generate a whole bunch of them, probably six or seven full tracks for say the lead guitar. I save in realband and then open the lot in Cubase 5.
I use an m-audio fast track pro with its asio drivers in cubase with the sound outputed to a pair of old goodman speakers I have.
I like using cubase because its very easy to edit the realtracks using the scissors tool and muting the parts that I dont like. A lot of cubase I don't understand because so far there is no need for me to go into the advanced stuff.
I do the vocal, listening through headphones and becuse I'm not a great singer will export the audio give it a very quick pitch correct in melodyne and reimport into cubase.
I then do the panning and try to get the levels right, and use a few instances of the Ezmix plugin.
I check that all the track levels are below 0db and then in the master stereo out I stick in the Ozone and used the country basic preset for this song, although I have started changing a few of the settings in ozone and may even adjust the EQ in the stereo out in cubase.
The mixdown usually doesn't sound too bad to my ears at this stage.
I export the mixdown, and get it to playback in WMP though the computers own set of logitech speakers (it sounds very bassy) and this is where I notice a difference compated to the goodman speakers mixdown. As a commerical CD plays fine thoguh the logitech speakers (and usually ok as well if imported as an audio file into cubase) I probably take the logitech as more of a true reference of the mixdown then the goodman speakers. (I have turned the bass controul up full in the goodman speakers and vey little treble) so as to try and calibrate the sound between the 2 sets of speakers.
There is another opton to me which is to use asio4all in cubase instead of m-audio asio, that way I could use the logitech speakers to listen to the mixdown.
I have actually asked about the speaker issues in a different thread with lots of good advice from different posters. Its probably a case of seeing what is going to work best for me.
Before I upload to youtube I use audacity to make a 128 bitrate mp3 and and make a quick picture and muusic video with Muvee auto-producer.
I must try that Ozone preset of yours Noel
Thank you Tim for your commets about the song.
Musiclover
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 161
Apprentice
|
Apprentice
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 161 |
Hi Musiclover,
Nice little song with a catchy chorus.
The little guy in the song reminds me of my grandson aged eight, always keeps saying to me "you don't do it like that I will show you the right way" and usually he does!
He wants an Ipad for his birthday,only £400 in Leeds UK!
Regards Jan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2025!
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
Check out all the 202 New RealTracks (in sets 456-467)
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!
The 2025 49-PAK is loaded with other great new add-ons as well. Learn more about the 2025 49-PAK!
Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac!
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
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®!
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!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 20.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 20 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 9 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch 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
Join the conversation on our forum.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums58
Topics84,405
Posts778,786
Members39,649
|
Most Online25,754 Jan 24th, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|