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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273 |
I'm trying out the Audio Chord Wizard for the first time (in BIAB 2012). I've loaded a commercial music CD in the laptop's drive and I get a listing of the files in the Wizard. However, when I select a file and click on "Open", I get a message saying "Sorry, Cannot convert the File".
Is there something I'm doing wrong, or are commercial CD's not compatible with the Wizard?
I'm just trying to generate what chords are being played in a particular song.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,674
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Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,674 |
I've never used the Audio Chord Wizard to try to get a file from a CD. Do the files listed have a filetype of CDA? You must use some program to extract the song from the CD and create a MP3 or WAV file. That file can be read by the Audio Chord Wizard.
Unless someone here knows if the Audio Chord Wizard reads CDs directly and does the extraction?
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,250
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Hi Newbert andMatt good to put something back for a change - You do indeed need an "extractor". This will give you mp3 OR wav. I use CDEX - http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/Its quick and easy to use. Tip - just remember the directory location where it stores the finished files. I keep forgetting where mine is - Senior Moments, I guess. cheers Ian
Last edited by sixchannel; 01/08/13 10:40 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273 |
Quote:
Hi Newbert andMatt
good to put something back for a change -
You do indeed need an "extractor". This will give you mp3 OR wav.
I use CDEX - http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
Its quick and easy to use.
Tip - just remember the directory location where it stores the finished files. I keep forgetting where mine is - Senior Moments, I guess.
cheers
Ian
Thanks for the info and link. I'll have to try that. The files are listed as "CD Audio Track". It seems strange though that the extractor will list the actual files on the CD in this format but won't open them. And under "filetypes" it lists "CD Audio Track" as a filetype. That would indicate to me that it would work directly from the file on the CD. .... <shrug>
Thanks again!
Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,671
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It used to be that most systems used to include an extraction method in the OS. Now it seems to be an 'extra'. See if Realband will allow you to open or import a File from the CD before opening the ACW.
In RB -
Audio-Import Wave File
You'll notice CDA is listed. This is for CDAudio files. If you have the codec installed, RB will use it to import the file.
If you don't you get the message you describe.
Maybe trying a different way will work for you.
If you get the file extracted, Export to Wave File and open THAT file in BiaB.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273 |
SixChannel - I downloaded fom that link and got something called Audio Convertor along with some extraneous other "stuff". Audio Converter doesn't recognize the CD files as a valid source. Maybe I downloaded/installed the wrong thing?
rharv - Thanks for the thought about trying RB. Unfortunately, I got the same message in RB as I get in the Audio Chord Extractor in BIAB.
Any other ideas?
Thanks!
Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
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What you need is called a, "CD Ripper" program. Websearch should bring up plenty of freebies. Rip to .wav or .mp3 format and then you can load into the ACW.
The one installed on the machine I'm using to type this is called, "FreeRIP" it works okay and doesn't take a big footprint or install anything extra and does not "phone home".
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,676
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Posts: 20,676 |
A great CD ripper that I use (and it's freeware) is Exact Audio Copy.
When you install it, just make sure to de-select all the free inclusions (extra tool bars, search engines, etc.). I always find it annoying to have to uninstall these extras at a later date.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273 |
I found out that Windows Media Player will rip CD tracks to .wma files. Tried it this morning and it worked great! Only drawback is that it rips ALL of the tracks on the CD, not just the one you might want - but that's OK. BIAB's Audio Chord Wizard recognized the .wma file and generated a chord sheet which I then transferred over into BIAB - neat! BIAB then plays the song, just as it sounds on CD - voice and all! So, I can now play along with my favorite music. For some reason, I can't slow the tempo, though. (Sadly, I need to in order to play along....  )It keeps returning to the file's default tempo. Anyone know why that is and how to adjust it? I'm sure that I'll have other BIAB-related questions as I'm just getting back into it. But for now, being able to generate a chord sheet for my favorite music opens up a whole new world!  Thanks, everyone!
Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,976 |
For songs with tempo changes in them, the audio track can't be made to slow down using the tempo control. It can be slowed down using the play-tempo menu though.
For example, menu-Play-Tempo-Half speed will slow it by one half, and Ctrl - (minus) is a hot key.
Ctrl = (equals) gets you back to normal tempo.
(btw, if you remove all the tempo changes (f5-Reset all bars), the audio track will be able to be slowed down during playback, but it likely won't be synced to the chord chart.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 273 |
Quote:
For songs with tempo changes in them, the audio track can't be made to slow down using the tempo control. It can be slowed down using the play-tempo menu though.
For example, menu-Play-Tempo-Half speed will slow it by one half, and Ctrl - (minus) is a hot key.
Ctrl = (equals) gets you back to normal tempo.
(btw, if you remove all the tempo changes (f5-Reset all bars), the audio track will be able to be slowed down during playback, but it likely won't be synced to the chord chart.
Thanks, Peter! I'll give that a try.
Bert
Kawai VPC1 MIDI Controller; Asus A53E Laptop running Windows 7 - 64 bit; BIAB 2017 UltraPlusPak (upgraded from 2014 EverythingPak), running from Laptop's Hard Drive.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 64
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 64 |
Hi
I'm using windows 7 on a netbook (which incidentally runs Biab and realband fine). Windows media player allows you to rip commercial cds to several formats, two of which are MP3 and WAV, so try that if you are using windows. Sorry if this is a bit late....
Den
Last edited by denspain; 01/10/13 06:14 AM.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
zplane recently interviewed Peter Gannon, the founder and creator of Band-in-a-Box, about the software's early days, what sets it apart from AI, how zplane's audio algorithms are used in Band-in-a-Box, and more!
Special thanks to the team at zplane for their continued support.
Check out the full interview here: https://products.zplane.de/blog/peter-gannon-interview-pg-music
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