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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2006
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OP
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Sorry - couldnt put it any better.
If I have a tune that is, say, 4 bars C, 4 bars F and 2 bars G7, I can put C in Bar 1, F in Bar 5 and G7 in Bar7. But I can also put C in once, twice or even 4 times in each of the 4 bars, the same for F etc etc.
Does Biab treat a single chord input for 4 bars differently to the other options and what are those differences please?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yes.
In general, the program will 'sound' the chord more often at the beginning of the measure when that chord is written more often. Also, the playing is 'smoother' sounding to me when you let the RealTrack play for longer phrases such as four bars. Remember, RealTracks are snippets of actual playing, and their length can vary. It's almost always better to let them play longer. I forget whether the maximum length is four bars or eight or even 16, but anything longer than one is normally better sounding than one measure. If nothing else, there is better voice leading.
An exception would be if you want to hear the chord sounded more often, for reinforcement. There are some songs where this would sound good.
Caveat: my comments are limited to the jazz and Latin RealTracks, as they are the only ones with which I work extensively.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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MIDI styles contain prepared patterns that are one, two, four and eight beats long. Eight-beat ones can get quite complex, although they don't have to be.
If you chop your bars into single beats by typing 'C' 16 times, you will get 16 very short patterns -- not necessarily with an ideal musical connection to each other. If you enter just one 'C' at the beginning, you will (probably) hear two consecutive patterns of eight beats each. So longer phrases flow more smoothly in these styles too.
But everything will always depend entirely on how a particular style is written. Some don't even contain any long patterns. Some may have no short ones. BiaB truncates or combines the patterns available, to fill the time. It's not safe to assume Real Tracks handle these matters the same way. But they might.
Larry
______
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Larry makes a good point: there may well be differences between RealTracks and MIDI, and now SuperTracks too.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Those are great answers!!
Originally I had one chord in each bar of a tune I am working on. At some point I filled in the bars and I lost the "smoothness" of the arrangement. I now know its because of that additional input cos I just took them out. And the "smoothness"? - she returns!
Many thanks
Ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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There you go. Sometimes I even get one right.
Nothing like a quick experiment.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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The T-Shirt! We have won her!
Larry
______
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Matt and Larry - you guys will have to share the T-shirt - 3 days each and on Mondays it goes in the Wash!
BTW - the track I am working with is a Real Track - 1814.
Ian
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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That's OK, give it to Larry. I won last week.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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.\
I can use this to get the instruments to play quarter notes. Say there is a particular MIDI style where the bass plays steady half notes. If I enter a measure like this: C,C C,C - the bass will play on all four beats. This is true for most MIDI styles.
I am just experimenting now with Supertracks and Realtracks, where it seems this does not work.
Once you understand this, the next thing is to do it with slash chords. Try this:
C,C/Bb C/A,C/G#
-do this with a MIDI style at a slow tempo and listen to what the bass plays.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Journeyman
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I've done this for a song that needed that sequence with midi piano. It does depend on the style. I found it useful. You might have to freeze the particular track if the other instruments don't sound right with this method.
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