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As far as I know, chords can be place on the four beats, with some syncopation using ^ and ^^. Is there any way of placing a chord on, say, the eigths (or sixteenth) of a bar?

I realize that using ^ you can actually place a chord on the eight preceding a fourth, but then you can not at the also place a chord at that particular fourth.

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Your understanding is correct. This is one of the more frequently asked-for wishes on the Wishlist.

Two workarounds may work for you. First, Notes Norton has written what he calls Expanded styles that he sells. Second, by experimenting with tempo and style, sometimes it is possible to spread what is normally done in one measure over two measures. This effectively doubles the number of chords possible. It doesn't always work, and the notation will not look right, but often you can get the sound you want.


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OK, thanks. Then it's confirmed. I can live with the limitation, just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.
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Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
Your understanding is correct. This is one of the more frequently asked-for wishes on the Wishlist.


Wow - that is a huge limitation. There must be some technical reason they've not done that, because a LOT of music - especially the flamenco music I'm studying, requires chords to change on the upbeats. It never occurred to me but is true that that given this limitation , it's most likely that most of the styles I've been listening to change all their chords on the downbeats (even though workarounds are possible - convenience is always king !!!) ?

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Joe, if you think of each bar in the BB Chord Grid as a "Cell" and not a bar, you can lay out the songfile such that every two cells is one bar. Then chose style and tempo appropriately. This will play and sound correctly, but won't be correct as to notation.

On the other hand, Realband does indeed support compound time signatures.


--Mac

Last edited by Mac; 07/08/13 04:23 AM.
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This is exactly the limitation that caused me to create EXPANDED Styles.

The styles are written so that each BiaB numbered "Cell" is half a measure. So you using Norton Music's EXPANDED styles you can do a few very common things that BiaB will not allow you to do

  • You can put a chord on any beat AND the eighth note before that beat
  • You can put up to 8 chords in a 4/4 measure of music
  • In a 12/8 songs you can play triplets that last 2 beats


This also effectively doubles the resolution of BiaB to 240ppq.

I invented the EXPANDED styles back in the early 1990s when I started doing Fake Disks for BiaB. I ran into many songs that wouldn't work at all in BiaB without leaving out important chords. Thought about the problem for a while and came up with EXPANDED styles.

These styles allow you to play songs you couldn't otherwise play in BiaB, and therefore improve the functionality of BiaB and make it a more useful program for you to enjoy.

They are written to be EXPANDED so they sound right when your song is EXPANDED.

You can hear mp3 demos on my demo page.

Insights and incites by Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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It would be so great if BIAB could grant this wish in a future version. Correct me if I am wrong but Matt and Mac's workaround would be OK but surely the RealDrums then would not be usable for such a song. Basically, for example, you would be creating 2 bars of 4/4 time and then doubling the tempo and then the two bars would offer twice the chord space as a typical one bar (original tempo)and take up the same duration. However most drum parts would not appropriate at this speed and would end up have too many snare hits and crazy hi-hats. It is also likely bass lines other instruments would sound wrong too.

I guess it must be a very tricky matter for the folks at PG Music to resolve or they would have done it by now but it would certainly be the top of my wishlist.

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It can be done with drums. For example, choose a 16th note-based bossa style playing at 120. Edit, expand the song to twice the length (giving you twice the number of chord changes possible). The tempo changes to 240. Now choose a new style that is 8th note based, so the drums aren't going crazy. The hard part is that BIAB is so adaptable that it makes automatic substitutions in order to make the new song sound 'right'. These may or may not be what you want, but you can always choose a track, including drums, and pick something different.



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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.

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In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!

Special offers until December 31st, 2025!

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Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.

Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!

Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 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.

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