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#218542 10/19/13 06:50 AM
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Hi, I use BIAB mainly to create, transpose and print files to PDF (also in "Leadsheet").The PDF files are all used on my iPad in the available music programs like forScore (great) and iGigBook. Most of my gig friends do exactly the same thing with BIAB. The best thing BIAB can do is to create an app which simply does that what I described above. So an app which can import all standard .mg.. biab files, does has the possibility to transpose (chords and notes) exactly as what can be done at your PC and print the stuff to PDF. All PDF's can be opened in lots of programs. So you can transpose on the spot. Then send it (bluetooth) to your friends iPad. The program is in my view very simple since it just is a tiny part of BIAB. It will boost BIAB selling as well! So why isn't it yet available???

Rob


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #219091 10/25/13 09:43 AM
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Hi
I suggest you post this in the 'Wishlist" forum. But with respect, you haven't decribed what you want very clearly, so perhaps a rewrite would be in order.


Mike Laatz
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robvh #221180 11/14/13 01:41 AM
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Mike,

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads...9896#Post149896

In the above post I did post it already in the wishlist more then 1 year ago. I just now saw it had one positive reaction since! I really don't understand what is not very clear about it. There are several apps that can "transpose" chords. There is NOT one app that can "transpose" the music notes. And the whole world is waiting for it. But to do that you need a standardised input format. I'm not sure but the BB format is well known. BB does contain this "transpose" function for music notes. So:
1: Creating a simple app that contains (only) the possibility to import the BB file format including the "transpose function" and which includes an PDF export (and read) function will make it possible for any musician to transpose "on the spot".
2: By creating this many people will start using BB on their PC, even when it is not their favourite program to write music, so why are they waiting? This will boost the use of BB.


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221192 11/14/13 06:56 AM
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Band in A Box has an android app in the android store right now.....

$1.00 gets you in the game.

I have not gotten off that dollar yet, as I don't see myself using it much. I prefer working on my studio....although, for a buck.... I might just have to check it out.

I hesitate because most of the reviews are not too favorable for the app. 2 1/2 times as many one stars as 5 stars.Looks like it needs more work.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 11/14/13 06:59 AM.

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robvh #221202 11/14/13 07:56 AM
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Yes, a Biab app for tablets, capable of reading and transposing mgu and sgu files, with a handful of Midi styles and soloist would be a real winner. This has been asked by a lot of people, but unfortunately Pg Music seems to be not much interested in that market.

Other companies have occupied that niche with great success, creating a growing community of users (many of them professional musicians) who share thousands of songs in their forum.

Let's hope that Peter and his team will change their mind for v2014; the future seems to be on mobile devices.


Latest BIAB version, latest build.
Guitarhacker #221249 11/14/13 03:43 PM
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Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
Band in A Box has an android app in the android store right now.....


I suppose it's something which is identical as the free BB app at the iPad. Although you now can download BB files more easily and use them on your iPad, it shows only chords which you may change. But you cannot transpose the content as far as I understand it. And the" transposing" feature is one of the minimal features which should have been implemented. That can be done with existing other apps which can shows chords and play chords as well. Secondly the app must have minimal an import function from email and/or from Dropbox or it should be possible to open it from email and/or Dropbox etc. PG music should wake up!


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221251 11/14/13 04:23 PM
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They probably won't implement what you want unless there is an overwhelming demand for it. It took a good while to bring Mac users up to date. Later, Ray


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raymb1 #221285 11/15/13 02:01 AM
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I'm pretty sure there is a OVERWHELMING demand. BB was created originally for a different purpose then MOST amateur musicians use it for. Me and almost all musicians I know use BB already from it's start to PRINT their fake music on paper and to TRANPOSE it for different instrument key's. However that is not the prime purpose of BB, they wanted to create a real as possible fake "band". The overwhelming majority of this forum are the ones who use it for the original purpose is my feeling! Well surprisingly enough NONE of the musicians I know use it for this original purpose. Real professional composers never liked to use BB for the purpose to write music due to the limitations it has to write music, nor they liked the fake instruments used in BB (although they do a pretty good job today!). There are a few programs which do a much better then BB for prof music writers, but which are inherent too complicated to use for the majority of amateur musicians. For the average amateur musician (and that are a lot MORE people then the pro's) BB is just that simple program they needed to "print and transpose". In fact I don't know any who does not use it for that purpose. None of them I know join the BB forum. Today printing on paper is the past. PDF is the world wide standard. So why doïng such a bad job creating this limited BB app for iPad, which no one starts using? Again PG Music wake up! It can't be that difficult to implement the few things I mentioned. First for the existing chords app and then for "music notes" as well, then BB becomes the most used app for musicians!


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221301 11/15/13 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted By: robvh
I'm pretty sure there is a OVERWHELMING demand. BB was created originally for a different purpose then MOST amateur musicians use it for. Me and almost all musicians I know use BB already from it's start to PRINT their fake music on paper and to TRANPOSE it for different instrument key's.


To me that makes no sense. You're the first I've heard make such a statement. Notation programs are far superior for that purpose.

MuseScore is a free notation program that excels in that.

BIAB was intended to be a "Band in a Box" not a notation program.

Last edited by Frankp; 11/15/13 07:32 AM.

Frank

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Frankp #221305 11/15/13 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted By: Frankp
Originally Posted By: robvh
I'm pretty sure there is a OVERWHELMING demand. BB was created originally for a different purpose then MOST amateur musicians use it for. Me and almost all musicians I know use BB already from it's start to PRINT their fake music on paper and to TRANPOSE it for different instrument key's.


To me that makes no sense. You're the first I've heard make such a statement. Notation programs are far superior for that purpose.

MuseScore is a free notation program that excels in that.

BIAB was intended to be a "Band in a Box" not a notation program.


I use notation software all the time for new songs, arrangements, etc. I originally used MuseScore and while it was usable, and the price is right, I wanted something more powerful and less clutzy. I considered Finale and Sibelius after researching their capabilities, but stumbled onto Notion through a review by Sound On Sound magazine.

For $99, it does everything I need (how about an arrangement for a 20 piece big band) and is real easy to use.

Walt


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Frankp #221306 11/15/13 07:57 AM
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I use Band in a Box to make leadsheets quite often.

And I own and use TWO different dedicated music notation softwares.

*Making a leadsheet with BiaB is simply much faster to do than the notation softwares allow.

*The notation softwares are based on picking a note duration first for each note entered, then click it on the Staff, then the next note or rest you have to go back to the duration picker and pick the next duration needed, etc. etc. etc. etc. - whereas the Band in a Box method of note-entry has that beautifully designed automatic note duration algo in it that reduces all of that selection and clicking to just clicking on the staff.

*The Band in a Box QWERTY WIZARD method is another fast way to enter for example, the Melody line on a lead sheet.

People who state that BB is used for a certain task only by "most users" do not have enough of a data sample available for them to be able to make such unequivocal statements.

I have no idea what "most" users do with the program, nor does it really matter, because this program has historically been developed in an effort to please as many different kinds of users as possible, a matter which has led some to complain about all the commands, settings, etc. already existent.

The WISHLIST FORUM is where to place requests such as the desire to have an app that will do the tasks mentioned here, and I encourage those who desire such an app to please enter a nice short request for such on that forum.

And if you have already done that, but its been awhile, why not try posting the Wish again?

Or add that big +1 to an existing Wish post, if such already exists.

The request is valid IMO, and also sounds like a good idea to me!


--Mac

robvh #221309 11/15/13 08:35 AM
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That is exactly what I wrote, BB is NOT a notation program. MuseScore or any other similar notation program does not deliver an app for iPad nor for Androïd systems. If you're familiar with iReal B Pro then that's an app with thousands of songs that can be selected and "transposed" instantly on the spot. However it uses only chords. Any musician I know uses it. It's available at iPad and for Androïd.

BB has also thousands of songs available. They could be very competitive if the BB app had the possibility to import their format more easily and transpose it as well. Transposing on the spot (gig) is the most imported wish.

And doïng this with "fake notated music" (music notes as used in BB and which can be printed to pdf) is the most wished next possibility.
The notation possibility of BB although limited is exactly what is suited for this purpose.


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221312 11/15/13 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted By: robvh
...MuseScore or any other similar notation program does not deliver an app for iPad...


FWIW, Notion notation software is available for desktop and the iPad. Check it out here: http://www.notionmusic.com/products/notionipad.html.


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Frankp #221313 11/15/13 09:12 AM
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[/quote] To me that makes no sense. You're the first I've heard make such a statement. Notation programs are far superior for that purpose.

MuseScore is a free notation program that excels in that.

BIAB was intended to be a "Band in a Box" not a notation program. [/quote]

+1 BIAB was originally started as an accompaniment program. The ability to print lead sheets was a bonus. As far as your requirements, much of that should be up to you to learn how to transpose at sight and memorize melodies. If you're a working pro, this should be high on your list to accomplish. Later, Ray


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Mac #221322 11/15/13 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted By: Mac
I use Band in a Box to make leadsheets quite often......

People who state that BB is used for a certain task only by "most users" do not have enough of a data sample available for them to be able.......

I have no idea what "most" users do with the program, nor does it really matter, because this program has historically been developed in an effort to please as many different kinds of users as possible........

The WISHLIST FORUM is where to place requests.....

The request is valid IMO, and also sounds like a good idea to me!
--Mac

I'm glad with all your balanced comments. Of course my data is much to limited to make unequivalent statements like I did but they are based upon my experience with the musicians I know as an amateur.
I'm glad that it creates some sensible responses in this forum, which wasn't the case in the "WISHLIST FORUM".


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
Wallyg #221323 11/15/13 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted By: Wallyg
Originally Posted By: robvh
...MuseScore or any other similar notation program does not deliver an app for iPad...


FWIW, Notion notation software is available for desktop and the iPad. Check it out here: http://www.notionmusic.com/products/notionipad.html.


Thanks, I had no idea of the existence of this program. According to the spec it can do some of the things I asked for. On the other hand at my first glance it seems a complicated program as most extensive notation programs are. I was more looking for simple fake book lines as used in BB. Easy and fast. Instanly usable at a gig. In any case I will give it a try and see if it is usable for that as well.


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221325 11/15/13 11:21 AM
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Sorry, I wasn't thinking of transposing on the fly like that.

I use irealb but like has been mentioned, no melodies. Adding melodies to an app like that by the app developer would be problematic because of copyright issues.

I gave up on notation in biab probably around 2008. I found it to difficult to work with. Maybe it has improved since them.

What I have done is notate in Sibelius and then import to Biab. That should illustrate how difficult I find notating in BIAB.


Frank

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robvh #221326 11/15/13 11:26 AM
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Frank, I don't think there have been any changes to BIAB notation since then.

Interesting - I work the other way. I much prefer entering music into BIAB and then moving it to Sibelius, Encore or SONAR.


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Frankp #221327 11/15/13 11:50 AM
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Originally Posted By: Frankp
Sorry, I wasn't thinking of transposing on the fly like that.

I use irealb but like has been mentioned, no melodies. Adding melodies to an app like that by the app developer would be problematic because of copyright issues.

I gave up on notation in biab probably around 2008. I found it to difficult to work with. Maybe it has improved since them.

What I have done is notate in Sibelius and then import to Biab. That should illustrate how difficult I find notating in BIAB.


The app developer should not add melodies, that's up to the users, so he has not to worry about the copyright. "Mac" (see his post) does use both for notation and he still uses BB also for simple stuff since it is faster. BB is far from complete but for simple stuff it can be rather quick and dirty, but it will do for gig musicians. What I do is import the PDF prints into forScore and add manually missing (or to small printed) stuff and comments by annotations. Very cute app.


Musicians and music publishers are still wasting too much paper...come on men we live in the digitised age...Wake up!
robvh #221611 11/18/13 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted By: Wallyg
...MuseScore or any other similar notation program does not deliver an app for iPad...

FWIW, Notion notation software is available for desktop and the iPad. Check it out here: http://www.notionmusic.com/products/notionipad.html.

Originally Posted By: Robvh
.....Thanks, I had no idea of the existence of this program........

I did try this great notation program, and discovered that with the good settings in BIAB I could export midi files which can be imported (via iTunes or via Dropbox) into Notion music with the correct results (single lines of measurements with the correct notes). The only thing you need to make sure is that the extension ".MID" which is default in capitol need to be changed into ".mid" only if imported via iTunes, otherwise Notion can't read the file.
Then you can add manually all chords (very easy and relatively fast) and with the right settings from Notion music you can export exactly the correct PDF file and use anywhere.
The big advantage is that you can "Transpose" the file (notes and chords) on the spot, then print or email as new PDF file to yourself and/or others. PDF's can be opened in many apps directly from email.

Note: In BIAB, if simple melody lines are to be imported mute all instrument except the melody and use e.g. Flute (74) which is a C key instrument which prevents automatic transpose during import. Use a higher sample rate in the midi options (480) and set a correct range before exporting the midi file.

Although it's a workaround because you need to add the chords again, it is a lot faster then adding notes into a notation program. Super!

Last edited by robvh; 11/19/13 07:33 AM. Reason: More info see note

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