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Hello all. My first post, please forgive my Noobness. Not sure where to post this, mods please move if not in the right spot.
I've recently purchased the BIAB Pro 2014 bundled with with real Tracks Real Band and lots of other stuff. I'm really only interested in doing three things.
I want to add Real Drums, and a Real Tracks string quartet and some vocal harmony to existing wave files saved on my computer.
These are complete wav files I've recorded on a multi-track analogue recorder, mixed in Audacity and saved as wav files.
I don't want any midi only real drums and real strings,and I'd also like to use the harmonizer effect on my vocals.
Can anyone please help me learn how to do this, or point me toward a tutorial showing how?
Thanks
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Welcome to the PG Music forums and the BIAB community, Horahack. Technically this post should be in the BIAB for Mac or Windows forum, but let's get your question answered first. I can't answer in detail now as I'm working, but want to assure that someone will get you sorted.
I will say that the solution will be somewhat complex. You will end up using two programs, as BIAB only has one audio track available and you're going to need at least two. (Fortunately you have the other one--RealBand, which is designed to work hand in hand with BIAB.) Another tricky part will be matching the tempo of your original track. But I believe you can get substantially started in BIAB and go from there.
Good luck,
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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As others said matching tempo of your original files is key. If it's off a tiny bit, the end of your original wavs and the end of the Real Tracks/Drums will be slightly off.
In my case I use Adobe Audition for my original wavs and get the original tempo there. Maybe Audacity has a function that can detect BPMs as well, I haven't used that tool.
Once that timing is matched, setting up BIAB/Real Band is fairly simple. Enter your chord progressions, set the tempo, key, # of measures. Generate the tracks.
From there you could either import your old .wavs to RealBand or export the new .wavs to Audacity. The environment choice is up to you.
 Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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A good place to start is the ACW - Automatic Chord Wizard - in Band in a Box.
This allows you to load an Audio file such as your already recorded performance, onto the single Audio Track in BB and also to tap keys to line up the First Bar and also to tap again to create a Tempo Map throughout that performance, which likely should be done in order to get the Autoaccompaniment parts added after Sending to Band in a Box and then selecting a fitting RealDrum and a RealTrack or two.
--Mac
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There are some good tutorials on the Audio Chord Wizard, including From PG Music Tutorials and Others created by users. You'll find these, and others quite useful. Cheers Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Thanks for the mention of the ACW! I need to look into that too. Haven't used it yet. Looks like it would make some of this .wav import stuff a lot easier.
Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Thanks to everyone for the quick replies. I was pretty sure getting the tempo right would be the biggest problem. The finished wavs I’ve completed are not metronome accurate. There is a metronome feature in the 8 track recorder, but so far I haven’t figured out how to keep the taps from being recorded. Audacity may have something as well, not sure. Or perhaps the Adobe Audition sslechta mentioned might be a better option. I’ve only recently gotten started with this project and only have a dozen or so complete songs. I’m sure starting over by recording all my tracks directly into BIAB or RealBand getting the tempo perfect from the beginning will probably be my best option. The problem with recording tracks directly into Audacity is going through the laptop mic jack even with an external mic turns out poor audio quality, and I feel this may be the same with BIAB or RB. When I record all the tracts onto the external recorder and export as a wav file into Audacity the quality is much better, even though the old recorder is obsolete. I’ve been considering something like the TASCAM DR-05 cheap but at least it is digital. I realize there must be a huge learning curve with these programs, and I don’t mind investing the time, I just want to make sure what I’m trying to do is possible with the products I bought, or if I’m going to need more pluggins, VSTs or if I need to buy anything else to get the real strings, real drums and the TC Helicon effect I'm playing all the instruments and singing all the vocals myself, these three effects are all I really need, especially the drums. Here is the package I bought.: http://www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.htmThanks again to Pat Marr and Video Track for the links. I’ll look them over before bugging the forum again.
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Horahack,
You should strongly consider an external soundcard so that you can record quality audio directly into your laptop. You'll get a ton of advice here. (I use the PreSonus Audiobox USB.)
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Thanks ryszard and Mac: I see what you mean about a ton of advice, and I really appreciate it. Still haven’t got a chance to go through the tutorials posted here.
I googled PreSonus Audiobox USB. Looks promising. I suppose my laptop’s sound card is incredibly lacking for what I’m trying to demand of it. However, I’m working on a pretty tight budget for the moment and have to acquire all this gear a bit at a time.
Ryszard are you familiar with the TASCAM DR-05 I’m probably not allowed to post a link to their site, so I won’t. This is a hand held digital recorder with two mics. Guitar Center has them on sale right now for about $60USD.
The reason I ask is I know someone who has one, and the sound quality is very impressive for such an inexpensive device. Only I’m not sure it is compatible with BIAB or RB. However, I guess any device that exports wav files would work.
Would this be similar to the PreSonus?
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Horahack, looks like that Tascam has a USB port in which you could transfer the files to your laptop. At that point you could bring them in to BIAB or RB.
Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics.
PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory
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Hi horahack,
I have the Tascam DR-05 that I use for outside jams and at some practices. You can transfer files from it to a PC via either a USB cable or a SD card.
However if given the choice between either the PreSonus or the Tascam I would choose the PreSonus for a number of reasons. But the main reason is you can use the PreSonus directly with BiaB and RB. For instance in BiaB you have input some chords and chose a style. Now while that style is playing you can record your part and that part will be in sync with BiaB. That is no messing around with trying to find the tempo and/or matching parts up as they all will be in sync!
It’s even better in RB or any other DAW that you may have. In your DAW you will use the same technique I explained above BUT you can record many different tracks’ BiaB can record only one audio track. Thus you can record say a guitar part then come back and record a vocal then come back and record a bass or harmony etc.
Although the PreSonus is twice as expensive as the Tascam I believe you will not only save a lot of time but you get a lot more for your money as the PreSonus has two audio inputs plus a MIDI input. So actually you can record two audio parts and one MIDI part simultaneously.
I hope this helps.
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64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Horahack, by playing around with the Windows audio settings in control panel you most likely will be able to bring acceptable audio into BIAB & RealBand but it will take some patience and will be a compromise at best.
A cost effective solution might be to search pawn shops, music stores, eBay and Craigslist for a used digital recorder, small digital usb mixer or audio interface. Good quality equipment from companies like Peavey, Roland, Zoom, Tascam, Korg, M-Audio and Presonus is pretty easy to find. The most difficult part is determining your needs.
Do you have a microphone or prefer a built-in mic? Do you need one or two inputs? Do you need a high impedence input to record a guitar or bass that have passive (no battery) pickups? Do you need line inputs to record a keyboard? Do you want to record to a tempo away from the computer then import the wav files (need something with a metronome)? Do you want to use your computer to record?
Once you know what you need and how you want to use "it", find the gear that matches.
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