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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 5
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 5 |
Hi I'm totally new to BIAB and have run into a problem. How do you get a clean ending rather than sounding like the song just stopped in the middle of a phrase? I don't want the default 2 bars stuck on at the end because that makes it end on the wrong chord. Occasionally I get a proper ending, but I don't know what I did right when it works or what I did wrong when it doesn't. (I'm techno-challenged) I am just making a basic back-up track with no original parts added. I may need a "for Dummies" version. Thanks in advance for your help. 
Last edited by totalnovice; 03/13/14 07:48 PM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,357
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,357 |
Hi totalnovice, Welcome to the forums It sounds like you might be entering chord changes in the ending 2 bars. To my way of thinking, BIAB's 2-bar endings are terrific.  To get them to work properly, there can be only one chord in the ending region of the song and that chord must be on beat 1 of the first bar on the 2-bar ending. In the above image, the final C chord is (a) the only chord in the ending 2 bars and (b) it occurs on beat 1 of bar 32 (the first bar of the 2-bar ending). Hope this helps, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 4 |
Often, I want to hold a chord for 4 bars and let it fade, rather than the 2 bar ending. Let's say the song is 64 bars long, and in the key of E. I want the first chord in bar 64 to hold and fade.
First of all, I use real tracks a lot, and this works great on real tracks.
I insert 4 bars to make it 68 bars long. On bar 64,I want to hold the E and let it fade. I enter E... in bar 64 - 3 periods after the chord play and hold the chord. Then on the ending, which is probably bar 69 and 70, I enter E. in bar 69 - a single period after the chord is a rest until the next chord entered. The result of this is a nice single chord with all the instruments, holding the chord and fading.
You can do lots of variations, too. If you enter E...g, for example, guitar keeps playing in rhythm, and all other instruments play one beat and hold. E...gs has guitar and strings playing in rhythm, and the bass, drums, and piano hold.
I hope this helps,
Dave.
From another BIAB brother,
Dave.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,725
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,725 |
It's the other way around for me.
I use the 2 bar endings exclusively. 99.9% of the time BB does the right thing and ends the song properly.
Be sure the number of bars in the song matches the actual number and that the ending has only the final chord in it at the beginning. Also note that the color (blue or green) will influence the groove in that ending.
Having said that, on occasion, BB does play something weird... such as a bass note that hits after the final beat in the song or an acoustic guitar that seems to be doing something strange.
There are a few solutions that I use when this happens and nothing short of changing the style will work. Of course, if you like the style, changing it is not an option either so it's time to grab the book of "work around solutions".
1. I ignore it in BB and move to RB where I render the tracks using the real tracks samples. Often this solves it, or if not.... I move the track as rendered to my DAW where I use the split/copy/paste or a volume envelope to either move or hide that strange note sequence. If the note in the bass is simply misplaced in the time line, a simple split/copy/paste/drag will often solve it. The other option is to remove it using the volume envelope and in the case of many instruments, using this method is perfect since they are not crucial to the sound in the ending last few beats anyway. I use both of these methods quite a bit.
2. I ignore the 2 bar ending....add about 8 bars to the song and use a "hold" where I want the song to end. The hold is on 1 in the ending measure and fades naturally rather quickly over the next several beats. This is quite common in live music and it works well in BB as well. I have used this once or twice in the past, not because the ending was messed up in BB/RB, but because I wanted a simpler ending than BB was delivering.
Hope this helps
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Ctrl-N "Song Settings" window has a simple dialog that allows for turning the 2-bar Ending OFF for a song, plus a few other easily selected Ending features.
Experiment, all of it is just as easily undone.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 493
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 493 |
Along with all of the good advice already given, you have the option to turn off the BIAB generated endings and make your own (as explained in previous post above and in the videos you've been directed to). You can do this globally (for all songs) or for each song.
If you use real tracks, you can have 4 bar BIAB generated endings. That adds another wrinkle.
I agree with the other posters - usually the BIAB endings are great when coupled with the correct style for the song you have made, with an occasional 'what was that?' thrown in just to keep you on your toes.
When you figure out the endings and are happy with the way one sounds you can freeze the song to preserve it exactly as it has been generated. If you click the regenerate and play button without freezing BIAB will come up with something else most of the time and that may or may not be what you are looking for. Basically it comes down to a lot of experimentation and tweaking of the song.
Of course there is always the option of making your own ending (by turning off the BIAB generated one as mentioned above) and that again involves more trial and error and being familiar with how BIAB works and what it can do. I would say that for me I use about 90% of what BIAB generates and the rest I program in, sometimes porting to RealBand for the final mix.
It really is a two edged sword situation with BIAB / RB - very simple if you want it to be and very complex if you choose to put in the time to learn it. And don't be intimidated by it. Everyone on this forum and those that use BIAB that don't come here started from scratch (including a lot of head scratching) to eventually reach whatever level of knowledge we all have of BIAB. Hang around here and you will quickly figure out who are the real pros (and that is certainly not me), but you will always be welcome and have your questions answered.
Good luck with your song making and have fun. Oh, and get really familiar with the Save and Save As buttons...
Edit: One of those pros is Mac, that posted above while I was typing. Never miss one of his post.
Last edited by BarryKJ; 03/14/14 07:07 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 196
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 196 |
I often use the following.
Say your song from sheet music is 32 bars long. I set the song length to 31 bars and BIAB adds by default an extra two bars at the end. So I now enter the last chord in the song in the first of those ending bars and add three dots after it. For example if the last chord in the song is say an E, put E… (three dots after the chord name). (Note if BIAB happens to put in the wrong chord in the first of the last two bars just change it ). Now when the song is played back the whole band when it reaches that last chord (in bar 32)in the song will play that chord and stop.
You can also add a slow-down say from the second last bar by typing F5 and enter a tempo which is say some value smaller than the tempo of the song by trial and error.
This is often indicated in the sheet music as a “rall.” And can make for a nice ending.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 5
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 5 |
Thanks Noel96, that did the trick. Thanks to everyone for your ideas. I'll probably try some of those techniques in the future. I'd like to find ways to have more control. For now, my frustration level has lowered and hopefully so has my blood pressure!
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