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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 200
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I'm trying to add BB-tracks to an old audio recording.
Here's what I'm doing:
1. starting ACW with the audio inside BIAB
2. generate chords and timing - some tweaking
3. import to BIAB selecting style&RT-tracks
4. some additional chord tweaking and setting a/b sections
5. exporting to ACW again to further improve timing
6. importing back to BIAB and basically all chords are lost
Running Win7 and BIAB 2014
What's up - software bug or operator bug ?
Cheers Thomas
On the latest version
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Thomas,
ACW is a one-step process. Once you've used it to determine chords in an audio, it's not possible to send the BIAB chords back to the ACW for modification.
Because ACW analyzes the audio file, it will always come up with the same chords however many times you send the audio to ACW. ACW is not linked to the BIAB chord sheet as a two way street. Refinement of the chords requires human intervention and ingenuity when one is back in the main BIAB program. ACW is simply the starting place.
Hope this helps,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
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exporting to ACW again to further improve timing It is possible to use the ACW for chords only and not bars/timing .. but I don't think it will work the other way and only affect timing and not chords ..
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 200
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Hi Noel Thanks for your comment, it could very well be as you say. However, this is a statement from PGMusic from a past announcement: ◾Audio Chord Wizard Enhanced. Chords may be edited in the Audio Chord Wizard. Part markers, chord symbols, key signature, and tuning setting are saved in Band-in-a-Box, and are passed back and forth to the Chord Wizard.
From this I get the impression that it should be possible. When exporting to ACW the second time BIAB asks if you want to preserve chords and individual bar tempos.
On the latest version
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,492
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Hi Thomas,
I'll have to have a play around with it. I haven't tried going back the other way for a year or so and it could be that something has changed. BIAB is always full of new things for me to learn!
That being said, though, I can't see how the audio chord wizard will come up with too many new chords if it's still analysing the same audio file.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Noel
I just took the time to check the manual and it points to a solution which seems to work.
Prior to starting ACW again, one should make a copy of all the chords in BIAB.
Inside ACW do the tempo refinements, export back to BIAB.
Then as the final step paste the chords back into the chord view of BIAB.
It seems to work and the manual confirms that the purpose is just what I'm after.
Sometimes it pays off to check the manual ...
All the best
Thomas
On the latest version
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,598
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Expert
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Posts: 1,598 |
Hi Noel Thanks for your comment, it could very well be as you say. However, this is a statement from PGMusic from a past announcement: ◾Audio Chord Wizard Enhanced. Chords may be edited in the Audio Chord Wizard. Part markers, chord symbols, key signature, and tuning setting are saved in Band-in-a-Box, and are passed back and forth to the Chord Wizard.
From this I get the impression that it should be possible. When exporting to ACW the second time BIAB asks if you want to preserve chords and individual bar tempos. I use extensively this feature and that works...well... sometimes  If you want to avoid hours of frustration, I just recommend you being really careful the FIRST TIME you open a file in ACW, and don't send it back later from BIAB to ACW, because sooner or later you're going to loose your work .
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Cerio
Good to hear others also use this feature.
Could you please explain the risk you're pointing at a little bit more.
Trying to keep frustration to minimum ...
Cheers Thomas
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Good to hear others also use this feature.
Could you please explain the risk you're pointing at a little bit more. Sooner or later: You're going to loose your corrected chords because ACW tries to figuring them out again for you... Or you're going to loose your corrected time points, specially if you're working with non standard (4/4) time signatures ... Or you're going to realize that BIAB's clipboard don't work like the standard windows clipboard (for example it doesn't keep data between sessions or program instances), most probably loosing your "clipboarded" data in the process.. Our you're going to loose the synchrony between the audio and the chords. Or you're going to get a BIAB crash... ACW is a powerful and very useful feature, but the truth is that isn't stable at all. It will save time for you if you don't ask it very much. Try yourself.
Last edited by Cerio; 12/13/14 05:56 AM.
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Cerio
I'll start to stress the system to see if I can get a decent workflow.
I have number of old recordings that I would like to freshen up with some backup.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,849
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I'm trying to add BB-tracks to an old audio recording.
Here's what I'm doing:
1. starting ACW with the audio inside BIAB
2. generate chords and timing - some tweaking
3. import to BIAB selecting style&RT-tracks
4. some additional chord tweaking and setting a/b sections
5. exporting to ACW again to further improve timing
6. importing back to BIAB and basically all chords are lost
Running Win7 and BIAB 2014
What's up - software bug or operator bug ?
Cheers Thomas
I do quite a bit of adding real tracks to old recordings. I suggest you should complete your timing improving of step 5 before exporting the ACW file into BIAB. I normally focus on tempo accuracy in the beginning and come back to chord accuracy last. One tip is to understand you do not have to run the complete song through ACW in a single pass. It can be done in stages such as intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, middle eight and outro. These stages can be edited independently proceeding from the beginning of the song to the end working by stage. Or, each stage can be exported separately into Real Band and reassembled and saved as a BIAB file, then opened in BIAB for further processing. Doubling the tempo count as the ACW is processing can help detect chords more accurately. This is best done working by stages. This is good for detecting a turnaround where at normal tempo, the ACW picks the root chord of G but what is actually being played is G,F,Em,G. Once you have imported the ACW file into BIAB is the best time to tweak your chord chart. Do not add any style or real tracks or midi instruments at this time. Do not generate any tracks. Use the play button rather than the generate/play button because this will cause just the audio file to play allowing you to tweak your chord chart. It is easy to follow along with the ACW audio file all the while monitoring your chords for accuracy. If I want to recreate an accurate BIAB that closely follows the instrumentation of the original, I list each instrument used on the original and then do muting/back to normal (F5) functions as well as panning as I follow along with the audio file playing within BIAB. From this point, once you have decided on the correct style, simply add/replace tracks that follow the f5 and panning assignments. Only after you are satisfied with your chord chart, should you choose styles and generate real or midi tracks. Once real or midi/super midi tracks are generated, the BIAB tracks will play in accompaniment with the audio file. At this point, you can choose and audition styles, real tracks and midi/super midi instruments until you are satisfied with your choice.
Last edited by c_fogle; 12/13/14 12:23 PM.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks c_fogle for your elaborate response and suggestions.
Will take these into account when diving further into the process.
If I interpret you correctly you then splice the audio into separate files and process them individually in ACW via Realband to get more manageable chunks of audio?
Cheers Thomas
On the latest version
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Getting things alright with audio and RT drums alignment in RB.
When trying to continue in BB it's a just a mess, audio not complete, timing out of sync etc.
Am I happy after a number of hours of testing ...?
As you don't know if it's a basic software problem or one of the thousand options one has missed, it's not so easy to know what to look for.
On the latest version
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Yes. Cutting and splicing sections of a song is one method I use with real band. I prefer to try to get through the entire song, section by section but some songs turn out to be difficult to accomplish that so I resort to exporting the individual sections and splice them together in RB.
Charlie
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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