PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Using BIAB live

Maybe I should start a new thread, but I'll try here:

I like to play fiddle or guitar on stage and sing. I wish there was an upright bass player in the neighborhood that could accompany me. But there isn't. I love playing along with an upright bass.

However, some time ago, I discovered the real track bass in BIAB. At home, I like to isolate the base track and use my new zoom H5 multitrack recorder. First I lay down the base track and then overdub fiddle, guitar and or voice.

I wish I could take that bass track with me on stage so that I could have a virtual base backing me up on fiddle/guitar and voice. But I can't find any easy way to do that. I don't have a laptop but I have a new iPhone 6+. Maybe what I need to do is find a simple foot pedal to activate the BIAB bass track that is somehow connected through my iPhone and into the house PA sysstem. What ever the set up, it needs to be simple. It's hard enough to control all the variables so that you can begin playing back with just a bass track. If you don't start off perfectly, or you lose where you are in the song in the middle of the performance, it's a total disaster! :-)

Can anybody help me with a set up that would work for me? Thank you so much, Tom

Holy Crap, that is Extreme. All the effects and changes pre-programmed in. No need to do a thing but hit play and sing. If I had all the time in the world along with the money...

If you're taking a half a minute between songs, we're not playing in the same world.

Regards,

Bob

I used BIAB for years live with success. I played guitar, with vocals, along with a sax player. Played straight from the “Jukebox” feature on a laptop, into a mixer, and into the PA system. Worked great. Would still be doing that, but, got into arranger keyboards, which is a whole new ballgame for providing backing tracks.

Tonnie
Are your tracks are frozen? Loading a song and playing should take seconds.
Trev

Trev,

Loading a song takes no time at all, but there is this moment after I press the play button.

It seems to be depending on how many tracks (instruments) there are in a arrangement and if there are one or two harmonies applied.

You might have read in my earlier postings (under the same heading), that I only occasionally use frozen tracks, and then as few as possible.

Brgds,
Tonnie

If you freeze song tracks, but not, all, then playing the song will take some regeneration, which = some time

Why don't you freeze all tracks? What's the reason?

Is this time delay the same on other computers?

What's you computer spec? CPU, Memory, disk capacity etc?

I use biab all the time live. sometimes I go solo and then me and another guy do a duet. I'm playing just like I did when in a band. I don't have much as for video's though. I have posted some on facebook

Point taken re the videos everyone. What I'm finding interesting is the chatter, so keep it coming. I'm getting some ideas clear in my own head re how to go live and realising that BIAB isn't just guys doing songwriting in a bedroom/woodshed not that there is anything wrong with that. It's also kicking me into action (sort of.) Freezing would work for me as I'm busy enough with my other gear. Maybe wave files. It looks like I might need to get a decent audio interface for the tablet.

In my posting 27 May I wrote:

"First I use BiaB, since each playback is somewhat different, which I as a jazz oriented player prefer."

Tonnie

This all sounds so complicated (and backbreaking to transport). I just use my Fender Hot Rod Deville guitar amp that has two 12" speakers. My guitar goes into one input, BIAB IPad into the other. Sounds great. No fuss.
Any other guitarists doing this?

All depends on your age and strength.

For me, a Fender HRD with 2x12's is way too heavy!

I've separated my Combos now into head + speaker cab so that the heaviest component is 27 lbs.

Smart man! With my increasing age and decreasing strength, 54lbs is indeed a load to lug, but still worth it for the important gigs (a large wheel luggage cart helps). For rehearsals and other gigs I use a Fender Blues Jr. III (31lbs), but it doesn't have a separate input for BIAB. Do you play BIAB through your guitar amp, or use a separate PA system?

Using BIAB live part 2.

My postings in Tom’s original thread “Using BIAB live” #297455 - 05/30/15 received some “flack” by some forum members who found my setup “too complicated”.

At first I felt that this was uncalled for criticism, as my setup both sounded great and for me it was workable.

However recently I have put together a somewhat simpler setup that sounds just as great (but without the option to sing close-harmony all by myself).

I built a laptop, a Roland Canvas SD-50 and a Behringer Super X Pro Crossover filter all into a SKB 1SKB19-RSF2U Studio Flyer Laptop/2U Rack/Flight Case with Wheels.

I will still need an additional stereo PA, like the e.g. Fender Passport and a small bass amp like e.g. Gallien-Krüger MB150, but the sound is just as great when using BB as my present setup.

What, not here is our little friendly forum.
My live gear is about has complex as it can be. And after the one gig where it took me 10 minutes of stage time to find the switch which someone (me??) had thrown on my mixer which prevented any sound, I continue to simplify where I can.



Got Pictures?

I have two Behringer Amps that sound great with BIAB....for my guitar/keyboard synths/bass guitars ...heavy suckers that need some wheels under them...


ULTRATONE K3000FX

Ultra-Flexible 300-Watt 4-Channel PA System / Keyboard Amplifier with FX and FBQ Feedback Detection

Ultra-flexible 300-Watt 4-channel PA System / Keyboard Amplifier
Powerful 15'' BUGERA woofer and custom-made 1'' driver for ultimate sound reproduction
Integrated digital FX processor with 100 awesome presets including reverb, chorus, flanger, delay, pitch shifter and various multi-effects
Revolutionary FBQ Feedback Detection System instantly reveals critical frequencies
Full 4-channel stereo operation with separate Volume and FX Send per channel
Additional XLR mic input on Channel 1 for direct connection of dynamic microphones

Bass Amp:
The Behringer ULTRABASS BXL900 90 watt 2 Channel Bass workstation. Truly affordable, wedge-shaped Bass Workstation .

The Behringer ULTRABASS BXL900 is a truly affordable wedge-shaped Bass Workstation with a powerful 12 inch special high-impact cone speaker. With 90 Watts of power, your performance will never run out of breath. It features one clean and one distortion channel with full control, a 7-band EQ with a revolutionary See-What-You-Play FBQ frequency indicator that immediately shows you which bass frequency corresponds with which fader on your EQ to allow you instant sound shaping and a switchable Ultrabass subharmonics processor. A musical limiter guarantees playing without distortion on the clean channel even at the highest volume levels. You can use the separate headphone output whenever you need to keep your music just to yourself.

The main features of the Behringer ULTRABASS BXL900 include:

Powerful 90-Watt 2-channel Bass Workstation in wedge-shaped cabinet
Original BUGERA 12 inch special high-impact cone speaker
Clean channel with dedicated Gain control
Distortion channel with dedicated Gain, Shape and Level controls
Ultra-musical, active 7-band graphic EQ with FBQ Spectrum Analyzer
Revolutionary "See what you play" FBQ frequency indicator for instant sound shaping
Switchable Ultrabass subharmonics processor for unbelievable low-end power
Musical opto-limiter for ultimate volume without distortion
Separate headphone output—perfect for quiet practicing
CD input allows you to play along to your favorite music

I love the play and sing jazz and Broadway orientd (American Songbook} material. I utilize BIAB mostly already setup for Real Band and Real Drum Backing...don't wanna bother with arranging per Se,
but outright jamming/singings with the present files available and pre-constructed.
I have downloaded a number of hits, mostly originals...and I'll sometimes use my JamMan to eliminate their voice. and use mine, which is "almost" identical in tone and phrasing to that old swinger, Mel Torme. All of this is available on my HP 300 laptop, along with Sonar Platinum, so I have a deep variety of back-up choices.

Taking my GR-303 and GM-70 Synth/Jsxx rack unit (ala Metheney), a Fender fretless-bass guitar, and a couple of "knock-off" Gibsons, 335's and 175's are all "musts" for gigs. I have also used a rolling PeaveyRack unit, which houses, among other things, some lexicons and
other assorted effects and loopers.

I also have some Boss Pedals and guitar pedal boards, if called for.

Since I was one who gave you 'flack', allow me to elucidate. Your statement:


“Secondly I play guitar though a pedal board into a guitar amp, but also via a Roland GR-33 guitar synth into my stereo PA, a Fender Passport 150.

From my laptop I split the BiaB output via a Roland UM one into an UA-1 X (for Real Sounds) and Roland XV-5050 (For MIDI sound) and (MIDI) Output Chords to my TC-Helicon Voice Works (For “Close Harmony” singing “Four Freshmen”-style),

The Real and Midi sounds are mixed together with the aid of a small (4 channel mixer) and then go through a 3 way crossover filter. The output of the treble and middle tones are sent (in stereo) to the mixer part of the Passport, while the bass part is send to two Gallien-Krueger bass amps. 

This way the bass, bass drum and the lower end of the piano do not “burden” the small Passport speakers and can be fully controlled separately. 

The outputs from the TC-Helicon Voice Works go in stereo via an Antares AVP-1 and into the Passport mixer.”


I'm sorry, but that is a very complicated setup for a single. You could accomplish all of that with a laptop, small format mixer and a decent PA. I see more of that setup than any other these days.

I don't want to bust your chops, but the Fender “Passport” is a toy. You might consider a couple of powered speakers or a Bose system. Danny C has a Bose, and loves it.

If your system sounds good to you and you're happy with it, more power to you. I didn't mean to rain on your parade – I was just making an observation.


Regards,

Bob

After having used the setup I mentioned, I have found that I should have bought a 3U Rack/Flight Case. As the SD-50 is not rack mountable and one can not see the top of it, while inside the rack. Otherwise is all works very well.

Supposedly, there was a rack mount adapter available separately from Roland for the SD-50. If you can find one, you might consider a slant-top rack like these:

http://store.roadreadycases.com/dyn_prodlist.php?k=154310


I have the 10U case, and it's built like a tank - very heavy as well. I've got my Soundcraft mixer, EQs, amp - everything in the one case. Makes setup a lot easier.


Regards,

Bob

I would LOVE to see the notation be a little more flexible with songs that span two pages. I mostly use .PDF fakebooks, but have lots of BIAB songs that are not in any of them (or need to be transposed on the fly.) I have a Surface Pro 3 tablet, and most of the time end up printing to a .PDF on my desktop to read. Would love to eliminate those steps.

I think there would be a market for an app that could just DISPLAY (and transpose) BIAB format files just to be used as a Fakebook (at a lower price than the full featured program.)