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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
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OP
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64 |
Is there a way to tell BIAB not to try to "blues up" my chords? For example, if I enter a simple C, Am, F and G progression for a poignant ballad, BIAB will occasionally slip in an Eb note while on the F chord, which turns it into an F7 which (in the key of C) ruins the whole mood by suggesting it's now become a sassy blues thing. Or, equally as jarring, if you've got a C and then a G (in the key of C) and BIAB slips in a Bb note while on the C chord, it suggests the next chord will be F, so when it goes instead to your G, it sounds ridiculous.
I seem to recall that there's a way to have BIAB "jazz up" your chords (and maybe "un-jazz" too?). Well, is there any kind of "un-BLUES" option, to keep those dominant 7th notes away (unless I ask for them, by, ya know, typing them in)?
Thanks.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,848
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In the mixer section, right click on the offending track and from the drop down menu down toward the bottom, select Force track to simple arrangement and regenerate the track. That may help.
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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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2015
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fwiw I have the same issue with BIAB chord generation. Forcing to simple does not fix the chord structure, just the "busy-ness" of the playing. There are many times I only want straight triad chords, BIAB does not seem to be able to comprehend this. Well at least, not in any way I can find.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2015
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Is it using a bluesy track or is bluesy checked in the picker
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Aug 2011
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Try going to "song settings" and unchecking the box for allow bluesy feel ubder tge RealTrack controls.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Bobby, In addition to all the above... If you right-click on the chord sheet (at least for Windows BIAB) and select "Song Settings", there's an option in Song Settings to "Force to simple arrangement". This will affect all tracks. Also, if you click on the "Overrides" button at the bottom of the Song Settings window, there's an option to select individual tracks.  The "Pop/Country" and "Jazz" buttons are also a convenient way to set simple and non-simple arrangement. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 824
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 824 |
Under the pull-down menu 'Edit', 'Chords', 'Jazz Down the chords' you can change 7ths to triads. I am not sure if it would remove 7ths that are not supposed to be there but it's worth a try.
You can also change 9ths & 13ths to 7th chords, if you wanted to do that.
Last edited by Graham Martin; 01/27/16 11:55 AM.
Grah Jive Talk
"Don't worry baby, they'll swing their arses off."
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 64 |
Wow, thanks everyone - I tried all the Simple Arrangement settings but it didn't consistently affect the offending RealTrack because (I reckon) even if its 'Simpler Available' column (in the RealTrack Picker) had an 's' in it (which it didn't), as pax-eterna mentioned, Simple Arrangement would probably just affect the "busy-ness" of the playing, not the chord.
I did seem to have some success with the "Jazz Down the chords" option that Graham pointed out, in that the 7ths (e.g. G7) were now gone. Problem is, it now generated unwanted Maj7 chords elsewhere in the track(s).
Also, a lot of this - even were it to succeed - would require regenerating the whole track anyway, most of which I like, just as it is. You know what that means - I'll have to resume using RealBand, where I can regenerate on a bar by bar level. Shame really, since I like BIAB's look and interface much better...
But I appreciate all the great suggestions and the detailed illustration of where to find some of these options. This will be very useful in other situations in the future.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2013
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You can do partial regeneration in BIAB with some instruments by creating a midi track of the same instrument and use F5 to mute the audio section you wish to replace with a corresponding midi track and then mute the the midi and bring the audio back in at the sections you are satisfied with the audio.
Of course this works better with some instruments better than others and is also dependent on the quality of the soft synth or hardware used to generate your midi.
But it certainly works.
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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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139 |
I have to keep agreeing with Bobby...I have tried ALL the suggestions on the thread. BIAB still refuses to create a simple triad only based arrangement. I have even tried entering 5 chords (ie D5 C5 etc) with no 3rds, still makes no difference.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 265
Apprentice
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What style and RealTracks are you using on this particular song?
Jim
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
BIAB 2018 build 519; Dell Inspiron N4110, Windows 10 64 bit, Intel Core i3-2350m running at 2.29 GHz, Memory: 6 GB DDR3, SDRAM 1MHz
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,486
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pax-eterna,
As Jim has mentioned, having sevenths and extended chords play sometimes depends on style. I've noticed that if I use jazz styles, extensions/additions occasionally creep in. Rightly or wrongly, I put this down to the fact that the person who played the Realtrack might not have played too many simple major, minor or no-third chords. Also, it seems more likely to occur with older Realtracks.
If you generate a backing, and it appears that there's a problem with chords not generating correctly, it's always possible to freeze the song and send it to Support with an email to tell them to listen to specific bars and ask for their opinion.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139 |
It happens even with country tracks Noel and you go along nicely for a few bars thinking, yeah this is it, and then whammo a seventh is thrown in or a sus2 or a 6th or whatever...I have also had it generate a minor when a major chord is listed  I'm not looking for major (haha no pun!)fixes for it as I sorta kinda get used to it and just deal, but yeah the software should be mature enough to create simple triads for the WHOLE song haha! I suspect you are right in that the artists did not record too many bog standard chords and in the interest of "interest" the generating engine thinks it needs to add stuff to tone down the "boring" factor 
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 265
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 265 |
It seems that some styles and RealTracks do this kind of thing more than others. Try experimenting with other similar styles/RealTracks and you may find an acceptable alternative.
I might have time next week to try to help find alternatives if I knew which ones you are trying to use...
Jim
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
BIAB 2018 build 519; Dell Inspiron N4110, Windows 10 64 bit, Intel Core i3-2350m running at 2.29 GHz, Memory: 6 GB DDR3, SDRAM 1MHz
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 139 |
Thanks Jim, but if I want a style, well that's the style I want - if you get my drift haha! a similar style is, well, not right. In any case I have used many styles in BIAB and this behaviour is pretty generic across all of them, in my experience. Your offer of help is appreciated but as I wrote earlier I just deal with it 
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2003
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AFAIK the only way to accomplish this is to save the track as a wav, bring it into either Melodyne Editor or Melodyne Studio 4 and delete the offending note(s). This is not hard to do but Melodyne is expensive. Hopefully PGMusic will look into this problem.
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal".
Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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