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Joined: Feb 2016
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Joined: Feb 2016
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Hello to Biab users. I have the BaiB 2010 edition, and I must admit I Really haven't used it much, being not a real skilled computer person, or particularly gifted musician.
However, I have been working diligently on sight reading and can play and read classical music (guitar) up to a grade 4 level, although I do struggle with some pieces.
After all this time I really want to learn Band in a Box as this program has so much to offer, it's a shame that I can't utilize it to it's full potential. Initially I bought this as a tool to use as accompaniment as I don't have other musicians to play with
on a regular basis. I have played in several bands through the years, usually as Bass guitarist in country dance bands.
Any advice on how to get up and running with my BiaB, gratefully appreciated.
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Joined: Jan 2013
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Joined: Jan 2013
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Well....I'm no BIAB aficionado so I'd say start here: http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htmDig in and others will chime in to assist. Carry on....
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Joined: Dec 2003
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chulaivet1966 nailed it!
First off, a hardy and sincere Welcome!
I'm not a great book-learner so I offer similar advice. Just jump in with both feet and know that you are among the most wonderful, knowledgeable, musicians on the planet who hang their egos at the door.
First step: acquaint yourself with the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to learn the buttons and controls and what each one does.
Step 2: Enter some favo(u)rite (Canadian spelling) chords.
Step 3: Hit PLAY (or Space-bar) to start/stop.
Step 4: Experiment with different Styles from the Style Picker dialogue menu.
Wahoo! You're a composer!
If you hit a wall, shout out and someone will throw out a lifeline.
We've all been in your shoes at square #1 and won't flame you. That's something that sets these forums miles apart from others I frequent.
Again, welcome!
"Have fun!" - Dr. Peter Gannon
Don
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Welcome to the forum. You may want to try this.
If you have trouble deciding on chord progressions, keys and tempos, rather than worry with that, choose a style you enjoy and load the demo for the style. It will load the chord progression, key and tempo as well as choose your 'band'.
You can mute the instrument that you play live if it is included in the band - and begin playing along immediately.
You can also woodshed the song. There is a tutorial for this in the PGMusic news feed dated 2/16/16.
PGMusic explains it as follows:
"Woodshedding (defined as Slang; to practice a musical instrument assiduously and with a specific goal in mind) is easy with Band-in-a-Box!"
"The idea is that you start off with a slow tempo, playing the part perfectly, and keep this up as the song tempo increases - what a great way to learn!"
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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Joined: Feb 2016
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Joined: Feb 2016
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Thanks for the response everyone. I have figured out a few simple things so far. As an example I put in the chords I want for a song like Minor Swing, then pick the style, Django swing, then play this in a loop while practicing how to improvise over the chord changes. I generally pick a tune that has few chord changes as it gives me a bit more time to work in an arpeggio or scale into the melody. One thing I was wondering about was creating my own score using the tools in Real Band. My music writing ability as per notation is weak, very slow at best. My understanding is that BaiB, can create a musical score if you input via midi. I don't have a midi keyboard and I don't play keyboard anyway, so I am wondering how to adapt this to guitar. In effect turning a guitar into a midi device? The Godin Multiac guitar comes with builtin midi, but does that mean you can plug directly to the computer or do you need to go through another interface, such as Roland synthesizer? Does anyone have experience with this? By the way, I only found there was a BIAB forum today. Only then because I registered my product after a re-install, and noticed the forum box on the homepage. (6 years late) Thanks for this link. It's great. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htm
Last edited by offgridguy; 02/24/16 02:18 PM.
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I have very little experience with MIDI but have done several soundtracks to accompany slideshows for friends. Version 2016 has several beautiful soundtracks to chose from. Is this similar to your goal? https://youtu.be/sfSRdG7Xc_Mhttps://youtu.be/r0e_VGQPT7cDon
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Thanks for the reply. I realize now I probably didn't clarify my post very well, my apologies.
My situation is this; I write a lot of songs, both instrumental and with lyrics. Because of my lack of proficiency in writing musical notation it is a struggle to get it onto paper in the proper format. I believe there are some musical notation software programs that will take an audio file and transpose it to a musical score for you. I believe Forte 7 will do this, though I could be wrong. I don't know if BIAB has this function,
however I was told that if you played a piece on a keyboard that was midi compatible and connected to BIAB then it would indeed transpose it to a written musical score as midi recognizes the piano keystrokes as a note and attaches the proper note value to it. I am not sure what equipment is required to accomplish the same thing with a guitar. I am certainly intrigued with the Godin Multiac though as it's the only guitar I know that comes wired with midi outlet.
If this worked it would mean I could play one of my tunes and have BIAB transpose it to a musical score.
I hope it's possible, even if I need some additional equipment
to make it work.
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Joined: Aug 2011
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Yes, you can use any midi controller to input midi information. Many people use a midi keyboard but there are a number of forum members that use a guitar midi controller such as the You Rock controller or Roland 13 pin system. There are a few people that use wind controllers.
Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (Build 1128) RB (Build 5) - Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
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Welcome OffGridGuy
BiaB became my other 'Band To Have' because whenever we had scheduled a jam in the real world, the bass player never couldn't make it at the last minute, and the drummer never had to cancel because his sister's mother-in-law had a hairdresser appointment and no one else could drive her there. Are you with me?
And everyone could read the charts, and they could keep time. You still with me?
You'll love this. Stay patient. Lots to do in the future... Small steps, stay patient. This program has an enormous amount to offer, and can take you to where you might never have thought possible.
BIAB & RB2025 Win.(Audiophile), Sonar Platinum, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M Monitors, Pioneer Active Monitors, AKG K271 Studio H'phones
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BB is the absolute BEST BAND I've ever had the pleasure to play with.
They say if you want to get better, you have to play with folks who are better then you. BB is all the best players in the musical world.
Take your time and learn the program. Post songs, ask questions, and participate in the forums and you will learn.
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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I do exactly what you want to do with a MIDI guitar controller, a wind controller and a keyboard controller. The process is simple just input the chords into BiaB. Pick your style; I would use MIDI styles to start with as some RTs do not have MIDI transcripts. Then record your MIDI. Then save your file as either a MIDI file or a XML file. If you just want your lead and chord IDs then you can print everything out in BiaB. If you want a full score then get the free Musescore2: https://musescore.org/If you want to input more that one guitar part then you would use a DAW. BiaB come with a DAW called RealBand, as previously mentioned. RTs are audio files and audio can not be directly printed, then must be changed to MIDI. Some RTs do have the MIDI transcripts so these will not be a problem, however some do not have them. You can convert audio to MIDI and the best way to do that is with Melodyne, however the polyphonic version that you would need is expensive. You might not need to buy a MIDI controller. Jam Origin: http://www.jamorigin.com/products/midi-guitar/is a $100 USD program that a lot of people are raving about. It converts your guitar parts to MIDI. I don't own it yet but it is on my must get list. I hope this helps and good luck.
Whenever I get something stuck in the back of my throat, I dislodge it by drinking a beer.
It's called the Heineken Maneuver.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Thank You to everyone. This is very helpful information, I thought it could be done, but didn't know how.
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Did you realize that you can edit MIDI in BIAB's Piano Roll view?
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Did you realize that you can edit MIDI in BIAB's Piano Roll view? Nope, I've got a lot to learn, thanks.
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I've been browsing through this site. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htmThe amount of info here is mind boggling, but well presented, clear and concise, I'm off to a good start. Thank you chulaivet1966.
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I have sent you a PM - check mailbox
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Welcome.
Don't overlook Mario's instruction, that you can play guitar and input MIDI that way.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
Join the conversation on our forum.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
From overviews of new features and walkthroughs of the 202 new RealTracks, to highlights of XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAKs 18, the 2025 49-PAK, and in-depth tutorials — you’ll find everything you need to explore what’s new in Band-in-a-Box® 2025.
Reference this forum post for One-Stop Shopping of our Band-in-a-Box® 2025 Mac Videos — we’ll be adding more videos as they’re released!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac with savings of up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special—available until July 31, 2025! Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Mac 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 Italian Version is Here!
Cari amici
È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 - Italiano
RealBand 2025 - Italiano
Band-in-a-Box 2025 French Version is Here!
Bonjour à tous,
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
BIAB 2025 - francisation
RealBand 2025 - francisation
Voilà, enjoy!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 German Version is Here!
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Stay up to date—get the latest update now!
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