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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2015
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BIAB 2015 Everything Pak.
When using ACW I am importing a MP3 (How Blue Can You Get by BB King) in order to try to make a backing track for myself.
I have tried three different recordings but they are all live so maybe this is an issue?
The problem I have is that the ACW doesn't get the tempo correct. So I have tried setting beat one of each bar by clicking on the Tap Barline button for each bar. This seems to work great. However, when I send the chords to BIAB; the tempo changes at almost every bar. It starts off fine at bar one then drops by 11bpm (70 to 59) then back up to 64 then up to 69 ... I do not see a place I can tell BIAB to remove all those changes other than going to each bar and selecting Bar Settings and changing it to zero. Anything I am missing?
BTW: I am using 16th note triplets as the quantizing tolerance value and I see that setting Tempo Tracking Range to 5% seems to help with accuracy.
Any other tips?
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Tim, In live-performance recordings in particular, it's necessary to set most beat 1s of the bar. This is easily accomplished by tapping F8 on each beat one as the song plays. After you've set half-a-dozen or so bars, it might be then that you only need to set beat 1 in every third or fourth bar. In the worst case scenario, you will need to set every beat 1. Doing this will create a tempo map that will be sent to to BIAB and which will be used when Realtracks, etc., are generated. If you go to the following link and look in the "Advanced" section, you'll find a 10:38 minute video clip on using ACW. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htmRegards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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OP
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Doing this will create a tempo map that will be sent to to BIAB and which will be used when Realtracks, etc., are generated.
Yes, I had already watched the ACW video but it just covers the basics. So I guess the 'tempo map' you describe is the tempo changes at select bars? I assume there is no master; Set All Bars to Tempo XXX option? Each bar has to have its tempo change option reset to zero? Because even if the band does drift a little in tempo, it certainly isn't 11 bpm from one bar to the next. :-) BTW: thanks for the prompt reply.
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks. Yeah, I have a couple of MIDI files and this is a good one. Music (and sound processing) is a hobby for me so I am really looking for the best ways to use BIAB and other tools. So my question is; can I use BIAB to import a mp3 then create a backing track from that original recording? It is certainly fun to play around with.
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks Pipeline. I have used karaoke-version a few times. Well worth the money. I realize that the tools available aren't good enough to split a mp3 into multi-tracks, that is a different issue. I use a number of different sound processing tools with UbuntuStudio, including ones I wrote. But, I am trying to squeeze what I can out of the ACW along with RealTracks to create a rhythm backing track. Just to explore the possibilities and see how much effort is involved. Sure YouTube is full of awesome free tracks. But not ones I made. 
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Tim, you can go back and forth between the ACW and BIAB to make adjustments to the tempo map. Click on the ACW button and it will prompt you to use existing audio and also whether to preserve chords and bar markers.
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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Tim,
Yes, the Tempo map will contain tempo changes for every bar when you use F8 or click the button to set Beat 1 in the ACW.
A change of 11 BPM does seem a bit much, but does it 'sound' right when played?
How accurately you hit the F8 has a lot to do with it. In my experience when you hit the F8 key (or click the comparable button) the ACW looks for the nearest peak in the audio and adjusts to that. This is just my theory from observation.
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: Nov 2015
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OP
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Tim, you can go back and forth between the ACW and BIAB to make adjustments to the tempo map. Click on the ACW button and it will prompt you to use existing audio and also whether to preserve chords and bar markers. This is useful. I had missed this in the instructions before. Originally, I thought it was a one-way process. Also, the actual answer to my original question is that; clicking on the set tempo map button is what sets all of those tempo changes. I know, seems obvious now, but it wasn't at first. So either you can not set the tempo map if you do not plan to play the audio with the BIAB generated file or you can set it and remove it later with the Erase Tempo Map button.
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Something else you may want to try.
Take your YouTube audio file and chop it up into smaller pieces like intro, verse 1, verse 2, solo, outro. Then run the smaller pieces through ACW. That may help eliminate drift and large tempo variations.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2005
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Expert
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Expert
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The problem I have is that the ACW doesn't get the tempo correct. So I have tried setting beat one of each bar by clicking on the Tap Barline button for each bar. This seems to work great. However, when I send the chords to BIAB; the tempo changes at almost every bar. It starts off fine at bar one then drops by 11bpm (70 to 59) then back up to 64 then up to 69 ... I do not see a place I can tell BIAB to remove all those changes other than going to each bar and selecting Bar Settings and changing it to zero. Anything I am missing?
You can do exactly that on "Audio chord Wizard utilities>Erase tempo map" (or something similar, I'm not in front of the computer right now). The good news is that the program remembers the tempo map, so you can set that option on and off so many times you need. Audio chord Wizard is a great tool to create backing tracks in BIAB.
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 82
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OP
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Audio chord Wizard is a great tool to create backing tracks in BIAB.
That was my intuition. But there are a lot of moving parts and workflows that aren't described in the docs. I'm not complaining, I write complex software and know how hard it is to write docs for everyone. That is why this forum is so awesome and the members are great in willingness to share experiences. Thanks!
Band-in-a-Box PlusPAK Upgrade (2018) on Windows 10
Live instruments: Schecter Solo-6 Custom, Fender Mustang III v2.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Pipeline: thanks for the link to FreeMidi.
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
Short term memory is getting shorter.
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