Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 175
Apprentice
OP Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 175
In the Song Settings dialog, there is an option to avoid transposition of Real Tracks. The ToolTip says, "...since the guitar isn't transposed..."

90% of everything I do is drums, bass and guitar in various incarnations. My only two complaints with BiaB are the triplet issue and few chords in guitar shots and holds.

Is this related? Piano has lots of choices,but guitars (mostly jazz,some pop or country) not so much. I presume you are trying to avoid 'unplayable' fingerings, can we get more samples and choices to compensate?

I guess what I am asking is: How does this affect my workflow? Is there something O could be doing that would give me more options?

Thx.

Last edited by The Soundsmith; 12/30/18 09:39 AM.

It's all about the music.
(I keep telling myself that...)
http://www.davidkempton.com
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
PG Music Staff
Offline
PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 15,944
Hi,

Good question.

If you make this avoid transposition settings, here are the pros and cons.

Pros :
- better audio quality
- guitar display and tab more learnable, no impossible playing

Cons:
- less variation in the playing.


Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,937
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,937
Another option that may help is to go to the Arrangement window in Preferences and change "Natural Arrangements" from the default setting to never.

Press Ctrl + E to open Preferences and select the Arrangement button to open the Arrangement window.

Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in)
Clipboard01.jpg (67.54 KB, 174 downloads)
Clipboard02.jpg (67.32 KB, 173 downloads)

Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1220) RB (Build 4) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 274
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 274
When someone kind has a moment,can you explain what transposition is please?I dont think you mean change keys.Is it a way of stopping them RTs from playing chords in positions where they wouldnt go normally?Like a guitar playing ,say,E chord in first position and then going to the following B7 way up on the 7th fret-or worse?
In the meantime-Happy New Year to everyone at PG and on the Forums who have been so generous with their time and effort in geting through to these little grey cells when Im stuck,which is often but not as often as it used to.lol.
Tonight I am singing for my Supper for the last time this year.Im hoping 2019 is as good.
Wendy
x


BiaB2022PLUS,927. every extras pack I can find ;-),Sonar7XL,Win 10
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 20,908
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 20,908
If I understand your intention correctly Wendy, Transposing is essentially changing a song by moving all of the notes up or down from their original positions by a relative amount. This could change the key signature, or the notes could be moved by exact octaves, which would maintain the same key signature. That is the musical definition of transposing.

The method you described is not transposing, but using different inversions to play a chord in the same key, but using a variation in the sequence of notes. Yes, some inversions that could be written on manuscript could not (easily/practically) be played.





BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 265
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 265
Changing keys. With regard to RealTracks, because they're audio and not MIDI, transposing can produce annoying little imperfections in the sound ("artifacts"). I almost always select the option to avoid transposing them, at least on slow songs where they seem more noticeable, especially on piano.

Last edited by 1manband; 12/31/18 03:54 AM.

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
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,784
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,784
In this context, transposition does not refer to changing keys, per se, but the process of moving the pitch of the audio (RealTrack) up or down to match the key of the song.

For example, if you recorded the RealTrack using only D, G, and A chords (and their corresponding variations - minor, sus, 7th, aug, dim, etc), but your song needs to play an E chord, BIAB (after finding out that it doesn't have an E chord) will instead take the D chord and raise the pitch (transpose it) one full step (two semitones) to get the sound of an E chord. Fingering-wise for a guitar, it would be as if the guitarist quickly put on a capo on the 2nd fret and then played the chord as a D (which would sound as an E chord). Clearly a guitarist can't do this in real time, so in reality, the E chord would be played with different fingerings. But in this case, there is no recorded E chord, so the program has to transpose the D chord up to get the right chord sound.

Now, the PGMusic RealTracks actually record a whole bunch more chords than that, but not every variation of every chord. So while maybe a RealTrack has an E7, but not an E9 (but does have a D9), then if you did not turn off transpositions, if your arrangement called for an E9, it would transpose the D9 to an E9 and that's what you would hear. If you turned off transpositions (where it wouldn't use transpositions), then BIAB would instead play the E7 instead of the E9.

Don't know if this helps or muddies the description.


John

Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD
Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA

BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK

http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,396
Veteran
Online Happy
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,396
What John is describing uses the Elastique algorithm, introduced several years ago to BIAB. It allows pitch shifting without artifacts if the shift is only a step or two.

What Trevor is describing, inversions, cannot be directly controlled in BIAB. The best you can do is continue to regenerate until you hear an inversion you like. RealBand can do this on specific phrases.


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; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 8,021
Spot on John.Nice explanation.


John
ESI Gigaport HD+
Lenovo Turion II /4 Gig Ram/ Win7x64 be
15.6" Monitor
"The only Band is a Real Band"
www.wintertexaninfo.com/BANDS/JohnnyD.php
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 175
Apprentice
OP Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 175
Thanks everyone for weighing in. John and Matt have the definitive explanations, and my take on it is that looking for the maximum options most of the time, I should leave Natural Arrangement defaulted to Always. But it also tells me I STILL need to ask/beg Oliver to kick out a slew of alternate voicings for shots and hots.

Again, thanks for the help.


It's all about the music.
(I keep telling myself that...)
http://www.davidkempton.com
Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
P
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
P
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 7,954
I may be able to make up some shots n holds for that guitar if you could give me the voicing and chords you need.

Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 20,908
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 20,908
Originally Posted By: The Soundsmith
... and my take on it is that looking for the maximum options most of the time, I should leave Natural Arrangement defaulted to Always...

I personally don't have any confidence at all in Natural Arrangements.
Try this experiment for yourself:
1: Create a new song, key of C Major, 32 bars.
2: Choose _B140_GB as the style. You should have 32 bars of C (and a 4 bar ending in C)
3: Click on generate.

Do you get this result?

I don't see any complex 9th or 13th chords in the song.

Knowing (and admiring) your playing style and established skill level Soundsmith, I'm not sure that Natural Arrangements really always helps. YYMV of course.


Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in)
2019-01-12_00-29-31.jpg (34.54 KB, 54 downloads)
2019-01-12_00-38-45.jpg (128.84 KB, 50 downloads)

BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

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.

PG Music News
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!

Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!

We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.

Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.

Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!

Season's Greetings!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!

The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.

Team PG

Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window

In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe

This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®

With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!

These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!

This Free Bonus PAK includes:

  • The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK: -For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles. -For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles. -For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
  • MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
  • MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
  • Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
  • Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
  • Playable RealTracks Set 5
  • RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
  • SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
  • Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)

Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:


  • 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
  • FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
  • MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
  • MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
  • Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
  • Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
  • RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
  • SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)

Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!

Video: New User Interface (GUI)

Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!

Watch the video.

You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!

Forum Statistics
Forums57
Topics85,511
Posts792,769
Members39,905
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
Newest Members
Rachel31, Joel Stoner, madyasho, aace, qloulia
39,905 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 183
DC Ron 119
jpettit 108
Noel96 82
rsdean 67
Today's Birthdays
HighDezert, steelman61
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5