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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I'm a compete newbie. I see a lot of people saying how intuitive BB is and I agree to some extent. I've been reading the user guide but I'm finding it slow going. I down loaded the intro video tutorial and that helps. What I would love to see is a tutorial that goes right through creating a backing track for a particular song - which is what I want to use BB for. Has anyone done that? For example I want to create a backing track for Sultans of Swing. Can someone step me through that - is there a tutorial I can follow? I reckon once I've seen the whole process once I'd be off and running.

Also I started messing with a new song and decided to try out the soloist feature - works fine but I can't figure out how to turn it off. Can anyone tell what to do?

Appreciate any assistance.


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Hi Andrew,
I see you're a cane toad - I'm a cockroach! Welcome to the forum. Band in a Box is not something that you can master immediately. It's a lot of trial & error, but rest assured there are a lot of nice people on this forum who will help you & guide you through.
The best way to start "Sultans of Swing" is to enter the chords, and then select an appropriate style (perhaps search for "Dire" in the style picker - there are a few there.)
Listen to the difference between the A pattern (blue) and the B pattern (Green) and decide which you want and where.
Experiment - press every button & dial & see what it does, and in no time you'll learn the infinite, wonderful possibilities that BIAB can offer. Remember...the first few songs are the hardest.

With regards to the soloist, to turn it on & off, go to the relevant bar and press F5. On the left hand side you will the various channels, go to "soloist" and highlight your selection (mute/back to normal) and this will start or stop the solo feature.

Good luck with the learning curve, and don't be afraid to ask questions - we all started somewhere.


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Keith
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Oh Andrew, If you see a post by Mac, click on the link below his signature and it will take you to an FAQ area of this forum - lots of info there. And Paul (pwarren) is putting together a BIAB Wiki website, which will certainly help in the future. It's at http://bandinabox.wikia.com/wiki/Band_in_a_Box_Wiki


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Keith
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Thanks Keith, Appreciate the welcome and advice.

An issue I'm struggling with is for a regular pop/rock song like Sultans, do I enter it as one single "chorus" played once with the A and B sections to denote the song verse and choruses, or do I do something else - not sure what!

Last edited by Asquared; 12/23/09 04:52 AM.

Andrew A
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I think you'll find that most of us that play pop tunes unfold to one big chorus.


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Hi Andrew,
As you listen to the A & B sections, you will probably find that in most cases the B section is a little more....ummm... busier, with more happening. I tend to use the B section as maybe the second "verse" with a change of instrument and a slightly more energetic backing. I prefer to lay the whole song out without repeats - just my opinion - as it seems to be easier to manage (you have up to 255 bars - about 7 minutes at 140 bpm, so normally no need to use repeats.)
As "Sultans" doesn't really have a chorus as such, I would probably use "A" for the first & second times through, & "B" for the final time.
Try it, and see which you prefer - remember, it's YOUR song now.
Good luck, mate. If you have any problems, PM me, and I'll do a quick arrangement for you (but after New Year, please, I'm on holidays until then - heading up your way for a week)


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Keith
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Sultans of Swing is a very distinctive song , so if it were me i would download a midi file of the song, delete the tracks i wanted to play myself, and process the others to sound like the song. I would also do this in Real Band rather than BiaB. Here is the file if you so choose http://www.karaokebash.com/cgi-bin/karartist.cgi?start=d


HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2025, Realband, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 9 32c , Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app.
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