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Before I post in the wish list forum, I thought I'd ask in case I missed a switch somewhere. Is it possible to get the soloist to ignore the chord changes and just play over the key. This would be particularly useful in the case of rock and metal soloists to make them play over the key scale.
I have looked in the soloist creation screens but couldn't see anything obvious.
I have generated solos over different progressions and imported them into a sequencer to achieve this, but it would probably be fairly simple to incorporate in the software if it doesn't already exist.
Steve
BIAB 2019
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You can't do it directly but you can create a new song, put in your chord change and generate your solo. Then save it as a midi or audio file. Go back to your target song and import that track onto either the soloist or the melody track. Those two tracks are editable and save with the song. Just make sure to not use the soloist function again if that's the track you use in that song or you'll regenerate and wipe it out.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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With version 2010, you could try entering one chord for the key, generate the soloist, and freeze the track. Then enter the song's chords and generate the rest of the tracks.
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.
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Quote:
With version 2010, you could try entering one chord for the key, generate the soloist, and freeze the track. Then enter the song's chords and generate the rest of the tracks.
That should work to turn the BB soloist into a Modal Troll, alright.
--Mac
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Modal Troll  nice one, but to replicate some of the less harmonic forms of music it is unfortunately necessary. As I said, I do have a work around that gives the right result, but it would be a benefit to those of us that work in all forms of music to be able to do it with minimal extra work, especially if it's not difficult for PG to implement. I take it that's a no then, I'll post it on the wish list. Thanks Steve
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To me, this would just sound like someone who doesn't listen to the chords. But that's just my bias.
I agree, if you want to do it without any work-around, Wishlist it is.
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.
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I wouldn't call it a workaround as it was one of the selling points of the freeze function.
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Yes, it's a great new feature, but he asked about having an option on the Soloist creation screen. I gave him a workaround.
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.
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As an example (if you're intereseted) heres an mp3 the 1st 16 bars of which the soloist was following the changes, the second was all over one chord. http://bandsl.co.uk/metal.mp3This is a simplistic example and so as not to offend any metal heads, rock and metal solos are not always played over one chord, in fact there can be some very complex complementary chord substitutions going on within the guitar solos. But it is a starting point for ideas and to see if things work, which is how I use BIAB to in my song writing in all genres. Steve
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Clever work, Steve I guess the principle is that if anything is played quickly enough, and it's scale-based, it will alternate with being both consonant and dissonant with whatever the underlying harmony is provided the harmony is diatonic. In short, with fast, scale-based licks against diatonic harmony, you can never really be "out of tune" unless you stop on a discordant note. I'd never thought about that before. Thanks for teaching me a new trick!
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Noel
In it's most basic form the rock/metal solos will use predominantly pentatonic scales, which removes some of the possible dissonance anyway. Playing over the power chord (5) removes some more trouble spots (no major or minor harmonies to worry about).
The soloist (on the example) that comes with band in a box is more complex than that of course, then there is always the speed thing that works, as you say, as long as you don't stress the wrong notes.
Steve
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I know what Steve wants, and it is certainly valid.
I also think that if there was a simple one-button for the Modal Troll Soloist that it would be an unqualified hit with a lot of people.
--Mac
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BIAB 2019
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I remember when 2009 came out, this example was on a video here on the site or with the programm. It used the Metal guitar RTs solist to play over a scale and not follow the chord changes. It was not done by freezing, as far as I remember, but something like the key transpose field/button.
I can`t find the video on the PG site no more, since the 2009 vids are upgraded for 2010.
Maybe PG staff remembers that.
Sandra
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Thanks for the pointer Sandra,
I found it on on youtube.
It's a reverse switch! If you enter the chords as A5 D5 etc. which is of course what I did to be accurate, it plays the chord changes, but if you enter just A D etc. it plays over the scale.
Problem solved!
That'll teach me to be pedantic.
Thanks to all for your input.
Steve
Last edited by stevel; 01/10/10 03:38 PM.
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Way to go, Steve! I had no clue about that.
This is what makes this forum so great, you took the time to post what you found. This is also another answer to the oft heard criticism that Biab is just for jazzers. With all the rock, country, bluegrass even grunge styles, there's something for everybody.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I usually had problems with band members and solos after the consumption of substances. Band in a Box solves that. Unlike Band in a Bottle.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Soloing over a one-chord or two-chord vamp is in fact very common in rock and other related styles.
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If I understand the question correctly then this is EXACTLY what the metal soloists do (unlike all the other soloists). By default the metal soloists play just in the key of the song and do not follow the chord changes. If you want to force them to follow chord changes then you have to put a '5' after the chord name.
One problem in particular is that you can't seem to enter the '5' after minor chords (BIAB just ignores it) so I am not sure what the soloist is doing when it encounters these chords.
In my view it would be much better to have a song level switch to make the soloist follow the chords or not. (Although with the current setup I guess that you could make either choice in different parts of the song - I don't know enough about metal soloists to know whether this is something they would change mid-song).
If I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor.
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A 5chord, or so called powerchord doesn`t include a third. It consists of the root and the fifth. So these chords are "neutral", they are neither major nor minor. That`s why you cant have a minor5 chord.
Sandra
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