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Question for MIDI people.
I have some melodic MIDI loops (~4 bars) that I would like to use. Is it possible to use them within BIAB, so they follow chord changes without crazy workarounds?
Thank you.

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I would have no idea how these could work in BIAB?


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If your loops are midi files, just try dragging one the BiaB chord sheet and see what happens...


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BH,
That will only import the file and play "as is", it will not obey chord sheet...

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Rusty, could you upload one of your loop files... seems like we should be able to make it work.


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ehhh.... I don't think copyright demigods would want me to post here...

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Really, are you allowed to use these loops in your own published music?

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"Really, are you allowed to use these loops in your own published music?"

Is this a trick question? It is a commercial MIDI loop set that I bought. Sure, I can use them in my music tinkering... but I don't think I can share them on public forums in their original format.

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Ok, whatever...

"crazy workarounds" seem to be required for most of my projects...


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Here is a typical Midi Melody.mid
No chords, just a melodic line of 8 bars. I dropped it on the BIAB chord sheet and essentially saw nothing which is what I expected.

Melodic Melody.mid


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"essentially saw nothing which is what I expected."

Dan, sure? I didn't try your file, but when I dropped mine it gave me a pop up menu asking which track I want to place it on. It places track just fine but it doesn't transpose to the chords on the chord sheet.

I guess using melodic midi loops is not possible BIAB.. Strange is that they went through the trouble of allowing ACID loop playback, but no MIDI loop support.

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Fix "Sour" Notes
Out-of-tune notes in RealTracks will be auto corrected to match chord tones. This fixes notes that are outside of a desired chord or scale by pitch shifting them. For example, a G# will be pitch corrected down to a G if the current chord is CMaj7. This feature can be used for editing specific regions of an audio track, or it can be applied as a track setting that will automatically pitch correct RealTracks when they are generated.

For the Audio track, highlight the region you want to fix in the Audio Edit window, click on the [Edit] button, and select Fix “Sour” Notes from the menu. Then, when the dialog opens, select the rule to apply for the pitch correction.

For the RealTracks, right-click on the track radio button on the main screen, go to Track Settings - Auto Fix “Sour” Notes, and select the rule to apply for the automatic pitch correction. For example, if Song Chords is selected, a G# note played on a CMaj7 chord (C, E, G, B) will be pitch shifted to a G note. Choose Specific Parameters opens the dialog that describes each rule and allows you customize the rules.

Process MIDI: If this option is enabled, any MIDI on the track will be processes as well. Notes within the selected region will be changed according to the chosen rule.

It's suppose to with Midi but I couldn't get it to work.


If you have Reaper, items can be dragged out of Reaper and dropped directly into Biab.
Download: ReaTrak-snap-midi-to-chords-gui-compact.zip

Midi Phrase Snap To Chord Tool



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Originally Posted By: Rustyspoon#
.....................
Dan, sure? I didn't try your file, but when I dropped mine it gave me a pop up menu asking which track I want to place it on. It places track just fine but it doesn't transpose to the chords on the chord sheet.

I guess using melodic midi loops is not possible BIAB.. Strange is that they went through the trouble of allowing ACID loop playback, but no MIDI loop support.


Exactly. They can be put into any track but they do not follow BiaB's chords.

FWIW - My DAW, Studio One Pro 6, has a follow the chord track option. I just bring in the purchased MIDI loops and click on follow the chord track and most all of the time loop works perfectly. I say most all of the time as sometimes a run in one key does not transcribe perfectly to another key. But these are rare and easy to correct.


I think my wife has started to show the first signs of dementia.
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A standard midi file doesn't contain any information about underlying harmony, and if it's just a melody (no chords) I just wouldn't expect anything simply by loading the midi file into BIAB, other than getting it transposed if you write the chords yourself and set the key. (Note that there are two old features that can help to interpret chords from a midi file: "Reharmonist -new cords for an existing melody-" and "Import chords from midi files"; both can help interpret the harmony from a midi file, but again, once the chords are written in BIAB, the melody won't follow chord changes)

However, there's is the possibility to create a MIDI style from a midi file that could work for you:
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=309685&page=1

Another option would be to manually create a new MIDI Style by importing your MIDI files into patterns (File > Style Maker > Make a New Style > Pattern > Import pattern from MIDI File).

With these last two options your midi files should follow chord changes correctly, but without listening your midi files / knowing what you expect from them or how you'd like to use that material, it's difficult to say if that could work for you.




Last edited by Cerio; 12/14/22 09:57 AM.

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Here's another
Download: ReaTrak-mpl_Snap-takes-to-scale.zip

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Reaper-Snap-Midi-Scale.gif (211.48 KB, 191 downloads)
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Here's another:

ReaTrak snap midi takes in selection to chords.zip

ReaTrak Biab SGU MGU.. to regions.zip

You can import your SGU/MGU chords to Reaper's regions.
Then run the snap script, if the midi has keyswitches it can be set to ignore them.



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Originally Posted By: musocity
Here's another:

ReaTrak snap midi takes in selection to chords.zip

ReaTrak Biab SGU MGU.. to regions.zip

You can import your SGU/MGU chords to Reaper's regions.
Then run the snap script, if the midi has keyswitches it can be set to ignore them.




That looks brilliant, I will definitely try


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Rustyspoon, if you want melodic Midi loops follow chord progressions, you may want to make yourself acquainted with the StyleMaker. The StyleMaker may create some style which accomodates snuggly your ~4 bars licks. Not sure with respect to the results, but it may be worthwhile giving a shot. Send the result to some utility track and have it freezed - then you may frisk along.

--- Edit ---
Oh, just now read Cerio's comments - he already referred to the StykeMaker.

Last edited by MartinB; 12/14/22 01:01 PM.

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Originally Posted By: Cerio
That looks brilliant, I will definitely try

Save an SGU/MGU as Unfolded to get the full linear chord progression when imported to Reaper.

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Thank you all for trying to help!
I need some time to digest suggestions. Will post back.

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