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OP
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1) start by loading the song you want to recreate
2) send it to the ACW to extract the chords and tempo map it
3) when satisfied with the timing, exit ACW and send it back to RB
4) go to the chords window and fix any chords that aren't what you want.
5) Once timing and chords are right, start adding RealInstruments. Experiment to see which ones sound most like the instruments in the song.
6) continue until the backing instruments you've added play along well with the original song that is still loaded on its own track
at this point you should have the original song on one track, and your own generic version of it on other tracks. You still need the hooks.
Many songs play the hooks while the singer is not singing. If you crossfade the original to come forward during instrumental passages, and bring your tracks forward when the vocals kick in, you will end up with a song that is basically a vocal redux, but with no artifacts.
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Joined: Aug 2011
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Apprentice
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Now that's clever ... Thanks for posting this one.
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I do a similar thing. I take a midi of the song, and make it sound the best i can. Then take any individual tracks that sound badly, like an acoustic guitar or something and add real tracks to replace them, and then play any one that that does not fix and keep working them until i am happy that it doesn't sound midiish.
Sometimes midi tracks just need a good shake down and a better sample patch. Open them in the piano roll and look at where the notes start and end, the mechanical sound can be tweaked out by dragging them longer and shorter so that the over lap, don't start and stop on a dime, and seem human.
Vocal oohs and aahs are a good example. then all end at the same time, have chopped of edges, drag one to it over laps another and when there is three or four notes together, make then all end at slightly different times. Lastly use a good sounding sample. I use a vocal collection in sampletank 2 One patch is called beach boy, it is three blended voices that are tight and sweet.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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addendum:
On some songs the vocals start up again before a solo or signature lick is finished playing, and you have to make a judgment call about whether to fade the signature part out prematurely, or risk leaving in a piece with vocals.
One workaround for that is to make a copy of the original song on yet another track, and use PGMusic's vocal remover on it. It doen't remove vocals completely, but it can provide you with a snippet at the end of the instrumental in which the vocals are obscure enough to finish the rest of the signature lick.
Just use envelopes or gain changes to bring the most desirable track forward
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Joined: Nov 2010
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Pat
When you talk about using envelopes, is that in RealBand or in another DAW?
If in RealBand where or how is this done as I can't find it in the Help manual.
Thanks
Carkins
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Quote:
Pat
When you talk about using envelopes, is that in RealBand or in another DAW?
If in RealBand where or how is this done as I can't find it in the Help manual.
Thanks
Carkins
In real Band you can create volume envelopes for an audio track by going to piano roll.
At the top of the piano roll window you'll see a drop down listbox that shows your options for creating envelopes. If you want a volume envelope, pick "VOLUME"
Then in the lower pane of the piano roll window there is a grid. In the horizontal direction it is lined up with the song's timing... in the vertical direction it controls the volume, from zero at the bottom to full volume at the top .
Whenever/wherever you want the volume to change in the song, click in the lower pane, and the volume will change to the level you clicked.
For example, if you click at the bottom of the lower pane you will turn the volume all the way down, and if you click in the middle, you've turned the volume halfway up... and of course, clicking at the top turns it all the way up.
In the song, the volume will change at whatever measure/note you clicked
You can make a lot of incremental changes close together to create a swell or decrease in volume
Or you can suddenly change the volume all at once
(It works the same way for MIDI tracks, but with MIDI you have other options that aren't available with AUDIO)
NOTE: If you use envelopes to turn the volume all the way down, add one last click after the song fades to turn the volume back up. Otherwise you can go nuts later trying to figure out why you lost sound on that track. (Don't ask how I know this.)
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Joined: Jul 2002
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Quote:
You still need the hooks.
Many songs play the hooks while the singer is not singing. If you crossfade the original to come forward during instrumental passages, and bring your tracks forward when the vocals kick in, you will end up with a song that is basically a vocal redux, but with no artifacts.
Woundering about copyright infringement isn't this like sampeling
Otherwise great post
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Journeyman
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Thanks Pat for the info on using envelopes.
Would be a good suject for a user how to video.
Rock on!
Carkins
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Quote:
Quote:
You still need the hooks.
Many songs play the hooks while the singer is not singing. If you crossfade the original to come forward during instrumental passages, and bring your tracks forward when the vocals kick in, you will end up with a song that is basically a vocal redux, but with no artifacts.
Wondering about copyright infringement isn't this like sampeling
Otherwise great post
well, the vast majority of people who publicly perform cover songs are already in a gray area depending on whether or not they or the venue are paying for the rights to play the music. Assuming the rights have been paid for by somebody, this post just articulates one of many ways to use software to create backing tracks for a song.
If the rights haven't been paid for by somebody, then whether you have the hooks or not.. if you use the title in conjunction with the lyrics in conjunction with the melody in conjunction with the arrangement... you're already in trouble. That's why so many clubs these days advertise "original songs only" (so they don't have to pay a fee to host protected music)
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Good Ideas Pat.
I tend to go the other way, and make the original un-original.
Some Funk bass to go with the into to Stand by Me.
I play a lot of places, about 25 to 30 every year is the norm.
Most of them have a licence to play public performances of music, but they are on the honour system with me. I have verified this in the 3 joints we/I play the most.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Quote:
Good Ideas Pat.
I tend to go the other way, and make the original un-original.
Some Funk bass to go with the into to Stand by Me.
I play a lot of places, about 25 to 30 every year is the norm.
Most of them have a licence to play public performances of music, but they are on the honour system with me. I have verified this in the 3 joints we/I play the most.
John,
I like your idea better than mine. I only posted the thing about hooks because that has been a recurring question on virtually all music forums, and I think PGMusic's unique features offer a particularly cool way to accomplish that.
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My only observation is that if you keep too much of the original you may as well just sing along with the CD. As much as I hate playing cover music, this wouldn't be something I would pursue that hotly.
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Quote:
My only observation is that if you keep too much of the original you may as well just sing along with the CD. As much as I hate playing cover music, this wouldn't be something I would pursue that hotly.
indeed there are at least two camps when it comes to this topic. Most musicians prefer to use their talent to add a personal touch to a song, or perform only originals. Most audiences want to hear exactly the same song that evokes some cherished memory.
Which way the musician goes depends largely on the kind of venues that are available
In one of James Taylor's songs he talks about people who "spend good money to hear Fire and Rain again and again and again." So even for musicians who make an impression with their own original songs, there is a tendency to get trapped by the public's insatiable desire to relive the past through music
The good news is, BIAB and RB empower us to go either way.
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Quote:
Most musicians prefer to use their talent to add a personal touch to a song, or perform only originals.
The key is writing good originals. No easy task..... Though if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.
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