Mr Crowell,

Um--a question? What is it you want to DO with BIAB? Why, as a non-musician, do you have BIAB in the first place? (That is really the same question rephrased.)

Answer that and I truly believe that you can get practical answers to practical questions.

By "answer that", I mean write down what it is that you want to do. Is it to "write songs" or "make demos"? Erm, there will be some subtasks there--including the questions you need answered about the program. Break it down. In writing. (I hope you'll share those goals with us, too; we're all curious now. )

You will find that this process raises more questions than it answers--which is a good thing. That is part of the true brilliance of this program; it's an expanding concept. The more you do, the more you can do.

I happen to agree with you on the (unbelievable) depth of the program; also on the vanilla responses--denial, really--regarding the difficulty that can create. The manuals' indexes are incomplete, the Help entries are sometimes equivocally phrased (meaning that they are correct, but sometimes unclear or open to interpretation), and the program itself contains so many menu options you will never use that it is hard to find your way back to the ones you do.

The following isn't a quote, I'm just formatting it so it will stand out.

Quote:

Solution: Take notes as you work. Create your own manual for what you do. (This is a good idea for any repetitive technical task, really.) Most of the answers are in the manuals or in Help; they're just hard to find. Scribble in the margins and between entries in the (woefully inadequate) index of the printed manuals when they become available. You'll quickly run out of space, of course, so add pages if you have to. Get the thing organized so that you quickly find the solutions to your technical needs. And write down new questions/goals as they come up.

Note that I mentioned some things which require action on your part. Write down your goals. Break them into subtasks. Write down the questions that those raise. Answer them and check them off. Write down the new questions as they arise. Lather, rinse and repeat. Srsly. It works. Write stuff down..



Venting is fine, but come to the fora--and go to the Helps--with questions requiring positive answers and I believe you will find a much shorter path to your goals.

Affirmatively,

Richard