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1) I just need to know if you think Band in a Box / Real Band would be the way for me to go or if something like East West Quantum Leap etc. or similar would best suit my needs.


They're apples and oranges, in the sense the those are sample libraries, and BiaB is a "style" library. The "core" version of BiaB is MIDI based, so the sound that you get will depend on the sample library that you've got.

RealTracks are basically automated Acid loops - type in the chord progression, and BiaB builds the loop tracks for you automatically.

BiaB is a composition tool that can use sample libraries to augment MIDI, or "RealTracks" in the manner of a loop-based library.

I think there might be some confusion about RealTracks, though: they aren't the same as sample libraries. With sample libraries, you can control the instruments via MIDI and determine exactly what note will be played.

RealTracks are akin to loops: snippets of recorded music, down to a resolution of one beat. Unlike loop libraries that need to be assembled by hand, BiaB does the heavy lifting for you. So if your chart indicates there's 1 measure of Cmaj7, when building the various tracks BiaB would look in the RealTrack library for loops that can be played over a Cmaj7 chord.

So with RealTracks, you can't control the notes that BiaB will select. If it creates a guitar solo and you don't like the result, you can regenerate it and get a different solo. In RealBand, you can tell it what parts of the solo you might want regenerated. But you can't use RealTracks to generate specific notes. For that, you'd use MIDI and a sample library.

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2) Would BIAB/Real Band be too limiting considering the styles of music I like to write?


BiaB is better for some styles than others. All the existing styles can be previewed on line, and it's well worth your time to have a listen to them.

Country, jazz and pop are BiaB's strength, although there have been some complaints that the styles are not contemporary enough.

Like any tool, it's better suited for some things than others. It's akin to bringing a chart to a live band, and telling them to play it in a particular style. Unlike Henry Ford ("any color is good... as long as it's black"), there are a lot of styles available in BiaB.

Even when you're working on something "outside" BiaB's style, it's still useful. For example, you can use it as a sketchpad to test out chord progressions, and auto-generate melodies over those progressions.

If you're especially sneaky, you can do lots of interesting stuff from within a DAW. For example, I've had guitar tracks that didn't quite match the rhythm I wanted, so I time-stretched them in my DAW to get the syncopation that I wanted. I had a drum track that had a beat where I didn't want it... So I exported the track to my DAW, and edited out the "extra" beat.

So if you're 90% of the way there, you can still "get there" with the BiaB tracks.

On the other hand, there are styles that BiaB doesn't really do (yet).

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Semi-classical


There are a few semi-classical MIDI styles, but you'd need decent sample library for them to sound OK. This isn't really a strength of BiaB. You're more likely to use a notation program if you were writing in this style.

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Pop


Pop is a pretty broad category. Listening to the examples is the best way to make a determination as to whether BiaB matches the style you have in mind.

There are a lot of MIDI pop styles, but once you start using RealTracks, it's hard to go back to MIDI.

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R&B


You can check out some examples here. I don't think that BiaB has focused as much attention on R&B RealTracks, but that's not really a style I've looked into, so I can't speak with any authority.

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And a little Blues....


There are some really nice blues RealTrack styles.

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3) Could I use BIAB/RealBand as my composition tool wholly and solely?


Yes, without a doubt - lots of folk do. But that's assuming your song is a style within BiaB's library. As others have mentioned, it's able to generate complete songs for you, including the melody lines.

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4) Could I use BIAB/Real Band in conjunction with any of the sound libraries or even Kontak 5 say?


Yes, as long as they have VSTi's that can be loaded into BiaB, and they use MIDI controllers in a standard way.

For example, Garritan has an excellent jazz instrument library that sounds great with BiaB's MIDI styles. However, Garritan has decided to implement volume control via the modulation wheel, which normally controls modulation (vibrato). So when BiaB sends vibrato information to the Garritan library, it ends up changing the volume. That's Garritan's fault, not BiaB's.

So if you've got a good sound library, the MIDI tracks can be quite good.

Hands down, if you're looking for the best bang for your buck, BiaB is the way to go. As the name implies, it's very much the same as having a "band in a box". If the styles are a good match for you, there's nothing better on the market.

Edit: Forgot about MIDI options, so I added those in.

Last edited by dcuny; 07/20/12 11:38 AM.