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Quote:
I will download the $149 version after super, install it, try to figure out within the hour how to get a basic Gma7 chord track out (anything - it does not matter - the simpler and faster the better), then I put my headsets on to hear the track
So, you're familiar with configuring your computer with audio and midi setups then? You know what latency settings are, what a midi device is, what a soft synth is, whether or not to use ASIO or MME, and a few other things I can't think of right now. If not, that alone will take more than an hour. Once you've got the set up and config done then lets look at your request:
1. Hit file>new
2. Click on Style and wait for the styles list to rebuild then select anything.
3. Put your cursor in the first chord cell and left click.
4. Type Gmaj7 or G7 or any kind of G like Gm7b5 or whatever.
5. Hit the Play button.
If you hear a song start playing your G chord then the basic config is ok and you have sound. Next:
Quote:
...and feed my guitar amp to the Microphone I already have set up which records to Audacity and if I can figure out how to get it to record then figure out how to play back the Gma7 track and my recording then it is a keeper.
I don't understand this. Feed your amp to the mic? Is your mic carnivore or something? Seriously, I assume you mean your mic is plugged into your computer and you put the mic next to your amp. Why not just route the mic input inside Biab like you did for Audacity and record it onto Biab's audio track? No need for Audacity. Biab includes the Amplitude guitar plugin to emulate all kinds of effects, amps and cabinets. Many times though when you're playing an audio track with midi tracks inside Biab you will hear the audio out of sync. That happens or not and depends on you guessed it, your setup and is part of you understanding digital audio/midi recording and how to config everything. The cure for that is to offset the audio track if you do hear it out of sync. If you can understand the config set up quickly then what I'm describing takes like 2 minutes for you to do or 30 seconds for an experienced user not including the time spent grinning and playing. I can tell you this, it can take a lot of noob's the better part of a weekend to figure out the settings if they've never set up a DAW before. I don't know your background with digital audio/recording, it may go very fast for you.
Have fun,
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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From your posts, it sounds to me like you've already convinced yourself that BIAB is not for you.. I would suggest you try your friend's program, or just stay with a known free program, (e.g. Reaper).. BIAB is a wonderful program, even an illiterate computer guy like me can run it & get some decent backing tracks with it.. Real Band is a great DAW, but I don't blame PG Music for not giving free Trials, they do give a money back guarantee, & no one can give better than that, full refund, no questions..
But if you don't like their policy & evidently you don't, just don't buy it.. Lots of free recording programs out there, But for me & many others, PG Music have delivered what they promised.. & I may add a much cheaper hobby than buying golf clubs & paying high green fees every year, though I like golf too..
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I like Earl have used the program for some years, but never delve deep. Frankly I don't need to. I, like Earl, have qualifications in programming and a whole host of sophisticated and expensive VSTs and sequencers on my system. Since getting Real Tracks BIAB I hardly ever use them. Instead of fiddling with settings (I do know this program but its sitll very involved to get a track going) in Cubase 6 instead of making music. I just switch on BIAB and I play. Its that simple.  Type in a few chords, pick a style and off you go. Yes you will need a decent low latency sound card (see if you can pic up a 2496 on ebay if your on a budget) type in a few chords, pick a style and off you go. I would say just buy the thing and get the everything pack - you wont regret it.
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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Thanks guys,
I have pretty much decided to give it a run now. Between my friend's long time use of BIAB and your great posts I feel a little better about breaking the industry standard of (doing a test drive before paying). See even the car sales industry had it right with the standard test drive. I still think that PG Music will better protect their major lead their industry niche by having a free trial period of the basic version. But that is their decision obviously.
So it is downloading now. Wow! I think I need to buy a backup drive. Should have done that long ago actually. On second thought after researching on Google it appears I can fit them all on a DVD backup. So that is pretty good.
Thanks again,
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 06:25 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I am convinced you will not look Back,
I have never had so much fun making music by myself since i went for BIAB. Good couple of years now. After Realband came in it took me a while to start using it and have not fired up Powertracks in 2 years!
The HUGE strides PG made after those first 3 real-tracks , (and those excited me so much that i made my wife come and listen to it,) that took a g e s to generate certainly changed my life (reading this i agree it sounds corny but even after reflecting on what i said it is still true for me)
Also being in the software development game i cannot believe that all this functionality is offered for the price they put on it ....and it works ... They fix bugs Quick ....
(just my two cents worth)
I'm doing allright for Country Trash ....
I used to care, but things have changed (Bob Dylan)
BIAB 2022W + RB
M-Audio FastTrack C600, Rode NT2-A
Digitech VoiceLive 4
Epiphone Sheraton, Ibanez 12str, Washburn 6str, Cort 6Str Nylon
Yanagisawa Tenor Sax
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@John (bowlesj), I'd be interested in hearing how this works out for you. I've been considering purchasing BIAB for at least a couple of months and, like you, would prefer to download a trial first. I have been reluctant to purchase since I truly do not know if I'll be satisfied with the results I get from the program. And in my case I'm pretty sure I would need the $500 package so its not a trivial amount to spend without being sure!
Side note regarding a trial...I'm pretty sure they used to offer one but I'd bet the main reason they eliminated it was due to piracy concerns. Most trials are just the full version that can be activated with a key and 10 minutes after you release such a trial the pirates will begin posting keys and cracks. I doubt size has much to do with it as you wouldn't need to provide many RealTracks with a trial and there are plenty of product trials you can download that are very large!
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Quote:
I am convinced you will not look Back,
Thanks CountryTrash. it seems my friend and pretty much every one here seems to feel the same way. I have no doubt it will be a big step up from the Cakewalk I was using.
I just got everything installed. The play test worked. Now for some lunch then the record test if I can figure it out.
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 09:07 AM.
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Quote:
I have no doubt it will be a big step up from the Cakewalk I was using.
One more time, then I will shutup, "..BIAB will not replace Cakewalk, why?, because BIAB is too limited in its recording capabilty!" This is why PGMusic made RB. Or of course maybe I am missing something here in your objectives. Wouldn't be the first time...
OK, I'm done. 
Dan, BIAB2024, SoundCloud Win11, i7(12thGen), 32GB, 1TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD), 2TB Libraries, 1 TB(WD-Black), 2TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD)Data, Motu Audio Express, Keystation 61, SL88 Studio, Reaper
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Quote:
@John (bowlesj), I'd be interested in hearing how this works out for you. I've been considering purchasing BIAB for at least a couple of months and, like you, would prefer to download a trial first. I have been reluctant to purchase since I truly do not know if I'll be satisfied with the results I get from the program. And in my case I'm pretty sure I would need the $500 package so its not a trivial amount to spend without being sure!
Side note regarding a trial...I'm pretty sure they used to offer one but I'd bet the main reason they eliminated it was due to piracy concerns. Most trials are just the full version that can be activated with a key and 10 minutes after you release such a trial the pirates will begin posting keys and cracks. I doubt size has much to do with it as you wouldn't need to provide many RealTracks with a trial and there are plenty of product trials you can download that are very large!
My use to start is not complex. 1/ Input the chords to all the songs I was learning after restarting guitar and use these tracks to practice (the guitar rhythm track will be me). 2/ later if I get Midi then maybe enter the notation to some old songs I wrote along with the chords to practice these as well. 3/ potentially write some new ones using Midi input so I can get the sheet music. To summarize this activity, it all has to do with socializing by playing in real jams as I use to do when I was playing in my 20s. I have been so busy that the social life has fallen off. This is a way to bring it back and hopefully BIAB keeps me inspired to keep it up. If you are curious about my playing way back at age 22/23 with a bit from age 26 here it is. The only think I can do better now is go faster with the new Herco extra heavy flat pick I use now. All the rest is a few notches backwards.
http://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
I can see what you are saying about hacking a trial version but still there are users like myself who 1/ have no idea how to hack and 2/ would not do it even if I could and 3/ would not buy from a hacker. Okay so the hacker has to pay for it but this probably sell enough copies to make that back. So it is a bit easier and a bit harder. I think the the free trial has a much bigger beneficial offset.
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 10:25 AM.
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Hi JazzManDan, Quote:
BIAB will not replace Cakewalk, why?, because BIAB is too limited in its recording capabilty!
Why do you say it is limited. Exactly what is it missing?
Thanks,
John
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 10:01 AM.
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Quote:
Why do you say it is limited. Exactly what is it missing?
Thanks,
John
BIAB is missing enough channels of audio to be meaningful. That's all. Real Band, which comes bundled with BIAB (and is designed to work with BIAB in unique ways), has 48.
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Only one track allowed, and you have little to no editing capabilty of that track! BIAB is not a multitrack recording application. That's RealBand!
Dan, BIAB2024, SoundCloud Win11, i7(12thGen), 32GB, 1TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD), 2TB Libraries, 1 TB(WD-Black), 2TB SSD(M.2 NVMe SSD)Data, Motu Audio Express, Keystation 61, SL88 Studio, Reaper
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To be clear John, Biab has 5 basic instrument tracks either midi or RT's: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano and Strings. Then 2 more, the Soloist and Melody. Then they added one audio recording track 4 or 5 years ago. That's enough for a lot of people but as soon as you want to do some actual multi track recording like you recording some parts along with one vocal or 3 or 4 vocal tracks you need a DAW like Real Band, Sonar, etc.
Most will start their song in Biab and D&D the project into their DAW.
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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Thanks guys,
LOL, I can see I have lots to learn which is well beyond the already intimidating control panels. Gee, I finally found the stop bottom, but it took a while - LOL. I figure it would be immediately beside the play but not so. I was looking for red but it was black so that didn't help. One step at a time.
John
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I got the overdub record to work after setting the driver to realtek. So it is a keeper. I am getting together with my friend tonight so I am sure I will pick up some tips. I think he is happy to know someone else who actually has what appears to be his favorite program.
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Quote:
To be clear John, Biab has 5 basic instrument tracks either midi or RT's: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano and Strings. Then 2 more, the Soloist and Melody. Then they added one audio recording track 4 or 5 years ago. That's enough for a lot of people but as soon as you want to do some actual multi track recording like you recording some parts along with one vocal or 3 or 4 vocal tracks you need a DAW like Real Band, Sonar, etc.
Most will start their song in Biab and D&D the project into their DAW.
Bob
Thanks Bob. So does this mean I could create a song with just Piano, Bass and drums then record my guitar for the guitar part (rather than from BIAB) then also later add in a melody/solo with my guitar again? That would be two recordings (2 overdubs in total). I am thinking after asking this that there would likely be a problem with looping changes for my guitar chords track.
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 11:10 AM.
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Quote:
And in my case I'm pretty sure I would need the $500 package so its not a trivial amount to spend without being sure!
Yeah that is a fair chunk of money. I may not have taken the plunge at that amount. I am sure the $149 is good enough for what I am doing. I am not trying to make music to tell or anything.
I think your solution is planning the 1 month window for returning it. Yes MultiCharts had a trial but it was $610 (even more). I had a very detailed plan for testing it (a well planned out spread sheet list). It took me a full month 7 days a week 16 hours a day to test everything and I just go it all done in time. So that did it and I went ahead. The difference is I had to learn their programming language which I only partially knew from before (much more complex than learning BIAB but on the other hand I had been programming for 30 at that point so it was my territory).
I may plan my learning of BIAB. For example
1/ do all the tutorials
2/ scan all the buttons reading each left to right top to bottom
3/ scanning all menus (although this is not that easy when you go deep so you would need to map it - a lot of work).
4/ specifics I have listed before I got it and as I went along (a list of tests in other words)
5/ reading the manual 1 hour each morning and planning tests for at night (just what I did when I learned Unix shell programming)
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 11:20 AM.
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So does this mean I could create a song with just Piano, Bass and drums then record my guitar for the guitar part (rather than from BIAB) then also later add in a melody/solo with my guitar again? That would be two recordings (2 overdubs in total).
Exactly!
In Realband you have 48 tracks to play with.
I normally create the basic song in BIAB and once happy then open it in Realband.
If there are midi and Realtracks then roughly the first 16 are used in the transfer.
THEN THE FUN STARTS
I would then typically record some more rythm quitar on say track 17, my own basic lead guitar or song specific riffs on track 18. I then add vocals to track 19 and sometimes sing another track on 20 to make it slightly fuller. (before me finding the PG stuff I used a small 4 channel Tascam recorder to do this ...4 track tapes and all)
Last edited by CountryTrash; 09/05/12 11:22 AM.
I'm doing allright for Country Trash ....
I used to care, but things have changed (Bob Dylan)
BIAB 2022W + RB
M-Audio FastTrack C600, Rode NT2-A
Digitech VoiceLive 4
Epiphone Sheraton, Ibanez 12str, Washburn 6str, Cort 6Str Nylon
Yanagisawa Tenor Sax
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Thanks CountryTrash. Quote:
(before me finding the PG stuff I used a small 4 channel Tascam recorder to do this ...4 track tapes and all)
Interesting, when I was in my 20s I had the two teac model 2s then bought their 16 track Tascam. The group stuff (with drums) at this link was recorded on that machine 32 years ago. It went from 4 track Teac to Mp3 for this (lots of fun with that machine)
http://www.reverbnation.com/johnbowles
Last edited by bowlesj; 09/05/12 11:26 AM.
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Yes if you can record midi with your guitar but there's only one audio track. Got to keeps things basic, Biab is an auto accompaniment program, not a recording program. You now have Real Band, I've advised new people many times, learn RB at the same time you are learning Biab. That way you can intelligently figure out which way is best for you. For most of us the answer it both.
To get started with instant gratification, auditioning new song files, RT/RD's and styles use Biab but as soon as you want to do serious recording, tweaking, mastering, editing etc, use RB. There's plenty of times I'm not into all that and just want to test some stuff, get ideas, just play around or whatever and Biab is perfect for that. Other's don't get into the recording aspect of this and Biab by itself is enough for them and they've never opened RB. It all depends on you. Both programs will cover anything you want to do until (if?) you become enough of a pro at this you can appreciate some of the highly technical differences between RB, Reaper, Sonar, Cubase etc. At that point you'll be telling us some of your tricks, which is a good thing btw.
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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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box User Video Tutorials!
If you've reviewed our Support page, you've probably noticed the Videos page, which separates our Band-in-a-Box® tutorial videos by category: Overview, VST DAW Plugin, Setup, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and there's even an Archive category to go down memory lane... (You'll also find these videos on our YouTube Channel.)
It's always great to hear how other Band-in-a-Box® users create their songs, especially when they explain in detail what they're doing. Like Henry Clarke's YouTube Channel, Henry Clarke - Senior Musicians Unite! There you'll find his ALL Band-in-a-Box Tutorials playlist with over 50 videos! His top-three most watched videos include "How to Get Started with Band-in-a-Box," "How I use the Audio Chord Wizard in Band-in-a-Box," and "How to Create An Effective Solo Using Band-in-a-Box" - however he touches on many other topics and also demonstrates his own Band-in-a-Box® songs in the Band-in-a-Box Created Songs playlist!
You're guaranteed to find some helpful videos when you visit Henry Clarke's channel!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 Italian for Windows is Here!
Ci siamo dati da fare e abbiamo aggiunto oltre 50 nuove funzionalità e una straordinaria raccolta di nuovi contenuti, tra cui 222 RealTracks, nuovi RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 3, Playable RealDrums Set 2, due nuovi set di "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 e altro ancora!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2024 French for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 apporte plus de 50 fonctions nouvelles ainsi qu'une importante de contenus nouveaux à savoir : 222 RealTracks, des RealStyles nouveaux, des SuperTracks MIDI, des Etudes d'Instruments, des Prestations d'Artistes, des "Morceaux avec Choeurs", un Set 3 de Tracks Jouables, un Set 2 de RealDrums Jouables, deux nouveaux Sets de "RealDrums Stems", des Styles XPro PAK 6, des Xtra Styles PAK 17 et bien plus encore!
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Video: Making a Song with Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V
Take your Band-in-a-Box® project to a whole new level when you incorporate ChatGPT and Synth V to add lyrics and vocals to your song!
We wanted to demonstrate how this is done with our video, where we show you how to go from nothing to a finished "radio ready" modern pop song by combining the features of Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V!
Listen to the finished song, so you get a listen to the finished product: https://demos.pgmusic.com/misc/behindthefame.m4a
If you like it, watch the video. Either way, let's hear your comments!
Henry Clarke: Revolutionize Your Band-in-Box® Tracks with Regenerating Function
User Video: Next-Level AI Music Editing with ACE Studio and Band-in-a-Box®
Band-in-a-Box® 2024 German for Windows is Here!
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Wir waren fleißig und haben über 50 neue Funktionen und eine erstaunliche Sammlung neuer Inhalte hinzugefügt, darunter 222 RealTracks, neue RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, "Songs with Vocals" Artist Performance Sets, abspielbare RealTracks Set 3, abspielbare RealDrums Set 2, zwei neue Sets von "RealDrums Stems", XPro Styles PAK 6, Xtra Styles PAK 17 und mehr!
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