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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3 |
I would be interested in those that are using BIAB for live performance. I am thinking of trying that with a singer/guitarist. I am a pedal steel player. I would appreciate any info, tips, do's don'ts.
Thanks so much,
Uniplayer
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Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 207
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 207 |
I've been using the program on live gigs for the past few years. I find it best to use only the bass and drums. One thing I can't stress enough: keep all your songs in one folder, listed alphabetically. If you start putting them into different song categories, you'll end up with a mess, and you'll be wasting time on stage searching for your songs. Mike Laatz www.CapetownJazz.com
Mike Laatz
Cape Town
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 491
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 491 |
I also only use Bass, Drums & Piano. And to avoid some of the problems Mike talks of.....I record from BIAB on to MiniDisc, This is only MY preference....it means I can set the MD player to 'Autopause' .....and re-start with a footswitch. It might seem a 'low-tech' solution, but it suits me. I can also change my program around ,on the MD if required. I stress...as a Guitarist/Vocalist/Banjoist...I only use this when LIVE musos are not available.....so I'm trying to re-create a similar sound. Many others on this forum use laptops very successfully in various ways. At one point I also tried an iPod......I eventually found a way to stop each track.....but then I had to manually restart! Fine....if you are not trying to perform at the same time! Hang in there....you'll find a way to suit. Regards,  Joe G.
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,722
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Veteran
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,722 |
Many on this forum use BIAB for live performances, heck there are a few who do it as their fulltime job.
For me, playing live is the reason I purchased BIAB some 4-5 years ago. I do vocals and play guitar live using BIAB as accompaniment. I started out using just piano, bass and drums but with the quality of real tracks improving with each version I can't help but write fuller arrangements to include them.
My folders are categorized by genre, plus I do a playlist for each individual gig besides. Often I will set up that list through the jukebox feature and refer back to my genre marked folders from time to time for special request or just to make a change that will fit the gig mood better that my original set playlist.
I play BIAB directly from my laptop via the earphone jack to my PA system. Been doing this since day one without one single issue (hope I did not jinx that one). All of my equipment is hidden in a rack behind a draped curtain between the rack and my audience, including my monitor.
Welcome to the forum and get ready for a lot of creative fun.
Later,
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,610
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Veteran
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,610 |
I've been using BIAB for 14 years on solo gigs. I'm a pianist and use Real Bass and Real Drums for backing. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,486
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Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,486 |
I don't use BiaB directly on gigs, because I think that it isn't quite good enough for "prime time". But I do use BiaB, export to a MIDI file, import to a sequencer (Master Tracks Pro), add things that aren't available, mix with a half dozen or so sound modules, record as audio (Power Tracks Pro) and bring the final mp3 backing track files to the gig on a laptop. Complete how-to details are here http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.htmlNotes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3 |
Thanks guys for your comments.. it is very appreciated...
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,610
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Veteran
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,610 |
I love the Real Drums and Real Bass, which is all I use on live gigs. Sounds tons better than any midi tracks. Of course, all I play are jazz gigs and no covers where you have to play the same things the same way every time. Later, Ray
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333
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Veteran
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 8,333 |
I still use biab for practice. I can't get it to behave for gigs. Proabably just me. I make an mp3 and stick it on a player and use that into my mixer. Right now the time to make a track including RealDrums and other instruments takes too long for my liking. Will get better soon though. Octuple processors with 200 gig of Ram and 30 terabytes of storage is only a matter of time...
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 583
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 583 |
I'm doing basically what Danny C. is doing---BIAB with guitar and vocals. I arrange my play list ahead of time for each gig using Jukebox, but have all the tunes organized by genre. My song folders include jazz, rock, country, pop, waltzes, Christmas, gospel, novelty songs, etc.... This seems to work for me. Since many tunes can cross categories, I just make a decision and try to remember where I placed them. Most of the time it works.
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 6
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 6 |
I use BIAB tunes live all the time. The key to making it reliable is to get the songs off the computer. Similar to what Bob says above. I go from BIAB midi to GarageBand (dang mac user) to smooth things out, adjust instruments and remove or adjust any stray notes. From there to an mp3. I load each of my songs as an individual playlist so it stops after each song. Songwriters always have a word or two to say between songs anyway. So I chat while punching up the next song. This also allows for adjusting the set on the fly as the audience mood changes. If cover songs are planned for then perhaps 2 or 3 will be lumped together in a playlist and performed back to back. I spend a lot of time balancing the mp3 playlist to play at the desired level for each song. This requires a bit of back and forth between the computer and mp3 player and guitar/amp. I feel it's worth it because I don't want to mess with guitar or mp3 volume on stage unless live conditions demand it. Usually once the mic is balanced with my setup it's up to the sound person to adjust overall volume anyhow. Everything coming from me is leveled. I have not had good results with any auto-level programs. I don't like fussing with gear on stage. The audience doesn't like it either because its boring. In singer/songwriter venues, where there are many changes per night, you can see people using the break between artists to make their getaway. On my way up, I hand the guitar cable to the sound person and I am on that mic complimenting the previous performer and getting the audience attention right away. Red faced advice: Always have backups of everything or unplugged versions ready in case technology leaves you high and dry.  ----------------- Dave G Mi•Band Home
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Newbie
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OP
Newbie
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3 |
Thank you all for your great advice.. I will keep you posted when we go live.. Joe Mac.. aka uniplayer.. www.joemcham.net
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3 |
/me revives the live thread I'm hoping to be able to control BIAB with one of these . What I'm hoping to do is go from say latin to swing in real time. It's a jazz piano gig and I was going to use a drum machine but BIAB would give me many more options. Has anybody done a style change like that within the same song. I really need to RTFM.
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
Veteran
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697 |
Absolutely, Rockstar. Biab already has both a midi style and a Real Track with Real Drums style that is called Bossa/Swing. Perfect for Green Dolphin, Tunsia and many others plus its very easy to create your own style too. And, there's ton's of third party styles for virtually any song there is at Norton Music.
As for midi controllers afaik the only one that works is the one PG sells on the website, the wireless Frontier Tranzport.
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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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3 |
Manual = g00d. Yup it sure can do style changes within a song. Turns out biab has extensive MIDI control implementation. The FCB is perfect for it. Looking at the Conductor window; it means that when the piano player yells "Bridge!" I can hit a button on the FCB and biab will go to the bridge....in time...after it finishes the current measure! That's a small miracle right there. Now to figure out what hardware to use.... In a live situation latency will be a big problem if I were to try to go VST. I could use my Triton but sheesh I setup everything now and the last thing I need is another keyboard. Is anyone using VST on a laptop w/o latency issues? I need to open a new thread.... 
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
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Posts: 38,502 |
Different VST plugins may respond better than others. If you mean VST and not the Roland VSC.
The VSC, in conjunction with ASIO sound drivers (I use the built in soundcard of my laptop for most live gigs, plus ASIO4ALL free driver converters, sounds great) can work with the VSC, although it is often machine plus OS dependent to be glitch free with the Conductor.
***The latest upgrade of BIAB, 2009.5, announced today, has greatly improved the Conductor action when using RealTracks/RealDrums a must for live gigging IMO. If you have 2009, I understand the download for the simple upgrade without adding those 100 new RealTracks, is going to be a freebie, so check the update page. If you are buying new after today, it will already include the patches for that.
For live work I do recommend a hardware MIDI synth, though.
For portability plus really great MIDI sounds, that would be the Ketron SD2 Orchestral Wizard, check it out, pgmusic sells them.
--Mac
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 66
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 66 |
I've been doing this for five or six years. I have a file entitled "complete set" which contains all of the tunes I play live. Before a gig I add a number in front of the name of the tune 1,2,3,etc. Those tunes I plan to use then come to the top of the list of tunes when I hit the song button.
I use the earphone jack for audio and a Roland Synthesizer for digital sound. Both go into a mixer.
Richard
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 52
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Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 52 |
Hi Danny C.! I have been using a Sound Canvas of some type for years as a sound module - now I have an SD-20. But I just bought a new computer just for the music and I am thinking of running my sound out from the headphones jack to the mixing board - like you do. I have been cautioned by two professionals that that is not a good idea because of electrical hum and clicks, etc. They say it is unrealiable - it may work in most venues but then it will sound awful in others. But you sound like you have never had any such problems! How do you avoid such problems? The same two professionals also told me that the hardware sound modules, like the SD-20 or the older Sound Canvas products are all superior in sound to any virtual sound cards on the market. I would love to hear your ideas and experience on these headphones jack and sound quality issues since you seem to have a lot of experience in these areas! Thank you in advance for your time! Another part of this thread discussed placing files in one or more folders or in the Jukebox - where they are apparently only filed alphabetically. I just recently put all 500 files I take to a job in one folder and arranged them in the order they are in within my fake book (which is not strickly alphabetical). I used a numberical prefix in front of the file names in the folder I intend to play from (while I have separate folders for original back-up copies of all the files). The numbers start at 0001 and go on with 0002, etc. It seems to work as I can play them rather quicly out of Real Band just by going back to file "open" which takes me back directly to that one master folder with all the songs. This also allows me to run the Big Clock in Real Band. I talk some between songs and do requests so I don't follow a predetermined order of songs. Of course, I can easily produce one of those if needed - in fact I have many of them in my old Cakewalk Professional program's playlist funcition. I wish Real Band had a great playlist function like the Cakewalk  .
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