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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
Thank you in advance for a few minutes of your time. I just bought Band-in-a-Box 2013 and it looks amazing, exactly what I think I need.
This will be my first ever attempt at doing a single. My #1 question is that would it be best to keep my projects as BB audio tracks in my mini computer or to use midi tracks? I am familiar with both, but I do not want to spend hundreds of hours of preparations of my backing tracks only to find I started off down the wrong path. What do you think will sound the best and be the most reliable to use live? (I have already made the investment in mini modules, soft synths, Sonic professional software, etc. It won’t cost me any more to go in either direction.) One thing I do want is to be able to turn off instruments when friends come to sit in with me on the gig, so just mp3 music tracks are not a good option for me.
Thank you all for your time.
Carl Roberts
Blues Guitarist
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,869
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,869 |
Welcome.
BIAB tracks come in both midi and Audio types. The most authentic (in most peoples view) are the audio tracks called Real Tracks. These feature real musicians and are not MIDI tracks. In a BIAB song you might have a mixture of Audio and MIDI tracks.
Why not simply keep them as BIAB songs? A song is a BIAB style and a chord sequence. If you want to export them to a sequencer you can export Audio. If the song is MIDI you can export that too, but of course when you load it into a sequencer you will need to be playing back the same MIDI sounds from the same MIDi device to get the same sound.
Many people use RealBand for sequencer type work. I don't so others can comment on that.
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
Thank you for your input. I was already leaning towards BIAB Audio tracks only
and skipping the whole midi/sequencer rig this time. I did that over 20 years ago with mixed results and the Audio tracks seem better. It sounds like the Audio tracks will sound much better and more natural.
First thing tomorrow I am going to input my first blues set into the Audio Chord Wizard and see what I can come up with. I am open to other opinions why midi would be a better choice for live gigs. No matter what, BIAB will be my choice of music programs for the stage.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 110
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 110 |
When it comes to live performance I prefer having a WAV file. I just want to be able to start and stop a song. I don't want to worry about hitting the wrong button during a performance and having the track regenerate itself. I've used midi files for quite a few years, but always convert them to WAV for a performance.
Since you want to be able to turn individual instruments on and off, you might try exporting your BIAB files as individual WAV tracks and importing them into Audacity (or some other audio program.) This would allow you to mute any instrument you want. BIAB 2013 has the ability to export directly to a WAV file so this option should be pretty easy.
Rich
Windows 10, 64 bit | BIAB 2019 PlusPak | Studio One 2 Artist
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 204
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 204 |
Carl914, You have a P.M.-------Leon
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,109
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,109 |
Carl,
if you create the song in BIAB, then reopen the saved file in RealBand, all of your parts will be on individual tracks... which can be muted or enabled one at a time or in any combination.
And since RB is a sequencer, Playing the songs through Real Band also gives you the opportunity to send MIDI to other devices if the need should ever arise to do that.
If you want to start out with the format that gives you the most options going forward (so you never have to switch horses in the middle of the stream) I think RB is the perfect hybrid between BIAB and plain audio files. It allows you the ability to include audio and/or Midi, keep individual tracks or merged tracks, you can use it for recording and/or playback.. it's the closest thing to a one-stop musical solution I've found.
If you decide later that you want to use MP3s, just export the songs as MP3s! Easy as that!
my 2 cents. I don't see where RB obstructs any future direction you may want to take. (And it directly imports anything you create in BIAB! How cool is that? No other sequencer does that!)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
Thank you all so much. With each comment I feel that BB was the right choice for what I need.
As I approach retirement, I had to admit all I wanted to play was blues for the rest of my life. (If not now, when?) I have less than 50 songs chosen, but most have a repeating hook riff.
I just tried to choose the arrangement I liked of 20 variations on ITunes, plug them into the Audio Chord Wizard, let it do the hard work, and tweak it to my needs. This is my totally unproven plan. Real Band seems to be where those files finally land. Can you see any glaring issues with my simple idea for a little money and a lot of fun?
Thank you all again.
Last edited by Carl914; 03/10/13 11:08 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,109
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 8,109 |
Quote:
Can you see any glaring issues with my simple idea for a little money and a lot of fun?
Nope. That's my retirement plan too.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697 |
Quote:
I have less than 50 songs chosen, but most have a repeating hook riff.
Biab is not going to give you those hooks because all of the style tracks whether midi or Real Tracks are generic backing tracks. They sound great and can really rock the house but they're still generic. If you're looking to create exact blues cover tunes then there's a lot more work to be done, you can't just plug in the chords and hit play. If you're a decent guitarist then you need to play the hooks yourself like the riff in Satisfaction for example. If you can't play them yourself then you need to work with specific midi files not Biab songs. You can create or buy very good midi files of anything you want and that's what lots of gigging single musicians do. Many times mixing elements of a good midi file with a few Biab generated Real Tracks is a killer combo.
This is where you get to be creative if you're a decent player. A lot of us don't like buying midi files because where's the fun in that? Biab and RB are great tools for creating your own tracks but you have to be a player to do it. If you can't do that then no, Biab is not able to create those song specific tracks for you, you have to get them from somewhere.
In the Tips & Tricks forum our guru Peter Gannon himself posted some good suggestions about this.
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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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
I have no problem playing the hooks on my guitar, its trying to do them on my midi keyboard controller. One friend of mine just offered to give me his complete Charvel midi guitar system and that is super great. I have heard him do B3 and piano/strings with it and its like your ears and your eyes were out of sync hearing that come from a guitar player. In the mean time I might just buy a small mono pitch to midi box made for guitar for $99 from GC. That is really all I need at the moment.
I might also try to just play all the hooks on the keyboard during the song and hope for one perfect one. All I need is one and then I could transpose it, copy, and paste it. I am a little rusty, but once upon a time I was pretty good with midi. My last album was all midi except for vocals and the guitars. I just don't want my final product to be midi this time. I want to use audio tracks.
I still feel that this BIAB system is just what I need at this point in my life. I just need a bunch of quality time to get it down.
Thank you everyone for your help and input.
c
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,893
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,893 |
Before you buy anything check this out. It really needs to be played to be believed. http://www.jamorigin.com/midi-guitar/
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
Thank you, I downloaded the software from your link and I want to give this a serious try between now and Sunday. One way or the other I want to be makin' tracks by Sunday night.
Have a good weekend everyone.
c
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
Quote:
Before you buy anything check this out. It really needs to be played to be believed.
http://www.jamorigin.com/midi-guitar/
I don't know why, but this link worked great on my little notebook, but so far I have spent hours trying to get it to open on my main computer, the real one I use all the time, and all I get is Windows error messages and they will let me know when they find a fix. (Not holding my breath on that reply.)
Have you seen an alternative to "Midi-Guitar" that I might have better luck with? I still have not bought the little $99 Sonuus guitar to midi converter box, but might throw in the towel and do that tomorrow.
Thank you all for your help.
c
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 53 |
I know now that what you said is true, BiaB does not do the hooks. I bought a little guitar to midi box. Its mono, but that is all I need for the hooks. I plan to double the hooks live, so its all positive practicing for me in getting ready to put those hooks in first.
Thank you for your input.
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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® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.
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Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.
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Happy New Year!
Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.
Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!
Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
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