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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I recently purchased BB for several uses. One is to make backing drum tracks of our songs for gigging, as we are a duo.
I imported an mp3, used ACW to break the song down, set the bars, fixed the chords, and created the Tempo map before sending it back to BB. At this point, I THINK I should be finding an appropriate style for each part of the song and apply it to the Tempo map and tweak from there. How do I do this? I'm bleary eyed as I digest the multitude of options and possibilities of this software and can use some experienced guidance.
Thanks.
Doug

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I'm in exactly the same boat. I just purchased the ultraPAK this week to use for a number of purposes one of which was to create Bass and Drum backing tracks for pre-existing songs.

I'm finding it almost impossible to find "what you want" in a RealDrum pattern. Very frustrating.

I was up till 2:00 in the morning auditioning styles and my initial joy over the sound quality and realism of the RealDrums and RealTracks vs. Midi has turned to major disappointment after hearing the exact same drum and bass part on style after style.

With 20 sets of RealDrums, you'd think everything should be in there. However, my favorite drum pattern ... Boom, Chicka, Boom, Chick ... 1, 2&, 3, 4 ... very common in 50's and 60's rock n roll ... (The Ventures to Roy Orbison's "Only The Lonely") ... is nowhere to be found.

If it's in there, they buried it pretty good.

I'm going to keep working with the program, but if any of you veterans have any tips for "finding what you want," I'd be all ears.

Thanks,
Dean

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I believe that if you are intent on using BIAB RealTracks and RealDrums, then sometimes the drumming and instrument choices will "change" your original song a little. If you want it "exactly" how you want it and nothing else, then you will need to learn how to drum or master one of the drum creation programs. So far I have been able to come "close enough" on my realdrum selections to be OK with me.

Maybe some of the BIAB midi style with drums would be better -- and then you can find drum soundfonts to make the drumming sound realistic as possible.

Kevin


Now at bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh @ bandcamp or soundcloud: Kevin @ soundcloud
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If you are wishing to get a close to a cover band as possible, you want to audition styles using the Dx synth. Or finding a midi where someone did that. There are many many more midi styles than ones with Realdrums.

I strive for my own interpretation of a song, in my mind I'd rather take my own picture of a mountain than put up a slide show of someone elses work.

That's of course my somewhat humble or not, opinion.

I have the ketron sd2 external module and if I don't think the Realdrums suits the song I search around and get the midi styles going. They are the next best thing. The Dxi isn't as good as the Ketron in most instances but it comes with the program.


John Conley
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Thanks for the responses. You've both echoed my own thoughts.

However, I was hoping someone would say, "Oh, finding what you want is easy, here's what I do... "

I'm sure the OP and myself are not the first users who have run up against the frustration of having a song idea (original material as well as covers) where we know how we want the song to sound, but can't find that particular item.

My main purpose for Band in a Box is as a songwriting tool and there is a vast amount of really great material to work with in this program. What I'm essentially trying to do at this point is "set up my workshop."

I'm wanting to organize all the tools (on paper, in the program, or in my head) so that when I need a hammer I'm not sorting through a pile of tools in the middle of the floor. (The StylePicker is okay... but many of the descriptions are vague and somewhat cumbersome.)

So, I'm looking for tips on how you organized your own tools. Anybody have any clever tips they care to pass on?

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USE BIAB.

*The familiarity gained from using BIAB a lot is priceless.

*One way to start is to open up the Demo song for each style that you kind of like and just WATCH BIAB perform. You can note all sorts of things and how they are accomplished from doing just that.

*Next comes laying out songs that are already there. Just as the study of cover songs written by others can help hone your own songwriting skills, this excercise and the experienced gained is also equally priceless.

*Watch the pgmusic tutorial videos, both the ones that come on your disk and also the ones that are online. Time. Well. Spent.

*Don't view BIAB as a shortcut tool. Think of BIAB as a musical instrument. Just as we can't play the guitar like a pro on the first day we bought the guitar (or first week, or first year... ) we can't take a program that can do as much as BIAB can do for us and expect to spend little or no time PRACTICING and learning with this instrument and get great results.

*"Have Fun" -- The BIAB motto. Having fun with thte program beats allowing the program to frustrate you. So when I can't get it to do exactly what I want or need it to do, I don't sit there sweating that out, I may post here with a question and see how others are solving that specific (or not) but I make it a hard fast rule to cut that one at least temporarily and move on to something else with the program.



--Mac

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Thanks Mac. Excellent advice.

I've decided to do just what you're suggesting.

I've decided to set aside my goal of "setting up the workshop" at this point, and instead, concentrate on learning how to use each individual tool. I'm sure the BIAB workshop will come together faster doing it your way.

Thanks for taking the time to put it into concrete terms. You've given me ideas I hadn't thought of.

By the way, I didn't realize there were more tutorial videos beyond what came with the UltraPAK. I will definitely check them out.

Thanks,
Dean

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DTravz Offline OP
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Thanks for your responses, and I agree that it will take time to learn BB's features and workarounds, but I AM having fun.
Doug

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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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Video: Making a Song with Band-in-a-Box®, ChatGPT, and Synth V

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Band-in-a-Box® 2024 für Windows Deutsch ist verfügbar!

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