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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 50
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OP
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 50 |
As far as I know, chords can be place on the four beats, with some syncopation using ^ and ^^. Is there any way of placing a chord on, say, the eigths (or sixteenth) of a bar?
I realize that using ^ you can actually place a chord on the eight preceding a fourth, but then you can not at the also place a chord at that particular fourth.
Cheers
Mikael
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,568
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Your understanding is correct. This is one of the more frequently asked-for wishes on the Wishlist.
Two workarounds may work for you. First, Notes Norton has written what he calls Expanded styles that he sells. Second, by experimenting with tempo and style, sometimes it is possible to spread what is normally done in one measure over two measures. This effectively doubles the number of chords possible. It doesn't always work, and the notation will not look right, but often you can get the sound you want.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 50
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 50 |
OK, thanks. Then it's confirmed. I can live with the limitation, just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.
Cheers
Mikael
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,129
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,129 |
Your understanding is correct. This is one of the more frequently asked-for wishes on the Wishlist.
Wow - that is a huge limitation. There must be some technical reason they've not done that, because a LOT of music - especially the flamenco music I'm studying, requires chords to change on the upbeats. It never occurred to me but is true that that given this limitation , it's most likely that most of the styles I've been listening to change all their chords on the downbeats (even though workarounds are possible - convenience is always king !!!) ?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 38,502 |
Joe, if you think of each bar in the BB Chord Grid as a "Cell" and not a bar, you can lay out the songfile such that every two cells is one bar. Then chose style and tempo appropriately. This will play and sound correctly, but won't be correct as to notation.
On the other hand, Realband does indeed support compound time signatures.
--Mac
Last edited by Mac; 07/08/13 05:23 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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This is exactly the limitation that caused me to create EXPANDED Styles. The styles are written so that each BiaB numbered "Cell" is half a measure. So you using Norton Music's EXPANDED styles you can do a few very common things that BiaB will not allow you to do - You can put a chord on any beat AND the eighth note before that beat
- You can put up to 8 chords in a 4/4 measure of music
- In a 12/8 songs you can play triplets that last 2 beats
This also effectively doubles the resolution of BiaB to 240ppq. I invented the EXPANDED styles back in the early 1990s when I started doing Fake Disks for BiaB. I ran into many songs that wouldn't work at all in BiaB without leaving out important chords. Thought about the problem for a while and came up with EXPANDED styles. These styles allow you to play songs you couldn't otherwise play in BiaB, and therefore improve the functionality of BiaB and make it a more useful program for you to enjoy. They are written to be EXPANDED so they sound right when your song is EXPANDED. You can hear mp3 demos on my demo page. Insights and incites by Notes
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 311
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 311 |
It would be so great if BIAB could grant this wish in a future version. Correct me if I am wrong but Matt and Mac's workaround would be OK but surely the RealDrums then would not be usable for such a song. Basically, for example, you would be creating 2 bars of 4/4 time and then doubling the tempo and then the two bars would offer twice the chord space as a typical one bar (original tempo)and take up the same duration. However most drum parts would not appropriate at this speed and would end up have too many snare hits and crazy hi-hats. It is also likely bass lines other instruments would sound wrong too.
I guess it must be a very tricky matter for the folks at PG Music to resolve or they would have done it by now but it would certainly be the top of my wishlist.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,568
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It can be done with drums. For example, choose a 16th note-based bossa style playing at 120. Edit, expand the song to twice the length (giving you twice the number of chord changes possible). The tempo changes to 240. Now choose a new style that is 8th note based, so the drums aren't going crazy. The hard part is that BIAB is so adaptable that it makes automatic substitutions in order to make the new song sound 'right'. These may or may not be what you want, but you can always choose a track, including drums, and pick something different.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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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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XPro & Xtra Styles PAK Sets On Sale Now - Until May 15, 2026!
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
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