Originally Posted By: Blake
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1. When I look into the RT folders under (Guitar, Electric .....) I notice some of the 'RTs' files are 4, 5, 6 and up to 10+ mins long as continuous riffs. In most cases it is apparent that they are several riffs strung together to make these long RTs. (As opposed to many short .wav files)Is there a 'recommended' length that would provide the greatest support for the user (variation, lack of instant repetition etc?) A Minimum Length and a Max. Length (For guitar)

The only restrictions on recording length would be the same as any Band-in-a-Box song, because a matching chord chart for each .WAV file is needed.
maximum bars: 255 bars (x number of choruses)
minimum bars: 1 bar


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2. The 'instructions above' mention to record 'along' with a SGU. Is this simply for reference or do I actually need to 'record' in BIAB? Can't I just take a 'Style" I am familiar with or import one into a DAW for instance, choose a base BPM and record the RTs'? Then create the folder and insert all of my newly created files into it?

Yes, the .SGU is just for reference, so you do not need to record in Band-in-a-Box although it might be convenient to record along to a chord chart. The .WAV files can come from anywhere, such as any DAW, or files that you already have.

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3. I know what a .SGU file is, but what is a sgu/wav file as described above?

"sgu/wav" just means a .WAV file and a .SGU file with the exact same name in the same folder. This would be an example inside your UserTracks folder:
C:\bb\RealTracks\UserTracks\MyUserTrackFolder\song1.wav
C:\bb\RealTracks\UserTracks\MyUserTrackFolder\song1.sgu

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4. The main naming convention in the BIAB folder for guitars is (eg6156, eg6157 etc.) Are these relevant for BIAB or simply for PG music reference? Also each file has a BTO fill associated with it. Is it needed to create one of those?

Those file names are for RealTracks which are not the same thing as UserTracks. With UserTracks, you can name your files however you like, eg:
song1-majorchords.wav
song1-majorchords.sgu
endings.wav
endings.sgu
otherchords.wav
otherchords.sgu

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5. What is the difference between RTs and 'Artist' tracks? I can see how they differ in regards to how they can be manipulated based on the description, but will there be a tutorial to show the actual differences? Thank you!~

If you mean Artist Performance Tracks - these are recorded songs by various artists. They do not generate over chord progressions like RealTracks do.

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6. What about sample rate and bit depth? is 16/44.1 the norm for RTs? In other words to play well with other RT's?

Yes, 16bit 44.1kHz is the playback bit depth and sample rate of Band-in-a-Box (including RealTracks), so it is best to use this format for UserTrack files.


Blake! You are brilliant, thank you for the reply. Now you have opened up a great interest and possibilite with one of your replies. I have a specific question: You said

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Yes, the .SGU is just for reference, so you do not need to record in Band-in-a-Box although it might be convenient to record along to a chord chart. The .WAV files can come from anywhere, such as any DAW, or files that you already have.

So how is this possible without a .sgu to match it? In other words if I have a progression to follow in a DAW outside of BIAB, how do I import that so that it is understood by BIAB as a 'User Track" if my imported .wav does not have a .sgu associated with it.

The best way to record excellent user tracks is outside of BIAB. Once I have (or currently have) a .wav that is following a song progression and tempo, can I create and save a .sgu that matches it and then import the .wav file into the same folder with the same name as the .sgu? Hope that makes sense. Many thanks again! I need to go upgrade tonight! Cheers.