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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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This may sound a bit unusual but I would like to ask. When one opens a BIAB file to play, when you click on the play button, BIAB will then initialize all the parameters for that file. If you look in the title bar at the top of the screen you can see a bunch of messages going by very quickly indicating that BIAB is opening the file. It usually take a few seconds. Then, after that initial short wait, the file begins to play. Every time you want to play the file after that, when you press play, BIAB will immediately play the file. The only time one has to wait is when you open it initially. I plan on possibly purchasing some programmable pedals from PI Engineering. Here is the scenario illustrating how I would like to use the pedals. On the piano, I would play an intro to a tune. Then at a particular moment I would like to step on the pedal and have the tune start immediately with out having to wait for the initialization time. I am fairly certain that the programmable pedals would be able to open and load the file that I choose, as the program merely activates keystrokes that you record into the macro program. Question is: how could I record those keystrokes but not have BIAB play immediately after loading/initializing the file? Is there a preference somewhere that I could check which would load the tune but not immediately play it until the user clicks on play again? Thanks, Dan 
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The way I understand it, when you first load a song it does both a Generate and Play. If the song is unchanged, any further Play commands should start immediately.
I think you should put a request in the Wishlist to separate the Generate part of the Generate/Play command from the Play part.
However, have you tried freezing the tracks? That makes any subsequent loads of the song start playing MUCH faster.
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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Freezing the tracks is the way to do it. That will eliminate the generate and then it will only play. You will have to disable the lead in count also to avoide the two bar intros. Should be doable.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Matt & Jazzmandan,
Thanks for your replies. I will try freezing the tracks. However, I do need for the file to start playing immediately after I hit play (step on the foot pedal). This would be in a performance setting and would occur right after an intro...
Thanks,
Dan
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you may want to look into using the biab conductor, favorites list and\or jukebox features details in the pdf manual manual
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
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Go to OPT>PREFS>COUNT-IN/MET>
There is a dropdown menu toward the bottom of the window. Notice that some of the choices say: "Visible Metronome." Experiment with these to see what they do.
Now go to any measure of a BiaB song and press F5. Notice that any of the voices can be muted.
HERE is my idea: Create your song in a such a way that the first 8 bars have all instruments muted AND the visible metronome counting away. You can start the BiaB song, then play your intro in time to the metronome. When BiaB get to bar 9 (or whatever you pick for the length of your intro) the instruments start to sound. Carry on playing along with BiaB for the rest of the song.
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Dan, It seems to me that the answer is fairly simple. 1. Go to Preferences>Display, and in the lower right section where you can choose what the Spacebar key does, choose "Play from start." (This step may not actually be required but I find it to be very convenient.) 2. Here's the important part: also in Preferences>Display, put a check mark in the box labeled "Pause Play Until MIDI or Key received." Now when you select a song and click on "Play" (or on the spacebar key), the song will load but it won't begin playing until you click on "Play" (or the spacebar key) a second time, but there will be no delay then. It will begin immediately after the second click since the song is already loaded. So you would open the song, then click on Play or Spacebar once to load it before you start playing your intro, and then click on Play or Spacebar again to actually begin the accompaniment after your intro. And to be able to do this clicking with a footswitch requires a programmable USB footswitch that you can get from Delcom: https://www.delcomproducts.com/ I have been using their footswitches for years and they work great. Good luck! Jim
Jim
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
BIAB 2018 build 519; Dell Inspiron N4110, Windows 10 64 bit, Intel Core i3-2350m running at 2.29 GHz, Memory: 6 GB DDR3, SDRAM 1MHz
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It would be nice in a future release to have the ability to use the space bar to replay the song after the initial load instead of using CTRL-A to do that function. As it stands now, every time you use the space bar, BIAB has to reload the entire song.
BIAB2026
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It would be nice in a future release to have the ability to use the space bar to replay the song after the initial load instead of using CTRL-A to do that function. As it stands now, every time you use the space bar, BIAB has to reload the entire song. Doesn't work that way here. The first time I hit the space bar it loads the song, the second time it starts playing the song immediately. Try the settings I outlined above. Jim
Jim
Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
BIAB 2018 build 519; Dell Inspiron N4110, Windows 10 64 bit, Intel Core i3-2350m running at 2.29 GHz, Memory: 6 GB DDR3, SDRAM 1MHz
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Jim,
thank you very much for your precious hint! That's really what I need in playing worship songs in our church services.
The only thing is:
It doensn't work (on my laptop and keyboard).
Well - the song loads and pauses - waiting for the next key stroke.
But then the melody played along on the thru part is completely out of time sync. It takes seconds until the thru part is to be heard! The other parts start as they should - immediately.
No problems when I play the song without the pausing.
Maybe this is related to another problem I encounter since years with the conductor functions (from beginning of this feature):
when I jump to another section, the Real-Styles (not the Midi-Styles nor the RealDrums!) seem to ignore the jump command. When I jump to the end for example, the RealStyles continue - and then, after the rest of the parts have come to the requested end, abruptely they come to a sudden end.
The conductor problem only is with the RealStyles.
But the paused start problem is also with Midi-Styles.
The conductor problem I have since years - with the 3rd laptop in the meantime; and with the second Midi-keyboard. So, the hardware doesn't seem to be the cause.
Help would be very much appreciated!
Greetings from Germany
Ulrich
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It would be nice in a future release to have the ability to use the space bar to replay the song after the initial load instead of using CTRL-A to do that function. As it stands now, every time you use the space bar, BIAB has to reload the entire song. Doesn't work that way here. The first time I hit the space bar it loads the song, the second time it starts playing the song immediately. Try the settings I outlined above. Jim If the song has already been generated, I can use the space bar to "all most" start immediately on the downbeat. Close enough for a jazz arrangement.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Jim,
thank you very much for your precious hint! That's really what I need in playing worship songs in our church services.
The only thing is:
It doesn't work (on my laptop and keyboard).
Well - the song loads and pauses - waiting for the next key stroke.
But then the melody played along on the thru part is completely out of time sync. It takes seconds until the thru part is to be heard! The other parts start as they should - immediately.
No problems when I play the song without the pausing. Do you have to have the melody playing on the thru part? I use BIAB to lead praise and worship in my place of worship but have never felt the need to do that. The instrument I play "live" is connected directly to the sound system and is totally independent of BIAB, so there are no time sync issues. Maybe this is related to another problem I encounter since years with the conductor functions (from beginning of this feature):
when I jump to another section, the Real-Styles (not the Midi-Styles nor the RealDrums!) seem to ignore the jump command. When I jump to the end for example, the RealStyles continue - and then, after the rest of the parts have come to the requested end, abruptely they come to a sudden end.
The conductor problem only is with the RealStyles.
But the paused start problem is also with Midi-Styles. Do you have to use the conductor function? I never use it. I understand that not using it means giving up the ability to spontaneously repeat a section of the song with the "band." What I do instead is occasionally repeat part of a song after the band has finished and the song has ended; then I go back and do part of the song again using only the instrument I am playing, usually at a slower tempo. Sometimes I program a repeated section and label it as a reprise of the song and have BIAB play that reprise version after the full song. That way I can repeat part of the song with "the band" and still have my footswitch work the way I want. Perhaps you could find other ways around these difficulties, but that's where I would start - by eliminating the problems. It's a matter of priority; for me, it is more important to start the song with a footswitch without delay than it is to use the conductor or play the melody through. Blessings, Jim
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Jim, I think you misunderstood my point. I want the song to play from the beginning (Measure #1) without reloading the data simply by pressing the space bar regardless of where I stopped the song.
When I chose the option "Play from current position, it starts from where ever the song stopped at. If I stop the song on say measure 8 and press the space bar, the song immediately starts on measure 8 without reloading.
What I am looking for is a way to stop the song with the space bar and then restart the song immediately from the beginning (Measure #1) simply by pressing the space bar again. As I see it, BIAB does not do that. The only way to start the song playing again from the beginning without reloading the entire song, is by pressing CTRL-A.
If you have found a way to do this, please let me know how you did it.
BIAB2026
Windows 10 Pro (Never Windows 11!)
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What I am looking for is a way to stop the song with the space bar and then restart the song immediately from the beginning (Measure #1) simply by pressing the space bar again. As I see it, BIAB does not do that.
Of course it does that.
The only way to start the song playing again from the beginning without reloading the entire song, is by pressing CTRL-A.
Go to your preferences to set it to play from beginning with space bar, and be sure you have the tracks frozen otherwise the default appears to be a regen. Give it a try.
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Go to your preferences to set it to play from beginning with space bar, and be sure you have the tracks frozen otherwise the default appears to be a regen.
Give it a try.
I agree with the first part of Dan's statement but in my experience, it is not necessary to freeze any tracks as long as you follow my original instructions. The first time you hit the spacebar or footswitch, it will generate the song and pause before playing until you hit the spacebar or footswitch the second time; then it will begin playing from the beginning almost immediately (only a split-second of delay) without regenerating. I don't freeze any tracks and this is how it works for me. Good luck, Jim
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Indeed in this case we are both correct! It appears the space bar, when configured in preferences, will play from start, but it does this with a regenerate. Now you can either freeze the track to stop this action OR you can tell it to wait for a midi signal, which can be another space bar. As always in BIAB there are multiple ways of achieving the same thing.
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OK, I see the key to the whole dilemma. I have to freeze the song in order to use the space bar to play from the beginning without regenerating.
We still need to see if PG music can add the option of being able to do this without freezing a song in a future upgrade.
It would be nice.
BIAB2026
Windows 10 Pro (Never Windows 11!)
WA6NCB
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Hello Jim,
thanks for your answer.
But because I don't have my "live instrument" connected directly to the sound system. It's my controller keyboard which needs the sound generated via biab.
So my priorites are different from yours. But thanks again for your answer.
Greetings from Germany
Ulrich
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Thank you to everyone for your input on my question that started the thread. It appears we may have a hung jury on the solution, so I am going to try and experiment with it by Saturday, 04-19-14. As I understand the responses -
1. We have Jim’s instructions:
• Go to Preferences>Display, and in the lower right section where you can choose what the Spacebar key does, choose "Play from start." (This step may not actually be required but I find it to be very convenient.)
• Here's the important part: also in Preferences>Display, put a check mark in the box labeled "Pause Play Until MIDI or Key received."
2. Then we have jcland’s observation that:
• “As it stands now, every time you use the space bar, BIAB has to reload the entire song.”
3. Jim assures us that hitting the spacebar a second time, with BIAB set up per his instructions, will not cause the file to reload and will start playing immediately with only a split second pause.
4. Then Dan added that the tracks need to be ‘frozen’
• “Go to your preferences to set it to play from beginning with space bar, and be sure you have the tracks frozen otherwise the default appears to be a regen.”
5. Jim then remarks:
• “…….then it will begin playing from the beginning almost immediately (only a split-second of delay) without regenerating. I don't freeze any tracks and this is how it works for me.”
6. Finally, Dan summarizes:
• “Indeed in this case we are both correct! It appears the space bar, when configured in preferences, will play from start, but it does this with a regenerate. Now you can either freeze the track to stop this action OR you can tell it to wait for a midi signal, which can be another space bar.”
So I’ve got some work/experimenting cut out for me. I’m hoping that Jim is correct and that I will be able to set up BIAB per his instructions to
• Load when hitting the spacebar and then wait until I -
• Hit the spacebar again and begin playing from the beginning without a regenerate
One point I am wondering about is the versions of BIAB that everyone is using. I am using 2014. Perhaps there are different results for users in this thread because of the versions that are being used which all may not be the same and possibly have differences in the use of these parameters……
Thanks again for everyone's input. You have all been a tremendous help for this Newbie
Dan
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Gald to help. It did start to seem like we were beating a dead horse. But it was a good way to run my forum post numbers up!
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