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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I was reading in the BIAB manual that we can enter up to 4 chords per bar. Is there a trick to having the bass play a different note on the second half of a beat...
For example, when trying to arrange an accompaniment for "Let It Be" or any number of songs with descending or ascending bass lines that are composed with this kind of beat structure. In this case the chords and beats look like this:
|C G |Am Am/G F |C G |F C/E C/D C |
1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 & 3 4
There are lots of songs where the bass notes move in this kind of rhythm, and lots of unwritten songs waiting to be composed using BIAB... so I was wondering if and how we can make that a reality.
Looking forward to your input. Thanks.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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OP
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Oh shoot, the platform took out the spaces I used to show the beats below the measures, and it doesn't seem possible to attach a screenshot of what I wanted to show... but maybe you get the idea... actually, let's try this way...
|C.......G........|Am......Am/G..F.........|C.....G.......|F.......C/E..C/D..C.........|
..1..2..3....4.....1.....2.....&.....3....4....1..2..3...4..1........2......&.....3....4....
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yay, that worked to display the beats the way I wanted 
Last edited by edwardjc; 07/21/14 09:34 PM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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You enter a slash root note exactly as you showed, with the chord, a slash, and the note you want the bass to play.
You're going to have a challenge doing the Am/G on the And of 2 immediately followed by the F on beat 3. BIAB handles the And of a beat as a push earlier from the next beat. You can't have both in the same measure, even if you stay within the limit of four chords per measure.
There are ways to do it, though. One method is to double the number of measures each chord occupies, and adjust the tempo. Another is to check out the Expanded styles on NortonMusic.com that were written by a third party to solve precisely this problem.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Edward,
Another way is to use MIDI bass tracks. Software synths have some amazing bass sounds (I usually use Sampletank and One Dimension Pro).
What I do is to find a bass track that 80% works and then I modify the notes to suit my song (using Notation Mode). After I've done that, I 'freeze' the bass track so that it is never regenerated.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Yeah... I would probably opt for the "live input" of midi or a real bass guitar part to do the fancy or complicated stuff.
I normally have a limited level of patience in trying to get BB to do something like that. I don't have time to set there for hours trying to figure things like that out. Slap a synth in there and play it.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Another alterative would be to Expand your SGU file. I'd say make a copy of your current to experiment with so you keep your original.
Edit > Expand (duration of chords by 2)
It should set your tempo to twice what it currently is (do that manually if it does not)
You would then have
|C..............|G...............|Am.........Am/G.....|F................|
...
which would give more flexibility in placing the bass note where you want them. If you are exporting to a DAW for mixing, just use this for your bass part...
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Edward,
I'm not at my BIAB computer so I can't check on this myself but I would suggest that you try calling up the StylePicker, click the Search button and then type in "Let It Be" and perform the search and it may come up with some styles that generate the type of bass pattern that you are looking for.
Hope that helps,
Ed
Last edited by Ed J.; 07/22/14 05:56 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thank you all for your helpful replies to this question. I think the best solution is the midi bass part recorded live. The expanded chord lengths with doubled tempo doesn't really work that well because it causes the drums and instrument parts to be played at double the speed of the groove of the song.
It might make a useful addition to BIAB in the future to allow for an extra chord on the &'s of beats, but I think it may be difficult with RealStyles since all the parts have already been recorded. Having said that, maybe there is a possible tweak down the road that would allow only the bass track to be expanded for certain beats in certain bars, so that - while the drums and other instruments continue unaffected at the normal tempo - the bass is treated as double length played at twice the tempo. Thus changes could be made on &'s of beats in the bass only and the overall groove of the song wouldn't be affected much. In order to make the edits there could be a "zoom in" feature we could toggle for individual bars giving 8 "entry slots" instead of 4. Seems like it could be complicated though.
Since I have a goal of programming backing arrangements at a pretty fast rate and don't have time to play in midi bass parts, I've decided the best approach for now is to just disregard the 8th-beat bass note changes and "imagine" they are there. The audience can imagine them also. It's not that big of a deal.
Thanks again,
Ed
Last edited by edwardjc; 07/26/14 03:12 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Since I have a goal of programming backing arrangements at a pretty fast rate and don't have time to play in midi bass parts, I've decided the best approach for now is to just disregard the 8th-beat bass note changes and "imagine" they are there. The audience can imagine them also. It's not that big of a deal.
Thanks again,
Ed
This compromise has driven others away, but if you can get comfortable with it You and BIAB will get along just fine.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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