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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Is it just me, or is there a lack of 6/8 pop styles? (Or maybe there isn't much demand; I'm not sure.)
I have BIAB 2015 with all the styles, and I'd like to put together a nice 6/8 pop ballad using RealTracks, if possible.
If I use the filter and select the 6/8 time signature, I get a whole mess of 4/4 styles with either 1/8 or 1/16 note resolution. Not sure what that's about.
If I add in the text 6/8 to the filter, I get a good handful of Midi-based styles, mostly Bossa, country and "world" music.
Are there any 6/8 real styles that I'm missing? And has anyone else had a string of "false positives" from the filter?
Merci.
John
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Hi John,
Styles meant to be in any time signature except for 4/4 or 3/4 seem to be oddball and not handled in a consistent manner. I think the inconsistency may be due to multiple factors such as increasing program capability, who programmed the style, what set was the style packaged with originally and so on.
Read the long description for some of the other styles you mentioned and you will likely see the word "feel" in the description to indicate the style is an attempt to achieve a feel different than the settings imply.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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6/8 in any genre would be welcome. Yeah we have a Cape Breton style but the piano is way too busy to be able to use it. The Bodran is ok but personally I don't like them, and far prefer a good snare drum.
I've been screaming for a good 6/8 for years. Maybe one day.....
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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It is hard to knock BIAB 'cos it does so many wonderful things, but I have always thought that it would be great, if when you chose a 3/4 style the Chord Window broke into 3 (6 with Chord Settings.
You can't use the 6/8 notation in the Lead Sheet for someone to learn a tune. 4/4 with 4 x 1/8 triplets is confusing (never mind 9/8) - especially as Celtic is read as normal but played in cut-time, e.g. twice the speed for the lead but as read for the backing.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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John, perhaps this will help. As I understand it, BIAB directly supports only time signatures of 4/4 or 3/4. You can also use either of these but have fewer beats in the measure, to get 2/4 for example by ignoring anything in the right-hand half of the 4/4 cell. Anything else requires some adaptation. 6/8 may have a 3/4 feel to it (two bars of 3/4), or a 12/8 more even feel (which could be written as 4 eighth-note triplets in 4/4 time, making one measure feel like two bars of 6/8). That's why the filter gives results that you may think make no sense.
Of course, from the Wishlist, it would be nice to have BIAB support other time signatures directly.
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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Is it just me, or is there a lack of 6/8 pop styles? When I received 2012.5 as a gift I was also looking deeply for a simple 6/8 time signature for a friend of mine's tune. I had no luck either and also posted a similar thread some time ago. I also tried putzing with a few 3/4 time sigs with tempo manipulation and still didn't come up with what I wanted. I'm on 2015 UltrPak now (as of 3 weeks ago) so I may revisit another search. As a side note: I sure like the upgrade to the UltrPak and I can have some cool sax tracks on my song writing drivel even though I'm still getting familiar with the depth of the program. Carry on....
Last edited by chulaivet1966; 12/30/14 09:22 AM.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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John, To find what is available in 6/8, there is a special category listed in the "Category" window (within Style Picker).  Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thank you for the comments and suggestions. Thanks, Noel for the note on the quicker search. I don't think it turned up anything new, though  I see no 6/8 styles that are all realtracks, but 3 12/8 tracks that are. Maybe pure realtracks in 6/8 are worthy of some community wishing. John
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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John,
I have been trying to put together an arrangement for Still Got The Blues and with each new release I keep fingers crossed for a good 6/8, but we are not there yet.
But we are also loaded with other great styles and Real tracks, so I just wait until the next year.
If you find a work around that "really" works please advise.
Later,
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Maybe pure realtracks in 6/8 are worthy of some community wishing.
John John, if I could have one -just one - new style, it would be African.sty in RealTracks. [Yes, I've been putting it in the Styles Wishlist Forum for years.]
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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Matt, is that in the wish forum already? I like the African style a lot also. Ray
Last edited by raymb1; 12/30/14 09:44 PM.
Asus Q500A i7 Win 10 64 bit 8GB ram 750 HD 15.5" touch screen, BIAB 2017, Casio PX 5s, Xw P1, Center Point Stereo SS V3 and EWI 4000s.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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With Linux, I use a drum machine called Hydrogen.Is there a way to do such things with Band in a Box ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_%28software%29
It is for me the easyest way to cope with rythms, but, doing so, I loose the harmonic part of the music I try to play...
Very far from a computer hero, more a plug and play user, I use your program for learning purpose as a woodwind player.
I apologise for this poor english.
Yves
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Hi Yves, Under the "Beginner" section of the videos at the link below, have a look at "Making a Song in Band In A Box". It will give you some idea on what BIAB can do. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htmI think you'll find BIAB perfect for your needs. Also, if you click on the links in my signature below, you'll be able to hear some of the songs I've composed. What you hear is all Band In A Box. I sing along with the accompaniment. Regards, Noel
Last edited by Noel96; 12/30/14 11:58 PM.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Users have been asking for a 6/8 for years.
I DO wish that biab would support this timing as us Scottish players LOVE 6/8s for various types of tunes. What I would use it for is basically to have a copy of my own tunes in sheet music form. I CAN'T write music so biab has been a major asset to me. For recording Scottish music I now use my Limex V3 expander which CAN'T be beaten for Scottish rhythm, but it is pretty crap for country & middle of the road stuff which is where biab comes into its own.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Back in the days of the Atari, BIAB could handle odd time-sigs. I did a 5/4 version of a drum style which it handled very well.
Time does not always bring progress in all areas... ;-)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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BiaB doesn't support notation display for 6/8, but it has many styles for 6/8 that play well. The key is that you need to think of the style as 4/4 with each beat having three triplets.
6/8 and 12/8 are both 4/4 time signatures with a triplet feel. Two musicians in the same live band might be thinking different time signatures, it's just counting the beats differently, not how the music is played.
Think of a song like House of the rising sun. Some people would call that 6/8 time sig. Others (and BiaB) would call it 4/4.
Search the stylepickerfor the text 6/8 and you will see lots of styles, including some real styles (Celtic jig) that work well in 6/8.
9/8 is the same idea, except that's a 3/4 style with a triplet feel.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Thank You all, and Happy New Year.
Yves
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Good explanation from Dr. Gannon here. Yes, there are often several ways to count depending on the feel you want.
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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4/4 works great for many faster 6/8 or 12/8 songs; however, on slower songs, the chords often change more frequently than every triplet. In that case, you have to switch to a waltz style, usually set pretty fast (the irony being it's a slower 6/8 song), so you can account for changing chords more often than every triplet.
I've generally been able to work around it, but the waltz styles generally lose that "6/8" or "12/8" feel that you can get with a tripletized swing "4/4"
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Thank you Peter. I agree that 12/8 is fairly straightforward to get out of 4/4 with a triplet feel. 6/8 doesn't feel the same way to me. If I could get a proper 2/4, the the triplet feel trick would be fine.
The problem I see with the 4/4 solution (for 6/8) is that the natural 1 and 3 beats are not equally strong. This gives the feeling of 12/8 rather than 6/8. This is especially noticeable in some country and rock songs, where the rhythms are deliberately "square".
Thanks to all who have contributed. I will explore further.
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