Another topic ++ HERE ++ mentions how the chord display can indicate the number of bars pedal bass is used.
The 2015 Band-in-a-Box user manual states pedal bass is a chord option that can be programmed in the Chord Option dialog along with rests, shots, pushes and holds but ... the manual has no explanation of what pedal bass is or what relationship, if any, pedal bass has with the bass instrument track.
Anyone use this chord option programming feature? What does it do?
Pedal point is term that's used when the bass stays on a constant note while the chords change above it. Here's a link to an article in Wikipedia that explains it more fully.
For example ...
If I entered the chord progression C Am/C Dm/C G/C C then "C" is the pedal point. This is a classical technique that's used by composers to create tension.
Rather than entering the above by chord notation, it's possible to get BIAB to do this using "Chord Settings".
Have a look at this thread where I explain in more detail.
Thanks Noel for the update. I presume this is the same as a Slash chord, except you don't have to keep typing it in for each bar, e.g. Fsus/Bb or C7/E ?
I was experimenting and found that in my case the bass note definitely did not sit on Bb for 8 bars.
My understanding was that it should have played Bb for the bass for 8 bars. I unfroze, regenerated etc. But it definitely followed the chords. In fact it didn't even stick entirely on Bb for the first bar!
I'm using it with real tracks, not MIDI
I wonder if I'm using it wrong, or if it's broke?
Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
I tried when it first appeared, couldn't figure out how to get it to work as a pedal bass, and decided it was easier to write slash chords than to spend any more time at it.
There is probably a way to make it work, but it just wasn't worth the time for me, I can type very quickly.
It's working fine for me as well, using RealTracks this time.
An easy way to invoke this is to enter a chord, then right-click on it and bring up Chord Settings. In the lower left, you will see the instructions for Pedal Bass.
Example: you want a G13 chord, but with a pedal bass playing F on beats 2 & 4, for 4 bars.
1) Use the pull-down to select Beats 2 & 4 (notice the other choices there) 2) Type on F for 4 bars.
Regenerate.
I did notice something odd. If you do not have another chord at the end of your pedal measures, the pedal kept playing beyond the number of measures you specify. I would have expected the bass to resume a normal pattern on the chord root; otherwise there is no need to specify how many bars for the pedal. If you can verify this behavior, I will report it as a bug.
Last edited by Matt Finley; 02/01/1508:04 AM.
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.
Hmm, thanks for the lesson. I could have gotten impatient and went with what I knew rather than figure out how to use it. Of course I could have RTFM but that isn't very macho
Would someone verify that the pedal keeps playing if there is no chord entered after it should have stopped? Thanks.
Matt, I couldn't duplicate the issue. I created an eight bar test song with bars 1-4 a one chord change per bar progression with pedal bass, bar 5 blank, and chord changes for bars 6, 7 & 8. Realtrack bass played the same note for bars 1 to 4, different octave not for bar 5 then followed chords for bars 6, 7 & 8. An image of the SGU is below.
++ HERE ++ is a link to a folder containing the sgu file, screen capture, bass only wav and all tracks wav.
Noel, Matt, Notes and VideoTrack, thanks to all for the explanations.
Any idea why PG Music calls the feature pedal bass? I noticed the Wilki lists multiple names for the musical feature but pedal bass is not given as one of the alternative names.
Any idea why PG Music calls the feature pedal bass? I noticed the Wilki lists multiple names for the musical feature but pedal bass is not given as one of the alternative names.
Hi Jim,
This is just a guess ...
I've always thought of it as pedal point although I have also heard it called pedal and pedal tone. The technique has been around for a few hundred years and is very effective when used by those who know how. A pedal tone does not have to occur in the bass, though. I suspect PG Music has called it a pedal bass to identify that the pedal tone is played in the bass.
It's working fine for me as well, using RealTracks this time.
An easy way to invoke this is to enter a chord, then right-click on it and bring up Chord Settings. In the lower left, you will see the instructions for Pedal Bass.
Example: you want a G13 chord, but with a pedal bass playing F on beats 2 & 4, for 4 bars.
1) Use the pull-down to select Beats 2 & 4 (notice the other choices there) 2) Type on F for 4 bars.
Regenerate.
I did notice something odd. If you do not have another chord at the end of your pedal measures, the pedal kept playing beyond the number of measures you specify. I would have expected the bass to resume a normal pattern on the chord root; otherwise there is no need to specify how many bars for the pedal. If you can verify this behavior, I will report it as a bug.
Matt I can confirm that the song remains playing the selected variation and does not change after the (P for x bars) has completed.
I tried several simple iterations:
C/E(P4) followed by nothing for 32 bars. It played an E bass for at least 8 bars, when I pressed Stop.
Then I tried C/E(P2) with a standard C on bar 5. It played an E bass for 4 bars then changed to C
I tried C/E(P8) with a standard C Chord on bar 5 and as soon as it got to Bar 5 it did change
So once started, it doesn't change until another Chord is met.
So typing C/E(P1) is the same as typing C/E(P128). It will only change when the next Chord is found
Is this the same as your finding?
Best
Trevor
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
It appears from the various comments that sometimes pedal bass works correctly and sometimes it does not.
Following an idea presented in some other threads when people were trying to verify bug issues, I wonder if it makes a difference whether the chord settings window is selected using (ALT + F5) or the C7 button?
I used the C7 button and pedal bass worked correctly as I understand its operation.
It appears from the various comments that sometimes pedal bass works correctly and sometimes it does not.
Following an idea presented in some other threads when people were trying to verify bug issues, I wonder if it makes a difference whether the chord settings window is selected using (ALT + F5) or the C7 button?
I used the C7 button and pedal bass worked correctly as I understand its operation.
OK, some more experimenting, this is what I found (what you hear may also depend on the style chosen, as notation will be different for various real track styles). I set an extreme example where 8th notes were played for 2 bars so that the difference was unmistakable. I didn't matter whether I used Alt-F5 or right-clicked on the chord and chose Chord Settings. Results:
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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