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#296467 05/24/15 04:52 PM
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How do you tell BIAB to place a chord on beat 2 of a 3/4 bar?
How do you tell BIAB to place a chord on beat 3 of a 3/4 bar?

Instinctively I tried two commas after the first chord, to put it on the 3rd beat but that didn't work.

Thanks!


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After choosing a waltz style; in first cell enter X,Y in second cell enter Z Look up chord entry in help menu.


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... Where Y is the chord on beat two, and Z is the chord on beat three. You don't use the 'second half' of the second cell when in 3/4.


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Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
... Where Y is the chord on beat two, and Z is the chord on beat three. You don't use the 'second half' of the second cell when in 3/4.


Thanks Ray and Matt!

So I basically started off wrong then?
I named the song and started chord entry.

Then I didn't see anything obvious on the page to tell BIAB that it was a 3/4 song.

I was planning on choosing the style after chord entry.

So for 3/4 songs you need to remember to choose a 3/4 style before chord entry?

As I was entering the chords I went into bar settings and put 3 beats per bar for the first bar.
I guess that's wrong?


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Originally Posted By: BIABguy
Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
... Where Y is the chord on beat two, and Z is the chord on beat three. You don't use the 'second half' of the second cell when in 3/4.


Thanks Ray and Matt!

So I basically started off wrong then?
I named the song and started chord entry.

Then I didn't see anything obvious on the page to tell BIAB that it was a 3/4 song.

I was planning on choosing the style after chord entry.

So for 3/4 songs you need to remember to choose a 3/4 style before chord entry?

As I was entering the chords I went into bar settings and put 3 beats per bar for the first bar.
I guess that's wrong?



Can we expand on this thread. I think that you can indeed use a 4/4 style or any 4/4 RT and by placing 3 beats per bar you will simulate a 3/4 groove. This will also set the notation to show three beats per measure.

Or

As suggested use a 3/4 style where the chords are spread across two measures.

My question is, what is the difference??


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You can in fact use a 4/4 style and select to only use 3 beats per bar; however, it may sound good or it may sound bad, depending upon the style and what you lose by dropping that 4th beat. So that can be hit or miss.

The preferred method is to select a waltz style that was designed to be 3/4. However, you cannot use a waltz style and set a bar to 4 beats.

In fact, if you have a song that alternates between 3/4 and 4/4, the only way to get 4/4 is to make sure the song starts with a 4/4 style. If you start with a 3/4 style, even changing later to a 4/4 style will only play 3 beats to a bar.

I'm not sure why it has to be that way, but it has been that way since as far back as I can remember.


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Originally Posted By: jford

The preferred method is to select a waltz style that was designed to be 3/4.


OK, I will have to remember to choose a waltz style before I start entering any chords etc. with the 3/4 song.
Thanks.

Quote:

In fact, if you have a song that alternates between 3/4 and 4/4, the only way to get 4/4 is to make sure the song starts with a 4/4 style. If you start with a 3/4 style, even changing later to a 4/4 style will only play 3 beats to a bar.


Interesting jford. Thanks for this info, I didn't know about it and it will come in handy down the road.

So for a 3/4 song you should choose a 3/4 style first, before entering chords.
For an alternating 4/4 - 3/4 song, you should choose a 4/4 style first, before entering chords.


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Quote:
So for a 3/4 song you should choose a 3/4 style first, before entering chords.
For an alternating 4/4 - 3/4 song, you should choose a 4/4 style first, before entering chords.


In a word, yes.

One other thing to keep in mind, though, is that BIAB also has a "Strauss-in-a-Box" feature under the "Melody, Edit Melody Track, Utilities" submenu, which allows you to convert a 3/4 song to 4/4 song and vice versa. If the song is already a 3/4 (waltz) song (because you have a waltz style loaded), it will ask you for a 4/4 style and somewhat intelligently spread out the chords and adjust the MIDI melody to play in 4/4. Likewise, if the song is already a 4/4 song (because you have a 4/4 style loaded), it will ask you for a waltz style and again, somewhat intelligently reduce the chords and adjust the MIDI melody to play 3/4. This feature was added long before RealTracks, so I don't actually know what happens if the melody track is a RealTrack (and I'm not at my music machine to test it).


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Originally Posted By: jford

One other thing to keep in mind, though, is that BIAB also has a "Strauss-in-a-Box" feature under the "Melody, Edit Melody Track, Utilities" submenu, which allows you to convert a 3/4 song to 4/4 song and vice versa. If the song is already a 3/4 (waltz) song (because you have a waltz style loaded), it will ask you for a 4/4 style and somewhat intelligently spread out the chords and adjust the MIDI melody to play in 4/4...


OK thanks jford, I didn't know about this feature either.


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