PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows Using BIAB live

Bob,

Thanks for your tip.
However, the SKB 1SKB19-RSF2U Studio Flyer Laptop/2U Rack/Flight Case has the Laptop on top of the case, so I was more thinking of a sliding 19" tray to mount the SD-50 on, as I do not have to see it all the time, just sometimes to adjust certain items.

Brgds,
Tonnie

You're using the SKB case now, and the SD-50 doesn't fit? You might consider a more low-tech solution - Velcro. I have a spare USB interface mounted underneath my music stand with Velcro. Cheap and it works.



Regards,

Bob

I was reading this thread about gigging with BIAB live (or with recordings created by BIAB) and found it very interesting. I want to thank everyone for contributing. It has helped inspire me to keep at this project. I am planning on doing this for jazz standards initially advertising jazz jams but if that does not work out just playing myself with BIAB being used for the backing tracks. It is an experiment and we will see if it can help a struggling restaurant make a bit more money on a slow night :-) Here are two small things I can contribute

1/ I just tested the space bar on the computer and it pauses the BIAB song so stopping BIAB fast is not a problem.

2/ for finding a song quickly if it is requested by someone, in windows 7 you can do this.
Press: Alt+F
Press: o (at this point the directory where your BIAB files are should be showing)
Press: the first few characters of your song name and it shows in the list.
Press: the down arrow key to get to the song
Press: enter to pull the song up in band in a box.
Press: space bar to start the song.
I timed this and I would say 5 to 10 seconds is the longest it should take to start the song if you are only using the computer for running BIAB and it is always highlighted.

Hello bowlesj (et al),

I've been using BIAB live for the past 8 years for standards-based restaurant gigs in the Dallas area. BIAB in a Samsung laptop with Godin nylon string guitar, all feeding a small Mackie mixer and PA. Mostly Real-Tracks, it all sounds great.

I just click on the song I want and get a new build with about 5 choruses in about 5 seconds. Have never had any computer problems or glitches.

I'm far from "techno-shy" (EE by background), but when performing I prefer to concentrate more on the music than futzing with gear.

Just keeping things simple.

Good luck,
John Payne

Thanks John, It is great to hear about people using BIAB for live gigs. I will start out simple like you are with more or less the same setup of BIAB live running on a new notebook running Win 7, a small 6 input mixer which can take both BIAB feed and phono inputs for guitar etc, a Godin guitar as well and a simple guitar amp or two. I will test it once I get the songs polished up a little better. I will advertise it as a jazz jam inviting others to come. Hopefully they can bring their instrument only and plug into the mixing board. If the jamming idea gets popular I was thinking I might need a 2nd notebook to take an audacity recording from a mike out front to do a quick check on what the audience hears since it would likely be different every time (adjusting the mixer as needed). If the jazz jam idea does not seem to attract many players and after a few weeks it always seems to be only BIAB and myself providing the music then hopefully the restaurant/bars business increases enough to keep it up. Keeping it simple is certainly the way to go. I think I would only make it more complex if jammers who are into jazz rock or funk show up. In that case I may get a guitar synth. It should be a fun project. Maybe in a few months from now I can report back with some useful info.

Have a great Christmas,
John Bowles

Nice thread. Good to see lots of people out gigging, and using Band-in-a-Box.

Good luck with jam. I have from one to three guys play with me. Just depends on who shows up.

I've turned another sax player friend on to the product who been running a rig very much like mine for the past 3 years or so and he gets pretty steady work.

BIAB has a real-time Conductor function which "should" work well in a live jam session as it "should" allow you to seamlessly add or remove choruses while a song is playing.

But, it turns out that though Conductor works perfectly for MIDI files, it pauses and does other flaky things with endings when using Real Tracks. Unusable.

I've commented on this via the forums several times over the years and have upgraded every year hoping ... but never a fix. I guess whatever the problem is must be tough to deal with.

Oh well, BIAB is still a great product when one considers all the things that do work great and the great sound you can get running through a good PA.

Thanks John, If this project continues for me I have a jazz guitar student who will probably show up. I have a friend who turned me on to BIAB who may show as well. I am wondering if some audience members may prefer the jams and others may prefer it without the added players. I guess time will tell.

A question for all you BIAB live users: what's the best PA system for playing BIAB through (viz., clear, clean reproduction within a reasonable size/weight unit)?
I see references here to Fender Passport (speakers look too small to me), Behringer Ultratone K3000FX (70lbs, no thanks), and Mackie. Has anybody tried the Behringer Ultratone KXD15, Harbinger Vari V2115, or Mackie Thump? (I'm partial to 12" speakers for the bass.)
And for you guitarists, how does your axe sound through a PA sustem? Can you leave your guitar amp at home?
Xmas cheers!

I have been through quite a few different systems in the past 10 years or so and IMHO the Bose LII I am using now can't be beat.

Of course as our old friend Mac would say, "your mileage my vary."

Later,

I'm a keyboardist, (Casio PX5s), and my amp/speaker is the Center Point Stereo Space Station V3. The SS V3 is great for small to medium sized gigs. I also use a small mixer. Minimal set-up and sound is great. Ray

Thinking of getting off my butt and going back to playing the small restaurants and service clubs etc. I'm into the standards and trad country. Need a amplification system and I've been looking real hard at the Behringer EPS500MP3 . At $400 its affordable. Question is, will it handle the bass? And if not how do I split the bass out to a separate bass amp? I'm 71 and really don't want to carry anything more than necesary but also don't want to be embarrassed with weak sound.

we do use biab live and have been for 6 to 8 yrs. we arrange the song and put the words in as a reference points. I can play my on lead or fiddle or mandolin. I use a harmonizer which I send a biab from monitor out. as far as a video I did one for a song I posted on FB. We normally use a mixer run into a pair of Bose towers. we have run threw much bigger set up with SP2,s and 18" subs. biab live works well for us
John

“Behringer Ultratone KXD15, Harbinger Vari V2115, or Mackie Thump?”


Given those choices, I would go with the Mackie.

At $269 (http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Thump12) and 29 pounds, it should do you. You will probably need a stand, and be aware that the 12” Thump only claims 50Hz, on the low end. For another $30 (and another 4 lbs.) you could get the 15, which claims a low end of 32Hz.


Regards,

Bob

I went down to the local Guitar Center yesterday, BIAB-loaded IPad in hand, to test out their various PA units. I settled on the QSC K12 active loudspeaker. Wow, what a difference from my old stereo system or guitar amp! I'm hearing sounds coming from the BIAB instruments I never heard before.
It costs more than the units I was thinking about, but its much clearer and more compact.(QSC also makes K8s and K10s that are a bit cheaper.)
So if you're looking for a great player of your BIAB backing tracks, I highly recommend this unit.

I expect that any decent PA system will work well with BIAB live. Just need enough power and speaker for the venue, and that depends on the room. For instance the Mackie SRM's sound great at home especially with a small subwoofer which makes the real-tracks stand-up bass sound real. At the restaurant / club those smallish Mackie's still work great, but the subwoofer in that room sound boomy. I usually fly one speaker up on a stand about 4 feet then use the other from the floor behind me - so it's also a monitor.

As for guitar, I mostly play nylon string type guitars which in my opinion need "hi-fi", so with the addition of a small bit of compression and delay/reverb, I just play through the PA. An added benefit of playing through one system is easy to balance and control the overall sound, which I think is very important for restaurant gigs.

I've upgraded every year and from my experience BIAB has been rock stable for live gigs for at least 5 years.

Hi All

Just re-read this wonderful thread and it made me realise how lucky I am to be in this 'family', to have the tools available to me in 2016 and the experience of so many to help me with my passion.

I did my first solo gig with BIAB2016 on Saturday and it went reasonably well. I learnt a huge amount and made a fair few mistakes. Drunks were my biggest problem. I'm not sure which is worse, being bowled over by drunk woman or helped out by drunk men, but I know which I preferred! I also made the mistake of trying to be a DJ and Karaoke DJ at the same time. Never again or at least not yet. "We want Abba, we want Maroon...., we want Motorhead (for goodness sake) etc etc.

Anyway, it took far too long to set up but I had given myself plenty of time. Nearly had a minor heart attack when a loose connection developed on a PA speaker and some feedback from poor placement, and a major one on the mysterious disappearance of my guitar strap an hour before the gig. I reckon the waiters took it away with some linen. Fortunately, I had a screwdriver and pliers so we created one out of string and guitar case strap. Now I will always take 2 straps.

BIAB behaved very well but my PA died at one point. Cheap Chinese built, South Korean brand. To be replaced by an Aspen SS3 I suspect. My Voicelive 2 froze at one point but the midi patch changing and harmonies worked perfectly from BIAB with that one exception.

I video'd it for my education (depression) and you can see BIAB on the tablet behind. BIAB is playing 'favourites' through the jukebox perfectly with no delays. Nothing is frozen.

I realise I need to do some work on the mixes but bear in mind that the video camera is off to the right near a table. Everyone was so damn.... noisy :-). I don't think the live sound was quite so muffled.

I don't smile enough and for some stupid reason I always look at my guitar when I solo, just a habit to be stopped. My song choice could have been more varied, louder and less backing tracks - might remove any guitar, my vocals were too soft, solos not loud enough, but the feedback from the crowd was good.

Anyway, enjoy and constructive criticism will be much appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByBHfAo608

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wysG_yKDSEE


Neil

You looked great, Neil. Absolutely marvelous. Very professional. Not sure what was so, in terms of your overall mix that may be compromised by how the video was recorded, but the backing tracks could have been boosted for a more balanced mix. They seemed to be way into the background. Curious, did you try to do a sound check before beginning to check your balance of sound sources? Thanks for sharing... And keep rockin' the house!

Neil, I suspect the high background noise was only due to the mic placement on camera. It was probably closer to the crowd than it was to the PA. Also, some camera mic's tend to have an accentuated high frequency response, while losing out on the low and mid range, hence the background 'din'

Did you feel that the PA was driving hard enough?
Did you have a foldback that might have 'masked' your perception of how loud the PA was?

Don't be too critical of yourself, I never saw one tomato!
Good job
Trevor