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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10
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OP
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10 |
I want a chord progression to follow a specific rhythm, in this case: 8th-rest 8th 8th 8th-tied-to-half
Can this be done directly, or do I have to kludge it using holds, rests, shots, etc? Thanks.
I7 SSD as primary drive 12 gigs of ram Graphics card: AMD radeon, R9 290
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,492
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Expert
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,492 |
You could use Midi for that. There are probably not enough RealTracks and RealDrums to accomplish this.
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,653
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Agreed, you can use MIDI for such a rhythm, not with chord symbols but with the actual notes that comprise the chords.
BIAB does not support the eighth notes in a row of chords in your example. There are workarounds, though. One is to explore the Expanded styles marketed by Bob 'Notes' Norton of nortonmusic.com
Another is to experiment by doubling the duration of what you want and stretching what would be one measure across two. By adjusting the tempo, you can sometimes (but not always) find a style that will work.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10
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OP
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10 |
Thanks for the replies. What I'm trying to do is not worth all the effort of the approaches you outline. I gather that even if I am using only midi, BIAB still does not support a row of 8th note chord changes?
I7 SSD as primary drive 12 gigs of ram Graphics card: AMD radeon, R9 290
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,850
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I gather that even if I am using only midi, BIAB still does not support a row of 8th note chord changes? Whether MIDI or RealTracks, BIAB only supports quarter note chord changes with the ability to push some of them to the left by 1/16th or 1/8th. But when you do that, the slot for the one you pushed is no longer available to have a different chord on the beat. The best you can do is to use two measures to equal one measure and treat the quarter not chords as eighth note chords. Of course you will have to adjust the tempo accordingly, and you will quickly find that solution only works for a handful of styles. Bob Norton does sell "expanded styles" that take all this into account, but those styles still use two measures to equal one measure. They sound fine, but if you need notation, it won't be right. And again, Bob Norton only sells a handful of "expanded styles". I've always wondered why there couldn't be a check box that would do the math with existing styles and automatically expand the sounds across two measures (at least as an interim solution until 8th note chord resolution is natively supported), but I don't know how that would work with RealTracks. You still wouldn't get proper notation, but at least it would sound right. I do hope one day soon we get 8th note chord resolution. There are just two many songs that call for it. We'll see.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10
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OP
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Or for that matter, is it possible to put different chords on successive quarter notes?
I7 SSD as primary drive 12 gigs of ram Graphics card: AMD radeon, R9 290
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Or for that matter, is it possible to put different chords on successive quarter notes? Oh, yes. Separate the chords on beats 1 & 2 with a comma, and also beats 3 & 4 with a comma. Example: you want these four chords in one measure, each on a quarter note: C then Dm then Em then F. Type C,Dm [ENTER] Em,F [ENTER]
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I feel your pain  This is exactly why I invented EXPANDED styles. EXPANDED styles turn 2 BiaB "cells" into one bar (measure) of music. This allows you to place up to 8 chords in a 4/4 bar of music, or any combination you want. The styles are designed to sound right when using 2 cells for one bar of music. You can go to http://www.nortonmusic.com/styledemo.html and hear EXPANDED styles yourself. Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove & Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2015
Posts: 10
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OP
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Joined: Oct 2015
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I7 SSD as primary drive 12 gigs of ram Graphics card: AMD radeon, R9 290
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Peter Gannon Talks Band-in-a-Box with zplane
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