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OP
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Elsewhere someone said RB is pretty "basic." What does it lack that most others have?
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VST timing for one
Basically this is because it is MIDI based (not sample based) which means less accurate audio edits at times.
Otherwise it likely does what you need, but the the path to getting satisfactory results may be different than other DAWs and the graphic interface less attractive.
For a lot of us the benefits of the regeneration features being available outweighs the sacrifice of the other aspects.
If I 'need' the other features I'll switch, but not until then.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Joe5, have you tried using RealBand?
It's not as feature packed as other DAW's costing many hundreds of dollars, but it has some really great options, is very usable, and supports a pretty reasonable feature list. The fact that it integrates with Band In A Box styles is one of its strongest features.
You need to know what you need to do, and what are your expectations.
One thing is guaranteed, RealBand has features that you won't find in any other DAW (e.g. Track Generation for BiaB styles)
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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Elsewhere someone said RB is pretty "basic." What does it lack that most others have? Have you used any other DAWs? If not you may find RB does the trick just fine. As others have said it has a single feature that other DAWs don't...the ability to directly interface with the amazing RealTracks. On the other hand, there are DAWs that are free and that cost as little as $60 that are far more feature-rich and way more state-of-the-art in their GUI. If that does not matter to you then you may be fine with RB. Personally I love my DAW to be packed with features and relatively bug-free. I find RB to be slow and glitchy with a clunky interface that I do not enjoy using. So, I use mainly BIAB and then go straight to my DAW (Reaper). If I want additional options in the RealTracks I will use RB in between to generate more RealTrack options but I try and finish in RB just as quickly as I can so I can get back to my modern DAW!
Last edited by JohnJohnJohn; 08/10/16 03:43 PM.
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Similar to the ability to regenerate a portion of a track, RB has a feature called Multiriff. Multiriff generates 7 versions of the selected audio even to include the complete track.
You can audition each of the 7 multiriffs and select any one of them or save any number of the 7 to individual tracks to edit portions of each into a custom multiriff. The multiriff audio can extend beyond the beginning and end of the selected audio if you wish which helps to create a seamless and professional edit.
You can choose Multiriff from two options. Open multiriff to regenerate the current instrument or open Multiriff choosing a different instrument.
The result of multiriff is that you can create a custom track by auditioning hundreds of variations and edits in minutes that would take hours in BIAB. An added benefit of Multiriffs is that a midi track is created at the same time so that a midi instrument can be chosen to double the riff.
I recently created a guitar track of lead fills that consisted of 18 sections selected to place the fills. 7 tracks each of the 18 fills resulted in 126 takes of audio to choose the best fill for each section. Imagine having a session player doing 126 takes during a recording. There may be hours of recorded RealTracks for the Multiriff to review and generate new audio from.
Another feature I found on that project is by using two instruments from the same style often provides audio clips that compliment each instrument by generating similar riffs so that it sounds like two players working together at the same time during a recording session. This provides very unique and realistic sounding tracks.
Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 08/10/16 05:07 PM.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Joe5: quite an impressive response to your question. Here are some videos you will want to see for more info: http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.realband.htmDE
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
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Joe, see my answer to this question in the other thread.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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As I wrote....
Yeah, it's pretty basic. A simple down and dirty DAW. It gets the job done. However, it's not designed to go head to head with Sonar, Cubase, Ableton, or the Mac ProTools....at least not yet.
It has a number of good functions, the main one being it's ability to generate Real Tracks. '
It's lack of timing sync with VST's and awkward audio editing leave much to be desired if you're trying to use it as a production DAW on a music project.
I really gave it a try on a project a few years back. I was determined to complete a project using it. However, I ran into some issues that I could not resolve (and don't remember the details on now) so I had to move the tracks to my Sonar DAW to complete the project as I intended.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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As I said on the other thread (didn't mean to have this conversation going in 2 places, the other one just kind of led there  ), thanks for the replies! J3, it's funny you mentioned Reaper as that's the only DAW I've tried to date and didn't care for the interface at all. It's all so subjective. But as I said in the other thread, it was a pretty cursory look; I'll probably revisit that and try a few others, but my needs are (I think) not too complex; it's just me as a solo artist on a synth, so much fewer concerns about stuff like mic placement, mixing etc.
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RealBand
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I wasn't aware of this thread and posted some of the additional benefits and features other and the ability to generate tracks in the BIAB 101 thread in the Recording Forum.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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eddie1261
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I am interested in knowing how many of those 126 tracks sounded almost exactly the same if not eerily similar. We had a coincidence where Floyd used the same sample and real track as I did and one of his songs started with the exact same riff as one of mine. On one of my current songs I did a multitrack 8 bar solo section, and then did it again, and then again. That made 21 tracks. Of those 21, 14 of them sounded so similar that it was obvious that there were not a lot of sample snippets to choose from in a section of a song that went 1-4-1-1-5-4-1-5..... I ended up cutting and pasting from that pallet and coming up with the intro I needed, but that showed some limitation as far as what is available in Real Band. And you really can't switch real tracks as far as performer, because you'd end up going from Les Paul to Tele to Strat and very different tonal properties, so if you use a Brent Mason real track, you have to use only that Brent Mason real track for the whole thing. for this CD, which is SLOWLY in the works, I am creating sample solos and bringing in players to play live based on those generated segments. The sound generation feature is obviously the bread and butter of PG products, but I now see why people pull the generated tracks out of RB and move it to a better DAW. I just started using Protools and though it takes time to dump tracks to individual wav files and then import to Protools, woking in Protools is MUCH better as far as the DAW side of things. Of course Protools can't create music, but it never claimed to.
Last edited by eddie1261; 08/11/16 07:59 AM.
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Joe5 " it's funny you mentioned Reaper as that's the only DAW I've tried to date and didn't care for the interface at all. It's all so subjective." I use Reaper, it's the most flexible DAW I've ever used. I could take up paragraphs praising but I won't. It's extremely inexpensive $60. You can watch Version 5 for free at: http://reaper.fm/videos.phpKenny Goya (?) is the author and has dozens of Version 4 at: https://www.groove3.com/PS: You can buy a monthly pass for $15 per month (and see hundreds (all) tutorials). DE
Win 10, 64 bit, love my Lenovo T420, BIAB 2019 (613), RB 2019 (2)
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There are a few variations of real tracks that work well together, don't always have to 'use only that Brent Mason real track for the whole thing'.
Plus, guitarists use FX and change their sound all the time. One section can be one RT and another be a different one, be they verse, chorus or bridge (or solo) whatever.
Your average listener is not going to think about what guitar was used ..
FWIW I find mixing different styles/RTs to be quite enjoyable.
From what I understand, chord changes are given preference (weight) during generation. In other words, this section works well for this change, this one OK, etc
So this would make some generations weighted to use a given phrase at the opportune time more often than another. They do try to 'randomize' it, but that includes using a phrase at the beginning of one multiriff and again at the end of another.
Who knows?
Either one could be inspiring. A signature lick too early in a solo may make the rest mundane, while if you end a nice solo on that same really cool lick it may 'make' it .. so location can be a factor also.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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"I am interested in knowing how many of those 126 tracks sounded almost exactly the same if not eerily similar." Here you go Eddie. Say I Do
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eddie1261
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Was it 126 guitars or 126 between guitars and sax?
Great use of panning as well.
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126 guitars. I did the same for the sax but did not count them. There were not as many for the sax and I did them after the guitars and had the routine figured out by that time.
This is a later version than I originally posted here on the forum and it reflects changes in lyrics, mixing, panning from suggestions made by several members. Steve Young made the panning suggestion.
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how many of those 126 tracks sounded almost exactly the same if not eerily similar. We had a coincidence where Floyd used the same sample and real track as I did and one of his songs started with the exact same riff as one of mine. ...........14 of them sounded so similar that it was obvious that there were not a lot of sample snippets to choose from in a section of a song .............. that showed some limitation as far as what is available in Real Band. And you really can't switch real tracks as far as performer, because you'd end up going from Les Paul to Tele to Strat and very different tonal properties, so if you use a Brent Mason real track, you have to use only that Brent Mason real track for the whole thing. for this CD, which is SLOWLY in the works, I am creating sample solos and bringing in players to play live based on those generated segments. The sound generation feature is obviously the bread and butter of PG products, but I now see why people pull the generated tracks out of RB and move it to a better DAW. I just started using Protools and though it takes time to dump tracks to individual wav files and then import to Protools, woking in Protools is MUCH better as far as the DAW side of things. Of course Protools can't create music, but it never claimed to. Yep.... I have heard some folk's songs that have similar licks in them, and that's to be expected since we're all working from the same palate of samples. Ditto on the guitar tone.... kinda hard sometimes to jump from track to track when, like you said, ones a Strat and the other is a Les Paul. My song THE BEST CHRISTMAS.... on my music page somewhere.... has a compilation of 5 tracks being used to get the B Mason solo. The piano's are 3 tracks I think.... I'm a big fan of using live players for the lead guitars and even the rhythms because of that issue.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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eddie1261
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It can be tedious stitching together a good solo, but the end result can be so remarkable that people can't believe it is not a live person. One of the songs on my CD, Here goes nuttin', has a pedal steel solo in it and I got an email from a pedal steel player that asked "Who played that solo?? I don't think I could duplicate that." And that solo was a compilation from 8 different iterations of an 8 bar passage. All cutting and pasting.... and much experimentation.
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Nobody has mentioned this so maybe you're doing it already. Are you aware that you can change the chord grid for each generation? Just make sure you're only generating a new track and leaving the existing ones alone.
Solo's especially tend to float over the chords, not necessarily strictly following them. Try using different but related changes and see what happens. In the key of C try using Dm for 8 bars or make the whole thing EbMaj7 if the tune is in Cm. You can try some of the common jazz changes like using tritone subs which would be using an F#7 for a C7 once or twice during a chorus.
You can put a swing solo against an even beat or vice versa. For drums I'll make 3 or 4 completely different drum tracks with different RD's plus changing the part markers on the chord grid. That puts the fills in different places plus activates the substyles and gives you tons of choices.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Good point Bob. I do that sometimes and along that same thought, I may experiment with changing the song style during the chorus. I picked up the idea from songs like Gene Chandler's Duke Of Earl Charlie
Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 08/23/16 11:05 PM.
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