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As a consequence of Dr Gannon's allowing public domain material to be used in the Xtra Styles Competition ( link), here is my submission. Xtra Style
_MEADOWS.STY (Meadows Piano Pop with Brushes)
(This style is described as Lite-Pop and listed in the Country group. I leave it to PG Music to decide into which category, if any, the submission fits.)
Realtracks/Drums
1759: Bass, Electric, Pop16ths Ev 085
1767: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Pop16 Ev16 085
664: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm SouthernRock Ev 085 (A:fpick)
665: Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm SouthernRock Ev 085 (B:Strum)
RealDrums: BrushesFolk16ths: a: Brushes b: Brushes Tap
** The _MEADOWS.STY style was used exactly as is without any modification other than tweaking volume balances.
** The Audiophile version of the BIAB software was used.
Duet Instruments
MIDI Oboe: Garritan Personal Orchestra 4
MIDI Flute: Garritan Personal Orchestra 4
I really enjoy arranging melodies using the contrapuntal techniques of the Baroque and pre-Baroque periods of music. For this reason, when PG Music announced this competition, I thought it would be an interesting personal challenge to write an instrumental duet and to use BIAB as the 'continuo' that supports the underlying harmony. (In Baroque music, the harpischord, clavichord or organ often fulfilled the role of continuo.) With the above in mind, I grabbed a duet that I started a few years ago but had not completed and began working from there. I have never done anything like this with BIAB before. At the end of the process, I am incredibly impressed with the software and just how very versatile it is. I hope you enjoy my version of "Oh! Susanna". It's probably best described as 'counterpoint meets Stephen Foster meets Band In A Box'.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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This is stunning Noel. What a great idea for submission to this competition.!i can hear a huge amount of work went into this production.
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Thanks Joanne. I'm not sure that what I've done fits into any of the categories. I'm not fussed though, it was a fun exercise and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
I appreciate your comments.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Joined: Sep 2003
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Wow...Wow...Wow!!! I haven't thought of this song in years. What memories this has for me.
Thank you for sharing your marvelous rendition of this great classic oldie.
Those special voices you used were great fun and really made the song.
You really performed this song very well.
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Noel -
Very cool. I really liked the yodel effect about 2/3 through the song.
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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Noel
Clever! Great musicianship.
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Hello, Noel
I think you tried very hard to finish this song.
Harmony arrangements are much easier than counterpoint arrangements for Foster's songs.
But I am sure that your challenge of using the contrapuntal techniques this time will be very useful for your future compositions.
I also love Baroque music.
So I enjoyed the listen very much.
Take care.
Best Regards.
Shigeki Adachi
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Wow...Wow...Wow!!! I haven't thought of this song in years. What memories this has for me.
Thank you for sharing your marvelous rendition of this great classic oldie.
Those special voices you used were great fun and really made the song.
You really performed this song very well. Hi w, Thank you! I really appreciate the comments. All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Noel -
Very cool. I really liked the yodel effect about 2/3 through the song.
Thanks John. I'd love to say that that was a planning strategy but it was just how it turned out! Sometimes good fortune smiles when one arranges  Appreciate your having a listen. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Noel
Clever! Great musicianship. Hey Peter, Thanks very much for listening. Appreciate it. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hello, Noel
I think you tried very hard to finish this song.
Harmony arrangements are much easier than counterpoint arrangements for Foster's songs.
But I am sure that your challenge of using the contrapuntal techniques this time will be very useful for your future compositions.
I also love Baroque music.
So I enjoyed the listen very much.
Take care.
Best Regards.
Shigeki Adachi Hello Shigeki Adachi, Thanks for taking the time to have a listen and to comment. You're definitely right about harmony based arrangements being easier to work with! I find counterpoint lots of fun, though. It's like a jigsaw puzzle to me (and I love jigsaw puzzles). Thanks again, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Joined: Jan 2016
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Great song! I enjoyed the Flute
Cheers,
Joe
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Thanks, Joseph. MIDI can sound pretty good these days!
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Joined: Aug 2016
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Hello Noel,
as you know, i like covers and this is a very beautiful and particular interpretation.
An handshake from Italy.
Gianfranco Tronu
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Noel,
Very enjoyable! The Garritan instruments sound good- wish I knew how to use them.
I wonder where PG Music will fit this...I think you just created a new instrumental category for this competition!
Robert
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Great Baroque style, Noel.
Very interesting and thoroughly well done!
Outside the square, so to speak, for sure.
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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Hi Noel96, I agree! MIDI signals when routed correctly can definately have some impressive results. I'm a fan of the SuperMIDI tracks found inside of Band-in-a-Box. For those who don't know what those are you can find a short tutorial on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOY0cHZTZ2QCheers, Joe
Cheers,
Joe
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Wow Noel. What a great arrangement and mix. This is just superb.
Enjoyed my listen.
Charlie
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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Hello Noel,
as you know, i like covers and this is a very beautiful and particular interpretation.
An handshake from Italy. Hi Gianfranco, Thanks for the handshake and generous comments! Appreciated Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Noel,
Very enjoyable! The Garritan instruments sound good- wish I knew how to use them.
I wonder where PG Music will fit this...I think you just created a new instrumental category for this competition!
Robert Hi Robert, Thanks for commenting. I agree, Garritan is excellent. They're not all that hard to use. Like most things, that's easy to say when looking back; looking forward while learning, though, there's a bit of a learning curve. If you need any help, start a thread in BIAB (Windows). You'll find a number of folk will jump on board with thoughts. In relation to genre... if I correctly understand Callie's reply post to David's questions (found here), PG Music music are intrepreting 'genre' a little differently. They are referring to the genre of the foundation Xtra style that's used to create the presentation rather than the genre of the presentation itself. All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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