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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19 |
In my preferred song form I'd like to have an
- intro,
- chorus x 2 (done via repeats)
- bridge
- 2 more choruses (via repeat)
- tag.
Am i trying to do something BiaB is not built for (I know I can do it via a very long one chorus song, trying to make it better).
Thanks in advance
Gordon
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,197
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 20,197 |
Gordon, For what it's worth, this is my view on using BIAB for arranging songs... Because BIAB is software for creating backing, it's actually better to treat the song as one long work rather than try to think of the backing as sheet music. When listening to recordings, the arrangement of a song develops as the song progresses. Usually, there's not just one sound for the verse and one sound for the chorus. Creating a backing in one long format allows one to consider the arrangement aspect. With copy and paste, it's actually very quick to create a song without repeats. The above being said... If you want to use repeats, the below link will take you to some videos that PG Music have prepared to help understand BIAB. There's one called "Repeats and fake sheet mode" in the INTERMEDIATE section. This is worth looking through. http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.bbwin.htm(The above is for the Windows version of BIAB.) The link below will take you to a thread about repeats. About half way through, I go into much detail, including images, on how use repeats in BIAB. This might be useful. http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=351518Regards, Noel P.S. Gordon, thanks for creating a thread on Repeats. It's a topic that comes up every now and then and others will find it useful.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2025
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753 |
In this song form you're only going to get a repeat of the first chorus for the first and second chorus. The rest of the song will be in a "Tag".
Make your first bar the first bar of the 1st chorus (after the intro). Make the last bar of the 1st chorus be the end of song. Set the repeats to "2". So far it will play the intro and repeat the chorus one time for your first and second chorus. Now, in the song settings dialog; set it to "Tag Exists", and set it to "Jump to Tag" at the bar just after your chorus repeat. Choose something like "Song Ends After Bar "90", You will change the actual last bar later as needed. Create your bridge and copy paste your chorus twice after the bridge. Create what you wanted for a tag after your last chorus. You can still have BIAB create a 2 bar ending for the song. I do sometimes just to get creative ideas for an ending but I have never used the BIAB 2 bar ending. I almost always leave 2 - 4 blank bars before the final last bar. That give me room to fade out as needed or allow reverb to tail off more naturally. It seems to help If I force a resolving chord into the last bar after the blanks. It gives my final held chord something to hold out for. But I might mute the drums during the last hold. This last chord gets chopped off in my DAW.
Band In A Box chord sheet is "strophic" in nature. A chorus is one time through the entire song. It does not do well with a pop style arrangement as far as the repeats go. Example; The Star Spangled Banner. The accompaniment is simply the same for each chorus with perhaps some variation on the middle chorus.
Making the song into "One Big Chorus" or just building it that way from the start is best on pop/rock arrangements. I think it maxes out at 240 measures or something like that. If I approach the max bars allowed that;s when I look for ways to repeat choruses.
Does the noise in your head bother me ?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,753 |
Alternately, build your into, 2 choruses in a row, and bridge. Make your 1st bar the first bar of the first chorus, your last bar the end of the bridge. Use repeat 1 time. It will go from bridge back to your 2 complete choruses. Create a "Tag Exists" at the end of the second (now fourth chorus) because it repeats. Your "Jump To Tag" will go from last bar of your choruses to the first bar after the bridge. (By-Passing the bridge and jumping to your tag. Here you create your actual TAG.
It will play from the into through to the end of your bridge, repeat the combined choruses, jump over the bridge to the tag.
Does the noise in your head bother me ?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,445
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 6,445 |
Like Noel, I like to write it out in long form with no repeats.
Highlight an A, B, or C part (or whatever) copy and paste.
If the 255 measures isn't enough, or if there is a vamp part that I might want to solo over and change the length of before starting the playback, I'll use repeats for that.
I don't use BiaB for notation, although the notation editor comes in very handy as a tool. If I need to make a chart, I have an old copy of Encore, and it has many more notation tools than BiaB, Of course, that's all Encore does - it's a 'one trick pony'.
Insights and incites by 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: Dec 2010
Posts: 19
Enthusiast
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OP
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 19 |
Thanks to all for the above. I will take the time to digest it and try things out. Tibias I think your suggestion will get me what I want. Love BiaB (2017 Everything Pack for Windows), just need to understand the capabilities & the right way to get where I need to go.
Thanks again
Gordon
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,381
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 22,381 |
Notes,
Just curious, you ever watched the movie One Trick Pony (Paul Simon)?
You strike me as one of the guys that may find it interesting .. or not.
Gadd, Tee, Gale, etc. drew me in
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,660
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,660 |
In my preferred song form I'd like to have an
- intro,
- chorus x 2 (done via repeats)
- bridge
- 2 more choruses (via repeat)
- tag.
Am i trying to do something BiaB is not built for (I know I can do it via a very long one chorus song, trying to make it better).
Thanks in advance
Gordon Gordon, ALWAYS, always unfold the song into one big chorus, as PG calls it. Put it into linear form rather than trying to get the musical road map signs to do the work. It's so much easier to work on the long form. You simply copy and paste the chorus or verses where you need them. Your song has no verses? Or do you intend to mean the choruses are actually verses..... I assume the "choruses" in your song actually have different lyrics, if so that probably makes them verses and the bridge is a chorus. Tags are most often the repeat of the second half of a chorus. But.. that's not the point of this post. By using the unfolded long linear form, you can easily get to where you need to be. I C C B C C tag I use this method in every song I do. First thing I do is to unfold the form. I started out trying to learn how to make BB do what I wanted by using the repeats and codas and other musical signposts..... but that was too much of a pain....and worse, you didn't know where you were in the song if you get distracted. Is this the 2nd verse or the third verse kinda thing. Long form, you know instantly by looking. In addition, starting somewhere other than the beginning is so much easier in the long form..... just click where you want to start and press START.
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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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 106
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 106 |
This can be achieves very easily your way - Type in your chords in order but only intro, verse, bridge and tag (only 1 of each) - Then in the menus go to song form - select song form dialogue - this will bring a table asking what the various sections are fill this in the at the bottom of the box it asks for the order each section should be played - in your case it would probably be ABBCBBD.
I have used this several times - occasionally biab throws in 4 extra bars at the end !!???? - just delete them
Hope this works for you
Keith
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,332
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 27,332 |
Keith, welcome to the forum. That's a good suggestion: people should consider the Song Form Maker. Those who think in terms of verse, chorus and bridge might especially benefit.
Another general comment to everyone:
While several here have said they prefer to use the one long forum for their songs, and I have certainly used it, most of my songs do not require doing that. The default of three choruses (three times through the repeated bars) works just fine for many of my jazz songs. Also, BIAB defaults to playing the B substyle in the second (or all middle) chorus, where the sound has more energy behind a solo. So, don't automatically discount using the defaults; they may do the job for you. Experiment. The one practice I find critical is that I always decide on how to do the song form before making any copying of measures or melody etc.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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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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Video: New User Interface (GUI)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
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Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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Along with version 2026, we've released an incredible lineup of new content! There's 202 new RealTracks, brand-new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two new RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!
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Don’t miss this chance to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box setup—at a great price!
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