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It's been a busy gigging season so far this winter. Lots of gigs, and lots of songs to learn for clients and to get those gigs. In fact, I just got home from an afternoon gig an hour or so ago.

I've put every spare moment into it and it's finally done.

What's done?

BiaB changed the way the StylePicker works in 2016 which made the Norton Music and other user styles difficult or impossible to find. Peter Gannon and crew fixed that in version 2017 (thank you very much Peter and crew).

Peter got me started with this and I finally finished it. The files are available for download at http://www.nortonmusic.com and it is the first item on "What's New" on the home page. It's also available on the support page where it will stay even after it's removed from the what's new section.

The download comes zipped file with the files, instructions and an installation file (install.exe). Please let me know if this works or not for you. It works on my one and only copy of BiaB 2017 so it should. Also, please let me know if your anti-virus won't let you download a clean, harmless exe file.

Once the files are installed, re-boot BiaB, open the style picker window, do a slow complete reboot and the Norton files should be in there.

To find them, click the category arrow and then select Choose And Show User Category ...

The filters work just fine. To browse, just turn the filters off.

I tried it on an old BiaB 2012 version I have on a computer that was retired, and it still works on the old version of the StylePicker Window (I didn't see any reason why it wouldn't).

Please let me know if this works for you or not. The first few downloads will be unofficial beta testers. I see no way it can harm your BiaB, but it's always best to back up before installing anything new.

All feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob


Bob "Notes" Norton smile 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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Hi Norton

What's this all about is it midi .

I had a wee look on your website .

Do you supply midi files is that it.

...........?


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Thank you Sir!
I now have 252 Norton User styles showing up in the User Style Picker in addition to the 1,540 or so, BiaB midi only styles.
I prefer midi, because I own a LOT of high quality VSTi's, and I like to tweak things to perfection.


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Good on you Mate I just wanted to know what this was I aint against midi.


Have a good one


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Originally Posted By: countryjoe
Hi Norton

What's this all about is it midi .

I had a wee look on your website .

Do you supply midi files is that it.

...........?

Hi Countryjoe,

I sell aftermarket BiaB styles. They are all MIDI files.

I also sell Fake "disks". They are no longer on disks, everything is direct download, but I've been calling them disks since 1992 and I don't know what else to call them.

The styles work with BiaB just like any MIDI style, as I make them in BiaB's style maker. The difference is they were made by a different musician, me (I play drums, bass, guitar, sax, wind synth, keyboard synth, and flute and I've gigged and done studio recording since I was a teenager).

The fake disks are chord progressions only, no melodies or lyrics (copyright restrictions) but most are done with off-the-shelf books, so you can load the song, open the book, and play along.

I started playing with BiaB when it was DOS for the PC, System 6 (OS6) for Macs (with Motorola CPUs), and the Atari/ST computer. I thought I could add value to the program, wrote some styles, and now it's a part-time business, supplementing my main income which is still gigging and first-call sax at local recording studios.

Insights and incites by Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile 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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Originally Posted By: boydbob
Thank you Sir!
I now have 252 Norton User styles showing up in the User Style Picker in addition to the 1,540 or so, BiaB midi only styles.
I prefer midi, because I own a LOT of high quality VSTi's, and I like to tweak things to perfection.


Thanks for the feedback. It's good to know it works on at least two computers now wink

I too prefer MIDI. I have a number of hardware synths, synth modules, and samplers and I too like to tweak things to perfection. I bought BiaB to PLAY with, and there are simply thousands of more ways to PLAY with MIDI.

Of course the RTs are great too. It's nice to have both.

Insights and incites by Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile 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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Hi Bob. Didnt know about yr website till now.
Excuse my ignorance but does this DL give me free new midi styles that will work in my BB2017?
WendyM


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I'm not Bob, but his download ensures that you will see his styles correctly as choices within BIAB. You do have to have bought them. Bob (Notes) does excellent work and you can preview everything he sells on his website.


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Installation was very simple. At first Avast didn't like the .exe but after analysis said it was fine.

However, while I have lots of Norton Fake Disks I have now been reminded I don't have any Norton styles (well except the freebees over the years). Guess I need to do something about that. grin


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Originally Posted By: WendyM
Hi Bob. Didnt know about yr website till now.
Excuse my ignorance but does this DL give me free new midi styles that will work in my BB2017?
WendyM

They definitely work with BiaB, but they aren't free.

Like PG Music, I depend on the small price I charge to pay the rent, buy food, put gas in the car, and so on.

I also sell styles created by Roy Hawkesford and Sherry Mayrent. Roy is in England and created some nice pop and jazz styles and Sherry created a Klezmer disk that gets world wide acclaim.

In addition I sell fake 'disks' (everything is download now and no longer on disk) written by myself, David Bailey, and Jim Wedd.

The software I sell does not replace anything in BiaB, but enhances BiaB by adding new possibilities; styles written by different musicians (with different ways of playing) and fake disk song files that you can do yourself, but they take thousands of hours to compile so I can save you that much time.

Notes

Originally Posted By: MusicStudent
Installation was very simple. At first Avast didn't like the .exe but after analysis said it was fine.

However, while I have lots of Norton Fake Disks I have now been reminded I don't have any Norton styles (well except the freebees over the years). Guess I need to do something about that. grin


Thanks Dan. I had concerns about the exe extension, but for drag and drop the 10 files would have to be dragged into the bb folder and a folder called Norton with 7 additional files would have to be dragged and dropped into the C:\BB\Data\StylePicker\User Categories folder, and I thought that would be too much to ask people to do.

I think it's an overkill for some AV apps to just refuse to accept anything with an exe extension. Yes, I know that an exe can contain malware, but (1) an exe doesn't mean that it's malware, most exe apps are legit and (2) the malware crackers are smart enough to get around that and package their evils in files that don't end in exe

I tried to mail an exe to myself, and found my own ISP (att) does not accept emails with an exe attachment, even if it's enclosed in a zip file.

AV and anti-Malware apps are essential, but they create their own set of problems.

Insights and incites by Notes.


Bob "Notes" Norton smile 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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Hello Bob!

Very nice work, it works flawlessly on my WIN10 laptop.

But... As I have also a Mac, any chance we will see the same "shortcut" to your valuable styles also on BIAB for Macintosh as soon as version 2017 will be released by PGMusic? I have almost all of your style disks and some fake books disks (including Sherry Mayrent's Klezmer music disk, and would like for the styles to have them organized as on BIAB windows.

All the best!

Antonio


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Originally Posted By: doctormidi
Hello Bob!

Very nice work, it works flawlessly on my WIN10 laptop.

But... As I have also a Mac, any chance we will see the same "shortcut" to your valuable styles also on BIAB for Macintosh as soon as version 2017 will be released by PGMusic? I have almost all of your style disks and some fake books disks (including Sherry Mayrent's Klezmer music disk, and would like for the styles to have them organized as on BIAB windows.

All the best!

Antonio

Thanks. I'm glad it worked.

What happens with Mac depends on what PG Music does with the inner workings of the Mac version of BiaB.

Bob


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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The ability to see the Norton Styles filtered in the StylePicke is a new feature of BIAB 2017, so I suspect the Mac users will get this ability whenever the new Mac version comes out.

I have been well pleased with Bob's styles and have used quite a number of them in my music. I don't have all the FakeDisks, but I do have all the styles. As has been pointed out, you don't need Bob's styles to use the FakeDisks (at least to get the chord progressions); however, if you don't have them, you will get an error loading the file and will have to substitute a different style that you do have. That being said, not all the songs in the FakeDisks use exclusively Bob's styles. Many use styles available from PGMusic - as Bob says, use the best style for each particular song, regardless of its source.

PGMusic styles are good, but Bob looks at the music from a different angle and as such comes up with some great alternatives to use. Yes, they are all MIDI, but with good MIDI sound sources, you can make some great music.


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Originally Posted By: Notes Norton


....
Thanks Dan. I had concerns about the exe extension, but for drag and drop the 10 files would have to be dragged into the bb folder and a folder called Norton with 7 additional files would have to be dragged and dropped into the C:\BB\Data\StylePicker\User Categories folder, and I thought that would be too much to ask people to do.

...


1.) Your utility worked just fine in Win 7, Win 10, and Win XP, at least for me.

2). Glad you went the extra mile and made it "self-installing." But really, if folks don't know how to copy a few files to X:...\BB and copy one directory to their X:\...\BB\Data\StylePicker\User Categories directory - probably have trouble booting their PC and can't find the Styles menu in BIAB anyway - LOL

Thanks

Larry


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Your program worked perfectly here. Now I have all of my Norton styles listed.

Thank you for all of your hard work.


OK, a random thought;
Why does toilet paper need a commercial? Who's not buying it?

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Thanks for the feedback and the kind words.

I tried e-mailing this to a friend, and it was returned, with a message that the ISP will not accept attachments with an exe extension. So I guess it's not only my ISP (not that I thought mine was the one and only).

So I'm going to do a drag-and-drop version as well.

I've got a copy of WinZip Self-Extractor, but there doesn't seem to be a way to make a self-extracting zip without an exe extension.

Of course I could call it file.Change_Me and have the end user replace Change_Me with exe, but that seems to be a bit of an inconvenience for seasoned computer users and perhaps a stumbling block for newbies. Of course, so is drag and drop.

I'll keep searching for a low-cost way to send a self-extracting app that will put things in various folders. If not, it's drag and drop.

Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

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& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Bob,
You could post the exe on your site (in a zip) and put a link to it.
You could send out the link in an email.
Users running an exe that they download might need to right click it and choose to unblock it, but other than that things should work fine.


Have Fun!
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Bob,

Just a thought...you should be able to upload the .exe to the cloud (I like box.com) then provide your friend with the link.

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Thank you Peter and Donny.

Both are great ideas.

Bob


Bob "Notes" Norton smile 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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