PG Music Home Forums PG Music Product Forums Band-in-a-Box for Windows How to solve solos with different chords.

Hi,

I thought I had solved this issue but it appears not. A fair number of jazz tunes have chords in the improvised section that are different than the melody. In fact some have a different first head and finishing head in addition to this. I have four of them now (two with a different finishing head). So I standardized on making the chorus the solos and having an intro which was everything before the solos and a tag exists ending which is everything after the solos. That made the issue easy. All I had to do was get a reminder that the number of choruses was the number of solos (no need to add 2). All these BIAB file names ended in "MOC" which stands for "Melody Outside Chorus" and my program that calls them detected this in the file name to give me the popup warning. However I just tried setting the number of choruses to 1 and it surprised me. It completely knocks out the 2nd time through the melody (it stops with a very strange ending). To make it even worse if I set it back to 2 choruses I can't get the tag ending back without going in and resetting the tag checkbox (luckily it retains the values). So this approach completely fails and to be honest I can't see why programming a single chorus should be an issue since in all these songs the tag is right at the end of the chorus and even if it wasn't it should not matter (you simply take the tag but allow the extra bars to stay there for when the chorus will be at times set to higher values). Is there a solution to this or is this a request for change issue? Again it needs to be a solution where I can change the number of solos from 1 to 2+ on the fly with no advance notice of how many I need.

I was thinking I could use the repeats and change the number of repeats. However I don't think that this will work since if I remember correctly you actually have to create the repeating bars and this function just hides them with the repeat markers indicating how often it repeats. In other words I can't change the number of repeats quickly on the fly.

The way I was solving it before was by having multiple copies of the BIAB file with an ending name called (1solos or 2solos or 3solos or 4solos or 5solos). By rights with this approach I need at least 9 copies of these BIAB files for each song. I was setting my program up to call the different files by simply clicking a button for the number of solo repeats I want. Again the program I used to call these files would warn me that it was such a situation. However this a cumbersome approach and I would be surprised if there is not a much better solution. Unfortunately I just looked over the endings and it appears there is no good solution to this other than forcing a minimum of 2 solos. Sadly the need for 1 solo is the most frequent need. I suppose I could use a variant on this. I would have a "MOC" file for 2+ solos and a "1Solo" file for single solos. My program would have to have the default set to one or the other and it would detect either one and remind me what to do.

Thanks,
John

Hi John

Yes I know what you mean and luckily there are only a small number of tunes in this category

The method I used to solve the problem was to use the expanded method and not the compact one

You can then call up each chorus by number

jazzman

Hi Jazzman,

thanks for letting us know I am not the only one who has noticed this. I am not sure what you mean by the expanded method.

I sent PGmusic support a request for change since (although I could be wrong) I don't think it is a difficult programming change. For now I have already made the change in my software to choose between calling two BIAB files (Songname_FakeBookCOde_1Solos.MGU or Songname_FakeBookCOde_MOC.MGU). This way if I change the song's BIAB file in some way I only need to change two files. However the song could be in several fake books with different chords. So for example if I make a style change the effects the song in 3 fake books I have to change 6 files rather than 3 files. The idea here is the total time the programmer puts in (maybe 30 to 60 minutes) is less than the total time all the users put in (unknown but probably more than 60 minutes). In my case the total programming time to work around it was probably about 8 hours (absolutely necessary since I have to keep the gaps between songs as small as possible).

John

I also know well what you mean. Jazzman is referring to expanding the BIAB song form, to change what may be three choruses (in the jazz sense) to only one. You make one long song and do what you want. At present that’s the only way to do it when the solo section chords are different. It would make a good Wishlist post, though. Even the ability to show suggested chord substitutions would be cool.

As an aside, some musicians prefer when the solo chords are printed separate from the melody, even if they are the same chords. The Abersold books are a good example of this. When I compose a song with difficult or fast progressions, I do this for my band. It’s just less cluttered to read.

Thanks Matt.

I think what I quoted above is basically what I am doing with my file which I name "Songname_FakeBookCode_1Solos.MGU". It starts out as an exact duplicate of the "Songname_FakeBookCode_MOC.MGU" except I make them different as shown below.

"Songname_FakeBookCode_MOC.MGU" (MOC means melody outside chorus)
Chorus is the solo section only (melody #1, one solo, melody #2).
The chorus repeat is set to two or more times.
Melody #2 is a tagged ending.

"Songname_FakeBookCode_1Solos.MGU"
Chorus is the whole performance of the song (melody #1, one solo, melody #2).
There is only one execution of the performance/chorus.
There is no tagged ending.

As as stated above, my master file of songs has either of these file names.
As each jam approaches I clear the jam schedule part of the database to get it ready.
As members initiate songs they get dropped into the Jam schedule part of the database with the same BIAB file name.
When I first start my checklist to perform the song it warns me that the file name has MOC or 1Solos.
I discuss the solos with the players early and I adjust to the file type I need (1Solos or MOC).
I restart the checklist and the warning is bypassed this time.
The checklist actually has a step that calls the correct BIAB file (no special button click).
When the BIAB program comes up if the file is MOC I am again reminded to adjust the number of chorus repeats to match the number of solo repeats we need.

Your ideas of having separate charts for the solo is interesting. In our jam group I suppose an individual member could decide to do that. I should put in in my email since some may find it helps them.