PG Music Home Forums User-to-User Post your own Tips and Tricks here Add 50+ simultaneous RTs in BiaB!

So I've posted this as a reply to another thread, but as I see this topic come up often, I thought it would be helpful to repost under its own appropriately titled thread.

Also, as a caveat, I've never actually taken the time (or had the use for) that many RTs in a single song, but it should work in theory...

Basically, under the RT medley option, you can pick choose "entire song," and then pick up to 10 additional RTs and then check the "play all simultaneously" box (see screenshot).

That's it--it's that simple!

I did a 32 instrument demonstration for a thread here on the forum back several months ago. It was a train wreck.

This method can be taken well beyond just 10 instruments per track and excellent results obtained if some planning is put into the project for how it will be structured.

Using the Audio Track in conjunction with the Performance Track, the 8 track limitation can be extended to an unlimited number of tracks. There is no loss of audio quality.

There are many things that can be done when these two techniques are used. First, the 10 instrument slots do not have to be different instruments. The same instrument can be used multiple times being brought in and out between other instruments on the same track. If only two instruments are used on a track, each can be individually 5 times. If those two instruments are used between two tracks and the instruments are reversed between each track, there are many opportunities for volume, panning and faces between the two instruments interacting from the two tracks.

Another technique I use the multiple instruments on the same track and works particularly well with bass, rhythm guitar and piano, is to use multiple Realtracks that are recorded by the same RT session player. In this instance, it may be the session player is playing the same instrument but just in a different strumming or rhythm patter but it is complementary or similar to the main RT you have chosen so your same player may play different between two verses or differently on each chorus. It is like changing a style but only actually changing a single instrument. A benefit to this is because you a using two different Real Tracks, BIAB has more audio to search through increasing the variations it plays throughout the song and making the track more unique. Using two RT's is a good way to reduce or eliminate a riff one RT may repeat more than you like for it to.

I use these techniques a lot and get a lot of enjoyment doing this as sort of a sub-hobby to BIAB's normal work flow.

In order to get a cohesive and interesting backing track using these techniques require that the song project has to be pre-planned and structured. The Audio Track and Performance Tracks allow multiple tracks to be sub-mixed and rendered to WAV files and then imported back into the project and moved to another track as a Performance Track and the remaining tracks used to build more layers of the song and repeating the process as needed.

Hope that makes sense. Complex song mixes can be done this way without ever leaving BIAB. I'm aware it may be easier and better using DAW's and other programs specifically designed to make multitrack recordings, but some may be like me and enjoy the challenge of keeping it all 'in the box' so to speak.