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I had BIAB about 20 years ago and have just come back to it with BIAB 2017 - Wow! it got a whole lot more complex over those years.
Some Newbie questions if I may, even if you just point me to the correct tutorial.
I want to step edit adding a melody. I've found I can draw notes onto the piano roll, but this is going to take forever ...
1. Is there a quick way of typing the notes in from the keyboard (in the same way as you can enter chords into bars on the Notation screen), with default snapping to whole or half note positions?
2. The B P D etc buttons top left presumably indicate the part for which I'm entering the notes. There are 3 Gs but no M (unlike what's shown on the Help screen for this window). I think I'm entering the Melody since when I mouseover the third G it says guitar 3 track Melody. Is this correct and why doesn't the M show?
3. How do I play back my melody on its own from the piano roll? I get all the other instruments playing and so can't hear my melody. I've selected Guitar 3 on the radio button on the top row (instead of Master), but still all tracks play at once.
Any assistance gratefully received.
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Hi Marlin, Welcome back to BIAB!
I want to step edit adding a melody. I've found I can draw notes onto the piano roll, but this is going to take forever ...
1. Is there a quick way of typing the notes in from the keyboard (in the same way as you can enter chords into bars on the Notation screen), with default snapping to whole or half note positions?
Have a look at Notation Mode and see if this helps. Using this is how I add melody to my songs. The way I access Notation Mode is by selecting the icon I've highlighted with a red box on the image below. (Note... if your view is not the same as what you see on the image below, use CTRL+T to toggle between standard and full-screen views.)  2. The B P D etc buttons top left presumably indicate the part for which I'm entering the notes. There are 3 Gs but no M (unlike what's shown on the Help screen for this window). I think I'm entering the Melody since when I mouseover the third G it says guitar 3 track Melody. Is this correct and why doesn't the M show? BIAB track names are now named after the instrument that's present on the track. This 'automatic naming' can be disabled by de-selecting the options I've highlighted on the image below. These options are found in the opening screen of "Options | Preferences". I suggest that you do this as it will help make sense of many of the instructions. With auto-naming disabled, the tracks will revert to BIAB's original, legacy names of Bass, Drums, Piano, Guitar, Strings, Melody and Soloist. These names will be unchanging.  3. How do I play back my melody on its own from the piano roll? I get all the other instruments playing and so can't hear my melody. I've selected Guitar 3 on the radio button on the top row (instead of Master), but still all tracks play at once. On the mixer, click on the "S" for solo button to isolate a single track (or "M" for muting all other tracks). It might be easier to work in standard view (use CTRL+T to switch views if needed).  Hope this helps, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to BIAB. I think we need to hone down what you want to do a little bit more, but in the meantime, here are a few comments:
When you make the adjustment Noel suggests, to keep the track names the original names, you will find that in many ways it operates the same as what you are used to. Also, in BIAB 2017, the interface was changed. Use Ctrl+T to switch back and forth from the new to the old. The old will look more familiar.
As before, melodies you enter should normally be only on the Melody or the Soloist track. Unless you freeze the track, any other instrument will be overwritten.
There is a function called Step Edit the melody. Write back if you want to know more. However, it applies to changing an existing melody, and I think you are asking more about entering one.
One useful trick, also unchanged from what you knew before, is to key in the rhythm of the melody using one key, then in the Editable Notation screen, adjusting the pitch by dragging the note up or down. Very useful for difficult rhythms.
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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^
Noel,
I have always really like all your explanations especially when you include screen views that highlight the area you are explaining. Wish PG would hire you to write their tutorials and even their in line manuals.
No matter how much i think i know about certain Band features ( albeit Mac version ) i always learn more and retain it longer after reading your postings and make some adjustments for the way it is in Window's Band.
Many thanks.
Mac Audiophile 2020 2019 2018 2017 USB plus previous years versions macOS Mojave - 10.14.6 @ Aug 16, 2019 iMac i3 3.6 GHz 8GB RAM 4K with Retina display some examples @ sound cloud done with Mac Band and DAW's : https://soundcloud.com/you/tracks
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w,
Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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^
Noel,
I have always really like all your explanations especially when you include screen views that highlight the area you are explaining. Wish PG would hire you to write their tutorials and even their in line manuals.
No matter how much i think i know about certain Band features ( albeit Mac version ) i always learn more and retain it longer after reading your postings and make some adjustments for the way it is in Window's Band.
Many thanks. +1 Noel, you've got a real talent to explain these things! Bruce
Macbook Pro 2018
2.6 GHz 6-core Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM
OS Monterey
BIAB for Mac 2022
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Noel, thanks for taking the time to give such comprehensive, clear and useful responses to my questions. That's really very kind.
CTRL+T does indeed show a screen that is more familiar, though even that's more modern and more complicated than the version I had all those years ago. In those days, one of the clickable icons on the menu bas was a hippy with long hair and a headband!
Part of my problem is unfamiliarity with the terminology. The Notation View toggles between what I regard as the 'Bar Chords' page, where I can quickly get the structure of the song laid down, and a 'Music Score' page, where I now easily add a melody, thanks.
The Mixer also appeared after CTRL+T, and this gave me the track 'M' & 'S' buttons I know. Again thanks.
So, next question:
4. I laid down a simple melody with individual sings notes, 4 to the bar. I then decided I wanted to change instruments so I used the mixer desk and right clicked on the instrument name, picked a RealTracks piona that sounded great on audition. I pressed 'play' and it was still the original instrument, so i figued I had to re-generate the song to get the instrument change to take effect... Except that it over-wrote the simple notes of my melody with a virtuoso elaborate piano part. So again I'm missing something here - how to change instruments without getting my original melody over-written?
5. If I use the same method to change to a Midi patch instrument instead. BIAB doggedly hangs onto the original RealTrack instrument. Even if I switch to the Patches tab from the Mixer and use the dropdown, I can change between RealTracks instruments but I can't select a midi patch instead. (Same happens if I right click on the 'Melody' radio button at the top (as per the Help page)).
6. Exporting Midi: If I export a Midi file, playback from Windows is silect, apart from the lead-in count. I'm guessing this is because my song consists of Realtracks and these cannot be 'mapped' to Midi equivalents. If so I'm back to Q5. How do I set Midi intruments to allow a Midi export (MS GS Wavtable and GM2).
7. Exporting MP3: File > Save Special >.mp3> "MySong" > Save... 'Rendering File...' > Select output format [?] > Name = untitled [but I just gave it a name and the dropdown contains nothing... > Save As* > [Format name - "blah"] > OK > MPEG3/56 kb > OK... "Driver cannot do the requested conversion" [very helpful!]. It actually creates an MP3 file called "MySong" (not "Blah"), but it's 0 bytes. *(Same happens if I don't create a 'Format name' and Save As, but just hit OK). The Help topic seems to just cover .wav, which is too big. I can sucessfully export .wma, but this is then OS-dependent, somp3 is what I want.
I have the LAME codec installed and this works fine in Audacity creating MP3 files OK. Does BIAB need a different codec/driver for MP3 creation, or is there something else I'm missing?
Again any help gratefully received. Thanks for your patience.
Last edited by Marlin; 05/20/18 01:43 AM.
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Thanks Matt. Noel's reply got me onto the right tack, which then lead to a few more questions (see below)
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Hi Marlin, Glad that we're getting somewhere. Now for your next round of questions... 4. I laid down a simple melody with individual sings notes, 4 to the bar. I then decided I wanted to change instruments so I used the mixer desk and right clicked on the instrument name, picked a RealTracks piano that sounded great on audition. I pressed 'play' and it was still the original instrument, so i figured I had to re-generate the song to get the instrument change to take effect... Except that it over-wrote the simple notes of my melody with a virtuoso elaborate piano part. So again I'm missing something here - how to change instruments without getting my original melody over-written? Realtracks are studio-recorded instrumental accompaniment riffs. BIAB slices, dices and splices these audio recordings together to fit a chord progression entered by a user. Because of their design, Realtracks cannot play a melody. If you loaded a Realtrack on the Melody track and then generated, it will overwrite your work. Any notation you enter can only be played by MIDI. For this reason, it's always a good idea to save a backup copy of your song once you get notation completed. That way, it's always easy to get back to where things were before they got disturbed. I use the system "Song title 1.mgu", "song title 2.mgu", etc. Because BIAB files take up very little disk space, having multiple files is inconsequential (I'm presently up to 47 for the current composition I'm working on). 5. If I use the same method to change to a Midi patch instrument instead. BIAB doggedly hangs onto the original RealTrack instrument. Even if I switch to the Patches tab from the Mixer and use the dropdown, I can change between RealTracks instruments but I can't select a midi patch instead. (Same happens if I right click on the 'Melody' radio button at the top (as per the Help page)). A MIDI patch will not overwrite a Realtrack. It's necessary to right-click on the Realtrack in the mixer and then select "Track Actions" followed by "Erase track". This will clear the Realtrack. Unfortunately your melody will also be gone because the (re)generate has overwritten it. As mentioned above, it's worthwhile saving multiple copies of a file when you first get it to a workable stage. This makes getting things back as they were much easier. 6. Exporting Midi: If I export a Midi file, playback from Windows is silent, apart from the lead-in count. I'm guessing this is because my song consists of Realtracks and these cannot be 'mapped' to Midi equivalents. If so I'm back to Q5. How do I set Midi intruments to allow a Midi export (MS GS Wavtable and GM2). Realtracks are audio, not MIDI. This is why you are not getting any sound. That said, if a Realtrack has notation associated with it, it's possible to export a MIDI interpretation. Go to the link below for a thorough explanation on how to do this. http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=451355#Post4513557. Exporting MP3: File > Save Special >.mp3> "MySong" > Save... 'Rendering File...' > Select output format [?] > Name = untitled [but I just gave it a name and the dropdown contains nothing... > Save As* > [Format name - "blah"] > OK > MPEG3/56 kb > OK... "Driver cannot do the requested conversion" [very helpful!]. It actually creates an MP3 file called "MySong" (not "Blah"), but it's 0 bytes. *(Same happens if I don't create a 'Format name' and Save As, but just hit OK). The Help topic seems to just cover .wav, which is too big. I can sucessfully export .wma, but this is then OS-dependent, somp3 is what I want.
I have the LAME codec installed and this works fine in Audacity creating MP3 files OK. Does BIAB need a different codec/driver for MP3 creation, or is there something else I'm missing?
Again any help gratefully received. Thanks for your patience.
You've answered your question well. Because of propriety software issues, BIAB doesn't come with its own MP3 codec. Rather, it uses what codec Windows has installed. K-Lite codecs will install a suitable one for BIAB to use. https://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htmI used to have that installed but when I changed computers I did not bother. I prefer to use "FreAc" a freeware audio convertor because it gives me much more control over the end product. https://www.freac.org/Hope this helps, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Noel, thanks again for your help.
I now understand that if I select a RealTrack instrument as my Melody instrument it will not play my existing melody but will generate its own. A bit counter-intuitive, since all I'm efectively doing is changing a patch, but it obviously runs deeper than that so I just have to accept it.
I also understand that Realtracks will not be able to be saved as Midi unless they have an associated RealChart to provide the mapping. Thanks for the explanation and the link.
I'll chase down the codec(s) you suggest for exporting mp3, thanks.
A bit more tricky changing the Patch to Midi... until I realised that it's not done via the rather obvious 'Select Midi Instrument (Patch)' item on the right-click menu, which does not work, but via the slightly less intuitive 'Select Custom Midi Style for this Track'. Only snag is, with the latter I can select from the GM set, but with the former I can also access the GM2 extended set. I wanted a midi Ukulele for the track, but cannot see how to get one.
Not sure I understand the purpose of the 'Select Midi Instrument (Patch)' option if you can't use it, but Ii'm probably missing something (again!)
thanks again for your guidance.
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Hi Martin
Just a quickie stating the obvious .
To use the midi patches you need to be using a midi style track. These come up with yellow text in the mixer.
By default these are listed after all the real styles (coloured green) in the style picker but you can change this behaviour. or filter for midi styles,
Just a thought
Mike
BIAB2021 UltraPlus,AsusN55S1Tbssd, W10/64,Akai EIEpro Yamaha CVP405,SquireStrat, CoolsoftVMidSynth Novatation Impulse61 Ctr kbd, Cwalk blab Kontakt http://mikesmusic.byethost16.com/
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Mike thanks - and it's not stating the obvious for me, as 20 years ago BIAB didn't have RealTracks or RealStyles - it was just Midi back then, so I feel I've got a pretty steep learning curve to get up.
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