I'm running BIAB 2018. I have numerous midi files I downloaded over the years and lately I have been revisiting them. When I import them to BIAB they default to the Melody track which is the norm for BIAB. I then separate the individual instruments to their specific tracks. Bass, Drums Gtr etc. Afterwards I'm able to see the notation for each instrument separately in each of the individual tracks. The problem occurs when I attempt to transpose the imported midi file into another key. The chord symbols all transpose, as does the key signature but the individual notes remain the same. Example: the key is C Maj . The bar chord symbol is C Maj, the key signature at the beginning of the staff is C Maj and the notated root note is C. I then transpose it to Eb Maj. The bar chord symbol is Eb Maj, the key signature at the beginning of the staff is Eb Maj but the notated root note remains C and not Eb. I've tried the Opts menu in the Notation view. "Notation - Opts -Transpose Options" and although I can now transpose the notes the key signatures also transpose. I also tried both "Transpose and Set Key Signatures" and "Just Set key Signature (no transpose)" and the results were the same. Just to reiterate this only happens to imported midi files and not BIAB Files which transposes notation, chord symbols and key signatures quite well. Any ideas?
Could you try opening the MIDI file in BiaB, separating the channels etc, then save the song as a BiaB song.
Then Reopen that song (perhaps select File > new song first before reopening).
Then try transposing the BiaB song. Does that then transpose correctly?
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
The problem occurs when I attempt to transpose the imported midi file into another key. The chord symbols all transpose, as does the key signature but the individual notes remain the same.
I then separate the individual instruments to their specific tracks. Bass, Drums Gtr etc. Afterwards I'm able to see the notation for each instrument separately in each of the individual tracks.
When you transpose in BIAB, the only MIDI tracks that will transpose are the melody and soloist tracks. If you are moving parts to their respective tracks (as you indicated), I presume that you are then freezing them, lest they be regenerated with an underlying style and wiping out what you moved there). The only way the bass, piano, guitar, and strings will transpose (you really don't want to transpose a drums track) is through the generation of a new part based on the selected style.
As Pipeline suggested, you would do better to do this in RealBand (or the DAW of your choice). BIAB was not designed for moving MIDI parts to tracks reserved for song generation based on style (yes, you can do it with the various move commands and freezing, but those tracks will not operate as style based tracks for which they actually were designed).
Hope that made sense.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
Thanks guys for your replies and yes John it made sense. I'll give Real Band a try and see how it goes.
Thanks again.
On a short note I couldn't help but notice two of you guys are in warm to extremely hot climates. Just to make you feel even better about your location our city logged -53 C or -63.4 F on two consecutive days last week. Time to consider a move.
It's a nice, but overcast day here in Pensacola at 64 degrees (and Pensacola is the northern portion of Florida). I was out working in the year at 8pm yesterday wearing shorts and a t-shirt and was comfortable.
I just can't imagine dealing with such sub-zero degree temperatures.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
Did that yesterday, and creating a mix by only 'drawing' a few subtle level changes quickly with a mouse is just almost impossible unless you have tons of time available.
Just a quick followup. I installed Real Band 2018, loaded a commercial midi file and brought up the notation screen for each of the tracks. I then transposed the file into a different key. The notation also transposed the way I was hoping it would. I tried it out on about 12 different midi songs and the transition worked flawlessly in notation mode.
Real Band continually gets overlooked by folks. It can be a very useful program. And, I lived in Calgary for 12 years. I also know more than I ever wanted to know about sub-zero temps...
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