PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Quick poll

Don Gaynor:"I especially like the fact that RB has 48 tracks and volume automation. I could definitely find use for that feature. As a work-around, I create several soloists in BB then manipulate them with F5 (bar settings). Obviously, it would be much easier in RB."

___________________________________


There's something you may want to try to overcome the perception of the 8 track limit of BIAB and it's a feature and not a workaround. Each channel of the BIAB mixer can have as many as 10 different instruments assigned to it during a song. A song can have up to 70 instruments.

That's actually the minimum you would have using the medley feature. By committing to finished sub mixes/groups/busses, the instrument count can easily exceed 100 and occupying dozens of tracks.

I have composed and posted several songs created using this method where all of the tracks were chosen, generated, mixed and Fx's added without ever leaving the BIAB program for the backing track. "My Sad Story" is one example.


There are several ways to access the medley feature and medleys can be programmed to alternate or change instruments by part marker, designated number of bars, chorus or manually enter the changes.


All of the instruments of a medley song can be selected to play individually or to play simultaneously.


PGMusic has expanded the medley capability in the 2019 version and added some preset medley RealTrack selections.



The variations of the Medley feature are nearly limitless and offer as much opportunity as you'll get using RealBand. You will not have the visual tracks view of RB and it's not quite as intuitive as RB or any other DAW but then, BIAB is not a DAW so it should not be expected.


BIAB does an excellent job of cross fading between the instrument changes and also selecting complementary audio phrases between the two instruments for realistic changes of one instrument ending as the other begins. You'll find in some instances, during a change, both instruments will sound so you get a very human sounding pass off of one instrument to another as both instruments are playing simultaneously. Variations of audio levels between two instruments can be automated in the bar settings by using the 'Change by' command in the drop down menu under Volume Changes. In the Bar Settings Menu is where you also make manual instrument changes. Select the bar you wish for the change to occur, open Bar Settings (F5) and select the RealTracks Button to access a list of all the RealTracks. Follow the prompts to make RT changes back and forth at selected bars. For instance, change a RT acoustic guitar for a Banjo at bar 6 and then select bar 10 and change the banjo to a pedal steel. The result is bars 1-5 play the guitar, 6-10 play the banjo and the remainder of the chorus plays the pedal steel. Use the Volume Changes Menu for the track to balance any volume differences between the instruments.


The easiest way to access the Medley feature is to search in StylePicker filtered for Medley and choose one from the list and audition how it plays.

The quickest way to create a custom medley is using the RealTracks Picker Dialog and selecting the Medley Button in the upper right corner. Follow the prompts to create the medley and how the various instruments will play.

PGMusic just posted a new video about using the Medley features Donnie. It demonstrates and shows how easy it is to access and use. It may help you a bit.


PGMusic video about the Medley Feature