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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549 |
Hi All,
Is there a reference to in the user manual to all the file extensions in BIAB.
I think SGU is the standard BIAB that needs no other resources other than those found in BIAB and I think MGU are connected with Midi. But MG1, SG1, .H?
Thanks
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,851
PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,851 |
Hi,
.SGU - songs without a melody.
.MGU - songs with a melody.
.MGX - songs with a multi-channel melody track (such as if you had imported a MIDI file with multiple instruments.)
.SG1, .SG2 ... .SGD, etc.
These are legacy file extensions, where the third character was used to indicate that the song used one of the basic built-in styles, like ZZJAZZ, ZZCOUNTRY ("U" stands for User).
Andrew
Andrew
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,845
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,845 |
Hi, Jonel - SGU is what PGMusic calls a song file. It is a BIAB file that does not have a melody or soloist track in it. Once you add either a melody and/or a soloist track, the "S" in SGU becomes the "M" in MGU. The "U" stands for "User". When BIAB first came, there were only a handful of styles (they are the MIDI styles that begin with ZZ (like ZZJazz). These were numbered, and so initially instead of SGU (which came along later), the file extension indicated which ZZ style was being used. So, for example, a song file using the ZZJazz style would have an extension of SG1 (since ZZJazz was style #1). Once there were more than 10 styles, they started using letters, so you will see extensions of SGA or SGB. If you add a melody and/or solo to the song, the next time you save it, it will start with "M" instead of "S". So your ZZJazz SG1 song would become an MG1 song. Later, they replaced the numbers and letters with the letter "U" (for user). In fact you can save all your SG-whatever songs as an SGU file and it still plays fine. When BIAB allowed you to bring a multi-channel MIDI onto the melody track, you will see those files saved as an MGX file. Here is a table of the original 24 built in styles:
Jazz Swing - 1
Country 12/8 - 2
Country - 3
Bossa - 4
Ethnic - 5
Blues Shuffle - 6
Blues Even - 7
Waltz (Old) 3/4 - 8
Pop Ballad - 9
Shuffle Rock - A
Light Rock - B
Medium Rock - C
Heavy Rock - D
Miami Sound - E
Milly Pop - F
Funk - G
Jazz Waltz 3/4 - H
Rhumba - I
Cha Cha - J
Bouncy 12/8 - K
Irish - L
Pop Ballad 12/8 - M
Country old 12/8 - N
Reggae - O
As I recall, I believe there is also a file utility that allows for bulk rename of the legacy file names to SGU/MGU. Clear as mud?
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549 |
Well, thank you once again John. The historical perspective helps to understand the range. I assume the MGX files have the midi stored separately so that the they need to be moved together if being transferred to another system. RealTrack perhaps would also have to include the wav file and supertracks the midi also?
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549 |
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,845
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 12,845 |
The MGX files just mean that there is multi-channel (versus a single channel) MIDI data contained on the melody or soloist track. The MIDI data is not a separate file.
Likewise for RealTracks; the track just contains information referencing the RealTrack to use. If unfrozen, it will regnerate the next time played based on what is in the RealTrack, but doesn't actually contain the audio data. For a frozen RealTrack, it just contains the instructions on how to recreate the same data in the referenced RealTrack (again, no audio data is present).
The only time an audio file is present in conjunction with a BIAB file is when you have an audio track (which will have the same base name as the BIAB file). If you send the file to someone, you need to include both the BIAB file and the accompanying audio WAV file (which will be in the same folder).
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA BB2026/UMC204HD&404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/Notion/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com (under rehosting/construction)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 549 |
Thanks. I have library of BIAB songs that I acqired many years ago and some songs have an accompanying folder with MIDI file, a short sample is listed below. That is why I thought some songs would also include a midi.
ALLO ALLO.MID MEL LYR
THE ANGELS ANGELS.MID MEL LYR DEMO
ANYWAY ANYWAY.MID MEL LYR DEMO
AT LAST I'VE FOUND YOU ATLAST.MID MEL LYR+ DEMO
BALLAD FOR BOB BAL-BOB.MID MEL
BALLAD FOR A JAZZ FESTIVAL BAL-JAZZ.MID MEL
BARROWS BEAT BARROW'S.MID MEL
BE CERTAIN BECERT.MID MEL LYR+ DEMO
THE BEE BEE.MID MEL LYR DEMO
BETTER IN FRENCH BETTERIN.MID MEL LYR
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
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- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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