Originally Posted By: wilsonts
(EDITED)
Hi Jim.

I have been thinking about what you said in your most recent post and wondering if my problems with the RealTracks add-on has anything to do with not really understanding what RealTracks are or how they work in anything other than a very superficial way.

Until quite recently, I wasn't even interested in RealTracks. Midi has worked well for me for many years.

Up until now I have just accepted PG Music's marketing hype that you just type in some chords, select a suitable style and press the button for instant music. Perhaps this is the wrong way to look at working with RealTracks. I have been searching the internet including this forum for more information, I found what seems to be a lot of conflicting ideas and get the impression that I am not the only one who is confused. Is it correct to say that with RealTracks, the "old fashion" styles are now obsolete or at least redundant? Does the RealTracks Picker Dialogue replace the StylePicker? Is there a new or better way to work than simply selecting a style and pushing a button? If these assumptions are at all correct it would make what PGMusic are saying about their add-on sets much more understandable.

In my search for information I came across a couple of video tutorials on how to make your own RealTracks which I understand are called UserTracks. These tutorials didn't look too forbidding. I think I will have a go at trying to create my own RealTrack/UserTrack. In doing so I hope to increase my knowledge and understanding of this technology.

Regards
Tim


Oddly, Jim and I had a discussion over several hours the other day and covered most of the questions you have today. First, UserTracks that are useful can be quite forbidding. There are limitations that have existed for 6 years that retard their ultimate potential and success. In the UserTrack Forum, active enthusiasts have dwindled down over the past few years and UserTrack development has plateaued. Yesterday I posted a *-l-o-n-g - * comment detailing another type of UserTrack, the Artist Performance Track. I personally think the APT can ultimately be more useful and beneficial to more BIAB users than the more popular UserTrack. My long comment derived from mine and Jim's conversation that APT seem to suffer from unawareness and a lack of understanding to what it is. The fact that a limitation of an APT is perceived to be it's suitability more for a single song than useful across many songs like RealTracks, UserTracks and Loops. I think the opposite is true. Overwhelmingly, users will find greater need and more use for single use APT's.

"Up until now I have just accepted PG Music's marketing hype that you just type in some chords, select a suitable style and press the button for instant music. Perhaps this is the wrong way to look at working with RealTracks."

Many times this is the wrong way to look at working with RealTracks. The marketing pitch to type in some chords, select a suitable style and press the button for instant music is where a serious project begins, not ends. A great example of this can be found in the User Showcase "Announcing... The Birth of a Song". If you have't watched it, I recommend it. The artist, Floyd Jane begins with a 'scratch' style and during the project, searches, auditions and replaces most of the Style's instruments with RealTracks that he finds more suitable for his specific song and provided stock by the Style. (In his project, Floyd is, in effect, creating APT's specific to his song. In his case, there's no need to take the extra step and convert the tracks to APT's). Learning about APT's streamlines Floyd's personal process and also allows easy tools to share projects and APT's user to user.

Since you're just starting your journey with RealTracks and other add-ons, it may be worth your while to spend the few minutes it takes to read my * l-o-n-g * post about "The Case for Artist Performance Tracks" in the UserTracks (and other add-ons) Forum. It may be useful to you knowing that APT's work equally well with midi as they do RealTracks and live performances.




Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 02/27/20 05:04 AM.
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