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Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? #597054 05/12/20 04:42 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 137 F fantasyvn OP Apprentice
OP fantasyvn Apprentice F Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 137	Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? In this thread, I suggest we only talk about 'semi-automatic' softwares. I am thinking of the Ezkeys software, and perhaps EzDrummer, both are made by Toontrack. Captain Plugins, by Mixed in Key, are also relevant. I tried the demo of ORB Producer Suite and was also very impressed. Perhaps I will buy it in the near future. For guitar, in theory, RealGuitar seems to be the most appropriate. However, when I used it, I found it a bit clunky and clumsy. UJam's guitar Softwares are very good. However, at this time of writing, I understand that you still cannot drag the midi patterns into your DAW and have to play it live.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597065 05/12/20 06:04 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA sslechta Veteran
sslechta Veteran Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA	Agree with you on the Toontracks software. Originally Posted By: fantasyvn UJam's guitar Softwares are very good. However, at this time of writing, I understand that you still cannot drag the midi patterns into your DAW and have to play it live. I'm confused on this comment. I can take a MIDI file from BIAB/RB and import it into Pro Tools and have the UJAM guitarist or bassist play the MIDI riffs. Sometimes I have to transpose an octave here or there to get the MIDI to trigger but I've never had an issue. Could you elaborate? Thanks! Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics. PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? sslechta #597085 05/12/20 08:29 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 137 F fantasyvn OP Apprentice
OP fantasyvn Apprentice F Joined: Sep 2010 Posts: 137	Hi, I don't talk about the sound of Ujam Softwares. I only referred to its rhythm patterns in the Guitar softwares. Ujam Beatmaker 2 allows users to simply drag the midi patterns into the DAW without playing anything on the midi keyboard. But their guitar Softwares are not yet updated with this feature.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597098 05/12/20 09:20 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA sslechta Veteran
sslechta Veteran Joined: Dec 2013 Posts: 2,732 St. Louis, MO. USA	Originally Posted By: fantasyvn But their guitar Softwares are not yet updated with this feature. That is not true. I own Virtual Guitarist Iron and Virtual Bassist Royal. I've been working with these products for a year and they can both play MIDI files directly on import of the MIDI file into Pro Tools. Steve BIAB/RB 2022, Pro Tools 2020, Korg N5, JBL LSR 4328 Powered Monitors, AKG/Shure Mics. PC: Win11 PRO, 4 TB M2 SSD, 2 TB HD, 128 GB Memory

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597107 05/12/20 10:55 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 7,954 P Pipeline Veteran
Pipeline Veteran P Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 7,954	UJAM Basses ver 2 now drag export the midi pattern of current chord, I asked them to put the pattern and chord name in the file name. I think they will have the same for Guitars and Drums soon. The good thing with them is that they are session players playing the phrases as well as having a sample set of the instrument. Watch for EZBass out soon. The new RapidComposerVST beta has audio tracks as well as midi tracks in the VST. You can create phrases for any virtual instrument containing the keyswithes, they can be moved and will automatically fit any chord/scale. You can use it in Biab with Element as you can't chain midi plugins in Biab. It will import the BB Chord Output midi track.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597120 05/12/20 12:06 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda	IF BIAB would come into the 21st century with how it handles midi it would be a great partner with my new favorite Chord and Scale tool, Scaler! Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud View Current Projects

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597132 05/12/20 12:43 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,612 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY Matt Finley Veteran
Matt Finley Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,612 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY	This post https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=591383#Post591383 gives you an idea how I use Presonus Notion for better sounds of the Melody and Soloist tracks, for my composition demos. I also use Cakewalk by BandLab as my DAW, and Adobe Audition or WaveLab Elements for finished stereo editing. I often use MuseScore to read and convert Music XML scores. I write music in Encore (not recommended to anyone else; it's too buggy). I sometimes use either ScanScore or Transcribe to grab parts of PDF sheetmusic to save me the time transcribing it. This is probably only half of what I use, but these are the main ones. In other words, use the right tool for the job. BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597383 05/13/20 10:22 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,796 fiddler2007 Expert
fiddler2007 Expert Joined: Dec 2007 Posts: 1,796	A can of worms opened here sure, but it's alwise nice to know what others use. Toontrack, i once bought EZdrums, then a sale deal on superior drums. Latter i really like, a recommended SDX is Metal machinery, even if you don't like head banger stuff. I prefer Cubase Pro, especially for it's extensive midi and audio tools. EZ keys is a handy quicky tool, buy you usually spend a lot of time fixing occasional notes. Matt, any experience with Dorico or even Cubase notation? I usually stick to BIAB for lead sheets, melody/chords. Might be not enough for Jazz and Classical arrangement works.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fiddler2007 #597409 05/14/20 02:16 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,612 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY Matt Finley Veteran
Matt Finley Veteran Joined: Jul 2000 Posts: 27,612 Hudson Valley & Lake George NY	Originally Posted By: fiddler2007 Matt, any experience with Dorico or even Cubase notation? Yes, I tried Dorico. And more than a dozen others. I hate them all. None come close to the ease of data entry of Encore. But Encore (which I beta tested for decades) is dreadfully buggy unless you know exactly how to avoid the crashes, and even then it crashes on me several times each session. So I move my score out of Encore as fast as possible. I tried Cubase briefly when I thought SONAR was a lost cause. It’s strength is MIDI. But I had no overriding reason to change from the DAW I knew. BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597479 05/14/20 06:53 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 30 Germany W whanika Enthusiast
whanika Enthusiast W Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 30 Germany	Hi, for notation I tried Dorico Elements which makes very good output, but has limitations (it's elements). So the best thing for quick use and good output (even a kind of book) is EasyABC. Install is a little bit tricky, but it has good Xml in- and output and makes nice Pdfs. And, it is free. Maybe ABC is not for the real professionals, more for hobbyists and folkies, mostly celtic or irish. Last edited by whanika; 05/14/20 06:54 AM. BIAB 2024 UltraPlusPAK, Cubase 13, Ethno , SC8850, MU80, QUASAR, Win 10 (64), U-PHORIA UMC 1820, Halion 7, Wavelab 12 Elements, Dorico 5 Elements,

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? whanika #597513 05/14/20 11:31 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 7,954 P Pipeline Veteran
Pipeline Veteran P Joined: Feb 2015 Posts: 7,954	Reaper has a decent Notation Editor.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597549 05/14/20 04:08 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,075 Winston Salem, NC USA Jim Fogle Veteran
Jim Fogle Veteran Joined: Aug 2011 Posts: 11,075 Winston Salem, NC USA	I don't have it but believe any guitar player would find +++ MidiGuitar2 +++ by JamOrigin useful software to have in their musical toolbox. MidiGuitar2 is software designed to convert an analog guitar signal into midi. Unlike many software programs MidiGuitar2 is pretty good at converting polyphonic guitar. Where it fails is while it can detect multiple notes played at one time, the program can not determine the string each note is played on. Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1237) RB (Build 10) - Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597674 05/15/20 11:46 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe Dzjang Apprentice
Dzjang Apprentice Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe	The Encore-case! As Matt points out, that was some genius software, but it crashed on you at the blink of an eye. Still, was so intuitive. Tried Forte Notation, Musescore, Finale. To me, nothing comes close. Funnily, the Finale notepad strikes me as one of the best available, right now. And for me, I need to see the melody while practicing tunes. So, I use the Melody track in BIAB and have the Sheet window open. I’m sure a lot of musicians work the same way. The trouble with the Sheet or lead sheet window is: Inconsistent use of accidentals Displaying the whole sheet (8 or 10 single staff lines, 4 bars per line...) makes Biab crash often and this has been so since biab 2012. Has something to do with the screen resolution, but I can’t fix it. Displaying the whole sheet makes the chords unreadable. If you make the chord font bigger, the chords are no longer well placed, even with the engraver option. And chords with extensions are often made really small. The sheet doesn’t display pushes, holds and other accents... as in the New Real Book First endings, tags, endings... are a mess to work with. Should be as used in notation: al coda, coda, 1st, 2nd A-B sections should be more flexible: every chorus is either “as on the chord window” or “all parts play B-style” in the middle sections. I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to stay inside biab: in theory you have everything you need: chords, melody, notation, arrangement options and the underrated conductor. All that exporting to DAW or notation, makes you lose all the possibilities of biab, like switching styles and feels, Rearranging chords Making other tag-endings and trying them out *Using Bar settings for altering instruments or volume of accompanying instruments Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? Dzjang #597675 05/15/20 11:59 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,125 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,125 Melbourne, Australia	Originally Posted By: Dzjang ...I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to stay inside biab: in theory you have everything you need: chords, melody, notation, arrangement options and the underrated conductor. All that exporting to DAW or notation, makes you lose all the possibilities of biab, like switching styles and feels, Rearranging chords Making other tag-endings and trying them out Using Bar settings for altering instruments or volume of accompanying instruments These are critical points, and thanks for highlighting them. Why is/should there be a requirement to take the song outside of the native operational environment to enable it to deliver a feature that should / is supposed to be part of the product's environment. If the feature-set is identified as available 'in the box' then it needs to do everything the feature states, whether this is notation, multi-riff inclusion, or other. Externalizing the music to actually deliver a feature that the product states it can already do shouldn't be a requirement. 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.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? AudioTrack #597694 05/16/20 03:36 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda	Originally Posted By: VideoTrack Originally Posted By: Dzjang ...I can’t stress enough how important it is to be able to stay inside biab: in theory you have everything you need: chords, melody, notation, arrangement options and the underrated conductor. All that exporting to DAW or notation, makes you lose all the possibilities of biab, like switching styles and feels, Rearranging chords Making other tag-endings and trying them out Using Bar settings for altering instruments or volume of accompanying instruments These are critical points, and thanks for highlighting them. Why is/should there be a requirement to take the song outside of the native operational environment to enable it to deliver a feature that should / is supposed to be part of the product's environment. If the feature-set is identified as available 'in the box' then it needs to do everything the feature states, whether this is notation, multi-riff inclusion, or other. Externalizing the music to actually deliver a feature that the product states it can already do shouldn't be a requirement. You guys are doing a great job at articulating a fundamental problem at the core of BIAB. It tries to be "too many things to too many people", in other words "jack of all trades, master of none". It simply "can't always finish what it starts". As a result it is not always the "right tool for the right job". The "swiss army knife" of music apps. But lets not "through the baby out with the bath water". BIAB's strength in my eyes is "feeding the inspiration and getting the creative juices flowing." That is where it shines. All those areas you guys have mentioned allow you to think about what more can be done and needs to be done and how to go about doing it. The fact that there are better tools to accomplish many of those things is simply our good fortune. I long ago decided I needed to start in-the-box and then get out of it as quickly as possible to take advantage of tools of the trade which excel at each of their individual functions. My wish-list item for BIAB is better integration with the rest of the music app world. And with that I will get off my soapbox. Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud View Current Projects

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? DrDan #597699 05/16/20 03:50 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda DrDan Veteran
DrDan Veteran Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 13,032 Wauconda	And to answer the original question, here is a sampling of my go to standalone apps (excluding plugins). I have a couple more I would recommend but they are currently not on my top tier listing for shortcuts. Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in) Capture.JPG (100.34 KB, 118 downloads) Retired to Make Music - No Plan B My SoundCloud View Current Projects

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? DrDan #597704 05/16/20 04:51 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,125 Melbourne, Australia AudioTrack Veteran
AudioTrack Veteran Joined: Jun 2012 Posts: 21,125 Melbourne, Australia	These are good points, Dan. Surprisingly, I rarely take my music out of BiaB. I rarely import into a DAW and add other features. If BiaB states it can deliver certain functionality that meets my requirements, then that's what I need and BiaB should be my one-stop-shop. Problem is, that it can do some of these things as long as it is acceptable to the the user to export to another product to actually deliver those features. BiaB is no longer 'in the box' at all. 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.

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597706 05/16/20 06:09 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,725 USA Danny C. Veteran
Danny C. Veteran Joined: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,725 USA	I do not even come close to using all of the BIAB features. Simply put I needed quality backing tracks (not wanting to sound like the record) but to do my own arranging that fits my take on every song and BIAB was and still is the answer. BIAB got me out of the studio into live paying venues, hopefully it will again after the virus is under control, and because of that I am thankful for P.G. Music everyday. Later, Danny C. www.dannycampo.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Danny-Campo/379776252109306?skip_nax_wizard=true The More You Drink The Better I Sound

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597907 05/17/20 09:25 AM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe Dzjang Apprentice
Dzjang Apprentice Joined: Nov 2016 Posts: 299 Europe	Ha, Dan’s setup looks a lot like mine: Pianoteq, Sampletank, Musescore, Cakewalk. I’m sure a lot of users have similar collections. Much as we love our box, we are always trying new and different stuff. Videotrack puts it most eloquently: in the box. And make the box better, cause the idea itself is good. But in a more powerful and smart wording. Danny C, I get you, I think. With all shortcomings and frustrations in the box, it is still the best. Biab, Kontakt, Sampletank and lots of nice libraries, from Fluffy audio to Abbey Road drums. Check out these great contemporary Jazz Styles: www.jazzstylezz.com

Re: Which other softwares do you use to supplement BIAB? fantasyvn #597939 05/17/20 03:52 PM Band-in-a-Box for Windows
Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 12,848 Pensacola, Florida jford Veteran
jford Veteran Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 12,848 Pensacola, Florida	In addition to Band-in-Box, I use RealBand, Diamond Cut Audio Restoration Tools for wav file editing, and Cakewalk by Bandlab for the VSTi plugins that RealBand doesn't handle well. 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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Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:

20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)

Learn more about the Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®!

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